John 9 (AD 29)
The Pharisees hereby continue their head-scratching propensity to ignore the enormous significance of what’s in front of their faces and focus instead on whether their godless bonus rules are being kept:
Jesus healed a blind man who was then taken to the Pharisees. Then – to paraphrase the following conversations in John chapter nine – this happened:
Ex-blind guy: ‘I was blind and now I can see because of Jesus’
Pharisees: ‘How did you receive your sight?’
Ex-blind guy: ‘Jesus did things and now I see’
Pharisees: ‘Yeah but Jesus did it on Saturday so he’s not from God’
Others: ‘Really? Could a sinner do that?’
Pharisees: ‘What do you think, ex-blind guy?’
Ex-blind guy: ‘He’s a prophet’
Pharisees: ‘We don’t believe you were blind in the first place…bring us this guy’s parents’
Pharisees to ex-blind guy’s parents: ‘Is this your son? How can he see?’
Parents: ‘Yeah he’s our son…How? Er…no idea…er…[help, these guys are scary!]…ask him, he’s a grownup, leave us alone’
Pharisees to ex-blind guy: ‘Quit lying, this Jesus guy’s a sinner, right?’
Ex-blind guy: ‘Dunno. But I was blind and now I can see.’
Pharisees: ‘How?’
Ex-blind guy: ‘Already told you…you want to be his disciples?’
Pharisees: ‘You big idiot scumbag. YOU’RE his disciple. We’re Moses’ disciples and we don’t know where this Jesus guy comes from’
Ex-blind guy: ‘Weird. He heals blind people but you don’t know where he’s from. Pretty sure God doesn’t give that kind of power to a sinful guy.’
Pharisees: ‘You repulsive sinner how dare you lecture us. Get outta here, you’re banned from the synagogue’
Later…:
Jesus to ex-blind guy: ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ [ie the prophesied Messiah]
Ex-blind guy: ‘I would if I knew who he was.’
Jesus: ‘It’s me’
[Ex-blind guy worships Jesus who he now knows is God.]
Jesus: ‘I bring judgement: blind people see, seeing people become blind’
Pharisees: ‘Are we blind?’
Jesus: ‘It’s way worse for you than that. You can see clearly but you refuse to believe’.
Jesus wasn’t subtle and he wasn’t hiding anything. The Pharisees couldn’t figure him out because they had decided in advance that he was Satanic. Meanwhile, ordinary people like this blind man saw through the nonsense of the Pharisees’ objections, and saw Jesus for who he really was.
When you wake up every day, ask yourself who you believe Jesus is, and watch the impact on the rest of your day. Because living for him starts with reminding yourself of who he is. It’s no different with human relationships. If you’re going through a ho-hum or bad period in your marriage, it helps to remind yourself exactly who this person is that you’re living with: your life partner, to whom you have pledged not just faithfulness, but proactive love, for the rest of your days. Forgetting that reality is a part of many problems we create for ourselves in our home, and in our relationship with God.
Paul T Reynolds 