Blind No More
The Lord speaks in a lot of ways, but this morning John 9 rocked my world. It’s when Jesus heals the blind man who had been blind from birth. This story hints at how when we encounter Jesus, we too should be seeing with new eyes.
“Who sinned,” the disciples holler, “this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (vs. 2). And Jesus responds, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (vs. 3).
Then, with a little bit of spit, a little bit of mud, and a whole lot of Holiness, Jesus healed a man blind from birth.
The usual suspects of nay-sayers were quick to join the scene hurling accusations and insults after the #blindnotblind man shared his story. He was questioned once. They didn’t believe him.
They questioned his parents to see if the #blindnotblind man was ever even really blind. Newsflash: He was blind from birth. The parents said it. The crowd said it. The nay-sayers needed to change their nay to a yay because it was true. The man was blind and now he could see and Jesus did that. BOOM. Mic drop. Sight.
But nay-sayers don’t go down that easy. They question the #blindnotblind man again.
Reality check. This man was blind from his birth. He’d been kicked around and treated as less than his whole life. He had to rely on others until the day he met the living God face-to-face and at the end of that encounter the #blindnotblind man actually saw His face—Jesus, God Almighty, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and healer of this man.
So when the nay-sayers questioned him a second time it is no wonder that the power of the living God was still flowing through him. The #blindnotblind man got bold. He spoke the truth without the fear his own parents showed just seconds before.
After SEEING Jesus the Redeemer with his new eyes, how could he do anything but proclaim what had happened? He couldn’t. So he didn’t. He laid it out, “Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (vs. 32-33).
Because they too needed their eyes opened, the nay-sayers flung their final ignorant taunt, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” (v. 34).
It was that last insult, that last kick to his soul that struck me as I read the passage. Finally, I got it. Jesus even tipped me off about it way back in verse 3 when he said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (vs. 3).
The man wasn’t blind because a wrong needed to be righted through punishment. That’s not how Jesus works. Jesus is a redeemer.
He took what was wrong and made it right. And in doing so the #blindnotblind man’s whole life becomes a beautiful illustration of what life is like before we meet Christ face-to-face. We are blind. And when we meet Jesus, we see for the first time.
Let’s take our cues from the #blindnotblind man and be equally bold as we look with new eyes at the world around us. Let’s see what the Redeemer wants us to see. Let’s boldly proclaim that it is He who makes things right and loves those whom others kick around and toss aside.
