John 9:13-34
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. [1]
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There are none so blind as those who will not see. That’s the big irony of this whole chapter, and will be continued in tomorrow’s passage. The blind man regains his physical sight, and then is given spiritual sight as well. The Pharisees, however, are groping around in willful spiritual blindness. Their obstinacy is almost laughable in this passage. “My mind’s made up; don’t confuse me with the facts!”
But what is this really about? They are missing an amazing miracle. God is at work right in front of them, but because their minds are captivated by other thoughts, they cannot see it. They will not see it.
Now in their case, their blindness comes from their refusal to believe that someone who broke their rules could be the Messiah. That isn’t a factor in our lives.
But do we ever miss God’s activity right in front of us? We run into an old friend at the store whom we haven’t seen in years. We hear a song on the radio that causes us to stop and think. Someone does an unexpected kindness to us. A comment someone said – good or ill – sticks in our heads all day long. An opportunity to serve and help someone comes up. We hear about a neighbor in need.
These things may look like ordinary life. And they may be. But they also may be the hand of God seeking to call us, to re-orient us, to move us, to rebuke us. If God is the God of all, the Lord of all my moments, then shouldn’t I expect that He is involved in my life? Daily?
Each week at the bottom of the sermon notes form are the questions: “What is God saying to me? What am I going to do about it?” Those questions are not just for sermons, but for everyday life. God will be at work in my life today, speaking to me, calling me, directing me, blessing me.
I may not be tempted to miss God’s work through obstinacy like the Pharisees. But simple busy ness and self-centeredness can be just as effective in closing our eyes to God’s work. So my prayer today is that I don’t miss the hidden miracles going on around me, that my eyes, ears and mind are attuned to God’s work.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 9:13–34). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
