Eyes are Opened

 

The Pharisees Question Jesus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John chapter nine tells the story of the blind man. He was a man destined to live his days begging. He would have no wife or children to carry on his name. He would have no trade or position among his peers. His days were spent asking others for handouts. It was a grim and depressing life.

Little did the blind man know, his life was about to take a drastic turn because Jesus came along. Jesus asked him if he wanted to see and he responded with an eager “YES!” That was all Jesus needed to hear and the man’s life was forever changed. He would no longer sit and beg. Now he could work. Now he could have a family. The whole world opened up before him. He traded in his destitute life for eternal life. Jesus changed everything.

I imagine the man was thrilled beyond words. I can just see him walking through the streets seeing everything for the first time. I wonder if he compared reality with the pictures he had painted in his mind and laughed. For the first time ever, he saw his parent’s faces and the tears in their eyes as he told his story. Jesus did for their son what they couldn’t do for him. They too had lived in the shadow of condemnation thinking God was punishing them by giving them a blind son. Can you fathom their relief when they realized their son found favor in God’s eyes? What a glorious day!

Unfortunately, this poor man was beaten down as soon as he shared his good news with the Pharisees. After all, it was the Sabbath and no one could be healed on the Sabbath. (Do you think Jesus did this on purpose just to irk them? I think He did it to help them see that their rules were guiding them, not God.) Anyways, they questioned the man, his parents and the man again. I imagine they sucked the joy right out of this miraculous event. But they could not convince the man otherwise. He was determined to give Jesus the glory. And eventually, when he’d had enough of them he responded with sarcasm. I laughed when he asked them if they wanted to be Jesus’ disciples too. (vs. 27) And then they threw him out. I’m not surprised.

Like the blind man, we are on a journey…the journey of life. Along the way Jesus called us to follow Him. We followed. He continues to call us work with Him in different situations. We accept the call. We’re excited. We hit bumps in the road. We doubt. Others doubt.  The enemy fights against us. We lose hope. Jesus comes in and reminds us of our calling. It’s the way of life. Each and every time we decide to follow Jesus, someone will come along and try to dissuade us. Some will question our integrity (as if we have any aside from Jesus). And we will look at our circumstances and decided that because they are not as we expected, all is lost.

Do not lose hope. Jesus called you to walk with Him, not save the day. He will do what He intended from the beginning. You just have to be bold and continue to follow regardless of the stones being thrown at you. He never said it would be easy. He never said you had to do it alone. Just keep walking one step at a time and rest in Him. He will bring it to pass.

“If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:33 NIV)

Related articles

• Casting Stones (adisplayofsplendor.com)
• John 9:1 – 38 – Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind – As he – Bible Gateway (dryan659.wordpress.com)