Glorious Sight

It can be a wearisome toil to figure out life. It has been in the heart of man since the beginning of time to determine why things happen, what we can do to make things better, who is to blame when things go wrong, and what really is the true meaning of life.

Along the way, we have discovered a variety of laws that begin to make sense of it all: the law of gravity, laws of motion, the law of supply and demand, etc. We try to apply it to the moral realm, too: If man does x, God will do y. If man falls short of x, God will do z.

The heart of man is obsessed with this algebra of the soul, for it keeps him in control and elevates his work as the ultimate meaning of life.

As a result, when the disciples come upon a blind man in John 9, the wheels of their souls begin to spin as to whose work was deficient in order to produce such an outcome. Was it the sin of this man or the sin of his parents? Other outcomes, too, were being drawn as they worked out this scene in their hearts—namely, since they could see, their righteousness had clearly surpassed that of the blind man’s, making him a constant reminder of their superiority as they passed by him day after day. The blind man made them feel better about themselves, and, deep down, his healing would be a disappointment. Condemnation was the work they preferred.

The Light of the World, though, was on a mission to seek and to save, to heal the blind, to give His life.

God put His Son forward to highlight His work in all of life. Man wanted to maintain the law—keep it and be blessed or break it and suffer. It is our only way to gain glory for ourselves in this dark world. Little did we know, however, that none could keep the law, and our sin had already put us all under the curse of death. Sin and we shall surely die. Someone with perfect work would have to come to fulfil this law and deliver us from our terminal blindness. Jesus came. He would do this work.

Highlighting our work keeps us in blindness. There was more than one blind man standing before Jesus on that day. He came into an entire world of blind men. His Father had sent Him to accomplish a work that would deliver us from our blindness. His work would graciously trump ours. This man’s affliction was a gift to show the world the works of God. Jesus gave him instruction but also a heart to follow it. The man obeyed. He saw before he could see. He washed in the pool, and he was healed. He came back seeing!

The blind man's healing was not a result of his work. It was the work of the Father. It was the work of His Son. Jesus gets the glory that rises to the Father. Ultimately, His cross would secure
the healing. Our sin, our work, taken on Himself. His work, his righteousness, given to us. The death we deserved by failing to keep our side of the equation, was taken by Him. Life, is given to us. He does all the work! He gets the glory! We get sight to see Him!

When we see, all of life is redeemed by His grace. Nothing is earned by the redeemed children of the Father. Through Jesus, He has graciously given us all things (Romans 8:32.) Even our afflictions are turned to rays of mercy. He takes sight to give sight! He gives sight to give more sight! The equation has been gloriously solved! He is over it all! His work transcends all of ours! What a relief. What a rest. What a joy!

May we be diligent in proclaiming His work wherever we go. Condemnation brings
darkness. We don’t need to bring darkness; the world is already in darkness. This is not
the work of our Savior, nor should it be ours. Let us bring the Light of the World to all its
dark corners. Let us bring healing, not condemnation. God is at work. Everywhere. All
the time. Bringing Light. What a joy to follow Him on His glorious mission! Life has
meaning, and the meaning is Jesus!