John 9
In this Chapter we see Jesus perform a controversial miracle that heals and reveals blindness. It starts off as a point of conversation between Him and His disciples.
As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned”, said Jesus, “but this happened so the work of God might be displayed in his life.” John 9:1-3
Even before the healing there are blind assumptions going around. Assumptions bearing a reason for the handicap, a reason for the misfortune. Human nature has us trying to conclude and make sense of everything we see or come across. A judgement and rationale of the “why”. But really life, sin and misfortune carry complications beyond our sight. Only God Himself sees things as they are with a full spectrum of understanding. There are too many injustices, disease and handicaps that we are all riddled with and unable to see with full clarity. We ourselves are scathed with sin, the worst disease of all. And in our own calculations we make judgements with flawed understanding.
This is not too discount our ability to make judgements or assessments at all. I don’t think we can escape it. To live and not determine a basis of right or wrong, a standard and expectation of reasonable conduct, would be impossible. Everyone weather they realize it or not, is making a judgement in one way or another. One stance always goes against another. So, we live in a world where we all have a point of view that we function in and hold over others. How messy that is? Who is more right, who has the most accurate perception, who knows the answers to life’s hard questions? This conundrum we find ourselves in, points to the obvious need for us to seek God. We need His perfect, Holy, overarching understanding of life’s unanswerable questions. HE IS WISDOM and He shares that wisdom in His word. (Proverbs 8).
And so, Jesus’ answer brings in a whole other realm of truth the disciples were unable to consider. Hardship in life is not always punishment, it can be the blessing of God. God can use our suffering to magnify His glory. To demonstrate His power displayed in the life of that person. Would we have ever concluded this in our own rationale? We with our prejudices and judgments? The worst judgement we must be wary of; is that God doesn’t exist or that He’s not good because of the evil around us. In that, our own blindness can hide the greatest, most precious vision there is to behold. That of a God who loves us with more power and intensity than any love that could be found on this earth.
Romans 8: 38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
After that discussion, Jesus meets this blind man and heals him on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a sacred day where no work was to be performed under Jewish law. God Himself instituted the Sabbath to be a day of rest and reliance on His provisions. Yet the Jewish authorities reconstructed it to be an oppressive set of rules to measure pious appearances. Already irritated with Jesus’ ministry, this act of healing enraged them. And so, they start an inquisition involving the blind man, the neighbors, the spectators and the blind man’s parents. They harass and badger this man with questions even as he openly shares every detail of the healing.
Here we see “man’s” judgements (in the Jewish teachers) wanting to contest and challenge this act of God. There was healing and freedom, but that is not good enough for the Pharisees. They continue to press their logic, wanting to uphold their pride. That is what we humans do. We can disguise it with noble attempts of piety or a stubborn anger. But ultimately if we are left in our sin, we fight against God. We hold on to our pride, unwilling to surrender to His freedom and healing, because we just can’t see. The blind man was healed and saw with new vision. Once he allowed himself to do that, he could see Christ and receive more than new vision. He receives eternal life.
Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is he sir?” the man asked, “tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, “You have now seen Him, in fact, He is the one speaking with you.”
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him. John 9:35-38
Jesus said, “For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
Towards the end of the chapter Jesus then addresses the Pharisees:
Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim to see; your guilt remains. John 9:41
So where do you find yourself? Are you fighting against God because of your set of rules, your system of logic? Are you fighting against His healing and the new life He offers, because you’re angry at Him? If that is the case do you feel like those thoughts, feelings, or the logic is your end all? Is it enough for you to stake your life on? Is it supreme against what God says and what He offers? Or could it possibly be that there is more to see and consider? If it’s not, are you willing to see? Are you willing to ask God to open your vision as He did the blind man so that you can understand what He wants to give you? I remember blindness and it can be convincingly real. But if you have any curiosity or an unsettled disposition; Christ has a very rich, secure place for you that is filled with great hope and truly is NEW LIFE. Ask Him to show you and He will.
The Potter’s Clay 