Notes
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes.
He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
“Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
John 9:1-15
Like the disciples, many times we are more focused on where and how a problem started than on God’s power and what He is doing. In the previous chapter, Jesus was in a debate with religious leaders about what they could and couldn’t do, but Jesus wanted to change how they were looking at things. We should stop focusing on what we can and can’t do and consider what God can do; this means learning to see differently - not focusing so much on how to fix the problem, but about trusting God to show up and shine through the problem.
Instead of seeing the problem, we can:
1) See the possibility
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1
Though he was physically blind, the man in John 9 could see the possibility with God. He did what Jesus asked him to do. Life has a way of throwing problems at us, but don’t let them blind you to what God can do. Having faith doesn’t mean that our problems will go away or that they’ll be fixed how we want them to be fixed; it means shifting our focus, our spirit, to the one who can do all things.
2) See God’s power
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
Psalm 19:1-4
If, when we encounter a problem in life, we decide to sit down and quit, we won’t see God’s power. When we choose to participate with God despite our problems, we will see Him move in mighty ways. Through our spiritual gifts, His power is manifested in our lives.
3) See the potential
There is potential in each of us to glorify God and see Him work through us. God wants the world to see who He is, and the way He is accomplishing that in our time is through the Church - His people. If God has touched your heart, He has called you out of your old life and into a new life of following Him. He is the one who qualifies you to do His work in the world.
Group Questions
- When have you seen God step into and shine through a problem in your life?
- What are some problems you are going through right now?
- What is your spiritual gift, or what spiritual gifts do you see in each other?
- How does God use the Church to make Himself known?
Prayer
We are here to see your power over all things, to see the possibilities in our problems, to see the potential in each person you have created. Show us how we step into what you are doing around us.