John 9:35-41

John 9:35-41 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

As believers we know God wanted fellowship so much that He sent his Son to redeem mankind. Jesus looked for the formerly blind man because He discerned faith in his heart. And he also sensed the unbelief in the Pharisees who claimed sight but held onto their blindness by refusing God's holy presence in their midst. Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God, stood before them; yet they railed against him and rejected his works and ignored his lordship. Jesus rightly concludes: your guilt remains. God gives the willful and rebellious what we choose; He lets us have our own way, allows us to reap what we sow: for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Romans 2:8) If we choose Christ, He completely fulfills the glorious Old Testament prophecy (Jeremiah 31:31-34) that we find repeated in Hebrews 8:10-12: This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

As with the religious teachers and those who rejected Christ when He walked on Earth, many people today feel secure in their philosophies and carefully or not so carefully contrived belief systems about God, morality, and life after death. People consistently avoid answering the clear question Jesus put before the man he had healed: Do you believe in the Son of Man? The reality that people work so hard to avoid answering this important question shows how vital this question remains to finding any true meaning in life, any inner peace and victory over sin now and forever. The Bible clearly states to live in harmony with God and man this question must be addressed and answered exactly as the former blind man answered it: Lord, I believe. When Christ asks us, Who do you say that I am? We must run to join our voices with Peter's: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Only complete faith and total commitment to Christ pleases the Father's heart. Jesus said true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. (John 4:23) A walk of faith not only pleases God, but a life hid with Christ in God satisfies the deepest cries of the human soul and meets the innermost needs of every hurting person--the angst, the sense of separateness, the wounded orphan heart, the feelings that no one really understands, cares, or loves us as we long to be cherished. If an idea, an insight, a philosophy, a teaching, a book, a revelation, or a self-help group does not bring us to a better understanding of who Christ is in us and who we are in him, we are not on the right path. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12) Outside of Christ the world is blind, hopelessly lost in the dark without a light to find a way to hope, truth, and lasting peace and joy.

The Pharisees claimed to know God through the Law of Moses. Jesus saw stubborn blind men who looked holy on the outside but inside they were full of wrath. Every one of us must look into the mirror the Holy Spirit holds before us. When we take a close look, we might say these words: Who is this woman, who is this man? Am I dressed in the rags of my own works? Have I fashioned garments fit for the marriage supper of the Lamb? I must stand before the throne of the Most High God who will ask me to give an account for every idle word, every vicious act, every time I thought I could stand as judge and rule over another and inflict pain on someone else, every time I chose my way as the right way and my answer as the only true answer, and for every time I forced my will upon a situation. I will have to explain my haughty and rude demeanor, my critical and mean-spirited attitude, and my tendency to defend my gossipy words that tear down rather than build up others and for not asking forgiveness when I knew I should. Who is that person in the glass? I do not like all that I see. I want to see more of Jesus; instead, I see too much of me. Father, please, forgive me! I am a sinner in need of your mercy and grace. Wash me, cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow; burn up the rags of my life; clothe me in your spotless robes of righteousness; let me now enter your kingdom of life. I trust in YOU, Jesus! Lord, I believe, You are the Son of the living God!