A Picture Fit for a Blind Man

John 9:4 – I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. (5) As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The gospel of John is filled with non-sequiturs, things that don’t seem to follow one another. When I first read these two verses I was a bit jarred by the abrupt shift in the topic of conversation from the previous three verses. At first, Jesus and the disciples are discussing the fate of a blind man. Then, out of nowhere, Jesus starts talking about himself while using an obscure illustration about light and dark. Strange.

What’s going on Jesus?

The parable is very simple. Jesus must work during the day because the night is coming when no one can work. That begs the question, why can’t one work during the night? What is it about the qualities of it being dark outside that precludes the accomplishment of productivity?

The answer is as clear as the day Jesus was speaking about. People don’t work at night because they can’t SEE. Work is done during the day because we can tell what we’re doing or if we’re doing it correctly. Isn’t that a fitting illustration for a story about a blind man? It paints a picture that every character in the story can understand, even the blind man. The story might have knocked the disciples a little off-balance: ‘Hmm, seeing, according to the story Jesus told, is a bit different than visual perception.’

Jesus is using the blind man to illustrate (illustrate is such a visual word, no?) a point. Jesus is the source of light that allows for us to do the works of the Father. Without the light of Christ, we are unable to work at all, or if we attempt to do good works, to even tell if we are doing them well. Jesus is the enabler of good things for all of mankind. He wants us to enjoy the full brightness of a relationship with God that puts everything else into perspective (another visual word). This can occur even for a blind man.

Jesus doesn’t just offer this light to his people in His fan club.

Matthew 5:45 – …For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

God offers us all a chance at living in the sunshine. Even if you might think that your circumstances shut you out from experiencing the light of God’s presence, God can break through the night of your experience. If he can make a blind man see, he can reach you in the life that you have been living in and give you freedom in spite of your surroundings. He wants to do that. Let God fill your life with the light of Christ living inside of you. Your life will then have light, though it may seem ever so dark now. If you believe that He has the ability to change you, invite Him in and He will.

Jesus, Why Does God Hate That Man?

John 9:1 – Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. (2) And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (3) Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

“Jesus, what happened here?  Obviously someone did something wrong for his life to end up so badly.”

Jesus and his disciples had just passed a man blind from birth.  He must have been a familiar character since his story was well known enough for the disciples to comment on it.  The disciples were curious as to why this man had been born this way.  Having Jesus around was great when they had questions.  He never told them their questions were stupid.  Also, He was Lord of all.  If you want to get a question answered, go to the source, right?

Almost flippantly they asked the question.  ‘Jesus, let us in on a divine secret here.’

Jesus rejected the fundamental assumptions of their question.  This man’s physical disability, his limitation, his imperfection, was not a result of some person’s sin and God’s reactionary displeasure.  God was not exacting revenge for something that occurred, a supernatural, ‘You thought you could get away with this?  I’ll show you.’

Instead, Jesus flipped the scenario on them, and opened a doorway of understanding in their mind so that they could see.  This man was like this, because God had a specific purpose for his life.  He was like this because there was a role for him to play that could not be played any other way.  This man had God on his side, not as an adversary.  The blind man was not to be castigated or pitied, but to be appreciated and supported.

To prove this, Jesus sets in motion a living parable throughout the rest of the chapter.  The chapter is composed of three acts, in a sense: Jesus healing the man, the man before the council, and Jesus meeting the man.  At the end of story it becomes clear that those who have always seen are blind, and one who could not see had the best vision of all.  One who had no education because of the limitations of his disability skillfully revealed the deception and fallacies of the most educated men in the nation.

Do you feel that you have a limitation that shows up again and again in your life?  Do you feel that God is opposing you for something that you have no control over?  Do not give in to the false belief that even the disciples had.  God has a purpose for your life.  He has things for you to accomplish that only you can do.  God is looking for you to testify as a witness for him, as one who sees what others cannot.  God is on your side.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.