Hosanna Restoration Church

This will sound like an understatement to anyone who does know Jesus, but to those who do not it will mean very little. Knowing Jesus makes a difference! Some of you probably thought amen! Others might respond with “well duh!” And still others response to this statement might be, “what do you mean?”

The account of Jesus healing the man born blind is a clear example of the difference that knowing Jesus makes. To the man who was healed, Jesus was a hero. He had answered the unthinkable prayer for the man. I assume that he pretty much fell in love with our Lord at first sight. Jesus sent him to wash and He came back seeing. Came back where? Came back to see the man who healed him, I would think.

The religious leaders on the other hand could see no good in this what so ever. They were so hard hearted that they would not rejoice that this man was healed. Instead they complained that Jesus had done it on the Sabbath. Hey guys, that was what God wanted happening in all the services. They were just too proud to catch the hint. Guess what? That is still what God wants happening today in all the services. Jesus came doing miracles and He wants us to continue the ministry He began.

Now the leaders had gone to great effort to make sure that no one was allowed to believe that Jesus was who He said He was. They told the people that anyone saying that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. This was probably the best thing that could happen to anyone. It would give them opportunity to know Jesus.

Finally the man grew tired of telling them the story so he asked them why they wanted to hear it again. They cursed him for that and then told him that they did not know anything about Jesus. Guess they never read the scriptures! At this the man said to them, “He healed my eyes and yet you don’t know anything about Him.” He went on with some more explanation, but the leaders were determined not to listen. They wanted Jesus gone and they were not going to acknowledge who He was. They sure were not going to let this man teach them.

But you see knowing Jesus makes a difference. How did this man know that God did not listen to sinners and that He would always hear people who would worship Him? He also knew that Jesus must be from God or He would not be able to heal him. In his short encounter with Jesus he knew more than all those leaders put together. This was a bit unsettling to them.

Quite often this same thing is unsettling to leaders of today. Some have read their bibles, gone to bible school, know all the doctrine of their pet church, but still do not know Jesus. And when someone comes along whose life has been touched by Jesus, they don’t want that kind of life and enthusiasm around. This is sad, because it is really is what everyone needs. Any time you find someone who thinks that another person is too excited about Jesus, you are meeting a person who quite simply does not know Him very well if at all. Because knowing Jesus makes a difference. When I see someone more excited than I am, I want what they have! May our goal in life be to know Him more.