LEARNING DAILY

John 9:1-2, Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, the man or his parents that he was born blind?”

I am not sure what the timing is regarding the time Jesus was escaping from those Jews who wanted to stone Him and when He saw this blind man. Remember there were no chapter and verse designations when the Bible was first written. The writers of the Scriptures were more concerned with the things Jesus did than the minor details we like to examine. This encounter may have occurred as He left the temple; it is more likely that there was some time between the events of chapter eight and chapter nine.

Regardless, pay attention to Jesus seeing the blind man. Jesus saw the condition of the man – he was blind. I wonder how often Believers forget that the Lord Jesus sees our situation. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 139:1-3, O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.” David was writing that God knew all about him, even the deepest parts of him. As Believers, we must realize that the Father knows all about each one of us, where each of us are as we walk the narrow way. He is constantly searching the heart and testing our minds in order to keep us centered on Him and preparing us to enter His kingdom.

This man is blind; he was born blind. Many in this world are like this. Sin has caused a blindness that all have suffered with. The blind man in the writing is about to have his eyes opened by the only One who was able to do so and his life was about to change. The Lord Jesus Christ is still opening the eyes of the spiritually blind today. Do you remember when He did so for you and how He has been changing you ever since? The blind man was to be an example for God to display His power to heal and change those who had their eyes opened by Him.

He was born blind. I imagine the blind man was led to this spot each day in order to beg. He was a public beggar and people probably spoke to him as they passed by (I know I am using my sanctified imagination here!). Perhaps that was the reason he was the person Jesus selected to receive his sight. When the disciples saw him, they asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, the man or his parents that he was born blind?” They must have been trying to make some sense of his situation. Common thought was a person’s condition or situation was caused by sin; they wanted to know if he had sinned or if his parents had sinned. Jesus told them his blindness was not due to sin, but he was blind for the glory of God. It is much easier to give God the glory when something good occurs in our life. It is much harder when we are going through difficulties.

When Jesus took our place on the cross, He did so to save us from our blindness, our sinfulness; all of us have stood guilty of sin before the Lord. When we said yes to His offer of salvation, we were declared not guilty and set free and set on a narrow way to be changed – all for the glory of God. Be encouraged today. Endure the situations and trials that come your way because they come with a purpose: to show the working of God in your life.

There are many great teachings in this account of Jesus opening the eyes of this blind man. We will look more at the teaching of this blind man in the days ahead.