SCRIPTURE
The disciples thought a blind man's condition was the result of sin. "His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'" Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath so the Pharisees accused him of being a sinner. "We know this man is a sinner." When the formerly blind man was questioned by the Pharisees and did not give them the answers they were looking for they also accused him. "You were steeped in sin at birth." (John 9:2, 24, 34)
OBSERVATION
There were a lot of accusations thrown around in these paragraphs. None of them proved to be true. The man was not blind as a result of sin. Jesus obviously was not a sinner. Just because the man would not agree that Jesus was a sinner did not make him steeped in sin. None of these perceptions were accurate. Until Jesus spoke. He addressed the Pharisees themselves and told them that because they claimed to see things clearly (when in fact they did not) they were really blind to the whole situation and they were the ones guilty of sin. Their spiritual blindness was far worse than the man's physical blindness.
APPLICATION
It's easy to give the reasons why. Why people act the way they do. Why people make bad choices. Why people get sick. Why Barry Bonds keeps testing negative for steroids. My perception may not be, and probably isn't, the whole picture. There is still a sense of mystery and the unknown when it comes to God. If I think I have it all worked out I may just be seeing the situation with my own spiritual blinders on. I've come to the point in my life where I don't need to figure it all out. The things God wants me to know he has revealed in the Bible, but beyond that there is so much mystery, so much unknown. This interaction with Jesus and the blind man reminds me that life is not reduced to a series of formulas. There is not a cause and effect for everything. I'll just respond to Jesus like the man formerly known as blind, "Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him." (9:38)
PRAYER
Father, thank you that you have revealed yourself through the Bible. But beyond that, the wonder of who you are, the unknown, causes me to worship. Help me to see life through the lens of your truth and not through my own perception. Amen.
