“If this man were not from God, He could do nothing” (John 9:33).
The Bible has its share of comical scenes. Here’s one. A man born blind can now see. But because Jesus “broke the rules” by healing him on the Sabbath, in the minds of the Pharisees, this was impossible.
Moses? He was righteous. He gave us the law.
Jesus? He broke the “law,” and had to be a sinner.
But there’s this pesky issue of, “once I was blind… now I can see.” And now here’s Mr. Newsight offering a little theological insight to the no-sight clan: “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
While on the earth, Jesus repeatedly demonstrated supernatural power that no human could account for, and His enemies couldn’t get around that. He must be from God, otherwise He would be powerless.
This is a precursor to what Jesus will say to the disciples in John 15:5: “Without Me you can do nothing.”
The problem is that our flesh still rebels against that. We want to believe that we can do something. We’re like one-eyed men in a world of the blind, really believing we have something to offer. The problem is, we’re comparing ourselves to the wrong standard.
The Lord offers a relationship with Him that removes the “nothingness” from our vocabulary and experience, if we will simply abide in Him. Our task is not in the doing of “something.” It’s in the abiding in the One who has the power to do it all.
My ovation today is to offer to Him my nothingness, and to rest – to abide in Christ…
with complete dependence on Him as my Source…
with intimate connection to Him as my Life…
and with the courageous acceptance that I can do absolutely nothing without Him, but that in Him I can do all things.