Wednesday in the Word...John 9:35-41...ripe wild Maine blueberries found!

A recent dog walk with Buddy brought a reward that this part of the country is known for.  We found some ripe, wild Maine blueberries.  "Low bush type" as they are called around here.  It is going to be hard to "look up" when these are "down there" on our daily walks with our furry companion who is loving the weather of Maine.

Today's Wednesday in the Word covers John chapter 9 and verses 35 through 41.  We will finish the event about the blind man who received his sight.  

v.35 - Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

A recap of the events so far:  Jesus meets a man born blind; makes up some mud and puts it on his eyes; and tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.  He does and comes back seeing.  This happens on the Sabbath day.  The once blind man is asked to tell his story to the religious authorities and the crowd that has gathered.  

When asked who did this, he didn't know anything more than a man named Jesus who he had never seen.  Jesus was physically gone when he got back.  The religious authorities asked the man for his opinion of what kind of man would do such a thing and once blind man said this man must be a prophet, someone of God.  

The crowd is divided if this is the same man who had sat so many days and years at the gate begging so his parents are brought in for verification.  They do verify but out of fear of being thrown out of the synagogue, the religious and social structure of the time, they defer what has happened to their son's testimony and his alone.  The once blind man stands alone.

The religious authorities come again to question the once blind man and he does not recant.  He gives them a lesson on attributing God-like things, like making the born blind to see, to give credit to God no matter what day it happened on.  The religious authorities didn't like getting preached to and so they threw him out of the synagogue for being someone who was following this One called Jesus.

Jesus comes back onto the scene physically when He finds out that the once blind man has been thrown out of the synagogue.  He stands before him and asks the question, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

He is asking the once blind man if he believed in the coming Messiah.  The once blind man's assessment has went from a man named Jesus to a prophet of God but is going to take another jump.  Some see Jesus as just a good guy.  Some see Jesus and attribute Him as someone who has a sense of holiness.  But Jesus is asking as He did with His disciples, "But who do you say that I am?"  We need to believe a certain thing about this man who is holy named Jesus.

v.36 - He answered, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"

Remember that the once blind man has never seen Jesus physically.  This is just another man in front of him who is asking him a question.  He is eager to know the Son of Man.  He wants Him to be pointed out to him.  Can I ask this question to you this morning, "Do you have an eagerness to know who the Son of Man is?  Do you have a longing to have Him pointed out to you?  Do you desire His words given to us and gather with Him individually and corporately on a regular basis?"

v.37 - Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you."

Jesus is so open with this man about who He is.  He speaks directly to an unclean man by the society's standards with the proclamation that He is the Son of Man, He is the Messiah.  Remember back in chapter 4 of John and Jesus does the same with the Samaritan woman, another "unclean" of society.  Verse 26 says,

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

How will the once blind man respond?  He has stood firm on the events so far and not recanted even under the pressure of the religious authorities.  Now he is face to face with Jesus who is calling Himself God.  Will he accept?

v.38 - And he said, "Lord, I believe."  And worshiped Him.

Conversion!  What a beautiful picture of God working behind the scenes in a persons life and then making Himself fully known.  Many testimonies I have heard and my own also of looking back and seeing how God was "touching my blind eyes" and allowing me to form thoughts that were directed toward Him.  At the appropriate time, for His timing is perfect, He makes Himself known to the eager and hungry heart.  A response comes of belief that leads directly into worship.

I have heard so many say that they believe in God but I want to ask, "If you believe in God do you also worship Him with your whole life?  Does your belief lead into worship?"

v.39 - And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see many become blind."

True sight only comes from Jesus and to those who see Jesus as the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Savior sent by God to this world.  Those who think they see but have that sight on anyone other than Jesus actually do not see.  They are still blind.  Their eyes need to be opened by Jesus to see Jesus as the only way to have true sight.  He is the judgment, the line in the sand, that determines if one is truly seeing or if one is still blind.

v.40 - Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?"

The Pharisees are forever with Jesus.  They are following His every footsteps.  They are listening to His every word.  They are putting two and two together to realize that Jesus is speaking about them because the once blind man can now see and they, would thought they were the "seeing ones," were being called blind by Jesus.  They ask for clarification of Jesus' proclamation about who is actually blind and who actually has their sight.

v.41 - Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains."

If someone was blind, they would be calling out to see.  If someone realizes that they need the Savior (they are blind) and they call out to Him, He saves them.  His sacrifice on the cross is satisfying the wrath of God for that person.  The person's sins are forgiven.  

Jesus points out that the Pharisees are not saying, "I need the Savior."  They are rejecting the Savior.  They are saying they already see without confessing that Jesus is Lord.  Their sin remains.  Their sin will remain until they realize how blind they really are.  The turning point from being blind to seeing is connected to our faith in who Jesus is.  It is not based on good works.  It is not based on family upbringing.  It is not based on ethnic backgrounds.  It is not based on church attendance.  It is based solely on a confession like that of the once blind man.  "Lord, I believe" and is followed by a life of worship of Him.

Are you blind or can you see?  

What is your "seeing" based upon?  

Let us pray.

"Heavenly Father, may my sight always be attributed to You.  May I say like the once blind man, 'I was blind but now I see' and it is because of You working even before I could see.  May our confession be strong in who You are and may we worship You with every aspect of our lives.  Amen."

Pastor Adam

p.s. - I made it on the sign!