Living Stones – Saturday, December 9, 2017
Opened eyes
John 9:10
Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
It is difficult to encounter Jesus and remain blind. The record shows Jesus healing many of blindness, some who have not been named and some named like, blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46.
The opening of blind eyes is a marker of the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah established this centuries before. In Isaiah 29:18 he wrote, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” This prophecy of the Messiah is repeated in Isaiah 35:5 and 42:7.
This may shed some light on how John the Baptist interpreted the answer Jesus sent to him when he questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah. In a strange development, John, who had declared about Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29, developed doubts and sent a team of investigators to interrogate Jesus.
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Matthew 11:4-5.
Right after Jesus encountered the blind man in John 9 and explained the cause of the man’s blindness he made the point that He is the light, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:5. Light as we all know, it critical to sight. Remove light and our eyes, however good they are, are incapable of seeing. There are some things in this world that we cannot see without Jesus’ light.
Everyone marveled that this man, blind from birth, had received his sight. It is clear that this man was well known. People with disabilities, especially back in those days, often have to beg alms for a living. We note that many of them are always associated with a particular place where they are taken to every day to beg. As a result, everyone in the community comes to know them and even those who don’t give to them tend to miss them when they aren’t in place.
The disciples quickly recognised him as the one who was blind from birth and later the community marveled for that reason. There were some who doubted that it was the same man but those doubts were not the result of a failure of recognition, those doubts stemmed from the total surprise of seeing him see.
This blind man was seeing because he encountered the light of Christ, many around him still couldn’t see. His blindness was real for him, but his blindness is a metaphor for us. There are many things that we cannot understand because of our blindness. Earlier this week, we reflected on spiritual blindness, an inability to see in the spirit, beyond what we see naturally. Today, we are reflecting on another aspect of blindness, being unable to understand the times and events around us.
This phenomenon was explained by the Apostle John, very early in his unique Gospel account. Here is what John wrote, “… the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:5
This is a baffling concept. In real terms, once light comes on darkness goes away. It’s natural, and it’s normal. John, however, introduced a new dimension, that there could be light accompanied by a total lack of appreciation of what that light has done and what that light means.
John also wrote, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4, but yet there are so many who are daily groping around as if in darkness, failing to understand the times and what they should do to live life effectively.
So many are in confusion, despair, and hopelessness. So many people are turning to substance abuse, many because of abuse. Regularly, one kind of abuse leads the abused to abuse, either others or themselves with dangerous substances. Yet others are in despair over culture and the demands that society seems to be making of them and, failing to adjust are looking for ways to check out. Then there are those too who, the economic circumstance have made life too difficult for them to cope. And, final example, there are those who are disillusioned about politics and the prospects for them and their children in the future.
The foregoing is not an exhaustive list of the challenges of our time, but a mere sampling. The point is that we need seeing people to help others to navigate through these circumstances. We need people like the well know “sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, I Chronicles 12:32. We need people with opened eyes to show others the light, Jesus.
“Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus …” John 9:10-11.
Think on these things:
- Do you pay attention to the events around you in your community, the country, or the world?
- How do you respond to those events, do you look for ways to participate by helping others or giving leadership or making some other kind of contribution?
- Are you yourself in despair or struggling to cope with the challenges of the times? If so, where are you looking for help?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would have opened eyes to find our way through the light of Christ, and then to help others find Him and navigate life too.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
