Daily Bread 2011 - John 9
Daily Bread 2011 – John 9
17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” 18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out
What Does This Mean?
This time the Pharisees are mad at Jesus for healing a blind man. It didn’t fit there paradigm, as a blind man was generally thought to be blind for some sin he had committed. When we see the parents of the man asserting that he has been blind from birth, it makes their theology look even worse. Bottom line is they were trying to trap Jesus again and no amount of cajoling with the blind man get him to indict Jesus as anything but the Son of God.
All he can admit is, “This one thing I know, I was blind and now I see.” Then, the man turns the tables on the Pharisees by saying, “We know God does not listen to sinners, if this man were not born of God, he could do nothing.” With this, the Pharisees had heard enough, and threw him out perhaps as they began to be convicted of their own sinfulness.
What Does This Mean For Us?
When someone is dead set on disproving any kind of supernatural miracle from God’s hand, there is not a good likelihood you will convince them, short of another miracle. Here these guys had a man blind from birth, but instead at marveling at his miraculous healing, they discount it because it would mean they would have to actually believe in Jesus.
People do the same thing today. They discount anything in a Christian’s life that might prove what they have spent their life avoiding to come to grips with…the truth! One of the reason people try to minimize or rationalize away the truth of Christianity and Jesus himself, is that to acknowledge the truth would cause them to have surrender their lives and the control of them. If Jesus is who He said He was, as evidenced by the facts, that would mean I would have to listen and surrender to what He says. This is a scary proposition but the very essence of what it means to follow Him.
Heavenly Father we thank you for the work you do in our lives of transforming us sometimes in great miracles like this story, and sometimes day by day making us more like the Son. No one can take away the changes you have wrought in us no matter how hard they try, because what you have done will last forever. Amen.
17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” 18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out
What Does This Mean?
This time the Pharisees are mad at Jesus for healing a blind man. It didn’t fit there paradigm, as a blind man was generally thought to be blind for some sin he had committed. When we see the parents of the man asserting that he has been blind from birth, it makes their theology look even worse. Bottom line is they were trying to trap Jesus again and no amount of cajoling with the blind man get him to indict Jesus as anything but the Son of God.
All he can admit is, “This one thing I know, I was blind and now I see.” Then, the man turns the tables on the Pharisees by saying, “We know God does not listen to sinners, if this man were not born of God, he could do nothing.” With this, the Pharisees had heard enough, and threw him out perhaps as they began to be convicted of their own sinfulness.
What Does This Mean For Us?
When someone is dead set on disproving any kind of supernatural miracle from God’s hand, there is not a good likelihood you will convince them, short of another miracle. Here these guys had a man blind from birth, but instead at marveling at his miraculous healing, they discount it because it would mean they would have to actually believe in Jesus.
People do the same thing today. They discount anything in a Christian’s life that might prove what they have spent their life avoiding to come to grips with…the truth! One of the reason people try to minimize or rationalize away the truth of Christianity and Jesus himself, is that to acknowledge the truth would cause them to have surrender their lives and the control of them. If Jesus is who He said He was, as evidenced by the facts, that would mean I would have to listen and surrender to what He says. This is a scary proposition but the very essence of what it means to follow Him.
Heavenly Father we thank you for the work you do in our lives of transforming us sometimes in great miracles like this story, and sometimes day by day making us more like the Son. No one can take away the changes you have wrought in us no matter how hard they try, because what you have done will last forever. Amen.
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