Every once in a while, I hear skeptical college students say that if only God would perform miracles before their eyes, they would believe. Honestly, sometimes I wish God would do just that!
Series Introduction
But this weekend’s passage exposes just how important a role Jesus of Nazareth plays in the lives of those who come to faith. We might expect that when Jesus performs a miracle – especially a public miracle that reminds his audience of the words of their prophets – there would be no denying the power of God through him. Not so with the Pharisees. Some of them simply could not accept Jesus’ miraculous works.
After all, it’s not so easy to fully comprehend a rabbi who has told his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood, while breaking all kinds of social and religious taboos, is it? After Jesus proclaims that he brings sight to the blind, some of the Pharisees ask, “What? Are we blind, too?” Jesus confirms that they are indeed blind to the One who alone who brings true sight.
And what about us?
For those of us who have grown comfortable in the church, how do we continue to “see” the shocking, scandalous, life-changing, dying savior?
In his book, Night, Elie Wiesel recounts his experience of witnessing a gruesome act of violence in a WWII concentration camp. After watching an execution, he writes:
Behind me, I heard the same man asking:
Where is God now?
And I heard a voice within me answer him:
... Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows.
Our passage teaches us that only Jesus can help us “see” God at work in such confusing ways. Again, it teaches us that we are blind until we receive the healing touch of Jesus Christ.
For those who know their blindness, Jesus comes to give sight! It’s hard to imagine, but the blind man, seeing for the first time, had his entire world radically changed.
May the Lord Jesus reveal the Father’s great love for us this weekend.
To God's glory alone,
Jeff Liou
Pastor of College Ministries