I just can't imagine what it would be
like to be blind.
Not seeing the vibrant colors that God has created
in our world,
not being able to see the face of my loved ones,
seeing them smile, seeing the tears on their cheek.
Oh, I just can't imagine not being able to see.
What about you? Maybe you are blind.
Maybe you haven't had that gift.
There was a man in John chapter 9 that had been
born blind.
The disciples of Jesus misunderstood the reason
they thought there was some specific sin that that man
or his parents had committed that would cause
him to be born blind.
Jesus said that wasn't from a sin.
It was so that his glory could be revealed.
Jesus then made some mud with saliva and put
it on the man's eyes,
and he told him to go and wash in the pool.
The man washed and he came home seeing.
The day that Jesus had made the mud was the Sabbath Day,
the day of rest. So Jesus enemies, the Pharisees,
they took issue with Jesus making mud on the day of rest.
They argued about how Jesus could perform this miracle.
They even dragged the man in to interview him twice.
The second time they were wondering
if Jesus was a sinner. In response, the man said,
“I don't know if he was a sinner,
but what I do know is that once I was blind, and now I see.”
The man's eyes have been opened by Jesus. Later on,
Jesus caught up with the man and asked him,
"Do you believe in the Son of God?" The man said,
"who is it that I may believe in him?"
Jesus said to him, "I am he." The man then said, "yes,
I believe." See,
Jesus hadn't just opened the man's physical eyes,
he’d opened his spiritual eyes.
The man could not only see the world around him,
he could see his Savior. He could see Jesus.
So truly it would be sad to be physically blind,
not to be able to see the vibrant colors in the faces
of our loved ones. But it's even a greater tragedy,
not to be able to see, our Savior.
Jesus wants you to see him.
He has giving you his words so that you can read about him
and learn what he did for you,
that you can see his nail printed hands where
he was pinned to the cross bearing your sins
so that you can see him alive, that the tomb is empty,
knowing that God has accepted his sacrifice on your behalf.
Through Jesus' Word,
you can learn that one day you will see him with your
own physical eyes in heaven. So may you see, Jesus.
May His Word open your eyes that you behold the one who bore
your sins on the cross and now lives triumphant from the grave.
Who's also ascended into heaven to prepare a place just for you.
Let us fix our eyes on him and know the peace
that only he can give. Amen.