Day 20 - March 20th 2022
Read John 9:1-12
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, 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 saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Think about John 9:3 “Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”
Jesus’ healing of the blind man reveals important truths about our own suffering and our response to the suffering of others. Jesus made clear that the man’s blindness was not a result of his own sin or the sins of his parents. Rather, our anguish serves as a beckoning to come to the end of ourselves so we can more fully trust and depend on Christ. Here, we learn that both suffering and healing are opportunities for
refinement—a refinement that leads us to display the glory of God.
Take time out of your day to identify the suffering in your life. Put a name to it. Write it down. Talk to Jesus about it. He can handle your honesty.