| John 9:25 – “One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” |
We read stories in the Bible and mentally, we want to adjust them a little to make them fit.
The prodigal son–shouldn’t we be angry with slackers and those who waste good money?
What about forgiveness? It’s easy to forgiven unless you are the one who has been hurt–then, we have to adjust the story.
That’s what happens in a story in John 9. We know it but we don’t look at it closely, lest we take a peek in the mirror and see our own faces.
A man who is born blind.
We don’t know the circumstances only that he has never seen his mother’s face or the leaves change in fall.
But four different people engage him some way.
The first is the disciples. They ask a question–who sinned, this man or his parents?
They do what many people do. They want to turn the man into a discussion group.
Here’s our question for our next meeting? Who will bring the donuts.
They don’t see a man but a theological conundrum.
The second are neighbors.
they are confused.
Is this the man? I don’t know. He looks like him, but I don’t think so. He doesn’t have his dog and cane?
But it still looks like it but it can’t be him. He’s blind and he’s walking around like he can see things.
And the man becomes nothing but a topic of gossip, someone to be gawked at, whispered about.
The third are religious leaders.
They see all kinds of problems. Who did this? Were they authorized? Did he get permission to do this? He didn’t talk to me, which was how the football was passed around.
They put the screws to him…confess…how did you get this way? You wicked man, why won’t you admit the fault in this scene.
And…they, like so many religious leaders, don’t expect change in someone and then, if it happens, it must be a cult or something.
And yet in the end, only two figures stand there.
Jesus and the man
the man knew only one thing–where he was once blind, he could now see.
And…he learned that only one he met wanted to change him, touch him, and change him.
One of the demands of Christianity is to see people in peril and rescue them. If you stood on the Jerusalem street corner, would you discuss, gossip, or condemn? Or would you be glad that Jesus changed him?
–Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
