Ask Him, He is of Age
John 9
Recently my son celebrated his eleventh birthday. He is maturing into a strong young man and I wanted to share a message from the scripture with him. My mind blanked as I began to thumb through the pages searching for anything that stood out. I stumbled across a story of a young blind man, who Jesus heals with spit and dirt. As the story unfolded, it had enough pieces that I felt there was something to relate to our only child. There is the young man, his parents, Jesus, and some antagonists. Beyond that, I really did not have any idea what I was going to talk about. But that is nothing new and the Holy Spirit has a way of giving dads something of value to relate. This one proved to be a gem.
One day the disciples are walking with Jesus when they see a blind man and raise the question of sin. The disciples want to know if the man or his parents sin caused his blindness. Jesus responds with “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible to him” (v 3). Spitting on the dirt, Jesus then wipes the mud on the man’s eyes and tells him to wash it off. The young man regains his sight and shortly thereafter, finds himself dragged before the leading Jewish council for questioning. Refusing to believe his story, they bring in his parents as well. Cowering in front of the leaders, the parents respond with “Ask him, he is of age”. The young man is on his own.
The Jewish leaders claim the man is lying and accuse him of colluding with Jesus. His final response is a strong testimony to his moral character. The man answers, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where He [Jesus] is from, yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” (vs 30-33). It’s striking that his logic is so bold when compared to his parents. They shrunk in front of the leadership, while his commitment to truth is courageous.
After reading this story to my son, I had to confess the words the Holy Spirit put in my mouth. His mother and I are not going to be the unshakable icons of his youth. We will make mistakes and he is going to have to make a stand on his own. God will use my son’s life to work his mission and he must decide on whom to place credit. When this happens, it is going to be uncomfortable. Like Christ rubbing mud on the eyes of the young man in the story, my son will be blind to what God is doing in his life until after the trial and Christ reveals his sight.
What we want for our children reveals much about our relationship with Christ. Do we want our children to be safe, wealthy, happy, successful? If we call Jesus our Father, then we must look at ask what He wants for us and seek to emulate that for our children. We will be different from the rest of the world and it will set His kingdom apart.
Jesus finds the man after he leaves the leader’s interrogation and brings the lesson to its full conclusion. Jesus ask him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” (vs. 35-39). This is my desire for my son. I want him to ask genuinely ‘who is the Son of Man?’ And when confronted with Him, I want him to believe on his own accord. Not because of his parents, family or community, but because Christ uses him to bring sight to others who are blind.
Dad Devotional 