John 10 - The Blind Man and The Lost Sheep

 

I’ve been reading through John 10 recently. I find it such an interesting chapter, especially because it’s clearly talking about the man healed of blindness in John 9, but few commentators say anything about this.

What did the blind man have to do to meet Christ? What did he have to do to earn it? Nothing. He sat there with his problem and Jesus came and rescued him… Then the religious people were bent on making him their disciples instead of Jesus’s disciple. In John 10 Jesus spends a great deal of time explaining why this happened to the pharisees.

A couple interesting things stuck out to me here…

• The pharisees weren’t interested really in going out and finding lost sheep. They had the attitude that sheep would come to them.

• The blind man instantly followed Jesus, and knew something wasn’t right about how the Pharisees were doing things. He didn’t join them but rather went back out on the street. How many people are genuine followers of Jesus but they don’t fit the church mold and have decided to stay on the streets?

• Jesus chose the blind man, but it was the blind man’s choice to stand up to the Pharisees. Jesus almost always initiates - our decision is what we’ll do with that… and this unlikely witness was the strongest one in the gospel against the pharisees!

• Jesus made his entire ministry about the One. The one person, the one woman, the one blind man… He treated everyone individually and “calls them by name”. The Pharisees thought in general and were making decisions for the crowd, often worrying what the crowd thought.

What Needs to be Crucified

 

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25

 

Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires… Strong words! We have put to death our flesh and just live for Christ.

 

What am I supposed to listen to and what am I supposed to crucify? The more tired I become the more difficult it is to answer questions like this. The Godly and ungodly mix together in a haze of confusion for me. I think that I am trying to solve things once and for all but things aren’t like that. Am I supposed to rest of spend time with my family? Am I supposed to do work or train others to do it? Am I supposed to spend time with my family or spend time with God, or spend time with his people? How about this one - why do I spend so much time worried about doing the right thing, and kicking myself if I don’t? Maybe that is the desire that needs to be crucified.

 

Christ died so I don’t have to be perfect. Christ died so I don’t actually need to have all the answers. Instead of wallowing in my imperfection and indecision I can cling to His perfection and the knowledge that He’ll love me even if I make the wrong decisions.

Chosing a Life of the Spirit

 

Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Galatians 3:3

 

Galatians is all about living in the spirit vs living in the flesh. I think this can mean so many things, but for me right now it means that I’m trying to do things my way instead of letting God do things His way.

 

God didn’t choose me because of what I could do. Why now am I focused on doing for Him? God didn’t choose me because of who I could become; He loved me in spite of who I was. Why do I now think that I have to be a certain type of person?

 

Many believers are in a place like this. When they first get saved everything is new and different, and there is a trust and faith in God. There is a wonder and a trust in what the scriptures say. Years later, the fire has gone cold and everything is about your own action… Pray more, give more, serve more… But that’s not the gospel.

 

That wonder, the dependence on God, and the understanding of new mercies every day is a possibility for us now - if we would chose a life of the spirit instead of a life in the flesh.