May 8 - Surely We're Not Blind, Are We?

May 8 – Surely We’re Not Blind, Are We?

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. (John 9:35-41)

The Pharisees drove the blind man out of the Temple.  Because he had been healed of his blindness, he was no longer welcome among the worshiping Jews.  He was reviled and tossed away because in a moment he had gone from being blind and pathetic, to being able to see and rejoicing!  They drove him out.

Then an amazing thing happened. Jesus went looking for him. 

We are human.  We do despicable things to each other.  We toss people away, we ignore them, we treat them poorly, we say terrible things about them, we are unable to find compassion within ourselves for others, we step over people on our way to the top, we won’t listen to others because our needs or our pains are more important than theirs.  We miss out on helping others because we are too busy with our lives, our children’s lives, the lives of our friends. 

Surely we’re not blind, are we?

Jesus went looking for the man.  He’s not just human.  He wasn’t interested in promoting his own agenda or managing his life and the lives around Him.  He wanted to restore the relationship this man had with God.  That’s all that really mattered.  That’s all that really matters.

Whenever we look to our own needs and desires first, we miss opportunities to restore relationships.

Surely we’re not blind, are we?

Jesus went looking for the man.

When He found Him, He told this man what the world had been waiting to hear.  The Son of Man, the Messiah, was walking among humanity.