"And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding." Daniel 2:21

Movie Scene?

Sometimes Scripture makes me laugh. I mean, it just does. Sometimes, I just have to shake my head and chuckle at how human nature hasn't changed much through the centuries. So many of the stories in the Bible could easily be set in modern times. Take, for instance, the story in John 9 about the man born blind. Jesus healed him, gave him sight, and, as a result, caused quite an uproar in the guy's neighborhood. So, as neighbors are prone to do, they began talking about him. Sound like today so far?

Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." John 9: 8-9a

Can't you just see them leaning close to one another, eyebrows knit, trying to make sense of it? If they'd ever actually looked at him or befriended him when he was "only" a blind beggar, they would have had no doubt who he was. The thing was, though, while they were discussing him like he wasn't there, like he was some sort of museum exhibit, he was standing right there with them. Scripture says only, He said, "I am he." vs. 9b, but I'm imagining the guy thinking, "Hey! Hel-lo! I'm right here! I can hear you. No need to discuss. I can just tell you how it is." Maybe he was even tugging on their sleeves, trying to get their attention. Doesn't imagining that scene just crack you up? Anyway, so the guy explains,

A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight. vs. 11

Ah, "A Man called Jesus,". . . such beautiful words! I could dwell on those four words for a long time, but won't right now because I want to continue with our movie, errr. . . story.

So, it was simple, right? Jesus said, 'do this', the guy did it, and was healed. End of story, right? Nope.

Not only did this healing get the guy's neighbors in an uproar, it also got the religious leaders, the Pharisees, in an uproar. They questioned him about how he had received his sight. He explained. Again. Then the Pharisees discussed the event and the Man who had done the healing among themselves. Seems this Healer had healed the man on the Sabbath, a fact the Pharisees used as leverage to convince the people He wasn't from God. Anyway, next they called in the guy's parents who would only confirm, that yes, their son had been born blind, and yes, now he could see. The parents very carefully avoided saying anything about the, "Man called Jesus" for fear of being called one of His followers and being thrown out of the synagogue. Then, yet again, the Pharisees questioned the man about how he had received his sight. Well, by now, the guy must have been pretty frustrated. What makes me think so? Listen to his sarcastic reply.

He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?" vs. 27

Slam! As you can imagine, this didn't go over so well with the Pharisees. Can you see this as a movie scene, with modern people, in a modern day setting like a courtroom or a place of business? I sure can!

Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from." vs. 28-29

Ah, yes, playing the Moses card, the patriarch up the sleeve, so to speak. A little superiority to try to create doubt about the man's credibility. Does this still happen today? Um, unfortunately, yeah. See if you detect a tone of exasperation in the guy's reply.

"Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my

eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." vs. 30-33

Again, the man's words didn't go over so well with the Pharisees. As a matter of fact, they were so indignant that this man whom they saw as being "completely born in sins" because of his infirmity, had the nerve to teach them that they threw him out of the synagogue. Some day this guy had, huh?

But it was about to get better. Much better.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" vs. 35 And when the man asked, "Who is He?" Jesus told him:

"You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." vs. 37

And the man replied, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him." vs. 38

So you begin your day as a simple blind beggar no one notices, and end it as a person who's seen for the first time in his life, and not only that, has talked face to face with the living Son of God! Was it worth all the uproar and frustration? Was it worth being the subject of neighborhood gossip? Was it worth being thrown out of the synagogue? I'm guessing the guy's answer would be a resounding, "You better believe it!"

Human nature hasn't changed much over the centuries, and we can chuckle about that, but the great thing is that God hasn't changed over the centuries at all, and He never will! He's still in the business of giving sight to blind beggars like us. He still comes looking for us when we've been cast down or out. He still clearly tells us who He is, and seeks to initiate conversation with us. And our response to Him can also be a worshipful, "Lord, I believe!"

Daye Phillippo

October 2009