And Then I Could See

Wednesday, May 29, 2013, 6:45 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “In Faithfulness He Leads Me” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 9 (NIV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%209&version=NIV

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 works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

After saying 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 came home seeing.

…They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

…A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

Then they hurled insults at him… And they threw him out.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.


But This Happened

In Psalm 139:16 we read, “… all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” In Rom. 8:29 we read, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…,” and in Eph. 1:11-12 we read, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”

God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives. We may not always understand his purposes in the things we go through in this life, but he allows and permits and even plans our lives to go a certain way, and all for his purposes, will, and glory. And, that is what Jesus expressed concerning the man who was born blind. He was not born blind as a result of his or his parents’ sin, but so God could display his works in the man’s life. Awesome! And, he did that, too! That man had one of the greatest testimonies of faith I have ever heard, and yet so simple. I think sometimes we are reluctant to share our faith because we feel as though we don’t know enough, and yet this man just shared what he knew, and it wasn’t much, but what he shared was revolutionary! Once he was blind, and now he could see! Amen! He didn’t have all the answers, but he knew Jesus changed his life. So cool!

So, what this teaches us is to trust in God’s purposes and plans for our lives, even if we don’t understand everything that has happened or that is happening in our lives presently. This means that we yield to his purposes and that we choose to believe in him and to walk in faithful obedience to him even when we don’t understand everything, and even when we can’t see the light sometimes for the darkness. The light is still there, and the light (Jesus) will lead us and guide us into all truth, and will show us the way we should go.

Go and Wash

It was God’s will that this man be healed of his blindness, so Jesus spat on the ground, made mud, put it on the man’s eyes, and then told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The man went and washed and came home seeing. I find this really interesting and intriguing as to the manner in which Jesus chose to heal this man. He could have just said, “Be healed,” or he could have just touched him and healed him. After all, he was (is) God! Yet, if we think in terms of the spiritual parallels to us being healed of spiritual blindness, it makes sense, for Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself (his self-life), take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self), and follow (obey) him. In other words, faith is not just something we think or feel, but it is evidenced by what we do in response to what Christ did for us, and in obedience to Christ and to his commands.

Some people questioned how this man was healed of his blindness. Others doubted that this was the same man who used to sit begging. They asked him how his eyes were opened, so he told them what happened. Then, they asked the location of Jesus, but the man didn’t know. So, they brought him to the Pharisees, and they, too, questioned him. Jesus had healed this man on the Sabbath, which was a “No-no” in the eyes of the Pharisees, although they would circumcise babies and would rescue sheep on the Sabbath, so they were hypocritical in their judgments of Jesus, and just looked for reasons to accuse him because they didn’t like his messages, because they were hard messages, and because they exposed their own wickedness and threatened their power centers. Jesus said they were like white-washed tombs – clean on the outside, but inside they were full of greed and self-indulgence.

You Did Not Listen

Have you ever had someone ask you the same question several times even after you have answered the question each time? And, did you say to the person, “You are not listening!”? Well, that is the situation here between the blind man and the Pharisees. It wasn’t that they couldn’t hear the man, or that they didn’t physically hear the words coming out of the man’s mouth, but they weren’t really listening, i.e. it appears they didn’t like the answer so they hoped if they asked it again that maybe they would get a different response. Or, it could be they were just trying to intimidate the man because they could, and because they didn’t like it that Jesus had healed the man. So, when they didn’t get the response or answer they had hoped for, then they took to insulting the man. Yet, the man did not waver in his faith. Amen! He stood strong on the testimony, not only that Jesus had healed him, but that Jesus was obviously a righteous man, for if Jesus were not from God, he could not have healed him. Makes perfect sense! The man had simple child-like faith, and that faith saved him.

When we come to Jesus with that kind of child-like faith, and we believe his words to us, and we share the testimony of our heart transformation and of his true gospel, there will be those who will hate us, reject us, insult us, question our testimony, try to intimidate us, and some will even throw us out of their institutions (churches) of men. Yet, Jesus will be there for us, just like he was for the man he had healed of his blindness. He will teach us his ways, encourage our hearts, help us to grow in our faith, comfort us with his love and kindness, and he will open our blinded eyes so that we can see the light of life, have understanding of his truths, and so we can recognize the works of the evil one.

Are we blind too?

The Pharisees wanted to know if Jesus was saying that they were blind. I can imagine that his answer surprised them, for he told them that their guilt was not a result of their spiritual blindness, but a result of the fact that they were deceived into thinking that they could see, and thus they could not have their eyes opened, because they didn’t see their need for Jesus or for his salvation. They thought their own righteousness and their works would save them, despite the wickedness in their hearts, but they thought wrong. The only way we can come to salvation is to recognize our own spiritual blindness (our sin), and to acknowledge our need for the Savior and to be healed of our blindness, then, when we trust in Jesus, by faith, as did the man whom Jesus had healed, then we can say with the man, “Once I was blind, but now I see!” Once I was trapped in the pit of sin, but Jesus delivered me and he set me free, so I no longer have to be in slavery to sin but can walk in his righteousness!!

In Faithfulness He Leads Me / An Original Work / March 20, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures
(Ps. 26:3; 86:11; 91:4-5; 111:7-8; 119:73-76;
Is. 25:1,4&9; 42:6-7; Hos. 2:16-20)

Teach me Your ways, Lord, and I’ll walk in them.
Give me a pure heart. I’ll fear Your name.
Your love is always, ever before me.
Continually I’ll walk in Your truth.
You will cover me with feathers.
Under Your wings I’ll find refuge.
My Lord’s faithfulness will be my
Comfort and my shield.
The works of His hands are faithful and just.
Trustworthy are all of His precepts.

Your hands have made me, and they have formed me.
Give understanding of Your commands.
I have put my hope, O Lord, in Your word.
Your teachings, O Lord, are righteousness.
Lord, in faithfulness You have
Afflicted me so I may learn of
Your unfailing love and comfort
And Your truthfulness.
You are my husband; You have betrothed me
In love, compassion and faithfulness.

O Lord, You are my God, I’ll exalt You.
In faithfulness You’ve done wondrous things.
You’ve been a refuge for those who’re needy;
A shelter in storms; shade from the heat.
This is the Lord, we trusted in Him,
Let us be glad and rejoice
In His salvation which He
Provided through the Lamb.
Open the blind eyes; free all the captives.
Tell them of Jesus: “Be born again!”

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