LEARNING DAILY

John 9:3-4, Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is still day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Examination of the healing of the blind man by the Lord Jesus was begun several pages ago in this blog. As Jesus and His disciples were passing by Him, the disciples asked Jesus who had sinned causing the man to be blind. They were addressing the common thought that the man was being punished for something he had done.

Jesus told them that was not the situation. I suppose that sin is the cause of all the suffering in around us, in a general sense. Violence, crime, etc. are caused by the evil and sin of others. Jesus was addressing the thought that not all suffering was a punishment for sin.

 Focus in on the Lord Jesus when reading this passage. Remember Jesus may have been leaving the temple because the Jews there had picked up stones to stone Him. Yet, Jesus took the time to stop when He saw this blind man. I find this very interesting; if I had been the one getting away from those wanting to stone me, I would have missed this man and the opportunity to show the “the works of God”. Jesus came to this earth to do the will of His Father. In my “sanctified imagination” I see Jesus stopping to have a profound effect on this man’s life without consideration or fear for His own. Was He so intent on doing God’s will, glorifying God that He did not fear what men could do to Him? Was He so set on doing what He had been sent to do that danger to Himself was ignored? If so, should not the devotion of the true Church, all who call themselves Believers have this same goal in mind?

I wonder if the situation around us would change if we were so consumed with enthusiasm and passion for God and our desire to live and walk the narrow way so others could see Jesus in us. Jesus was under constant threat of those watching Him, waiting for just the right thing to condemn Him for; yet He stopped and saw an opportunity to glorify His Father. Isn’t Jesus to be the example to His faithful followers. He saw a need and stopped to meet it. He did not focus on anything else; He did not judge by the appearance of this man, even when the disciples did.

The entire focus was to glorify His Father. When He said He must do the work of God while it was day, He meant the time he had left to be on earth. The coming night referred to the day of His death when His work on earth would be finished. The time Believers have on earth is also short. We must use the time we have here to live as a light to a dark, dying world. We must allow others to see Jesus in us as we walk that narrow way. We must allow the love of Jesus in us stop to help those who need help, those who God brings into our path. Consider those who have not accepted Jesus, in faith, as blind. We are to put away all thoughts of our own self-importance and allow ourselves to be used by the Lord to do what brings glory to Himself. Jesus is to be our example when we see another who is in need; we must not see that person and question how she/he came to be in the situation. We must begin to think and believe that here is an opportunity to show the love of the Father. It is an opportunity to show the grace and goodness that God has given to us. Is that not what being a follower of Jesus Christ means!

What a great blessing has been given to each Believer. We have been given a great Light because of saying “yes” to the salvation Jesus Christ offers. That light is to “shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven” (Mathhew 5:16)!