Skip to main content

201. All for God's Glory


John 9 & 2 Corinthians 12:7-12
Key Verse: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."
John 9:3

In this event John records my personal favorite from all four gospels. I love it for its detail. I love it because it demonstrates so much of our human frailty. It shows us how powerful our fears can be in the midst of God's amazing grace and glory.

First, we have the disciples who are suffering under the misconception that sickness and unfortunate circumstances are the result of sin only. They are thinking like Job and his friends. If you obey you will always be blessed and if you sin, God will punish you for it. They couldn't imagine that God could have possibly designed this man, blind, for His own glorious purposes.

Then we have the neighbors who are all amazed, but then what? What do you do when the mold has been broken? This man was blind and now he's not. How should they deal with this change of reality?

Then there are the parents, who should have been rejoicing, but fear of the religious prevented them from doing so. It was more important for them to remain upstanding members of the Synagogue, than to praise God for their son's new found freedom. What would it be like to live like that under such religious tyranny?

Finally, we gain a clearer understanding of just how the cruel and powerful leadership had twisted the Jewish religion. First of all, Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Well, we've heard that before. Then, Jesus made mud, which is work so that adds to the complaint. Next, we see them, once again calling Jesus’ paternity into question when they tell the healed man, "We know that God spoke through Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where He comes from." (John 9:29) Then, instead of rejoicing over this man's healing, it is more important to kick him out of the synagogue so that he can't proclaim what Jesus has done for him. How can any of this be for God's glory?  Instead of God's work being on display, it only seems to have been trampled on and discredited.

But then, there is the blind man himself. He was just sitting and doing his daily work, begging for a living. Along comes Jesus, who doesn't even ask, but just spits on the ground, smears the mud on his eyes and tells the man to go wash at the pool of Siloam. The man obeys, whether out of faith or the need to clean up, we don't know. When he does wash, however, his sight is restored and he becomes an unshakable witness for Jesus. This humble, broken man becomes bold before his parents, his neighbors and the leadership and God's work is on display to the shame of all the others.

When Jesus finds the man, he is already resolved to become a follower. Amazingly, he doesn't recognize Jesus by sight. He was healed outside of Jesus' presence, but he believed and recognized him when Jesus approached him in the end. "Who is He, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him."

"You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you."

"Lord, I believe." (John 9:36-38) Forsaking all others that day, he took up his cross and followed Jesus. Belief is for our soul no matter the opinions of others. May we be as bold for Him when our turn comes. May we never let fear of others silence our praise and gratitude to our loving Creator.

Hymn: Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faithful Through the Ages

Luke 2:22-38 Listen Link:  http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw Forgive the buzz on this one. I had a cold and my voice was way down. One of the odd little quirky things that Kathy and I like to do from time to time is walk through old cemeteries and read the tombstones. Sometimes there are interesting little tidbits of information or a verse of Scripture that give a hint to what kind of person lies beneath our feet. Often, however, there is just the name, the date born and the date of death with just a dash between. The dash represents the whole life lived between the two dates, so it would contain most of the interesting information, but it is hidden from us. All we can do is pick up little clues that can be gleaned from the names, dates and from the other tombstones around the one we are looking at. If there are a cluster of stones all containing the same last name, then we may be able to figure out the family relationships; who was the parent, wh
Post a Comment
Read more

312. Burial Plot!

Matthew 27:62-66 Key Verse: So, they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." Matthew 27:66 "The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming." Psalm 37:12-13 You have to wonder if, by now, Pilate is beginning to question the sanity of the Jewish leaders themselves. It wasn't enough that they were jealous of this quiet dreamer, Jesus, now they were afraid of His disciples. From Pilate's perspective, this last must have been almost ludicrous.  After all, only one of Jesus' followers had stuck around for the trials and crucifixion. For the most part, as soon as Jesus had been taken, they had all scattered and were probably in hiding. The idea of this rag tag group of unlearned fishermen sticking their necks out now to steal a body and then start a rumor that no one would believe anyway, was ridiculous.
Post a Comment
Read more

46. Tempted By Fame

Deuteronomy 6:16 , Psalm 91 , Matthew 4:5-7 , Luke 4:9-12 Key Verse: Jesus answered: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Deuteronomy 6:16, Matthew 4:7 & Luke 4:12 Is satan daring Jesus to prove Himself here?  It sure looks like it.  It would appear that satan finds it hard to believe that all powerful Jesus wouldn’t want to resist show off His power just a little.  Could this have been a vulnerability for Jesus?  Is this really a temptation to prove Himself? It would appear here that Satan is offering Jesus a different entrance into ministry.  Jesus wouldn't have to mingle with the rabble.  He could show off for the teachers of the law, the rabbis and the Pharisees.  They would be impressed and he would have their allegiance no matter how the crowd would treat Him.  Instead of compassionate ministry, he could use his power to show off the way the Pharisees like to do, be one of them.  It looks like an easy way to gain acceptance from the people i
Post a Comment
Read more