:: S ::
Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light." – John 9:1-5, The Message
"Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!"
In this story of the blind man, we see the same Jesus at work again, restoring the world to right, one person at a time, one miracle at a time. This was everything He represented, the kind of God He was and is, the type of Kingdom he was establishing and is still seeking to establish.
Is this the type of saviour we are expecting?
It was hardly the kind of saviour that the Pharisees had in mind. That they even doubted the man’s blindness speaks volumes. I wonder what they felt and thought when they looked around their world? Did they see a culture and society that was fragmented and fractured, crying out for deliverance? Or did they see a people that were quite beneath them, that didn’t have a hope for redemption?
They dismissed and despised the good work God was doing in their midst, hanging on to their own sense of superiority, installing their own image of who God was, in relation to them, in relation to the common people.
But what made them cling to this version of God? The law of Moses? The incessant preoccupation that had them zealously measuring their goodness against the law of Moses?
Thrown out by the religious leaders, Jesus came in search for and found the ‘blind’ man. Quite unlike the religious leaders, the blind man recognised the call of God to faith – His sovereignty over creation, His good purpose for humanity, His re-demptive power.
He was blind but now he saw. He saw Christ, revealed in Jesus. He found a new way of seeing the world, a new courage and fearlessness in dealing with the religious authorities. Indeed, he did as his fearful parents hoped he would – taking responsibility over his new found faith.
Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 9:41, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure?”
What are the implications of the blind man’s new way of seeing?
We are not accountable for every fault and failure only because we have stopped looking to the law that brings death, but the law of the Spirit that brings life. We surrender and trust God, because we know we are in the process of being made righteous, by faith. By understanding His will is to restore us to reflect His full image and stature – that change will begin to take place in us from the inside out as we heed the voice of His Spirit that is already in us, given to us as a gift – that enables us to be saved.
His voice is audible, not just through the hocus-pocus of religious rallies. But we will hear if we just still our hearts and push out from the shore, away from the noise of the crowds, from the billboards and messages that assail us everywhere we go.
:: O ::
Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. The logical question, as the disciples thought to ask, was – who sinned?
This was, apparently, the wrong question to ask, according to Jesus. It’s not about looking for someone to blame. Man’s blindness – our ‘sinfulness’ – seems to bother God the least bit. Jesus seems almost too matter-of-fact for our liking.
Take cause and effect out of the equation, he says. Look instead for what God can do, look instead to what Jesus is doing. Look to what His mission on earth is about, and look to all that Jesus represents. For when we see Him, we will begin to understand the Father’s heart, His purpose for creation, and His will for our lives.
Is Jesus the Christ? John the Baptist asks earlier on in Matthew 11. Locked in prison, he sends his disciples to Jesus: "Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?"
Jesus told them, "Go back and tell John what's going on: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.”
This was, apparently, the wrong question to ask, according to Jesus. It’s not about looking for someone to blame. Man’s blindness – our ‘sinfulness’ – seems to bother God the least bit. Jesus seems almost too matter-of-fact for our liking.
Take cause and effect out of the equation, he says. Look instead for what God can do, look instead to what Jesus is doing. Look to what His mission on earth is about, and look to all that Jesus represents. For when we see Him, we will begin to understand the Father’s heart, His purpose for creation, and His will for our lives.
Is Jesus the Christ? John the Baptist asks earlier on in Matthew 11. Locked in prison, he sends his disciples to Jesus: "Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?"
Jesus told them, "Go back and tell John what's going on: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.”
"Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!"
In this story of the blind man, we see the same Jesus at work again, restoring the world to right, one person at a time, one miracle at a time. This was everything He represented, the kind of God He was and is, the type of Kingdom he was establishing and is still seeking to establish.
Is this the type of saviour we are expecting?
It was hardly the kind of saviour that the Pharisees had in mind. That they even doubted the man’s blindness speaks volumes. I wonder what they felt and thought when they looked around their world? Did they see a culture and society that was fragmented and fractured, crying out for deliverance? Or did they see a people that were quite beneath them, that didn’t have a hope for redemption?
They dismissed and despised the good work God was doing in their midst, hanging on to their own sense of superiority, installing their own image of who God was, in relation to them, in relation to the common people.
But what made them cling to this version of God? The law of Moses? The incessant preoccupation that had them zealously measuring their goodness against the law of Moses?
Thrown out by the religious leaders, Jesus came in search for and found the ‘blind’ man. Quite unlike the religious leaders, the blind man recognised the call of God to faith – His sovereignty over creation, His good purpose for humanity, His re-demptive power.
He was blind but now he saw. He saw Christ, revealed in Jesus. He found a new way of seeing the world, a new courage and fearlessness in dealing with the religious authorities. Indeed, he did as his fearful parents hoped he would – taking responsibility over his new found faith.
Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 9:41, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure?”
What are the implications of the blind man’s new way of seeing?
We are not accountable for every fault and failure only because we have stopped looking to the law that brings death, but the law of the Spirit that brings life. We surrender and trust God, because we know we are in the process of being made righteous, by faith. By understanding His will is to restore us to reflect His full image and stature – that change will begin to take place in us from the inside out as we heed the voice of His Spirit that is already in us, given to us as a gift – that enables us to be saved.
His voice is audible, not just through the hocus-pocus of religious rallies. But we will hear if we just still our hearts and push out from the shore, away from the noise of the crowds, from the billboards and messages that assail us everywhere we go.
:: A ::
The way to life, is to live by the Spirit. And I’ve often heard it said that to live by the Spirit is to put ourselves in the way of the Spirit. Much like the way we would put ourselves in the way of the sun’s rays if we wanted to get a tan.
When do I hear from the Spirit most clearly?
Moments like this, I suppose, where His truths become abundantly clear, where I can’t help but surrender my misgivings and doubts, and subject every thought, argument and pretension to the obedience of Christ.
Moments of prayer, when my deepest aches, groans and desires to bubble over against my will, my numbness and apathy.
Moments when I am surrounded by friends who are in search of the same things as I am – in search of meaning and purpose for our existence. This, I think, is the discipline of community – all sorts of people from all walks of life, united by a common quest, which is the spiritual journey.
Moments of rest where I realise I’m more than just a human doing, a machine that is valued because of my usefulness, my ability to meet that damned bottom line.
When do I hear from the Spirit most clearly?
Moments like this, I suppose, where His truths become abundantly clear, where I can’t help but surrender my misgivings and doubts, and subject every thought, argument and pretension to the obedience of Christ.
Moments of prayer, when my deepest aches, groans and desires to bubble over against my will, my numbness and apathy.
Moments when I am surrounded by friends who are in search of the same things as I am – in search of meaning and purpose for our existence. This, I think, is the discipline of community – all sorts of people from all walks of life, united by a common quest, which is the spiritual journey.
Moments of rest where I realise I’m more than just a human doing, a machine that is valued because of my usefulness, my ability to meet that damned bottom line.
:: P ::
Phew, God. It’s just like I’ve been holding my breath all this while till I’m blue in the face. I let it all out now with a giant heave and sigh, and to do as the proverbial saying goes, to let go and let God. To trust You that I can pull through, even though it feels like I’m hanging on cliff’s edge most of the time by the claw of my nails, as I go against my consumerist, materialistic, needy-grabby and selfish instincts. Amen.
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