John 9:30-33 - The [blind] man answered and said to them[religious leaders, Pharisees], "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."
I never "saw" this so clearly! Here is a man, blind from birth, whom Jesus has given sight to--on the Sabbath, no less, when the laws the Jews followed specifically said not to work. The Pharisees were grilling this blind man and his family about how and who did this. We don't know if this man had heard of Jesus prior to this time. He mentions Him by name but only in his statement "A Man named Jesus..."
This man did as Jesus suggested without question. In faith, He washed his eyes in the Pool of Siloam after Jesus made a paste of mud and anointed his eyes with it. If someone did that to us today how would we react??
After being questioned, I love how this once blind man threw it right back at the Pharisees in the profound Scripture above and they responded with "...and you are teaching us?" before throwing him out of the Temple. Here are men of the Law, teachers of the Law and they are being taught by this once blind man who acted in faith. And here we are, believers, seeing what others do not or do not want to. Who do others say we are?? How can we have been like this blind man and suddenly see? And how is it that we are now in the position of teaching others? Who do we think we are??
I note that this man is still not sure who Jesus is. He knows He has a special gift and he knows He is from God but still struggles a little with his belief. Jesus asked him if he believed in the Son of God. The man asks, "Who is He that I might believe?" And Jesus' answer? "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking to you." In John 9:5 Jesus tells us "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." It takes faith, like I said yesterday, in the unseen. Jesus died, He rose again from the dead. He lives. He lives with us and in us if we choose to believe this and allow Him access to our hearts and lives.
We are all born blind spiritually. It isn't until He opens our eyes that we see. The world is in darkness with what I perceive to be only patches of Light scattered around. For some the Light is still not seen, for others the Light is dim. I believe for some this Light is too bright and some are turned away because it is painful to their eyes. Others are drawn to the Light because their darkness is so painful and they are seeking a solution.
All it takes to see the Light is a little faith in what one hears about the Light. If this Light is shining in your eyes, don't turn away. Let the Light open your spiritual eyes. Let the Light of Jesus Christ bring you a whole new life.
Psalm 146:8 - The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.
I never "saw" this so clearly! Here is a man, blind from birth, whom Jesus has given sight to--on the Sabbath, no less, when the laws the Jews followed specifically said not to work. The Pharisees were grilling this blind man and his family about how and who did this. We don't know if this man had heard of Jesus prior to this time. He mentions Him by name but only in his statement "A Man named Jesus..."
This man did as Jesus suggested without question. In faith, He washed his eyes in the Pool of Siloam after Jesus made a paste of mud and anointed his eyes with it. If someone did that to us today how would we react??
After being questioned, I love how this once blind man threw it right back at the Pharisees in the profound Scripture above and they responded with "...and you are teaching us?" before throwing him out of the Temple. Here are men of the Law, teachers of the Law and they are being taught by this once blind man who acted in faith. And here we are, believers, seeing what others do not or do not want to. Who do others say we are?? How can we have been like this blind man and suddenly see? And how is it that we are now in the position of teaching others? Who do we think we are??
I note that this man is still not sure who Jesus is. He knows He has a special gift and he knows He is from God but still struggles a little with his belief. Jesus asked him if he believed in the Son of God. The man asks, "Who is He that I might believe?" And Jesus' answer? "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking to you." In John 9:5 Jesus tells us "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." It takes faith, like I said yesterday, in the unseen. Jesus died, He rose again from the dead. He lives. He lives with us and in us if we choose to believe this and allow Him access to our hearts and lives.
We are all born blind spiritually. It isn't until He opens our eyes that we see. The world is in darkness with what I perceive to be only patches of Light scattered around. For some the Light is still not seen, for others the Light is dim. I believe for some this Light is too bright and some are turned away because it is painful to their eyes. Others are drawn to the Light because their darkness is so painful and they are seeking a solution.
All it takes to see the Light is a little faith in what one hears about the Light. If this Light is shining in your eyes, don't turn away. Let the Light open your spiritual eyes. Let the Light of Jesus Christ bring you a whole new life.
Psalm 146:8 - The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.
Oh, the audacity of those of us who fail to see what we can learn from those who we think might be "less spiritual" than ourselves! Good read, Laurie!
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