a beginning and an end

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.

6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

This was the passage today that the preacher at Elevation Church in Charlotte spoke on. During the course of his sermon, the Lord was convicting me of something that has been on my mind for the past 6 months. These are the main points that got me thinking about it.

- the disciples asked why. even though Jesus answered ("neither"), He cares not for the why. He cares about the what. the pastor gave the example of someone in the midst of some hardship in their life asking the Lord why they were there; why they were put there. he said that we should not "live in the why" but rather ask "what" of the Lord. "What is it that you are trying to tell me through this event, Lord?" "What should I be learning here?" "What is your overall purpose for me in this time?" It is here, in these questions, where we begin to understand God's purposes and, in doing so, move on from our times of hardship.

- the blind man had most assuredly heard of Jesus. he also probably knew that one of the main things that Jesus did was work miracles, including healing blind people. so this guy could probably overhear the conversation between Jesus and his disciples where Jesus says in verse 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." the blind man had to have known that Jesus was talking about him. he had to have been able to hear Jesus' footsteps coming towards him. he had heard of the miraculous healing that Jesus was capable of with just a single touch. how excited he must have been! it is then when he hears Jesus, God Himself in the flesh, hock (hauk?) a loogie and spit it right at his feet. what? Jesus probably had to spit multiple times in order to get enough moisture to make mud. he then puts this mud on the blind mans eyes. how humiliating! here we have a blind man from birth, begging on the street, deemed unclean by society and the son of God, his only hope puts mud made from spit on his eyes. he must have been really confused. Jesus then tells him, to go wash in the pool. there is no "Your faith has healed you" or "Go and tell others of what you have witnessed here." there is simply "go wash in the pool." thats it. thats all he gets. what else is there for him to do but to follow the orders of the Christ? he does and is healed.

the point of that interpretation of the story is that in being healed by Jesus, things often get worse, sometimes much worse, before they get better. if we are to accept healing, forgiveness, cleansing and the grace offered us by Jesus Christ, we must understand and accept the pain, suffering, withdrawal and awkwardness that comes with dying to ourselves and to our own motivations.

whew... thats hard to do aint it? things WILL get worse before they get better. no one likes hardship. it is rare that people would volunteer hardship to come their way. but if we as followers of Christ are to accept His grace, we must be ready to go to battle with our old selves. we must be ready and willing to face hardship head on.

onward to battle