Daily Devotion: John 9

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

¹As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

³"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

After all the haggling with the Pharisees in the previous chapters, Jesus once again reiterated the importance of preaching the good news of Salvation, highlighting the urgency of the hour. And in this case of the blind man, it was another perfect opportunity that the power of God can be displayed (vs. 3) so that people will be convinced and turn their hearts to God.

However, alas! Despite the miracle that Jesus displayed, the Pharisees still doubted Jesus and conducted so many levels of interrogation and questioning - simply just refusing to believe in the miracles Jesus has displayed.

Guess what? Came a point even the people got fed-up with the Pharisees. Listen to what the blind man whom was healed by Jesus has to say:

²⁴A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God," they said. "We know this man is a sinner."

²⁵He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

²⁶Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

²⁷He 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?"

²⁸Then they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from."

³⁰The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. ³²Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."

³⁴To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.

Pause and reflect upon our spiritual walk. Have we at times been so caught up with 'arguing' with God rather than be doing what is more important i.e. sharing the good news, consolidating new lives..etc.

Application:

1. When was the last time you shared the gospel or testify of God's goodness with someone? If it has been a long while, why so?

2. If the world is coming to an end in 2 hours, what would be some important thing you would want to do or attend to?

3. Does any of these 'important' things include sharing the gospel with a loved one? If yes, why would you have to wait till end of the world and not now?