Rejoice

Good Morning! 

We continue to have great weather here in the Northeast Georgia mountains … cold mornings followed by warmer afternoons with beautiful sunshine.  God is so good.

Let’s take another quick look at John 9 for the reactions of the people …

9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

⁸ The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰ So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

Keep in mind that this man has been blind since he was born … and now is seeing. Rather than rejoice at this fact, the NEIGHBORS began to question even the identity of this man.  Unlike our current culture where people can live next to others for decades and never know their neighbor’s name, the culture of this age was very interdependent.  They saw a miracle … but couldn’t believe.  Next …

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. ¹⁷ So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The neighbors drag the man before the Pharisees. Again, rather than acknowledge the miracle, the began to nit pick … what did Jesus actually do; what do you mean He made mud on the Sabbath or commanded you to walk to the Pool of Siloam; we know this man is not from God, and so on.  They had already made their mind up on who this Jesus was … and they completely missed the fulfillment of what had been prophesied about the Messiah.  Next …

¹⁸ The Jews^[a] did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹ But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus^[b] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) ²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

Footnotes:

  John 9:18 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 22

  John 9:22 Greek him

The third group we see is the parents. Now, understand that the parents were being bullied by the religious leadership.  They knew that to state the truth would result in their being ostracized from society … and so they punted … ask him.  The Pharisees question really has to be answered “I don’t know” because it is unlikely the parents were even nearby.  What they did know was he was blind from birth; now he sees.  But they couldn’t come to rejoice in the miracle because of social pressure. Let’s stop here for some comments.

Do we see miracles … but cannot believe them because we have doubt?  Or do we see miracles and cannot believe them because we have pre-judged?  Or do we see miracles and rejoice because of fear of the social impact?  The point is that we should rejoice when God shows us a miracle.  We should not be afraid to raise our hands to God in rejoicing. God has given us a miracle!!! Hallelujah!!!

We have come to the end of another week.  Time to take stock … to look back and rejoice in all that God has done.  Time to gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ and worship.  Time to recommit ourselves to being faithful bondservants to our Savior and our Lord.  God bless.

Agape’

Mr. Jim

  

Prayer:  Father, help me see Your works in me and around me every day … and to not be bound in rejoicing over them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for today:  John 9:1-23