Such color!!! I have often wondered WHY we see in color? I doubt if I will ever really know WHY, but I DO know that it enhances life. This was brought to my attention yesterday, when my youngest granddaughter was opening her Christmas presents. There was an abandonment of joy in her eyes as she went from one present to another and with each new wrapping her eyes opened wider. Right then, if I had asked her what was so exciting, I doubt if she could have told me (after all, she is just TWO), but the joy of it all was beyond doubt. So it must have been for the recipient of a very special gift from Jesus...
WEB: John Chapter 9
[1] As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. [2] His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
[3] Jesus answered, "“Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. [4] I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. [5] While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”" [6] When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, [7] and said to him, "“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”" (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing. [8] The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” [9] Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.”
He said, “I am he.” [10] They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
[11] He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, "‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’" So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
[12] Then they asked him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t know.”
[13] They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. [14] It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. [15] Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
[16] Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them. [17] Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
[18] The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, [19] and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
[20] His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; [21] but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.” [22] His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. [23] Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”
[24] So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
[25] He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
The Pharisees' perception of the situation was colored by their own preconceived ideas; they just didn't understand who Jesus was and what he was doing. So, they investigated, reasoned and tried to manipulated the facts to their own purposes. The former blind man just accepted the situation and let the facts speak for themselves. Some will say that this is just a story, but really it is more than a mere recitation of events. It is a revelation of faith and an example of someone who could see the truth and accept it. Did the former blind man need to see in color? No! But what he saw he appreciated and flatly accepted for what it was. Sounds like my granddaughter all over again!!! Maybe we should all see things like small children; perhaps we would appreciate colors more and also the gift of life. Got to go, but one thing... take another look at the picture and be happy, because God not only gave us sight, HE gave us color as well.
