DEVOTIONAL:
When I read today’s passage, I think of the beautiful song written by John Newton. Amazing Grace has been sung in churches all over the world since it was penned in the 1760s. The particular line that stands out is “how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” Do you remember the hour that you first believed? Do you remember when you first understood the need for a savior and found hope and love in Jesus Christ? I know when I first believed I could not handle it. I couldn’t hold it in. I wanted everyone to know. Why does it seem so easy to share what Christ has done for us when we first believe, but as we grow “closer” to God, we seem to lose that fire that we had to share what Christ has done?
The blind man in this story had this boldness. He knew how precious this love was from Christ. He understood that he may not be the most popular man because of his decision to believe Christ. He had to take a risk. The blind man’s parents would not even tell the Pharisees that he was healed by Jesus. They knew they could be ridiculed. The blind man did not care about this. He knew he was blind, and then he could see.
When I read today’s passage, I think of the beautiful song written by John Newton. Amazing Grace has been sung in churches all over the world since it was penned in the 1760s. The particular line that stands out is “how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” Do you remember the hour that you first believed? Do you remember when you first understood the need for a savior and found hope and love in Jesus Christ? I know when I first believed I could not handle it. I couldn’t hold it in. I wanted everyone to know. Why does it seem so easy to share what Christ has done for us when we first believe, but as we grow “closer” to God, we seem to lose that fire that we had to share what Christ has done?
The blind man in this story had this boldness. He knew how precious this love was from Christ. He understood that he may not be the most popular man because of his decision to believe Christ. He had to take a risk. The blind man’s parents would not even tell the Pharisees that he was healed by Jesus. They knew they could be ridiculed. The blind man did not care about this. He knew he was blind, and then he could see.
Jesus says in Matthew 10:24 that he
did not come to bring peace to the world but a sword. This story of the blind
man is an example of this claim. A miracle was performed on the man but many
people were so confident that he could not be the messiah. This caused great
conflict that eventually led to his death. When Jesus touches us, we need to be
bold like the blind man, even if this means stirring up some conflict, because
this world is a world of sin. We should be the salt in the world as Jesus
teaches in the Sermon on the Mount.
SCRIPTURE: John 9:1-41 (NRSV)
1As he walked along, he saw a man
blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered,
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works
might be revealed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me
while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I
am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6When he had said
this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on
the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which
means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8The
neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this
not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9Some were saying, “It is he.”
Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the
man.” 10But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11He
answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me,
“Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12They
said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13They brought
to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a
sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then the
Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them,
“He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16Some of the
Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the
sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?”
And they were divided. 17So they said again to the blind man, “What
do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18The
Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until
they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19and
asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now
see?” 20His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and
that he was born blind; 21but we do not know how it is that now he
sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak
for himself.” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of
the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be
the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23Therefore his
parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24So for the second time they
called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We
know that this man is a sinner.” 25He answered, “I do not know
whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I
see.” 26They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open
your eyes?” 27He answered them, “I have told you already, and you
would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become
his disciples?” 28Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his
disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has
spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30The
man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes
from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen
to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32Never
since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person
born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34They
answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?”
And they drove him out. 35Jesus heard that they had driven him out,
and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36He
answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37Jesus
said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38He
said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “I came
into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those
who do see may become blind.” 40Some of the Pharisees near him heard
this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41Jesus
said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say,
“We see,’ your sin remains.
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