“Tell me what you see Andy?”
As a 4th grader attending Marigold Elementary School, I was assigned to spend one on one time with a student at Loma Vista Elementary School who was born blind. Our schools shared a playground and during recess we would sit together on the grass. “Andy, tell me what you see?” Was the question he would ask.
What a privilege it was to describe all of the activity around us on the playground as foursquare balls bounced and children ran by playing tag. Sitting cross legged in front him, he would smile and ask a lot of follow up questions as I did a verbal “play by play” on all that was going on. I realized how grateful I was to be able to see and then in turn bless someone else by describing what I could see.
John chapter 9 contains the account of healing the man who was born blind.
The darkness and light analogy that John often uses is present here in full force. We are all like the man born blind, unable to see what is happening around us. Spiritually speaking, Paul says that the enemy of our soul has blinded the eyes of those who are far from God so they can’t see the light of Jesus.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4:4)
The Pharisees (hypocrite church leaders of Jesus’ day) were called blind guides (Mt. 23:24) and though they were the ones who should be able to “see” they were blind to the truth of who Jesus was.
In John 17, Jesus appears to reveal to us what the Father looks like, and to open our eyes to the truth. In John 9, Jesus sees the man, approaches him, takes initiative and ultimately heals him. Jesus initiates this relationship of healing and truth with the man in John 9, and with each of us.
Though we may be seeking truth and God, it is ultimately Jesus who pursues us first and enables us to see. Like the blind man, He invites us to respond to what He says and He gives us a choice to receive Him or not. The blind man chose to do what Jesus tells him to do by washing in the pool, and his eyes were healed.
What if he decided not to do what Jesus told him to do?
I believe that he would not have been healed, would still be sitting at the gate, still blind.
Jesus is constantly inviting us to follow him into obedience.
Every day Jesus gently invites us to follow Him and live in the light. We must choose to walk in the light, and when we say yes to Jesus it instantly provides us a community of people to belong to who are also saying Yes to Jesus.
But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.1 John 1:7 (NLT)
Saying yes to Jesus means that the community of fellow Jesus followers grows in my life and there is a cleansing from sin as I turn from my own ways of darkness into living in the light.
What areas is Jesus inviting you to follow in his steps today?
What does it look like to tell others about the clarity you have received and things that Jesus has shown you?
Join us this Sunday morning as we continue in the book of John, Jesus heals the man born blind.
