Justin Houtz

Exodus 27, John 9

DateVersionReading Plan
March 18, 2025ESV (2016)OT/NT Plan 2025 – 2027

Exodus 27

Observation

Exod. 27:20 – The LORD told Moses to command the people to bring pure beaten olive oil for the lamp to be setup regularly to burn. “By ordering the priests to keep it burning throughout the night, the Lord emphasized his ongoing presence and taught his people to serve him continually.” (TGCBC)

Application

It is helpful to reflect on how the lamp was to burn all night, symbolizing the need for God’s people to continuously serve and worship Him. For the faithful in Christ, there is no moment in which we do not belong to the King, no span of our day in which we do not live to service and sacrifice. As such, we should never think in any compartmentalized way in how we proceed in faith and obedience. Our salvation is comprehensive—a radical transformation from death to new life in Christ—and so too shall our lives be for Him.

John 9

Observation

John 9:2-3: The disciples asked Jesus about the blind man, whether his blindness was caused by his own sin or his parents’. Jesus told them that neither the blind man nor his parents had sinned but that the works of God might be displayed in him. The disciples “thought the blindness was directly connected with sin in the family. We know that this was not necessarily so. Although all sickness, suffering, and death came into the world ultimately as a result of sin, it is not true that in any particular case a person suffers because of sins which he has committed.” (BBC)

John 9:18-19: The Jews confirmed with the blind man’s parents of the man’s blindness. “Many of the Jews were still unwilling to believe that a miracle had been performed. And so they called the parents of the man to see what they would say. Who would know better than parents if a child had been born without sight? Surely their testimony would be conclusive. So the Pharisees asked them whether this was their son and also how he received his sight.” (BBC)

John 9:20-23 – The parents of the blind man confirmed that their son was born blind but then deflected the question of how he was given sight. This was out of fear because any confession of Jesus as being the Christ meant that they would be put out of the synagogue. “This excommunication was a very serious matter for any Jew. They were not willing to pay such a price. It would mean the loss of a means of livelihood, as well as a loss of all the privileges of the Jewish religion.” (BBC)

John 9:30 – The man was amazed that the Jews did not know where Jesus came from even though He had just healed the man’s blindness. “The man said to them in effect, ‘You men are the rulers in Israel. You are the teachers of the Jewish people. And yet here is a Man in your midst who has the power to give sight to blind eyes, and you do not know where He is from. Shame on you!’” (BBC)

John 9:39 – Jesus told the blind man, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” This may seem to contradict John 3:17, but as the BBC makes clear, “there is no real conflict. The purpose of Christ’s coming into the world was not to judge but to save. However, judgment is the inevitable result for all who fail to receive Him.”

Application

Through the interactions with the healing of the blind man, we are privy to a concept of even greater importance, namely, spiritual sight. Wonderful as it is to have the ability to visually consume and process our world, how much greater to be granted sight to see Jesus as who He is; Lord and Savior. By His grace, our Lord opens the eyes of the blind, unveiling the depth of our sin, revealing our great need for His salvation and realizing that He is the One for whom our hearts most dearly long.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your love for Your children burns eternal and that there is never a moment in which I am not Your son. Father, help me by Your Spirit to remain steadfast in my devotion and obedience to You. Thank You that You have given me sight to behold Your glory, only now seeing in a mirror dimly but one day to see You face to face.

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