Blindness

All this week I have had a band-aid on the palm of my right hand.
Nothing serious…but the cut needed to be covered.
It has been such an inconvenience.
I could still do all the routine things I needed to do, but the bandage got in the way.

When I washed my hands or washed the dishes, the band-aid would fall off.
The band-aid had to wrap around my knuckles, because of the location of the cut.
Every time I moved my hand, one side would pop off.
Such a nuisance.

My cut, and its accompanying band-aid, was simply inconvenient.
Many people have to deal with far more serious things every day of their life.
Wheel chairs, crutches, working dogs with their owners are a part of many daily lives.

In Jesus’ day, it was believed that if a person had a handicap, they must have sinned.

As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9: 1-3)

The people in Jesus’ day believed that a person could sin in the womb.
This was their explanation for anyone born with a physical handicap.
They thought that since they were not handicapped…they must be in good standing.

Except it didn’t work that way!
Jesus would consistently turn that self-righteous belief on its head.

Having said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” He told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and he came home seeing. (John 9:6,7)

People didn’t recognize the man…since he used to be blind.
He used to sit and beg.
When they asked him how he could see, he replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” (John 9:11)

There were strict rules about what a person could or could not do on the Sabbath.
Jesus always obeyed what His Father said.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, but He rested on the seventh day…
(Exodus 20:8-10,11)

It was the oral law…the man-made rules of the Pharisees…that added so many of the extra burdens on the people.
Those man-made rules meant nothing to Jesus…they were not commanded by His Father.

The day that Jesus made mud for the blind man’s eyes was a Sabbath day.
The Pharisees believed that one could do anything on a Sabbath that would save a life.
They considered the mud that Jesus made for the blind man’s eyes…work.

The Pharisees missed the point.
Jesus healed a man born blind.
All they could see…was a rule breaker.
Whose rules were broken?

The man who had been blind was pressed with many questions.
Where is this Jesus? What do you have to say about Him?
The Pharisees even questioned the man’s parents…demanding answers.

“We know he is our son…and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ, would be put out of the synagogue.
(John 9:20-22)

They were afraid.
Afraid of breaking the rules.
Whose rules?

Even today we have such legalism.
We have the clipboard with all the items needing to be checked off the list.
Rules with no heart.
Exactly what Jesus condemned.

There was such a wonderful progression of faith in the man who used to be blind.
First, he called Jesus “the man.”
Then, he said Jesus was a prophet.
Finally, when the Pharisees still pushed him the man said, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25)

Insult after insult, the Pharisees finally said, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. (John 9:34)

Getting thrown out of the synagogue meant complete ostracism.
The man who used to be blind lost everything.
The man who used to be blind gained Jesus.

The Pharisees threw the man out.
The Pharisees suffered from spiritual blindness.
All their man-made rules got in the way…and hid Jesus…the Truth…from their eyes.

Jesus sought the man out…and found him.

“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is He, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”
“You have now seen Him, in fact He is the One speaking to you.”
“Lord, I believe.”
And he worshiped Him. (John 9:35-38)

Progression.
Man…Prophet…Lord.

Complete healing.
The work of God displayed in a life.
I was blind, but now I see.