“Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” John 9:2

Does it bother you if people forget your name? Are you offended if people point and say, “Hey you over there, come here!”?  It is interesting that though our blind man receives a longer and more detailed story than anyone else in John’s gospel (except of course Jesus), yet we are never told his name. The disciples asked if he were a sinner and his neighbors just referred to him as the blind beggar. His parents came closest when they confessed him as their son but the Pharisees named him; someone born in sin.

Maybe this blind man felt invisible, anonymous and rejected. But no matter whether we know his name the most important part was that Jesus knew. In the following chapter as Jesus begins explaining what it means to follow him I can’t but believe that the blind man was still sitting at his feet. Just as Jesus had individually come to meet him, he now learns that Jesus was calling his name.

And today, just like that blind man we can know that no matter our sins or weaknesses Jesus has come for us. In spite of the denial and rejection of others, Jesus wants to spend time with you. If not even one single person on earth remembers us, Jesus has not forgotten. He is calling our name. If you can hear His voice trust Him because He leads us to green pastures and makes us rest by quiet waters.

To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  John 10:3 NKJV