www.HopeandHelpCenter.org
Monday, March 30th
John 9:1-17
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We* must work the works of him who sent me* while it is day; 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 this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some were saying, 'It is he.' Others were saying, 'No, but it is someone like him.' He kept saying, 'I am the man.' But they kept asking him, 'Then how were your eyes opened?' He answered, 'The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash." Then I went and washed and received my sight.' They said to him, 'Where is he?' He said, 'I do not know.'
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, 'He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.' Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.' But others said, 'How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?' And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, 'What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.' He said, 'He is a prophet.'
How many times have you heard someone say that AIDS is God's punishment for gays? Given that many non-gays also experience life with AIDS, the logic doesn't make sense, but those in Jesus' day were not much different in trying to "explain" and even place "blame" for the reason bad things happen. Jesus very clearly clarified here that we don't find ourselves in need of healing because we have sinned, or because our parents have sinned. We live in a fallen world where bad things do indeed happen and the goodness or badness within us is not the source; for it rains on the just and unjust alike. But since this situation existed, just as hard places exist for us today, Jesus determined to use it as an opportunity to show compassion and mercy, and to bring glory to God in the process. It didn't matter that it was the Sabbath or that the religious leaders might be offended, because the person was more important than the law. In fact, it was all the more significant that it WAS the Sabbath, because it brings home the message that Jesus came to bring life; healing, fulfilling life to all people in a way that the law could never provide.
When we find ourselves in difficult places today, may we remember that Jesus still ministers healing through his love and tender mercy. May we, like Jesus, determine to use the hard places as an opportunity to bring glory and honor to God by demonstrating that same love and tender mercy toward others. kdd
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