Isolated but Never Alone: Jesus sees You in Your Hurt
“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.”– John 9:1
Over the years, I watched my peers play kickball in elementary school, heard classmates characterize my handwriting as ‘chicken scratches’ and been unable to participate in serving opportunities and social gatherings because of physical limitations and inaccessibility. These experiences, and others like them, have left me feeling at best alone, and at worst misunderstood and rejected.
If your own adversities have left you feeling much the same, please know you are not alone. Researchers agree that isolation and a lack of social connectedness are more common for those of us with physical and mental health challenges, including chronic conditions. However, for the first time in history, these have been identified as a public health issue. In fact, they were the subject of a Surgeon General‘s report.
As I have wrestled with how to respond in such times, I’ve rediscovered the opening verse of John 9: “As [H]e passed by, he saw the man blind from birth.” While Bible commentaries don’t say much about it, the verse itself says so much about Jesus. Along with the surrounding verses, we are given an example to follow when we are feeling hurt and alone.
Just a few verses earlier, Jesus is on the verge of being stoned. In Chapter 8, after confronting the scribes and Pharisees over their pride and response to the woman caught in adultery, the Jews accuse Jesus of being “a Samaritan” and “hav[ing] a demon.” This was no off-handed comment, but a direct attack.
Facing difficulties and afflictions have the potential to create bitterness, anxiety, and self-focus, which research shows can affect our physical, emotional and psychological well-being. But we don’t see any of that in Jesus’ response in chapters 8 and 9. Matthew Henry, a 17th century Bible commentator, provides this perspective on Jesus’ response to the man in John 9:
“Though the Jews had so basely abused him, both by word and deed gave him the highest provocation imaginable, yet he did not miss any opportunity of doing good among them…..”
Despite everything Jesus had endured, He saw the blind man. You may be thinking, “Yes, but he is Jesus… the Holy God who is wholly human. I don’t have it in me.” You’re correct: in and of ourselves, this is impossible. But, as 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
I love Matthew Henry’s additional comment on this seemingly simple verse in John 9: “And if we know or apprehend anything of Christ, it is because we were first known of Him.” Amen. Whether no one sees or everyone sees, God saw first.