Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. (John 9:1-3)
Why are some of us born with various physical limitations? Jesus is saying sometimes God does this, so that through our lives the works of God should be revealed in us. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. (Psalm 139:13-18)
By the world's standards, something may be "wrong" with us or we may have done something to deserve the condition we're dealing with; but Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) Yes most of us would prefer not to have to live with our physical limitations, but let's learn from the Apostle Paul who testified, And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (II Corinthians 12:7-10)
This is not to say that if we desire to be healed from whatever our physical limitation is we should not ask. Paul said, Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. But ultimately, God's Will will be done, and we will have to accept whatever that is. Fortunately for this blind man, God was going to use His blindness to further bring glory to His Son, Christ Jesus. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). [Nehemiah 3:15] So he went and washed, and came back seeing. (John 9:4-7)
How many of us would obey what seemed like such a silly thing to do? No doctor, no hospital, no medicine, no surgery. Just Jesus, spit, dirt, and the pool of Siloam! Many times we don't receive what we ask for because when God instructs us on what to do, it doesn't make "sense" to us. There had been a commander of the army of the king of Syria many years earlier named Naman, who had a physical limitation, leprosy and desired to be healed. A slave girl to his wife was from Israel and Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” (II Kings 5:3) Long story short, word got to Namaan and he went to see the prophet Elisha. Elisha didn't meet with him personally, but sent word for him to “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” (II Kings 5:10) Namaan became furious, but one of his servants said something very wise to him; and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (II Kings 5:13)
Well, Namaan finally decided to obey what the prophet told him to do, and So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; (II Kings 2:14-15) Now, what better way that the works of God should be revealed, to not only the Jews, but also to the non-Jews of the world, because Namaan was the commander of the Syrian army and surely word would spread and he would share his testimony, that the God, Who revealed Himself through the people of Israel is the One True Living God! Give God the glory! It's been said before but it bears repeating, that God will make sure His Word reaches the whole world and all people. He will use us to help make that happen, but He doesn't need us to make sure it happens!
Well, oddly enough, these children of Israel, who should have know who God really was and Who his Son was are having to be taught the Truth, through the testimony of this blind man that was healed. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.” Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.” They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” (John 9:8-17)
But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” (John 9:18-23) Listen, people are going to believe what they are going to believe, no matter what undisputable evidence they "see"! We can't get caught up in worrying what people will think when we share the Truth of Who God is and what He's done for us or in the lives of someone we know.
We have to speak boldly in the Lord! So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see!” (John 9:24-25) The "eyes" have it! AMEN
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