Blindness and Seeing

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? As we saw yesterday, at least part of it is consistently and firmly telling our story of how Jesus has opened our eyes. There’s a lot that the blind man in John 9 doesn’t know about Jesus. When the Pharisees say they know Jesus is a sinner because he healed the man on the Sabbath, the blind man replies: “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25, NIV).

It's not easy seeing things through the eyes of faith. As Paul says, “so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” (2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV). Fixing our eyes on the invisible requires seeing beyond the things that crowd around us all the time. What is most obvious catches our attention, but we have to see beyond that in order to focus on what is most important. May God help us to see beyond the temporary to see the eternal.

Next week we’ll continue our series in the Gospel of John by looking at John 10 where Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd. In order to understand this statement, it’s important to remember that shepherd was a term that was used for the leaders of the people. For example, Jeremiah 23 begins, “‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the LORD,” (Jeremiah 23:1, NIV). God promises that he will himself shepherd his people, and in John 10 Jesus claims to be the fulfillment of this promise.

We had a nice potluck meal yesterday and it was nice to have a good number of people in worship. Hope to see you next week, and bring along a friend!

God bless,

Brian

Scripture readings for next Sunday

John 10:7-21—How would you describe the characteristics of the Good Shepherd?

Ezekiel 34:1-16—Who do you think the “shepherds of Israel” are in this passage?

John 10:22-33—How does the Feast of Dedication relate to the Good Shepherd teaching?

1 Peter 5:1-4—Why is “shepherding the flock” a helpful image in this context?