Stop, Look and Listen!

9 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

² And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

³ Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

⁴ I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

⁶ When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

⁷ And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

⁸ The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?

⁹ Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.

¹⁰ Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?

¹¹ He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

¹² Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.

¹⁴ And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.

¹⁵ Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.

John 9:1-15 (KJV)

Our life can get a little bit out of hand. It happens when we go through painful and difficult times, these pain and problems become our focus. Our thoughts and our effort are spent in finding solutions to our problems. On the flip side, if we don’t have any problems, the things that give us happiness and pleasure can also become our focus. When something delights us, we continue to pursue it because it feels good. So, you see, it’s easy to get occupied about so many things and lose our focus on Christ! So, stop, look, and listen!

Jesus has time for those who suffer.

(verse 1)
The Lord has time for you! He has time for those who suffer. He knows how long you’ve been suffering. I don’t know what you are going through, but the Lord knows! The Lord finds time for those who suffer. Do not lose hope. The Lord has perfect timing for you. He will not pass you by.

Jesus helps show the works of God.

(verse 3)
Church, we are the body of Christ! We are one body. Christ is the head, and we are His body. Our church has a lot of members, we have a lot of ministries here. But all these are for one purpose and one purpose only. That is to bring honor and glory to God alone!

Jesus makes His way in His own will. 

(verse 6)
Church, we can see that if we submit and we accept the will of God, we can see His miracles in our lives. His ways are not what we expect, we know that. His ways are always different than what we’d imagine, most of the time it’s uncomfortable. If that is the Lord’s way, then so be it.

Jesus speaks to lead the way towards blessedness. 

(verse 7)
Sometimes, our lack of ability and our weaknesses become an excuse not to follow God’s command. The world says, “to see is to believe” but for us Christians, “to believe is to see.” Faith allows us to see the miracles of God. That is what happened to this blind man. When he believed Christ without any hesitation, he was able to see!

Jesus knows that people will look and talk.

(verses 8-9)
As the Lord works in our lives, people will look, and they will talk about us. We don’t need to be bitter about our past, nor do we need to be defensive about it. We may regret our past mistakes, but that is not our focus anymore. We keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. We used to walk in foolishness and rebellion, but now we walk in the newness of life.

Jesus expects a testimony for Him. 

(verses 10-11)
We are also once blind. We are lost in the darkness of this world. Christ healed our blindness. As we grow spiritually by spending time with God daily in prayer and reading His Word, we find ourselves loving and trusting Him more. We find our lives being changed. Those who know us from before we met Christ will see our sudden change of character. Just like blind man in our story, we must tell them about our healer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jesus blesses those who suffer for a testimony. 

(verse 35)
You see in our supporting text in verse 35, Jesus heard that they cast him out. The Lord knows what’s happening here. It’s wonderful to see that Jesus Christ himself looked for this man. He knows that he is suffering for a testimony for God. So, what did God do when the man was alienated? Christ himself sought him and found him. When his parents left him, when his community cast him out, the Lord accompanied him. God was with him! 

So, let us be reminded of the message today. STOP and take a moment to review what makes you busy today. LOOK at Christ with all your focus. And begin to LISTEN His voice with all ears.