Jul31 Written by:Nathan Williams
Thursday, July 31, 2008
John 9:16 says, "Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, 'This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.' But others were saying, 'How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?' And there was a division among them."
These people were not arguing over whether or not the blind man had been healed. That was fact and not up for discussion. They were arguing over whether or not the one who performed the miracle had a right to do this work on the Sabbath. They were arguing over Jesus' authority. There are several lessons in this, among which are...
1. Miracles don't convince everyone. You remember the rich man and Lazarus, don't you? The rich man wanted to send someone back from the dead to warn his brothers about this place of torment. Abraham said, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead" (Luke 16:31). A person must open his heart to the WORD of God to be saved. If he refuses to hear God's word, no miraculous sign will be great enough to convince him. God's WORD is the only way God ever called men.
2. Jesus causes division. This is a clear example of the division Jesus causes. The division is because people don't agree on how to accept Christ. Should we take Him at His word? Is He for real? Is He just a good teacher or is He God in the flesh? Is He doing these miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit or by the power of Beelzebub? Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household" (Matt. 10:34-36). Why is there such division among family members? Because some accept Jesus as the Son of God and some don't. You can't have real peace in a house divided like this.
3. People come up with all kinds of excuses. How often have you heard of someone "quitting the church" because of "all those hypocrites" they see in the pews on Sunday? It seems here these Pharisees don't want to follow Christ because "He claims to follow God and yet He works on the Sabbath day! What a hypocrite!" They falsely charge Jesus with hypocrisy, and this allows them, in their minds, to cast off His authority. Talk about digging up an excuse to disregard the Son of God!
It all comes down to our hearts. Do we have hearts that are open to the WORD of God? Are we going to accept Jesus for who He really is? Or are we going to make excuses why we won't follow?
God bless,
Nathan
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