Scripture:

In John 9, we read the famous story of Jesus healing the man born blind. Generally speaking, the story goes like this: There is a man born blind along the side of the road and Jesus' disciples ask him if he is blind as a result of his sin or his parent's sin. Jesus tells them that sin has nothing to do with it, but that this man was born blind so that God could be glorified. With that said, he heals the man and gives him sight.

Word spreads and before long the man is in the synagogue being questioned by the religious leaders - the Pharisees. They don't like the fact that this guy, Jesus, is drawing a crowd, healing people, and speaking out against them, so now they are extra annoyed that he has done something stupendous in giving sight to a man born blind. They question the man over and over again, asking him the same things repeatedly. They ask his parents. They threaten him. In reality, they don't want to hear his answer to the questions - they are just looking for some weak spot in the story that they can exploit.

Eventually, the man born blind grows exasperated and says, "I do not know whether [Jesus] is a sinner or not. I do know one thing - that although I was blind, now I see. You keep asking me how he did this. I told you already and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his followers too?" And with that, he is excommunicated from the synagogue forever.

Observation:

We often think that because we know the truth or because we have a clever argument, people will listen to what we have to say about Jesus. After all, the gospel is good news - that's what the word means. Why wouldn't people want to hear about good news? Everyone likes good news!

The reality that we see in John 9, however, is that there are many people who are spiritually blind. In this story, the man who was physically blind is able to see Jesus for who he really is. The pharisees, on the other hand, physically had their sight, but were unable to see Jesus. They didn't want to see him. They didn't really care for the truth. No clever argument would change their mind. This is why Jesus, speaking of the religious leaders, said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, and the ones who see may become blind (John 9:39 NET)." 

The point is this: seeing Jesus for who he truly is requires spiritual sight, and at the end of the day you are powerless to provide that to anyone. God has to open their eyes, the same way that he opened mine and yours. The Holy Spirit has to do the work.

Application:

For me, this gives me a sense of responsibility and relief. The responsibility comes as I understand the fact that I don't want to get in the way of anyone learning about Jesus. If someone rejects Christ, I don't want it to be because I stood in the way. I want to show Jesus as clearly as possible, without Bill blocking their sight. The relief comes in knowing that at the end of the day, I can't really do anything to open a person's eyes. The same way that the man born blind couldn't convince the pharisees to believe him, I can't convince anyone else either. All I can do is obey God and trust him with the results.

Prayer:

Lord, give me the motivation to continue to obey and speak of you even when nobody seems to respond. Help me to know that at the end of the day it is in your hands and I cannot steal your responsibility. I need to obey the call to make disciples, but I can't force anyone to follow you.