Christmas may be over, but let’s not lose the wonder of who Jesus is.
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “And when He {the Messiah} comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!”(1) Blindness, deafness, lameness and muteness are not conditions that are orchestrated by God. They did not exist when God created the heavens and the earth. Rather, they are products of the fall of man that resulted from human sin. God had nothing to do with the creation of those conditions, but He has everything to do with their cure.
In John chapter 9, Jesus and His disciples encounter a man who had been blind since birth. The disciples asked Jesus the cause for this man being born blind. Most often when we witness or experience loss of this nature – whether it be loss of sight or hearing, or the loss of life, or the loss of position or possession – due to disaster, disease, violence or some unexplainable reason – we want to know what caused the pain. But most often even knowing the cause doesn’t provide us with a decisive explanation – let alone an explanation that satisfies us. Because we will never be satisfied with pain or loss – no matter the cause – nor should we!
However, if we are following Jesus, we can take strength from the Lord’s assurance that He “causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”(2) That means that ultimately it will be worth all that we have endured because God will use it for His good purpose. If being loved by God and being used by Him for His purpose has greater value to us than our sight, our lives, or virtually everything else, then His promise will provide us with great comfort. However, none of this will make sense or be of any comfort to us, if God, and the glory of His works, is not our greatest treasure.
In this instance, Jesus answered His disciples with ““It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”(3) God wasn’t the cause of his blindness, but He was about to be the cure in a way that brought great glory to the Father and the Son. God was going to use the man’s healing to further reveal His Light of the World. In so doing, some like the blind man would be drawn to worship Jesus in the Light.
This story should encourage us and cause us to marvel and wonder in Jesus for two reasons. First, there is nothing we will experience that God in His mercy and grace is not able to overcome – or enable us to walk through – for His glory. Second, just as Jesus opened the physical eyes of this man, as we see later in the text, He also opened his spiritual eyes and his sins were forgiven.
The physical healing of this man parallels the spiritual transformation that took place in his life, just as it can in ours:
1. The man was blind (our sin has separated us from the Light of the World).
2. He was blind from birth (we are born in our sin).
3. He was beyond human help (there is no human remedy for sin).
4. He was a beggar (there is no way he could help/save himself).
5. He wasn’t looking for Jesus (Jesus sought him out).
6. The disciples wanted to analyze the man. Jesus alone felt compassion for this man (He alone is our only solution).
7. Jesus made mud and spread it over his eyes and told him, “Go to the pool of Siloam and wash”(4) (Jesus made the way for his and our salvation).
8. In order to receive his sight, he needed to act by faith on what Jesus had told him (we too must respond by faith).
9. He who was blind, now saw (we who were lost are now saved).
10. He told others about what had happened – “I was blind, Jesus touched me, I obeyed by faith, now I see” (I was lost and now I am found).
11. His neighbors knew something had happened to him. (They saw the wonder in his eyes!)
This past Sunday, we sang the song “Build My Life” (lyrics below) in worship. When we came to the line in the chorus:
Open up my eyes in wonder
Show me who You are and fill me
With Your heart and lead me
In Your love to those around me
i immediately thought of this man born blind. His eyes had been opened to the wonder of who Jesus is. His heart was filled with love and adoration for Jesus – and the love and adoration of Jesus for others.
It prompted me to ask myself – have i lost the wonder? Are my eyes still opened in that same wonder? Am i still walking through life with my eyes opened like the blind man to the reality of who Jesus is and what He has done in my life? Does that wonder of Jesus truly permeate my life?
At that moment, i went from singing a song to praying a prayer:
Open up my eyes in wonder
Show me who You are and fill me
With Your heart and lead me
In Your love to those around me
Lord, keep the wonder of You ever before my eyes!
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(1) Isaiah 35:5-6
(2) Romans 8:28
(3) John 9:3
(4) John 9:7
Excerpt from Walking With The Master, Ch. 45
Copyright © 2020 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
Build My Life
Worthy of every song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
Jesus the name above every other name
Jesus the only one who could save
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
Oh we live for You
Holy there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder
Show me who You are and fill me
With Your heart and lead me
In Your love to those around me
And I will build my life upon Your love it is a firm foundation
And I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken
Songwriters: Matt Redman / Pat Barrett / Brett Younker / Karl Martin / Kirby Kaple / Karl Andrew Martin