BIBLE BITS -- Matthew 21

Matthew 21:14 reads, "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them."  This is a short verse, and it is easy to breeze right past it.

However, a little pondering would have us saying, "Wait a minute.  How could the lame people come to Jesus?  They can't walk.  And how would the blind people come to Jesus?   They can't see him?"

In the case of the blind, I suppose it could be argued that they could hear Jesus preaching.  That's reasonable.   But it does not account for how the lame came to Jesus.

In both cases, I suspect that friends for family brought the blind and the lame to Jesus.  They would be eager for Jesus to provide his healing touch to them, knowing that having sight or strength restored would be a great blessing and make life much easier.

This is almost always the case: Family and friends bring people to Jesus.  It could be parents who bring their baby to the font for baptism.  But fewer people are growing up in homes where church attendance is normal.  More and more, people are growing up without attending church or knowing what the Bible says.  

Therefore, the people who know Jesus and cherish his word are going to be the people who bring their friends and family to church.  Who better knows the peace, the comfort, and the hope of Jesus than those who hear his word?  Especially when we know that there is no salvation outside of Jesus, we will want to bring our family and friends to hear his word and receive his blessings.

Just as the blind could not find their way to Jesus and the lame had no strength to come on their own, so those who are unbelievers have neither insight nor ability to come to Jesus.  They need to be brought.

Dear Father in heaven, make us such good friends and family to our loved ones so that we bring them to their Savior.