February 15
JOHN 9
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. – John 9:1-7
JOHN 9 GRAB OPPORTUNITIES TO DO GOD’S WORKS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Whenever an opportunity comes to you to bring the gospel
Do not miss it but grab it for it may not come again
We do not know when the Lord is coming back
Let us have the urgency to glorify the Lord.
What did Jesus mean when he said that we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. There seems to be an urgency in his statement. We know that he knows when his time on earth is at an end, so he was using every opportunity to praise and glorify his Father. He didn’t waste time to do the work that the Father sent him to do. Spurgeon comments on this verse “I must work is a marvelous statement of Jesus. The Worker is a well-earned title to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the worker, the chief worker and the example of all workers.”
Do we have that urgency to use every opportunity we can to do God’s work? In this account, he found a blind man and had compassion for him and he healed him even on the Sabbath because he knew he didn’t have enough time to glorify his Father. His hour is coming soon. This is probably what he meant when the night is coming when no one can work. Darkness will soon take over when he is killed on the cross but his sacrifice will bring again light to the world because his Father’s wrath will be appeased and sin will no longer have power if we believe in him.
REFLECTION
• How can we emulate Jesus’ urgency to do the work of glorifying the Lord?
