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Monday, April 30, 2012

The sixth Sign... part 6...

This Sign is coming to a close for us, but it is one of the more potent in application to all our lives, for sure!  Born blind, mudded in the eye, and now rinsed out and seeing just as everyone else, this man is proclaiming victory through Christ's work and healing, and then the man gives the best exhortation of Christ so far.

"'This is an amazing thing,' the man told them.  'You don't know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes!  We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is God fearing and does His will, He listens to him.  Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.  If this man were not from God, He wouldn't be able to do anything.'
'You were born entirely in sin,' they replied, 'and are you trying to teach us?'  Then they threw him out."
John 9:30-34, HCSB

This man not only sees like all those around him, but actually sees far more clearly than they who accuse him.  He sees that Christ did an amazing thing, and he sees that it must be a work of God (a miracle, or a Sign), and he sees that these people don't get how awesome this is.  Most importantly, though, he sees that this is, in his own words, "amazing."  I imagine him standing among the crowd of naysayers, listening to their ridiculous jibes and taunts about him not being him, and all he can think of is that he was touched by the Creator... how personal.

Further, please notice that this man who was touched and so directly blessed does NOT attempt to argue with anyone.  He has no need to do so, for what he knows is what was done, and what was done for him was beyond anything imaginable.  I further the picture of him in the crowd, listening to everyone, but not really hearing them.  His attention is drawn to the beauty of creation, the differences and similarities of all the people around him, the clothing, the jars, the buildings, the dirt... yes, even the dirt... and all the other things that he can now behold with his eyes, and not just his hands.  The work Christ performed tells this man enough, and no amount of rationalization or argument towards him is going to change what happened.  Therefore, argument has no place here, because those in opposition to this man are wrong... how powerful.

And those who ridicule him, stating that he is born "entirely in sin," just don't get it.  I think they are incapable, honestly, of grasping anything beyond the reach of the boxes tied to their heads, and they are so focused on maintaining their level of perceived control (which is really non-existent, as God is in control, and knows what will come next in all scenarios) that they just cannot accept the simple and painfully evident Truth that Christ healed this man.  He healed this man from blindness, and all the teachers and scribes and Pharisees can think to do is attempt to poke holes in what happened, so that they can hopefully deflate it (and God, too) enough so that the newly-shrunken balloon will fit inside the aforementioned box attached to the forehead... how pitiful.

They threw the man out, solely because they were afraid to allow God to be God, and because they were afraid that if God was actually God, then they might not be able to remain in control.  The passage ends with Jesus speaking directly to the man, asking if he will follow the Son of Man, and of course, the man rejoices to look upon his Healer.  The Pharisees nearby heard this, and asked Jesus if they should be concerned about being blind, themselves... and I wish Jesus had just said, "Yes, you should."  However, since they cannot grasp simple concepts, He instead goes another direction with the answer.  He tells them that because they boast of having sight, their sin remains in them.  In essence, Jesus tells them (and us, Christian sibling) that they should seek to be blind, just as this man was, for he did not have sin, as clearly declared by the Son Himself (9:3). 

They didn't understand that thought... do you?

God bless you all!!!

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