December 21 - One Thing I Do Know

 Read today’s texts first: John 9-11

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

If you want to understand and apply the law,
see how the One who wrote the law lives it out.

As we learned from our reading today, there is nothing more compelling and convincing than a personal life-altering encounter with Jesus.

To set the context for the story, the religious rulers are mad at Jesus, again. On several occasions He has healed someone on the Sabbath and for some nitpicking reason the Jews would rather the sick stay sick than get healed on a Saturday. They complained about the lame man carrying his bed on the Sabbath and got this response: the man who healed me told me to pick up my bed and walk (5:10,11). They complained again after a beggar, blind from birth, was miraculously healed, because Jesus had made some mud and the beggar had rinsed it off in the pool, on a Saturday again – can you believe it?!

They were so focused on the law (not even God’s law but a man-written over-complicated version called the Mishnah), that they failed to recognize the Law Giver. If you want to understand and apply the law, it seems prudent to see how the One who wrote the law interprets it.

When the critics called Jesus a “sinner” in front of the healed beggar, his profound response illustrates the power of personal testimony: Whether He is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see! (9:25,26). You’ve got to love that answer. It’s irrefutable. My paraphrase: Who cares if we broke your arbitrary Sabbath rules - I can see! Too bad you can’t!

The best part of the story comes next. The religious leaders threw the beggar out, saying with their typical arrogance, you were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?  While they were casting him out, Jesus was searching for him (again, note the contrast between the heart of God and the hard-hearted religionist). When Jesus found the man, He revealed who He was and why He had come - so those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind (34-39).  A not-so-subtle reference to the religious leaders?

“Lord, this one thing I know, once I was blind but now I see. May I continue to see Your healing power in my own life and the lives of others. As I read Your Word each day, help me see beyond the letters of the law to the Spirit who inspired them!”