GPS Guide – December 19, 2018

LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Wednesday

Read: John 9:1-17

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.  His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”  Some claimed that he was.  Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”  But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”  “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.  He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”  “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.  Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.  Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?”  So they were divided.  Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”  The man replied, “He is a prophet.” “(NIV John 9:1-17)

Study:  When John wrote that “the life was the light for all people” (John 1:4), he followed Jesus’ lead. Jesus said in the Temple that he was the light of the world and repeated the claim in verse 5 of today’s reading.  His healing of this blind man was like a life-changing, acted-out parable. Jesus’ light gave the beggar back both his physical and spiritual sight.  At what age or stage of life did Christ’s light first shine into your life?  What are some of the first things that you remember seeing more clearly in the light of Jesus’ love and grace?  What are one or two ways that Christ’s light has helped to give you clearer vision in the most recent weeks and months of your walk with him?

Pray:  Lord Jesus, when something bad happens, I’m tempted to ask, “Why is God doing this to me?”  Help me remember what you told your disciples, and to trust your healing light and love even when I’m hurting.  Amen.