Psalm 31; Jer. 24:1-10; Rom. 9:19-33; John 9:1-17
The Lord promises that the exiles in Babylon will be the ones who are blessed ultimately by coming back to the land. They have not compromised with other nations as those who remain may have done in order to keep their power, position and property. We know from the book of Daniel and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah that the exiles did indeed prosper in Babylon so long as they remained true to the Lord rather than bowing the knee to other gods and they did return to Jerusalem and in fact rebuilt the walls and the city itself after many years. Those who remained or went into exile in Egypt accommodated themselves to these other gods and had no share in Jerusalem, they disappeared as they failed to maintain their distinctiveness. Jeremiah’s prophecy is an encouragement to keep the faith, that the Lord would be faithful to them.
The healing of the man is an important milestone in Jesus’ ministry. It begins with a question, whose sin caused the blindness. The basic default in human nature in religion is that sin is the cause of all things and we like to affix blame. Sin is the answer to the question but specific identification isn’t the answer, sin as a reality is the best answer. Jesus says that neither this man’s sin nor sin by his parents is to blame, this blindness is an issue of the sovereignty of God, His glory will be displayed in the healing of the man. It was God’s will that this man be blind so that he might be here in this condition at this time. Jesus affects the healing in an interesting way, making mud and putting it on the man’s eyes and sending him away to wash it off. Jesus worked on the Sabbath against the prohibition of the Pharisees and then caused the other man to work to wash it off. The Sabbath police are out and again they miss the great thing because they have fixated on the violation of their law. The man himself is grateful but has yet to see Jesus. He has, however, formed a judgment about Him, He is a prophet.
Paul knows what it means to pursue righteousness without faith. He pursued it most of his life and what he found in the end was that his pursuit didn’t lead him closer to God it led him away from God. He didn’t recognize either God or true righteousness when he saw it. God had to blind him and then ask from heaven why Paul was persecuting Him. The worst words Paul ever heard were, “I am Jesus.” He knew at that moment that his religion had become a barrier to knowing God. Paul here says that we must get over our prejudices and we must accept God’s will and His ways if we are to see Him. We must live by faith and not by sight by trusting God’s sovereignty in all things. We must accept our creaturely limitations and God’s infinite wisdom and loving ways if we are to truly know Him.
She is from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
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