Walking along their way, Jesus and his disciples see a man born blind. Burdened by a false Jewish belief system that taught good behavior leads to God’s favor and bad behavior (sin) leads to suffering, the disciples raise the question, “Who sinned and caused this man’s suffering?” Jesus’ response to the question is shocking. He says, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Then he proceeds to heal the blind man causing controversy, conflict and more questions.
What happens in this story is why some people believe in Jesus and some don’t.
In this story, these people are on a faith journey—the disciples, the blind man, his parents, the Pharisees and the onlookers. Some are exploring, others are questioning and some have a faith that’s old and cold. They’re all searching for reasons to believe or not believe. Each will accept or reject faith in Jesus based on their openness to his new message and their willingness to submit. They are not unlike us.
This weekend, Senior Pastor Jeff Manion spoke of three objections people have to God that hinders their faith-journey: personal sufferings, intellectual proof and impossible rules. Which of these do you most identify with? Today, ask God to give you a heart that’s open to his message in spite of your objections and invite him to reveal what you need to move forward in your faith journey.
