Daily Devotional for March 13

 

March 13                                                          John 9:1-17

          As Jesus Passed By

The blind man sat by the roadside near the Jerusalem
marketplace. Although he couldn't see, he could smell the
marketplace, with its pungent odor of live animals, aging meat,
ripe fruit, and that particular smell of fresh-woven cloth.

He had heard that the rabbi from Galilee was in town. It had
only been whispered about, but because of his acute sense of
hearing he had picked it up. He had heard that this rabbi had
actually healed the blind. He wondered... .

Just then he heard a noise. A large crowd was passing by. He
heard someone mention the name Jeshua. Why, that was the
name of the rabbi he had heard about, the one from Nazareth
who had healed the blind men! He held his breath as the crowd
approached. He tried to call out, but found the words sticking
in his throat. Oh! Could it be. ..YES! They had stopped right
in front of him!

Someone asked a question: "Who sinned, this person or the
parents, that the child was born blind?" The rabbi dismissed
the question with some strange talk about the works of God
and about day and night. Then he said he was the light of the
world! It was all too much!

While speaking, however, the rabbi applied some sticky stuff
to his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool at Siloam.

He did, and praise to God, he could see!

                  Jesus, heal the broken parts
       of my life today, even if I do not see you as
                         you pass by. Amen.

from The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C