I am enjoying a visit with my aunt and uncle out-of-state, which is always a wonderful treat. But, due to visiting and laughing and glorious eating, my blog post is late this morning and probably will continue to be so for the next couple of days. You have been warned, lol!
The story in John 9 is humorous and tragic, all at the same time. The overarching theme is spiritual blindness and revelation. We'll focus on vs. 1-4 this morning.
The Jews of that day, as I've mentioned previously here, believed that if you had a physical deformity or defect, it was because either you or your parents had sinned. In this specific case, it was implied to have been the man's parents, because the man had been blind from his birth. (So, it's difficult to understand how he could have sinned and caused his own blindness, you see - - pun intended.) But, this pervasive belief is what led to the disciples' question in verse 2.
Jesus' answer in verse 3 is one of the most important verses of the chapter. Jesus basically explains why God allows suffering.
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to non-believers: "If there is a God, why does He allow innocents to suffer? They don't deserve that!"
Let's talk about "getting what we deserve", for a moment. Due to the fact that we are all born sinners, according to the Scriptures (Romans 5:12 - - - So then, just as sin entered the world through one man {Adam} and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned—), we all deserve an eternity in Hell. That God the Father, in His extreme mercy and goodness, made a way for us to become redeemed through Jesus - - - such is grossly "unfair". I am so glad that God does not deal with me according to humans' flawed standards of "fairness".
So often we ask "why", when troubles come into our lives. It is a natural, fleshly reaction. Again, Jesus gives us the answer in vs. 3: God desires to glorify Himself through us.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism was written around 1646 by the Westminster Assembly, a consortium of clergy who sought to create a concise document for teaching new believers the Christian faith. This oldy, moldy document puts it like this:
"Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever."
Psalm 145 is a song of praise to God, written by David. It is a psalm filled with praise to God, regardless of circumstances. It echoes the sentiment expressed in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Look at verse 17:
The Lord is just in all his actions,
and exhibits love in all he does.
and exhibits love in all he does.
At times, God chooses to sooner or later relieve us of our pain and suffering while in this life. At other times, He chooses to bring us into eternity in the midst of our suffering. Regardless, his expectation of us is that we allow Him to glorify Himself through our circumstances.
We were talking about this around the breakfast table this morning. The past year for my elderly aunt and uncle has been very difficult. He is fighting cancer, while dealing with macular degeneration of the eye. She broke her ankle severely a year ago, was frustratingly unable to care for him for weeks, and is still dealing with the repercussions of that injury. Yet, they shared stories of how God has worked through them in the midst of their suffering.
For example, they told the story of how one of my uncle's therapists came to know Jesus through knowing them and working with them to bring about my uncle's healing.
If you are suffering today, no matter what the circumstances, draw close to God. Lean on Him. Let Him "make His name glorious" through you! Please know that His love for you is unwavering, that it is not diminished by your current circumstances. Every single event that occurs in your life is an invitation of God to embrace more of Him. The question is: Will you?
Will you draw near to Him? Or, will you in anger over your circumstances push Him away? This latter option is what the liar, the accuser, the deceiver - - - Satan - - - tempts you to do. He tried the same tactic on Job (Job 2:9), Jonah (Jonah 1:2), and many others, including even Jesus (Matt. 4:1-11)! Don't believe the Devil's lies.
God is good...all the time! We are so fond of saying that. Do we really believe it? If we believe the Scriptures, we know it to be true. God's radical love, His crazy love, and mercy are woven throughout the Old and New Testaments, if we only look. My uncle quoted this verse, Romans 8:18 this morning. I offer it for your encouragement, my dear brothers and sisters, along with the verses following:
18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not
only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption
of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.
26 In
the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know
how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with
inexpressible groanings. 27 And
he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the
Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will. 28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 29 because
those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and
sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Hallelujah! Walk resplendent in the glory of God today!
Lord Jesus, I thank you that you heal all of our diseases, if not now, then in forever - - - our physical diseases, our emotional diseases, our spiritual diseases - - - as long as we are Yours through Your Son Jesus Christ. Only in Him is fullness of joy. Only in Him is peace forevermore. (Psalm 16:11). In Jesus' name, amen.
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