There is something about the story of a man who had been blind since birth in John chapter 9 that intrigues me.
The story starts with Jesus walking along and seeing a man sitting beside the road who was born blind. How do we know he was born blind? It doesn’t tell us, but it was obvious to both Jesus and his disciples.
The disciples were interested on an intellectual level. They saw him and wanted to know what caused this condition; was it his or his parent’s sin? They assumed that anyone blind or lame must have been cursed or punished by God because of disobedience.
But they didn’t have any compassion for the man. They didn’t ask Jesus to heal him. Maybe they thought he deserved this in some way.
Jesus, as usual, had a completely different viewpoint of the situation.
Jesus responded, no, his blindness wasn’t a result of sin. It was an opportunity waiting to happen, to show God’s glory and power at work in this man’s life.
I wonder what situations we have in our lives which feel like a curse, or discipline, or God neglecting us in some way, that are actually divine appointments or invitations for God to do His amazing ‘God thing’ in our lives? An opportunity to showcase His power, great mercy, and kindness.
What if instead of blaming and resenting Him, we talked to Him about it and invited Him into the problem?
“Jesus, this hurts. I feel like _______. I invite you into this with me. Please let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven in this situation. I am giving you free access to do in me whatever you are teaching or developing in me through this learning opportunity. Open the eyes of my heart to see this like You see it.”
What did Jesus do next in the story? He healed the man’s vision – physically. What do we often need? To have our spiritual vision healed.
Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah in another place referring to people who “…listen and listen but not understand; they will look and look but not see, because their minds are dull and they have stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes. Otherwise their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me … and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:15 GNT, Isaiah 6:9)
The word translated as gross (KJV) or dull (GNT) here, in English, in the original Greek is, ‘pachuno’ (Strongs Concordance) which implies ‘thick, callous, fattened, or stupefied’.
Jesus sent the man to wash the mud off his eyes in a pool called Siloam. Siloam means, ‘sent’. (John 9:7) Nothing Jesus does is without forethought and intention. There was a message for the man, and for us, in the fact that his sight was restored while obeying Jesus’s command in a pool called sent.
No more sitting beside the road oblivious to what is going on around us with ‘dull’ eyes, ears and hearts, blaming Him for the problems in our lives. He tells us to ‘lift up our eyes’ (KJV) or ‘take a good look around’ (GNT) the crops are now ripe and ready to harvest,’ (John 4:35) referring to all the spiritually lost and hurting around us.
I couldn’t find another command Jesus gave us to look at something other than the field, ready to harvest. Maybe I missed it but if He did, there weren’t many.
He heals our spiritual vision and then gives us a purpose. He never allows pain without purpose. The healing He will lead us through when we invite Him into the pain has the dual purpose of not only healing us, but also of helping others also struggling in that area.
Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 1:4, “He helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help others who have all kinds of troubles, using the same help that we ourselves have received from God. Just as we have a share in Christ’s sufferings, so also through Christ we share in God’s great help.”
Sometimes, when we come to the wrong conclusion, it’s because we have asked the wrong question.
We ask, “God why have you done this to me / allowed this to happen?”
Jesus asks, “What do you see?”
