One Thing I Do Know
“He then replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that I was blind and now I see.’” John 9:25
Jesus and his disciples encounter a man blind from birth in the Temple. The disciples ask who sinned to cause the man to be blind; what it his fault or his parents’ fault? Jesus makes it clear that sin was not the issue at all, God’s glory was. God would receive glory by the blind man being made whole.
Everyone is obsessed with “sin” in this story when sin is not the point at all. The religious leaders who just can’t believe Jesus is the Messiah start examining His life for sin. They can’t discount the miracle; they have already interviewed the man’s parents who testify that he indeed was born blind.
Since the “God-experts” can’t deny the miracle, they have to come at Jesus from a different direction. They accost the man who was healed and tell him, “Give God praise (translation: tell us the truth bub), we know this man is a sinner.” How do they know? Well, Jesus just happened to heal the poor man on the Sabbath. That’s right, the day when the closer to God you were the less work you did.
Therefore, to do a great work on that day must mean you are very far from God. Even if it does take away a life’s worth of blindness from one of God’s very own people. Their logic is flawless, within their own non-compassionate system! God says it is a sin to work on the Sabbath, healing is work, Jesus healed, therefore Jesus sinned!
The disciples are looking for sinners to start the story off and the God-experts are looking for sinners as the story winds to a close. And, the only one who truly sees anything is the man who was blind at the beginning of it all.
“Whether he is as sinner I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” What a story, there are two men accused of being sinners; the blind man, and the Man who healed him.
While the church often waddles about trying to exhibit its own righteousness and point out the failings of the blind world, Jesus simply walks into the middle of it all and heals those who need Him. Call Him a sinner, call those He heals sinners, it really makes no difference.
God is not on a sin-hunt. Yes, the Bible tells us a great deal about sin. The most important thing it tells us is that we ALL have sinned! God is on a healing safari, to bring freedom to any and all who need Him.
We can waste time trying to figure out why someone is still ill. We can try to lower Jesus below His divine status as the Son of God. And God will let us go about it because He really has better things to do. There are blind to be healed, there are the poor who need to hear good news, there are the hopeless who need to see the glory of God in the midst of their despair.
Don’t worry about who sinned, just get in there by faith receive the healing love of Christ. And don’t try to bring Jesus down from His stature as the unique Son of God. Why would we even want to do that? The “God-experts” wanted to be “right”, that’s why they wanted to call Him a sinner?
There is only one opinion about Jesus that counts in this story: “I was blind but now I see.”
Father, help me to get my eyes off of everyone else and on to Jesus who wants to lovingly heal my own blindness. Help me to let go of my own opinions about Him and simply allow Him to be the Son of God, as He said He was. Today, I come to the healer of all, knowing He is willing to be associated with me, a sinner.
“He then replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that I was blind and now I see.’” John 9:25
Jesus and his disciples encounter a man blind from birth in the Temple. The disciples ask who sinned to cause the man to be blind; what it his fault or his parents’ fault? Jesus makes it clear that sin was not the issue at all, God’s glory was. God would receive glory by the blind man being made whole.
Everyone is obsessed with “sin” in this story when sin is not the point at all. The religious leaders who just can’t believe Jesus is the Messiah start examining His life for sin. They can’t discount the miracle; they have already interviewed the man’s parents who testify that he indeed was born blind.
Since the “God-experts” can’t deny the miracle, they have to come at Jesus from a different direction. They accost the man who was healed and tell him, “Give God praise (translation: tell us the truth bub), we know this man is a sinner.” How do they know? Well, Jesus just happened to heal the poor man on the Sabbath. That’s right, the day when the closer to God you were the less work you did.
Therefore, to do a great work on that day must mean you are very far from God. Even if it does take away a life’s worth of blindness from one of God’s very own people. Their logic is flawless, within their own non-compassionate system! God says it is a sin to work on the Sabbath, healing is work, Jesus healed, therefore Jesus sinned!
The disciples are looking for sinners to start the story off and the God-experts are looking for sinners as the story winds to a close. And, the only one who truly sees anything is the man who was blind at the beginning of it all.
“Whether he is as sinner I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” What a story, there are two men accused of being sinners; the blind man, and the Man who healed him.
While the church often waddles about trying to exhibit its own righteousness and point out the failings of the blind world, Jesus simply walks into the middle of it all and heals those who need Him. Call Him a sinner, call those He heals sinners, it really makes no difference.
God is not on a sin-hunt. Yes, the Bible tells us a great deal about sin. The most important thing it tells us is that we ALL have sinned! God is on a healing safari, to bring freedom to any and all who need Him.
We can waste time trying to figure out why someone is still ill. We can try to lower Jesus below His divine status as the Son of God. And God will let us go about it because He really has better things to do. There are blind to be healed, there are the poor who need to hear good news, there are the hopeless who need to see the glory of God in the midst of their despair.
Don’t worry about who sinned, just get in there by faith receive the healing love of Christ. And don’t try to bring Jesus down from His stature as the unique Son of God. Why would we even want to do that? The “God-experts” wanted to be “right”, that’s why they wanted to call Him a sinner?
There is only one opinion about Jesus that counts in this story: “I was blind but now I see.”
Father, help me to get my eyes off of everyone else and on to Jesus who wants to lovingly heal my own blindness. Help me to let go of my own opinions about Him and simply allow Him to be the Son of God, as He said He was. Today, I come to the healer of all, knowing He is willing to be associated with me, a sinner.
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