(Adapted from Morrison's Devotional)

Scripture Text: The Man Born Blind

John 9:2

Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? (KJV)

Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? (NIV, ESV)

The Self-Forgetfulness of Christ

Chapter 8 of the Gospel from John closes with the Jews insulting Jesus. Angered by His claim to have been before Abraham was, they had taken up stones to cast at Him. It was then that Jesus, going through the midst of them, passed by; and it was in passing by that He saw the man. Would you have had eyes for a blind beggar, do you think, after treatment such as Jesus got? Would you have been swift to benefit a Jew when the Jews had hardly dropped the stones to stone you? This reveals the self-forgetfulness of Christ, that after this rough handling by the Jews, He handles a Jew so tenderly as this.

If there is one story which we should know by heart, we have it here. Some of us never see a blind man by the pavement or walking around the food center towed by someone else selling tissues, but think of these eyes that were opened long ago. There are men who have been blinded by disease or accident; this man was blind from birth. He had never seen the meadows or the hills; he had never looked on his mother when she kissed him. Was there any hope for lost eyes like these? The cleverest doctor in Jerusalem then said No; and He said, Yes. It is Christ's way to delight in saying Yes when all the wisdom of the world is saying No. And then how Jesus made the clay, and bade the blind man wash his eyes in Siloam, and how the blind man went and washed and saw, all this the mother will tell to her delighted children.

Purpose in Our Sufferings

There are one or two lessons that we must not miss, and first, there is a purpose in our sufferings as Christians. That blind man was a puzzle to the disciples. The first thing Jesus thought of was to heal him; the first thing the disciples thought of was --- "Who was the sinner, this man or his father?" They should have learned from Job, if nowhere else, not always to link sin and suffering together. Then Jesus taught them what the blindness meant. There was a purpose in these sightless orbs. They were to bring the heart that beat behind them somewhere to trust in the great Saviour of mankind. How often had the blind man when he was growing up as a boy asked his mother, "O mother, what is the meaning of this darkness?" And with a breaking heart his mother had had to answer, "My dearest child, I do not know; God knows..." Now Jesus came, and mother and son were taught. The secret of the darkness was unlocked. It was that the works of God might be shown forth. Do I speak to any crippled lads? Shall this little sharing be read to some blind girls? Be patient; do not call it cruel and bitter. The day is coming, perhaps here, certainly sooner, when you will understand.

Christ Loves to Help Our Faith

Some miracles were accomplishe by a word. When Jesus went to the grave of Lazarus, He only cried, "Lazarus, come forth." But here He made clay and anointed the eyes of the blind man with it, and the question is, Why did our Lord do that? Did He need to do it? No. Did He wish the cure to be reckoned doubly wonderful by adding obstacles that made it doubly difficult for the blind man? I feel at once that is not Jesus' way. He wished to strengthen faith; that is the answer, for without faith there are no mighty works. Had the man not heard from his neighbours twenty times, that spittle and clay were medicinal for the eyes? Jesus began upon the man's own level. He quickened faith by stating from common ground. He was leading the man by an old village recipe to the faith through which a miracle is possible.

The man Was So Changed, the People Hardly Knew Him

His friends were sore perplexed. One could have sworn this was the man who begged. Another was ready to swear that it was not. Some argued that he was very like the beggar, but every one of them recognised the change. Now there are many thing that change a man. Absence will do it -- most of the time, we hardly know our friend when he or she comes home from overseas! Suffering does it -- what a difference in your sister since that illness! But neither absence not suffering so changes a man as does the wonderful handiwork of JEsus. It gives new hopes. It brings new outlook. It kindles new desires. It creates a new heart. Old things pass away under the touch of Jesus, and all things become new.

What Christ Had Done Kept him Loyal

After his healing, the blind man was sorely tempted to be false to Jesus. There was trouble at home; his parents were endangered. The priests and Pharisees were passionately angry at this new jewel in the crown of Jesus. And to think that he -- who yesterday sat and begged -- should stand in the temple and argue with the Pharisees! I am surer that when he went to bed at night, he wondered in the dark how He had done it. And then, through the window of his room, he saw the twinkling of a single star. Ah! it was that, that eyesight, that had stirred him. It was what Christ had done for him that kept him loyal. Let it be so with every one of us. In good times and especially in bad times. Remember Bethlehem! Remember Calvary! Recall what Christ has done for you, and then...

Should the world and sin oppose,

We will follow Jesus,

He is greater than our foes,

We will follow Jesus,

On His promise we depend,

He will secure and defend,

Help and keep us to the end,

We will follow Jesus.