Focus! Keeping Your Eyes on Jesus in a Near-Sighted, Distracted World! (The Blind Man in John 9 – Part 7)

At this point the inquisition gets quite, please forgive the pun, muddy! Jesus “made mud” — and to the Pharisees this was WORK! And a man of God doesn’t work on the Sabbath!

In this series of blog posts on FOCUS I want to examine my own vision and ask if my spiritual eyesight is getting dim, distracted, or damaged by choices I make. We will be looking at a number of key biblical passages which emphasize this sense of sight. I am particularly looking forward to pondering the healing miracles which turned blind people into sighted people.

A Simple and Logical Conclusion: Although it is not specifically stated, Jesus’ making mud on the Sabbath violated the Sabbath (in the eyes of the Pharisees). A Sabbath-breaker simply could not be from God. The logic was clear. Given the premise (that making mud as a step to giving a man sight for the first time in his life was a breaking of the Sabbath), the conclusion followed.

A Practical Division: But there was a formerly blind person standing in front of them. So some of the Pharisees couldn’t help but ask, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” A very legitimate question! Sometimes our logic gets us in trouble, even when a work of God has been done right before our eyes!

The Troublemaker’s Response? In their division these spiritual leaders of Israel turn their guns on the man who has been healed. I don’t imagine their question was asked with any kindness. “What have you to say about him?” And, perhaps to make him feel guilty, they add, “It was your eyes he opened!” The blind man might have thought, “Oh, great. Make me feel guilty for getting healed!” I wonder if the man born blind thought much before he answered. I suspect he just wanted these angry, irritated Pharisees out of his face. So he blurted out, “He is a prophet.” What he was saying was that Jesus was a man of God on God’s mission. And that’s the last thing the Pharisees wanted to hear from him.

Today’s Challenge: How does your logic sometimes get in the way of recognizing a good work that God has done in your life? What assumptions do you or I make that confuse our thinking? Submit your mind and your reasoning to the Lord today.