“They answered him, ‘You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?’ And they cast him out.” – John 9:34
Not everyone will appreciate your personal story about what Jesus has done for you. That’s OK! For a man who’d been blind from birth, his personal testimony that Jesus had miraculously healed him was unacceptable to the religious leaders. The truth of Jesus’s power and identity was a threat to the established religious order and they set out to silence anyone who talked about the real Jesus. They lied and said terrible, hurtful, false things about the man. They cut him off from his religious community. The same may happen to you if you are “all in” for Jesus. Be prepared!
Admirably, the man kept talking about Jesus. He knew what Jesus had done for him and he knew that nobody had ever done anything like it before. Though the once-blind man had no formal training or education, he just kept telling his Jesus story. The more he told it, the better he understood Jesus. He was eventually thrown out of his synagogue for telling people about Jesus but it was worth it. He gained something far greater than being accepted in his religious context — he met Jesus and ultimately gained eternal life as he worshiped the Lord.
Don’t let anyone stop you from seeing or talking about the real Jesus of the Bible. Not secular authorities and not religious authorities. Tell the true stories of Jesus – His kindness, His power, His teaching, His truth. Tell those stories even when it’s unpopular with those in authority and nobody seems to be listening. Be willing to accept the earthly consequences in order to receive the eternal blessings. #FollowJesus