Friday, June 26, 2009

I Once Was Blind

John 9 tells the story of Jesus returning the sight of a man who had been blind from birth. After briefly speaking with the man, Jesus covers his eyes with mud and instructs him to go wash it off in a nearby river. The man follows His instruction and soon realizes the wonder of what has happened to him. News travels fast in the village he calls home and it isn’t long before the Pharisees hear of the miracle and they are certain that Jesus is responsible for the miracle. They immediately, however become concerned with the fact that this healing has occurred on the Sabbath, when no work should be done. Thinking they can defame Jesus because He has broken the Law of Moses, they immediately find the man and bring him into the temple, pressing him with questions about his healer. Nonetheless, the man admits that he doesn’t know the identity of the man who healed them. Frustrated, the Pharisees discuss this, searching for answers from the man, sending him out of their presence, and even questioning his parents before calling him back into the temple a second time.

So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”
He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, how I see.”
-John 9:24-25


Wow! What an amazing picture of faith! This man knew nothing about Jesus before his remarkable encounter with Him. The saving power and grace was all he needed to know. He had been healed and Jesus was the one who had healed him. That Jesus was capable of bringing him the healing he so desperately desired was all he needed to know.

The man answered and said to them, “Well here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, He hears him.
Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
-verses 30-33


For this man, it seems simple enough logic that Jesus must be the Son of God because of the miraculous work He has performed in him that day. But the Pharisees are so caught up in the little rules they are letting it get in the way of the amazing picture standing right before them. God is in their presence, and performing miracles no less! Despite their direct encounters with the Almighty Lord of Lords, they are not capable of seeing over their law books.
God, don’t let me get so caught up in the little details that don’t really matter and miss seeing the amazing work you are performing right before my eyes!

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