An Interesting Case Study

I have sometimes heard people say, "It would be so much easier to believe in Jesus if we lived in the time that He did. If we had seen the miracles with our own eyes, faith would be easier."

Our passage today- John 9- belies that notion. Even those who saw the miracles that Jesus did had a hard time accepting them. As I read this passage, I am struck by the many different reasons that people did not exercise faith:

*Confusion about the facts- In verses 8-9, the neighbors can't agree if the man healed is really the blind man or not. Even his testimony doesn't seem to convince them!

*Legalism/false righteousness- In verse 16, some of the Pharisees say that Jesus cannot be from God because he healed on the Sabbath. Their narrow, religious conceptions kept them from faith.

*Fear- Verse 22 tells us that the parents did not exercise faith in Jesus or celebrate the healing of their son, because they were afraid of the religious leaders! I suppose this reason could also be labeled peer pressure.

*Ignorance- Verse 36 tells us that the blind man did not immediately exercise faith himself because he didn't know who Jesus was (never having seen Jesus before his healing). It takes Jesus' identification of Himself to lead to faith.

Not much has changed in 2,000 years. Today, people fail to believe for many of the same reasons. We have to make sure that none of these things keep us from faith.

The Light of the World

There is so much to comment on in John 8 that it is hard to restrain myself. The story about the woman caught in adultery (textually suspect as it is) teaches us a great deal about mercy. At the end of the chapter, Jesus' words about being "I AM" give us a clear statement of his own claim to divinity. But what strikes me as I read this passage today are Jesus' words in verse 12. Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

I could write a lot about what the metaphor of light teaches us about Jesus. But that is not what strikes me as I come to the passage today. What strikes me as I reread these familiar words is how the light is turned on. Jesus says, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12, ESV). What is the key to God's light in our lives? Is it a moment of decision for Jesus? Is it listening to Christian radio? Is it hanging out in church? Those things might all be good, but they are not the root source of God's light in our lives. What is? Jesus tells us: obedience. We have the light of life when we follow Him.

A lot of Christians feel like they are in darkness now. Even though they exercise faith, they have depression and hopelessness and fear. Could it be that we have darkened our own lives by a failure to follow? If we want to have light in our lives, we need to have the courage to pick up our crosses and follow Him. We need to walk as Jesus did.