The Out-of-Touch Church
“When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated Sent). And so, he went away and washed, and came back seeing…They brought to the Pharisees him who was formerly blind. Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.” John 9:6-7, 13-14
Last week, we began to explore the day Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of man, performed the miracle of healing a man born blind on the Jewish Sabbath Day. My focus last week was taken from the first twelve verses of John’s Gospel, Chapter Nine. Today, I am covering verses thirteen through twenty-eight which I encourage you to read on your own for fuller context. In doing so, you will find the formerly blind man being brought before the church folks of the day called the Pharisees. These “Enforcers” of the law were so calculating and spiritually blind via their rigidity to the scribal interpretation of the law and to their being “right in their own eyes,” they had no time for Jesus or this boy! One of the scribal laws of the day read, “As to fasting spittle, it is not lawful to put it so much as upon the eyelids.”
Are there times in our lives as Christians, or in the church, that we behave like the Pharisees? “Look at what they are wearing!” “I wouldn’t be seen associating with that person in church!” “What would others think!” Jesus, who referred to Himself as “the Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8) shows true mercy. We are called to do likewise. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall recieve mercy.” Matthew 5:7 Pastor Louie