After getting my feet back on the ground and recovering from a marathon journey back home, I can once again "think"...so here goes another thought on this journey of Jesus towards the cross.
I read this morning from John 9...a passage that is "fun" to read...makes me smile every time. Why? It's a story of a healing...but after the healing the drama begins...and it has everything to do with "Seeing" versus staying "Blind". Here's how the story is introduced:
John 9:1-5 (NLT)
1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.
2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.
4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.
5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
The story begins innocent enough. The question the disciples ask Jesus is not dissimilar from the quandary lots of us have when bad things happen to good people..."what did he/I do wrong to have this happen?". The young man was born blind...think about it. He has NEVER seen.
When I was in Seminary my New Testament professor, Dr. Aubrey Martin, was blind. He was one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. He memorized the entire New Testament and when he lectured he did so without notes...quoting scripture from memory! He used to say that his blindness was the doorway for his ability to memorize scripture. What most of us would see as a huge handicap had served him in his walk with Christ. Dr. Martin had seen as a young man and didn't go blind until he was around 10...so he had memories of what things looked like. This young man in the story had never seen.
John 9:6-7 (NLT)
6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes.
7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
In a remarkable act Jesus uses something very common - mud - and after washing, the boy is able to see...he opens his eyes after bathing, and everything comes alive. He can now put faces to voices; smells have objects; sounds have shape; and movements are to places...it's all new. I can only imagine the excitement this young man feels come alive within him.
But the story isn't just about the healing that takes place.
John 9:13-16 (NLT)
13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees,
14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him.
15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
Here is the controversy. Instead of celebrating a healing - the working of a miracle - they become transfixed by the "one-issue" thing of it was done on the Sabbath. They couldn't believe God could "do" something on the Sabbath - hence Jesus could not be from God, according to their theology.
Theology is not the problem...the problem is the blindness of refusing to believe God while clinging to the power and authority of a position. Seeing with your eyes is only "half-seeing".
The story comes to a conclusion:
John 9:35-41 (NLT)
35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.
39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.
The blind boy "sees"...both physically and spiritually - because he believes in Jesus and worshiped him.
The Pharisees "see", but only physically. They don't "see" spiritually and that is the main issue.
Dr. Martin demonstrated that to me 40 years ago in a classroom.
I read this morning from John 9...a passage that is "fun" to read...makes me smile every time. Why? It's a story of a healing...but after the healing the drama begins...and it has everything to do with "Seeing" versus staying "Blind". Here's how the story is introduced:
John 9:1-5 (NLT)
1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.
2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.
4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.
5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
The story begins innocent enough. The question the disciples ask Jesus is not dissimilar from the quandary lots of us have when bad things happen to good people..."what did he/I do wrong to have this happen?". The young man was born blind...think about it. He has NEVER seen.
When I was in Seminary my New Testament professor, Dr. Aubrey Martin, was blind. He was one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. He memorized the entire New Testament and when he lectured he did so without notes...quoting scripture from memory! He used to say that his blindness was the doorway for his ability to memorize scripture. What most of us would see as a huge handicap had served him in his walk with Christ. Dr. Martin had seen as a young man and didn't go blind until he was around 10...so he had memories of what things looked like. This young man in the story had never seen.
John 9:6-7 (NLT)
6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes.
7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
In a remarkable act Jesus uses something very common - mud - and after washing, the boy is able to see...he opens his eyes after bathing, and everything comes alive. He can now put faces to voices; smells have objects; sounds have shape; and movements are to places...it's all new. I can only imagine the excitement this young man feels come alive within him.
But the story isn't just about the healing that takes place.
John 9:13-16 (NLT)
13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees,
14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him.
15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
Here is the controversy. Instead of celebrating a healing - the working of a miracle - they become transfixed by the "one-issue" thing of it was done on the Sabbath. They couldn't believe God could "do" something on the Sabbath - hence Jesus could not be from God, according to their theology.
Theology is not the problem...the problem is the blindness of refusing to believe God while clinging to the power and authority of a position. Seeing with your eyes is only "half-seeing".
The story comes to a conclusion:
John 9:35-41 (NLT)
35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.
39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.
The blind boy "sees"...both physically and spiritually - because he believes in Jesus and worshiped him.
The Pharisees "see", but only physically. They don't "see" spiritually and that is the main issue.
Dr. Martin demonstrated that to me 40 years ago in a classroom.
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