“I am the door. If anyone
enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture”
(John 10:9)
When I need to run an errand, I walk out toward
the car parked in the driveway of our house. I press the little button
on the device on my key ring that signals the car to open its door, and
the car responds with a “Beep-Beep” indicating not only that the horn
works, but also that the door is now unlocked. It will let me inside and
allow me to drive it away. It occurs to me that the other car in the
driveway, the one I sometimes drive, does not make a “Beep-Beep” sound
when I summon this one, and it does not unlock its doors. Whichever
one I summon, the other one does not respond. Also, there are other cars
parked on the street, and they do not reply with a “Beep” or anything
else, either, because they do not hear the call of my key ring device.
It speaks to me of Jesus’ parable where He said, “Yet
they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for
they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:5). The
electronic “voice” sent by the device on my key ring is not to the other
cars; it is only to the one I intend to drive. And so it is with the “voice” used by our Lord in relation to your life – He
has a purpose for you that is utterly unique. He “calls” us all, yet it
is personal to each one.
The context of today’s Scripture continues from
John Chapter Nine, where Jesus had heard that the man He healed, the man
“who was blind from birth,” first
met in John 9:1, had been “cast…
out” by the religious leaders (John
9:34-35). The religious leaders did not want to believe in Jesus, that
He was and is the Son of God. And so they had to close their eyes, ears
and understanding, choosing to not hear about or see the miracle that
was right in front of their very eyes. Jesus had healed the man on the
Sabbath and they loved the law more than they loved the God who made
that law.
Notice that after Jesus “heard
that they had cast him out,” He went
and looked for the man “and when He had found him
He said to him, 'Do you believe in the Son
of God?'" The man answered, asking, “Who is
He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?… And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.’ Then he said, ‘Lord I believe!’ And he worshipped Him”
(John 9:35-38).
The progression of events here is very
interesting. Can you imagine your life if you had been “blind from birth?” Actually, I can somewhat imagine it,
though not completely. Our Associate Pastor here at Friday Study
Ministries, HAS been blind since birth and in our many conversations, he
has revealed much about how he feels. Pastor Timothy’s journey has been
difficult, not unlike how it would have been for the man in
John 9. The man would have felt all his life that he was left out of a
part of our way of life here on earth that the rest of us take for
granted. A certain sadness would have permeated each day of his
difficult journey (though in Timothy’s case, he does have the joy of the
Lord).
Then suddenly, on a day that seemed like any
other day, the formerly blind man in our Scripture could SEE! Jesus
healed the man, but did it in a very unusual way. He spit on the ground,
rolled in His hand a small amount of the dirt that was wet from His
saliva into a ball and placed some of this “clay”
onto the man’s eyes (John 9:6). To a blind man, touch is very important.
Then Jesus did something else that He often did not do when He healed
someone; He told the man to “go (and)
wash” himself in a well-known pool of water
in Jerusalem. The man did what Jesus told him to do, having previously
memorized the route to the pool, and “he came back seeing” (John 9:7). The world that most of
us take for granted was abruptly and unexpectedly revealed to him! He
saw trees, buildings, dirt, birds, flowers, weeds, the sky and people –
for the first time! Ever! It was wonderful! He trusted in the call, the
words of Jesus and he was healed.
At that moment, the formerly blind person became
willing to follow the Lord, no matter what. He would have responded to
the Lord just as surely as my car made the “Beep-Beep” sound and opened
the door to let me in. But something else also was about to happen.
All his life, the man had been excluded from the “polite society” of his
day, particularly as it related to his acceptance by the religious elite
of Israel. You can catch a glimpse of the common attitude toward such a
man by the words of John 9:2, in which Jesus’ disciples asked Him,
pointing to the blind man, “Rabbi, who sinned,
this man or his parents that he was born blind?”
Their response reflected a theology that has
come and gone in human thought since the beginning of time. There is an
assumption by some that if things go badly there is something sinful in
your life or your faith is defective. That’s what Jesus’ disciples had
learned from the religious leaders of the time, and it’s just as
irresponsible a theology now as it was then.
With that in mind, Jesus’ answer to His
disciples is interesting: “Neither this man nor
his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him”
(John 9:3). And at that moment, Jesus began to act and speak in a unique way
that would bring sight to the man who had been blind since his birth. It
is the intention of God that people everywhere will see that our Lord
answers us individually, not through formulas. And also, we are to
discover that the Lord will rescue us, especially when we become willing
to trust in Him.
The man who was born blind had one great need
in life – he wanted to be just like everyone else. He didn’t want to be
different. He didn’t want to be left out. He didn’t want to be avoided
and he didn’t want people to always treat him with sympathy. He wanted
to blend in and be like those who were not disabled. But it wasn’t to
be.
He would have expected now to be allowed to enter
into services at the synagogue. But the religious leaders
persisted in attacking the man about the miracle that had changed his
life for the good, and then they excommunicated him (John 9:34). He would never
be allowed to worship openly in the religion of his people. He who had
been an outsider was now condemned to still be one, all the rest of his
life.
But being accepted in this world is not our
deepest need. In fact, we all have a lack infinitely greater than mere
acceptance by people. Think about what is important. God has a way
of closing doors in life so that a better one might be opened. Just like
my car will unlock and open its door when I press the little button
which “tells” the car that I am the rightful owner, we are to respond to
the
Savior. In today’s Scripture, we learn that from God’s
perspective, we are not unlike sheep who need a shepherd. And as Jesus
said, He is “the door” to our
place of safety (John 10:9). Like my car goes “Beep-Beep” and lets me in,
Jesus is open for you. You and I can safely enter in and "find pasture" – now and forever.
Dear Lord, I see that we are all like sheep
that need a shepherd. You are indeed the “door” I have always needed. I
confess that I have had other distracting priorities, but now I put them
aside and give my life to You. I love You, Lord. And just as You have
opened Yourself to me, I open my heart to You, now and forever. Thank
You. In Jesus
Name. Amen.
