John 9 devotional

John 9: 24 -25

24They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind— and told him, "Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor." 25 He replied, "I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see."

Application: I don’t know what it is like to be blind, but I was once in the woods in Eastern Europe at night where it was really, really dark. And, I did not like it! I could not see anything. Being in the dark can be tough; similarly, I remember the difference I felt being in the dark in my room as a boy. I remember sharing a room with my brother and waking up at night trying to get to the bathroom. I would bump into stuff because I did not know where all the toys were. Eventually, I got used to going to the bathroom at night. (I think my brother getting his own room had a big part to do with that). When he moved out, I got comfortable with going to the bathroom in the darkness because I knew where all my things were. I was comfortable with my surroundings. However, if anybody came into my room and moved something around, I would have been in trouble. And, my entire family would have suffered as the sound of my fall reverberated throughout the house. Obviously, if I turned on the light, I would not have this problem. But, if I turned on the light, it might have woken me up more than I wanted to. And, I did not want to wake up. I simply wanted to use the bathroom and go right back to sleep. This scenario is similar to what was happening to the blind man and the Pharisees. The blind man, who Jesus healed, had been blind from birth. But, even though he was born blind, he never became comfortable with the dark! He wanted the lights on. How do I know that? Well, after Jesus healed him, the Pharisees tried to get him to lie and say that Jesus was a sinner! But, this was a man who had been blind all his life and had never seen anything. He was the last person on the earth who could lie about what he ‘saw.’ No this is a man that is going to tell everyone exactly what he sees. You see this man exhibited the actions of one who desired the light. He was so thankful to see and so thankful for what Jesus had done for him that he had to interpret accurately what he saw in Jesus. In this man’s heart he knew that Jesus was good. Everything within his heart was screaming—Jesus is a good man, he healed you didn’t he. And, because he could ‘see’ that Jesus was good, he had to respond honesty to the Pharisees questions about Jesus regardless of the consequences. The conflict for this man is the Pharisees stated whoever said Jesus was the Messiah would be kicked out of their church. For a Jew that was huge, but for a Jew who was born blind and had no income it was enormous. But, the Scriptures say, “They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind— and told him, "Give credit to God. We know this man [Jesus] is an impostor." He replied, "I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.” Interestingly, the Pharisees who were born with functional eyes were really blind. And, unlike the blind man, they were comfortable with the darkness. How do I know this? Well in vs. 16 one of the Pharisees asks the obvious question that the blind man also repeated in vs. 31. What was the question? How can a man who is a sinner do such signs [heal a blind man]? And, the obvious answer is ‘only God can do such signs; it is impossible for anyone else.’ Therefore, Jesus must be from God. Seems simple, but the Pharisees were comfortable with the dark. They did not want to see because if Jesus was right, then they would have to wake up and admit they were wrong. Therefore, they chose to reject Jesus and walk around in the dark. Sadly, the sound of their fall is still ringing in our ears. Here is the moral of the story, when you see Jesus for who He reality is, you see yourself for who your really are. Jesus is ultimate reality or He is the light that exposes everything. If you are honest in your assessment of whom Jesus is you are in the light. Why? Because you will see how dependent you are on him to be righteous but, an incorrect assessment of Him means you are in the darkness and you think that you don’t need Him, and you can get right with God on your own! The Bible calls that being blind or being in the dark. You see, I knew there was a good reason to be afraid of the dark!

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize John 9: 24 -25

2. What are some things you do differently when you walk in the dark in contrast to the light?

3. Pray for someone you know who is walking in the dark?