John 9:1-7 AMPC
As He passed along, He noticed a man blind from his birth. His disciples asked Him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, It was not that this man or his parents sinned, but he was born blind in order that the workings of God should be manifested (displayed and illustrated) in him. We must work the works of Him Who sent Me and be busy with His business while it is daylight; night is coming on, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the world's Light. When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made clay (mud) with His saliva, and He spread it [as ointment] on the man's eyes. And He said to him, Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam-which means Sent. So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
Although Jesus' disciples were near Him physically, by their very question, they showed how far they were from His heart.
What they saw was a question of curiosity, what Jesus saw was a man in need.
Imagine seeing someone deprived of some physical capability and the burning question is only "whose sin caused it!" Not sympathy, but looking for blame.
Jesus' reply and response reveals His compassion for the man.
His gives the man new eyes, which caused a huge upset as it was on the Sabbath.
Again the Pharisees, in their reaction, showed their own spiritual blindness. Imagine being offended because someone blind from birth received new eyes to see!
In a very real sense, we are all born blind - spiritually that is!
God's truth is veiled and alien to our fallen nature.
Each of us need Jesus' miracle to create new eyes to see the Truth.
This may involve us washing off some of the layers that have masked our view of life and prevented us properly seeing Jesus.
It may involve going against traditional religion, or being excluded from certain groups - as the guy here in this story was thrown out:
John 9:34 AMPC
They retorted, You were wholly born in sin [from head to foot]; and do you [presume to] teach us? So they cast him out [threw him clear outside the synagogue].
Thankfully, there is a great reward for receiving "new eyes", like the man, we see Jesus as He really is - the Light of the World.
In these dark times, the most essential thing is to follow that Light, regardless of peer pressure.
We're not used to persecution in this country, but there's a stark warning from a recent case [linked here], that it's not too far a leap for Christian beliefs to be treated as "hate speech"! There are negative spiritual forces attempting to snuff out any talk of absolute Truth. We have to keep our eyes clearly fixed on Jesus' Word and stand our ground.
John 9:39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
May we always use our new eyes to look with compassion on those around us, but be prepared to boldly speak out - even if it's costly.
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