It has been a couple of weeks since you last heard from me.  During our absence Marlys and I had the privilege of spending a week with our family - yes, 15 of us under one roof - in Estes Park, Colorado.  We had a wonderful time.  Our theme for the week was "Mountains" - of course you might have suspected that since we were at the base of Rocky Mountain National Park.  Of course we enjoyed the physical mountains God had created.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful.  I came home and told Marlys that I could easily retire in Colorado.  The streams were running pell-mell down the mountainsides and the water temperature was barely above being cold.  The wildflowers were magnificent - the bright yellows, deep purples, and cheery crimsons giving color to a landscape carpeted in various shades of green.  On one hike we actually got into the remains of a snowfield.  What fun throwing snowballs at each other while dressed in tee-shirts and shorts.  The wildlife was abundant.  Elk and mule deer strolled the yards and streets of Estes Park as if they were residents.  I doubt they pay taxes, however.  One morning we awakened with our garbage can lying in the middle of the drive way.  The neighbor came and said that a bear had visited our place earlier that morning, but left disappointed because he could not get into the garbage.  Our seven grandchildren had great times playing together.  They were not perfect - but just look at who their grandparents are - but we were proud of them. 

We also had a spiritual focus for the week.  For our Sunday morning family worship time and for our evening family devotions, we looked for spiritual truths that could be found within the stories in the Bible that included mountains.  I had given one mountain to each of our kids and told them that they had 10 minutes to develop a presentation around that mountain for our Sunday morning worship time.  Wow!  It was thrilling to hear their presentations - better than many sermons that were given that day, I am confident.  I think we will all approach these stories with a greater sense of appreciation for having been in the mountains. 

I want us to focus, for just a few moments this week, upon one of the most significant miracles Jesus did.  It is only recorded for us in the Gospel of John, chapter nine.  It is known as the miracle of sight being restored to the man born blind.  Jesus had just finished ministering to a very hostile group of Pharisees in the Temple and they have taken up stones and were going to stone Him right there, when Jesus slips away and proceeds to leave the Temple.  On the way out, Jesus and His disciples see this blind man.  Now blind men play important roles in the Bible and Jesus has several encounters with them, but this man is more important than the rest because the Bible tells us that this man was born blind.  This is the only miracle in the Gospels in which the sufferer is said to have been afflicted from his birth, and it is only one of three such instances in the Bible - the others being the lame man whom Peter and John healed in Acts 3 and the lame man at Lystra whom Paul healed in Acts 14.  This blind man must have been well known in the community because everyone knew about him.

In the account of this miracle, Jesus presents three very different kinds of people, people that have differing degrees of blindness.  First, there were the Pharisees - blind to the things of God.  These religious leaders sought an earthly explanation for how this man came to see.  Perhaps he was not as blind as people had thought.  Perhaps it was a stroke of luck that he could now see.  Friends, how quickly does the world try to turn aside from acknowledging hand of God.  We often hear people say - "It was only luck," or "Wow! He was in the right place at the right time!"  The blindness of the heart can cause us to miss the greatness of God. 

Also, I want us to notice that these Pharisees were annoyed and helpless because they could not truly answer the arguments that flowed from the lips of this formerly blind man.  Here was the blind man's argument: Jesus had done a wonderful thing; the fact that He had done it meant that God heard Him; there was a known fact that God never heard the prayers of a bad man; therefore, Jesus could not be a bad man, He must be good.  Now, friends, this was an argument substantiated from the Scriptures.  God cannot hear the prayers of a sinful man (Job 27:9, Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 1:15); God does hear the prayers of a righteous man (Psalm 34:15, Psalm 145:19, Proverbs 15:29).  So, what did the Pharisees do?  They hurled insults at him (verse 28).  They accused him of being born in sin (verse 34).  And they threw him out of the synagogue (verse 34) - an act that had great social and religious significance. 

The Pharisees are a picture of a man and of a world opposed to Jesus Christ.  They have already decided that Jesus is a liar, that He is a phony, so they want no part of Him.  So, these people hurl insults at those who follow Christ.  They make fun of those who pray before meals while in public, and of those who commit to living a separated lifestyle.  And when those tactics don't work, they will resort to persecution.  Sometimes it is physical persecution - the stories that come out of China and elsewhere.  Other times it is emotional persecution - the eroding of the foundations upon which our Christian heritage is based.  And it is all because they are blind to the things of God.  I am sure you have met today's Pharisees.  Your sorrow, as do I, at their blindness.  To be spiritual blind is one of the great tragedies of life.

Next week we will continue our study in this chapter, examining the parents and the blind man himself.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.  (Olin Miller)