A few years ago, a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives they would be home for Friday night’s dinner. In their rush with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table with a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. They all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding without stopping or looking back. That is ALL BUT ONE!!!
He paused, took a deep breath, thought about what had happened, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, asked one of them to call his wife when he arrived home and explain he’d be taking a later flight, and waved goodbye. Then he returned to the terminal, where the apples were all over the terminal floor.
He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time, helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered the apples, put them back on the table, and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?” She nodded through her tears. He continued, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”
As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind called out to him, “Mister….” He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, “Are you, Jesus?” He stopped in mid-stride and wondered what she’d meant. Then slowly, he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you, Jesus?”
This week we begin examining four fundamental interactions Jesus had with people along the road during His ministry. We will develop a deeper appreciation for what God planned before the beginning of this world and gain valuable insights on how to GO and make disciples.
