Lent Devotional Day 22

Day 21
Tuesday, March 14th

John 9:1-23
9 As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 Jesus’ disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned so that he was born blind, this man or his parents?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents. This happened so that God’s mighty works might be displayed in him. 4 While it’s daytime, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After he said this, he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smeared the mud on the man’s eyes. 7 Jesus said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (this word means sent). So the man went away and washed. When he returned, he could see. 8 The man’s neighbors and those who used to see him when he was a beggar said, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is,” and others said, “No, it’s someone who looks like him.” But the man said, “Yes, it’s me!”

10 So they asked him, “How are you now able to see?” 11 He answered, “The man they call Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes, and said, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 They asked, “Where is this man?” He replied, “I don’t know.” 13 Then they led the man who had been born blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now Jesus made the mud and smeared it on the man’s eyes on a Sabbath day. 15 So Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. The man told them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some Pharisees said, “This man isn’t from God, because he breaks the Sabbath law.” Others said, “How can a sinner do miraculous signs like these?” So they were divided. 17 Some of the Pharisees questioned the man who had been born blind again: “What do you have to say about him, since he healed your eyes?” He replied, “He’s a prophet.” 18 The Jewish leaders didn’t believe the man had been blind and received his sight until they called for his parents. 19 The Jewish leaders asked them, “Is this your son? Are you saying he was born blind? How can he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know he is our son. We know he was born blind. 21 But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who healed his eyes. Ask him. He’s old enough to speak for himself.” 

22 His parents said this because they feared the Jewish authorities. This is because the Jewish authorities had already decided that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why his parents said, “He’s old enough. Ask him.”


Reflection
One thing that jumped out at me during this scripture was how everyone tried to explain away the miracle that Jesus had done. He gave sight to a man that had been born blind. Can you imagine? You have never seen a sunset or the ocean or a child's smile and then, Boom! All of those images come flooding in. Would you care where this gift came from or if it had been done on a Sabbath? I don't think so, Tim. You would be too busy studying a clay jar or watching a cat run through a field or seeing how blue the sky can be.

How many blessings and miracles in my life have I tried to explain away as coincidence or luck? I grew up as a missionary kid in the Dominican Republic. I got to live my formative years in the Caribbean with great friends and a tight-knit missions community. Those first few months on the mission field, I cried myself to sleep. I had to give up grandparents, friends, and Dr Pepper. Those hurt. However, through the pain, God was expanding my horizons far beyond what I could ever imagine. I gained a one-of-a-kind perspective. He worked a miracle in me. I hope you can look back through your life and see where God has worked in you a miracle. You are the only you out there, and God wants you to be exactly who you are deep down.
     
Prayer 
Lord forgive me for being blind to the amazing things that you have done in my life. Please give me sight to see the miracles that make me who I am today and the amazing things that you are trying to do all around me. Amen.

By Aaron Stapleton