John 9 Devotional

arch 20th, 2016 

Devotional

“The Grave Robber: Never Say Never” - John 9: 1-12

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Monday: “From Birth” - John 9: 1-2

Sometimes when we read Bible stories it is hard for us to fully place ourselves in them. Maybe we don’t understand some of the Biblical words and what they mean. Or maybe sometimes we don’t understand the context because it is so different from ours. Other times it may be because we can’t put ourselves fully into the character’s shoes - as I would guess is the case with this particular story.

When the story tells us that Jesus saw a man who was blind from birth - this man who had never seen a single thing. In the words of Pastor Mark Batterson, “The man born blind had as many words his vocabulary as we do, but zero images”. It is hard to imagine having words but nothing to connect them to. It is hard to imagine not having the receptors in your eye connected to the synapse in your brain. Yet, it was exactly this man who Jesus was going to heal. 

What about this Bible story prevents you from fully placing yourself in it?

What comes to your mind when you hear words such as sun or lake? What would have come to the man blind from birth’s mind?

Prayer: Gracious God, help us to place ourselves fully into today’s Biblical text. Help us wade through what we do not understand and what is hard for us to imagine to get to the heart of your gospel message. Let it resonate in our lives so we can proclaim your good news. Amen. 

Tuesday: “They Haven’t Sinned” - John 9: 3-5

I fear that sometimes we label others as sinners because we do not want God to expose the sin in our own lives. Jesus’s disciples had been brought up in a culture that told them that some physical disabilities were directly linked to sin - perhaps sin from generations back in a family, but sin none the less. 

In today’s gospel text, Jesus takes what the disciples had learned about blindness being a result of sin and turned it on his head, as he proclaimed that this man’s blindness existed to bring God glory. What does this text look like in our own lives? When things don’t go our way, do we look for something or someone to blame or do we seek to see how our current circumstances, however unpleasant, can bring God the glory? 

How has God redeemed the circumstances in your life for Kingdom purposes?

Prayer:  Lord, we thank you today for the gift of our eyesight. But we also ask that you help open up the eyes of our hearts. Keep us, O Lord, from looking to blame you or sin for those circumstances in our lives or the lives of others, when this is not the case. Open up our hearts to seek your will and your purposes, even when we do not fully understand them. Amen. 

Wednesday: “ Go” - John 9: 6-7

Each of Jesus’s healing stories are a little different. For some he simply spoke a word and they were healed. In this particular case, healing was messy. Jesus bent down and spit into the dirt, making mud that he covered the man’s eyes with. Then he sent him off on a mission - go to a certain pool, a pool that he may have heard of but would have never seen before and wash. Why would Jesus go about healing the man in this fashion? Why wouldn’t he simply heal him right then and there? How would you react if you were the man who was born blind? 

One of the prayers I sometimes have folks pray when they are going through a difficult time is for God to open a door. But often for God to open one door another must be closed. The man in today’s scripture had a choice, to seek a new door or to have things stay the same. 

Why would Jesus send the man on a scavenger hunt for healing?

When is a time Jesus healed you? What was that experience like?

Prayer: Lord, often we want things to be simple. We want every door to be opened to us. We want everything to go as we expect so we can have our way. And yet, you often show up in the most unexpected of ways, Lord. Help us to fully live into who you are calling us to be and the opportunities you are presenting us with. Amen. 

Thursday: “Isn’t that guy that Guy?” - John 9: 8-10

We’ve all that experience haven’t we, when we saw someone we thought we knew but we weren’t quite sure. In fact, we may have even convinced ourselves that surely the person we are seeing isn’t the person we are thinking about. So it was with the blind man’s neighbors. After the man washed where Jesus sent him, he was able to see. But his neighbors couldn’t believe it. The man in today’s scripture isn’t even given a name, simply called the man blind from birth, and that is probably how his neighbors saw him as well - as his disability. Now they are presented with the opportunity to see him as a whole person and they couldn’t believe it. 

The neighbor’s seemed to miss the message that nothing was too big or impossible with God. God is the God of second chances that change everything. God changes how others see you. And God redeems all of your life for the purpose of the Kingdom. 

What are some of the differences between a true miracle and one that you tried to make happen?

How has God redeemed your life for God’s purposes?

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for times that we have not seen other people as you see them. Open up our eyes so we can truly see. Let us not be held back by judgments or misperceptions, but be freed to celebrate the opportunities that you give our neighbors. Let us seek and celebrate your glory! Amen. 

Friday: “Who is This Man?” - John 9: 11-12, Gen 21: 1-7

After the man who was once blind recounted how Jesus opened up his eyes so he could see, the first question the crowds asked was “who is this man?”. 

Who is this man? Who is this God? Who can do these things? All questions we ask when extraordinary things happen - be in opening up the eyes of the blind or allowing the barren to conceive in their old age. We worship a God who does the seemingly impossible, all for His honor and glory. 

Are their situations in your life when God has done impossible things?

What effect does contentment have on our attitude and outlook? How does contentment prepare us to be generous?

Prayer: God, we confess this day that you are sovereign. That you make the blind to see. That you do amazing, unpredictable things in our life. Let us always praise you, O God, not just for what you have done, but for who you are. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Grave Robber: One Little Yes” -  John 11: 32-44 and John 20: 1-18

Family Activity: Some people see things different then you. Draw a picture of what you think it was like for the blind man to see for the first time.