How Were Your Eyes Opened?

 

As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. And when He had spoken these things, He spat on the ground and made clay from the spittle. And He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which translated is Sent). Therefore he went and washed and came seeing. Then the neighbors and those who had seen him before, that he was blind, said, Is this not he who was sitting and begging? Some said, this is he. Others said, He is like him. He said, I am he. Then they said to him, how were your eyes opened? (John 9:5-10 MKJV)

 

First, Consider an Alternative to Your Estate

 This story begins in a world steeped in superstition. Surrounding Jesus that day were the ancient notions of how the parents of this young man had sinned and passed to him somehow an act of divine retribution, which in turn, had left him blind from birth. This was in keeping with the common notions of the day. In the ancient world they often drew a direct parallel between the difficulties of one’s life and the purity or lack thereof that was responsible for them, very similar to what we see spoken of in the book of Job. Now, although that may seem strange to us, it was the common perception of the day. On the surface this may not seem like a big deal, for we would just overlook or ignore it, but for that blind man, know, his perspective was remarkably different. He had been that way from birth, and so that was his plight. Understand, it would not have been his inclination to believe that anything would ever change. To him, he was cursed of God, left to suffer for the sins of another and resigned to not even ask why, for all back then believed it was the will of God. That was until Jesus arrived and told him, you are not blind because of your sin, you are blind that the glory of God might be revealed in you this day. Now we cannot underestimate the importance of that revelation. For the first time this blind man had hope and an alternative to his life’s situation. This is at the heart of having our eyes opened. As we look at our world and at our own personal situation, the first step in having our eyes spiritually opened begins with recognizing that Jesus has a very different perspective on our state of affairs. We believe this is our plight, but Jesus says, let your life allow me to reveal my glory!

 

Second, Let Jesus Touch You

Now it may sound absurd, but this man could have run away, or sought relief from being harassed by a mad man, who believed differently, or who was practicing some sort of strange magic. This man was faced with a decision, listen to Jesus and give Him a chance, or continue to live in the darkness to which he had grown accustomed. Several things for this man seem on the surface to be obvious, first, what did he have to lose? I guess if a man wants to try and help you to see, what harm is there. The second thing is, deep down inside he had been living his whole life in hopes of such a miracle. Whether he ever thought it would happen, does not take away from his deep desire that it could. This brings us to another important aspect of having our eyes opened, and that is, our desire to see, and our willingness to give Jesus a chance. I find it interesting on this occasion that Jesus touched the man. He could have spoken to make the man whole, but He did not. Scripture said He made a salve as it were, and placed it on the man’s eyes. You see, to a man who is blind, touch was everything. In many ways touching was the most personal and nurturing way to speak to this man. This speaks of another spiritual truth, and that is, that no one shall see until they are touched by Christ. We are all blind from birth! This begs the same question today as it did then, why not give Christ a chance and what could it hurt? The question is do you want to see and are you willing to let Christ touch you?

 Third, Be Washed and Wash Again.

 We live in a grace filled world. We are led to believe that we are doctrinally flawed somehow if we suggests that we have any portion in our salvation. Now let me make it absolutely clear, it is Christ and His blood alone, which saves us, but, we do have a dog in this fight. This story makes it obvious that this man had to do something if he ever wanted to see again. First, had to be willing to let Christ touch him, next, he also had to be willing to listen to what Christ was saying to him, and lastly, he had to be willing to do what Christ instructed him to do. Christ told him to go and to wash himself. Now, I know that our minds go immediately to the idea that our cleansing comes from the blood of Christ, but remember, Christ had already touched him! You see after Christ touches us next we must go to the water to be baptized, but we must also wash ourselves daily of the sin that so easily beset us. Jesus sent this man to the water because that is where we go after Christ’ touches us and Christ told him to wash himself because we are called to a life of holiness. So how are our eyes opened?  First, we hear the words of Christ that promise and give us an alternative to our present reality. We make a decision as to whether or not to give Him a try, to take Him at face value to reveal Gods glory in us. Then we let Him touch us, this comes when we repent and surrender to Him, receiving the greatest touch of all, His Holy Spirit, which now touches every aspect of our being. In obedience we now go to the water where we are ceremonially washed and reminded we are to continually wash and be holy as He is Holy. This glorious theme is repeated over and over again in Scripture!

 

Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.

2/27/2015

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