Proclaim Recovery of Sight to the Blind
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข How do you react when you are told to do something you donโt want to do? Recall an instance explaining this.ย
โข Tell us about a person that you didnโt necessarily like before but is now close to your heart. How did your relationship with him or her change?ย
โข Reflect on your life for a few minutes. Identify one or two turning points and how your life changed since.ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐ก๐๐๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ.โ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ดโ๐ญ๐ต
(Read also ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญโ๐ต, ๐ญ๐ณโ๐ฎ๐ฌ.)
Jesus, our Messiah, proclaimed that He was sent so the blind will recover their sight. This blindness is both physical and spiritual. In the Gospels, Jesus healed the blind and restored their sight several times. In Acts 9, after Saul encountered Jesus, he also recovered his sight. And in our lives today, His promise and work applies to us.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐.
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ, ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ?โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ?โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.โ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ฏโ๐ฑ
Saul, a persecutor of the early church, was on the road to Damascus to further harm believers of Jesus. Saul believed that he was righteous and doing the right thing. But he had a supernatural encounter with Jesus, and he was never the same again. Jesus confronted him with the truth of who He is. During this encounter, Jesus healed Saulโs spiritual blindness. How did you come to know Jesus? What were the results of your encounter with Him?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐นโ๐ ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐.
๐๐ฐ ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฅ . . .ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ณโ๐ญ๐ด
After Saul encountered Jesus, he was spiritually healed but physically blind. While we are not sure why the Lord did not instantaneously heal Saul, the author of Acts tells us that Saul was left blind for a while, and the Lord told Ananias to minister to Saul. Ananias did so, after expressing his hesitations and the risks involved to the Lord. As a result, the Lord used Ananias to lay his hands on Saul, pray for him, and heal him of his physical blindness. Think of one person alive today who you would have a hard time believing if he or she became a Christian. What would you do if the Lord told you to minister to him or her?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ.
. . . ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐บ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ตโ๐ฎ๐ฌ
When Jesus told Ananias to minister to Saul, this is how He described Saul and his calling: ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ (Acts 9:14). This was the Lordโs plan for Saul, and this is what happened in the rest of the chapters in the book of Acts. God used Saul so that the gospel would be proclaimed beyond their borders at that time. What does the trajectory of Saulโs life look like to you? How do you think this can happen in our community and society today?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What aspect of Saulโs life bothers you the most? How do you reconcile this with the truth of the gospel and Godโs grace?ย
โข How does physical and spiritual blindness exist in your community, campus, or nation? How do you think Jesus restores people from blindness today? What is your participation in His work?ย
โข Identify someone you are hesitant to connect with, but you know God wants you to minister to. What is one thing you can do this week so that you may guide him or her in Godโs ways?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His work in the lives of people like Saul, and how He recovers sight to the blind. Thank Him for His mercy, grace, and love for all.ย
โข Pray for those you know who remain far from God. Pray that they would come to know Christ and understand that they can enter Godโs kingdom by grace, not by works. Pray that, like Saul, they would encounter Jesus.ย
โข Ask God for the courage and grace to be like Ananias in your home, campus, community, and nation.