Welcome to day 24 of our 40 day challenge! Today, we are in John 9

(You can catch up on our Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20, Day 21, Day 22, Day 23 if you missed them)

John 9:1-41

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His 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 works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶ After saying 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.

⁸ His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some claimed that he was.

Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

¹⁰ “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

¹¹ He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

¹² “Where is this man?” they asked him.

“I don’t know,” he said.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.¹⁴ Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵ Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

¹⁷ Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸ They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ¹⁹ “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

²⁰ “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. ²¹ But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷ He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸ Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

³⁰ The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. ³² Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴ To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹ Jesus said,^[a]“For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

⁴¹ Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

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Who sinned, this blind man or his parents? When we see suffering, it’s easy to sidestep the disconnect we feel and focus instead on who is to blame.

And as I read this today, I’ve been thinking about one of the widows we bring groceries to, Rubi. A few years ago, the Lord healed her son, and her family was thrown out of their church because of it. He had suffered debilitating migraines his whole life. He missed a lot of school and was often in the hospital. One day at church, a visiting speaker heard about this and asked if she could come with her prayer team to pray for him. After they prayed, he was healed. He hasn’t had another migraine since! But this angered the leadership group at her church, and they kicked her family out of the fellowship. This was devastating, not only because the church family was their community, but as a seamstress, they were also her main source of income. In just a few days, she received an incredible miracle, and then lost her income and her community. But the Lord is faithful. Rubi and her kids began attending a new church and, little by little, built up a new clientele. And the new church fellowship has been a new home and community to them. ♥

Just like this man born blind, one moment her son was afflicted and the next, changed forever. And, just like the man born blind, this miracle from the Lord led to being thrown out of their religious community. Instead of praise and gratitude, this healing miracle resulted in the church leadership getting angry. I keep thinking about what was in their hearts that led to anger over rejoicing?? And how can I make sure I respond with rejoicing and glorifying God rather than with jealousy or anger?

As we saw in yesterday’s reading, things will eventually be put right. But today we are in the now-and-not-yet of the Kingdom. We will all receive the miracles eventually. Sometimes we receive the miracle now. Sometimes we must wait till we’re with the Lord, and the miracle we do get now is how Jesus carries us through the suffering, and the person we become through it.

Jesus has experienced loss and struggle. He is the man of sorrows acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). He knows the betrayal and the intense pain. He knows the highs and the lows (Hebrews 4:15). And He will walk through the suffering with us. No matter what it is or how long it takes, He won’t leave us (Matthew 28:20, John 14:18, Deuteronomy 31:6).

And one day, all our tears will be gone. And one day we’ll understand the whys and hows. But today we just have to lean on Him. Because He’s been there before and He knows the way through.

We never have to walk through any of this alone.

Lord, give us hearts soft enough to sense what you are doing. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Help us know your presence in the midst of rejoicing and in suffering and sorrow. Help us see the miracles and rejoice, even, and especially, when the miracles aren’t for us. Help us love others more than the rules we’ve made. And help us see ways to glorify you instead of ways to place blame. Help us have your perspective on what is going on around us. And to love others in a way that glorifies you. 

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you tomorrow for Day 25, in John 5

♥ Samantha