Paralysis by Analysis!
When someone is born blind or with some other disease one of the last things you would think would be that this person deserved this fate. Yet today when Jesus and his disciples run into a man born blind from birth, the disciples first question is, "Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents?" It's hard to believe this would be the worldview of the Jewish community at this time. So let's see how Jesus answers their query.
9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
The disciples had no inclination to help the man, they only wanted to understand intellectually why he had been born blind. Jesus didn't want to spend time speculating the cause of his disease, but how God could use it to show he was the light of the world.
"Jesus will soon show a different way. He won’t dwell on the theological puzzle, but on actually helping the man. “It is ours, not to speculate, but to perform acts of mercy and love, according to the tenor of the gospel. Let us then be less inquisitive and more practical, less for cracking doctrinal nuts, and more for bringing forth the bread of life to the starving multitudes.” (Spurgeon)
It wasn't that Jesus was against theology, but he saw the opportunity the Father put in front of him and went for it. But sometimes we get to a state of "paralysis by analysis". Sometimes it is easier to analyze a problem than do something about it. This was the problem with Pharisees. They had gotten so caught up in enforcing their religious laws, they completely lost sight of the people they served. They completely forgot about the purpose of the commandments, which was and is to show God's love and mercy. If you read the rest of the story, they are so deadset against Jesus, they literally try to tell the blind man he really wasn't blind it only seemed that way. Lunacy.
The question we should consider today is do we live in our "head" or our "heart"? I am not saying we need to be "anti-intellectual", but so often we rationalize our way out of helping someone in need. Jesus said there should be an urgency in our lives to do the works God sent us to do while it is still day. Jesus spent most of his time doing God's will not being stuck in "paralysis by analysis". Most of the things God calls us to do are pretty easy, they are not complicated theological conundrums. Maybe we should spend less time trying to figure out God's will and more time doing it!
The disciples had no inclination to help the man, they only wanted to understand intellectually why he had been born blind. Jesus didn't want to spend time speculating the cause of his disease, but how God could use it to show he was the light of the world.
"Jesus will soon show a different way. He won’t dwell on the theological puzzle, but on actually helping the man. “It is ours, not to speculate, but to perform acts of mercy and love, according to the tenor of the gospel. Let us then be less inquisitive and more practical, less for cracking doctrinal nuts, and more for bringing forth the bread of life to the starving multitudes.” (Spurgeon)
It wasn't that Jesus was against theology, but he saw the opportunity the Father put in front of him and went for it. But sometimes we get to a state of "paralysis by analysis". Sometimes it is easier to analyze a problem than do something about it. This was the problem with Pharisees. They had gotten so caught up in enforcing their religious laws, they completely lost sight of the people they served. They completely forgot about the purpose of the commandments, which was and is to show God's love and mercy. If you read the rest of the story, they are so deadset against Jesus, they literally try to tell the blind man he really wasn't blind it only seemed that way. Lunacy.
The question we should consider today is do we live in our "head" or our "heart"? I am not saying we need to be "anti-intellectual", but so often we rationalize our way out of helping someone in need. Jesus said there should be an urgency in our lives to do the works God sent us to do while it is still day. Jesus spent most of his time doing God's will not being stuck in "paralysis by analysis". Most of the things God calls us to do are pretty easy, they are not complicated theological conundrums. Maybe we should spend less time trying to figure out God's will and more time doing it!
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