.

The funny thing about the way a girl gets destroyed, about the way that deal goes down – is that everyone pretty much sees it coming up the system from all the way across town. And she isn’t always blinded, she isn’t always far astray – she just might not be thinking, she might be having a bad day.

But when you chose you chose.
And when you drown, you drown.

18 Bullet Holes - Waterdeep

Reflection on the Blind Man

In reflection on yesterday’s sermon on John 9, I could not help but think about what many people today would have done had they been the blind man.

You see, in this story Jesus uses spit, mud, and a pool of water to heal a man who had been blind from birth. There is then a great debate then ensues between the Pharisees and the blind man over who this Jesus is.

The part that really caught me the most, however, is how the man who was healed, and who did not even know really who it was that had healed him, was so adamant about defending the actions of his healer. I could not help but wonder what this man would have done in today’s world.

Here is my guess, and again, this is just a guess. When the Pharisees found out that this man had been healed they would have gone out and gotten a copyright on the spit, mud, and water and then created a business which sold this special type of mud and water. They then would have run an infomercial claiming that they had invented a special type of mud that when combined with their healing spit and washed in this special water would lead to the curing of illnesses and diseases. They would have used this man who everyone knew use to be blind, and would have made a fortune out of all of this. Then, when they had sold all they could sell they would wrap the man up in some sort of litigation and leave him to die a poor broke man who could only get his money by paying millions of dollars in legal fees and waiting a couple of decades to get his settlement.

Sound crazy? Is it really though? Have you been healed? If you are a Christian then the answer is a resounding yes.

If you claim to be a Christian you are claiming to have been given spiritual sight, even though you were born spiritually blind.

But is that what you claim? Do you claim that you were completely blind and Jesus came out of nowhere and healed you? Or do you claim that you followed a method, did a few key steps, said a few key words, and then all of a sudden you could see?

Ezekiel 37 tells a story of the prophet after whom the book is titled being told by God to go and prophesy to a valley of dry bones. He is told to prophesy to them so that they will come back together and live again. When Ezekiel goes to prophesy, he knows that there is no way he can do or say anything to make these bones come back to life. That is, unless God shows up in a big way.

Do you claim that God is the reason your scattered spiritual bones are alive? Or do you claim it was because of what someone said?

John 8:58
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

Who are we to think that we have done anything to deserve this free gift of grace? Who are we to do anything but give praise to our Lord and Saviour. We were once blind, but now we see.

I pray that as I go forward and live out the gospel in my life, I would do so in such a way as to acknowledge that it is not of anything we do that people are given spiritual life, it truly is all because of Jesus.

1Co 1:18
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

born blind - Jn 9

What was it like to be free of blindness from birth? Imagine that you had had never known the face of your mother, the shape of a tree that you knew shaded you from the sun. What if the sun and moon had never passed into our sight? How about the way water looks at sunset, what if that too had never entered into our minds? Everything was images of blackness and even your very imagination had no basis outside sound. What if what you thought you saw was all along nothing but pictures painted-by-number by someone before you –as if the stories you heard and the lessons you learned were mere reflections, whitewashed and kept from the light of truth. You had lived for so long looking at these paintings that you convinced yourself that they were indeed the sunset, the water, the moon. Then you are presented with the real thing – the light shines forth into the world around you and the thing you imagined was just that, a dream, a half-glazed drawing in colors that could hardly be called true. For this man healed of his blindness, once the light had been revealed, there was no going back. There was no desire to sit once again in a world that was dark and full of noise, but without color or face. But for the Pharisees, there was only one way – for they had been born blind too, and must but brought under the flood of grace, to be born again, much as the blind man’s eyes experienced birth once again, but this time to everything – all came clear. Each are born blind. But then Jesus comes upon the story of our lives – and what then?

This division is why the cross bears no power in the lives of the religious leaders. The decision has been made – the lines drawn. All they know is what they can see, and that is darkness – pictures without light, stories without hope, and life without its Maker. For deliberate rejection of light means that the “light within…is darkness” (Matt 6.23). In the end, this is equivalent of receiving clay on the eyes and then sitting down, refusing to go to Siloam.

The division becomes more clearly outlined as the man stands before the religious leaders. For with Him the seeds have already been planted. The experience of the restoration of his sight has already bled him from the veins of the body of Jews. For with sight comes a whole new picture – no longer is his heart held in sway by the passing hope that today there might be enough to make bread and take on a new cloak. The hope that cannot be called that, because we at best cannot imagine hope lasting as long as this man had spent alone in the dark. And for the religious leaders, they see that there is a clearly a break from their law and the law of Jesus. Much as Jesus calls men to follow Him – these religious leaders understood what it meant to cast their hearts after a cause, no matter what it may be. They were nothing if not committed – even unto their own condemnation.

And that really is the story here – there is more than one person blind in this story. Because the physical needs can never surpass the deep darkness in our very souls. When he is finally cast out from the assembly, For he had practically confessed that the highest claims which Jesus had ever made about Himself were true. This was far more than many of the disciples would ever do before the time of Pentecost. Jesus hears of it, and finds him. For the spiritual need was still there – it was still greater than any fleshly need. If this man had never been born blind – what then? Would this story have come into life for him? Much as the story of Lazarus was for the glory of God, this too was a story of redemption long planned. Think of the story being written out before this man was even born (Ps 139.16) – with a sole purpose of using this suffering to lead to the glorification of God – and for this man, the salvation of his very soul. Now that this man has been excluded from Club Israel, he is now invited to become a member of the Body of Christ. This forever remains as startling vindication of our Lord’s own word – that He was the light of the world, and it eyesight too. He was able to supply the objective condition and subjective change by which the nature of man could alone receive the light of life. (pulpit) We need God to not only help us see the light of His salvation, but to also be able to read and understand correctly His word to us, and His guidance to do His works that He has established for us. Otherwise, we are just looking at pictures, stories, and ideas that are no more true and real than any other.

Regeneration

Titus 3:3-7
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

How did you feel about being born?

Joyful?

Afraid?

Confused?

How then must the new Christian feel when they have been born of the Spirit?

Don’t think it happens?

John 3:3
Jesus answered [Nicodemus], "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Do you remember this time in your walk? Is it ok if you do not?

I don’t.

I know from my mother that it happened when I was still young in the flesh.

I also know by the fact that I have matured spiritually, and this is not possible without an initial birth.

But who grants us this birthing?

If an act by a man and woman yields physical birth than what is it that results in the spiritual birth of someone?

Is it truly an act of God? Or is there something we can do to birth ourselves in the spirit?

Or should I phrase it this way…

Can a dead man make himself alive again?

Eph 2:1
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--

The Bible is very clear that we were made alive in Christ while we were still dead. No man can do this on his own, no matter how hard he tries. It truly takes the work of a Saviour.

Now that the thanksgiving and Christmas season is over how long will it be before you stop again to thank the God who not only created you, but birthed you in the Spirit?

Or, if you are not a Christian, how long will it be before you lean into your Maker and realize how deep of a need you have for a Saviour?

I challenge you not to wait until next November to thank the Lord for what He has done in you, and continues to do to this very day.

“By grace you have been saved”

Thank you Jesus.