The Day Before
“but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:3
We love the miracle stories. So full of compassion and power. So challenging. So uplifting. Over and over, Jesus demonstrates God’s incredible care and infinite grace by healing one distorted life after another. Jesus continued to perform miracles as signs of God’s immanent reign. Much to the chagrin of the religious hierarchy, Jesus’ miracles demanded attention. God has visited us.
This particular miracle, the healing of the man born blind, is quite spectacular, not only because it created a furor among the rulers but because it focused everyone’s attention on the critical question: if Jesus can heal a man born blind, and by all accounts only God can do such things, then who is Jesus? It is not the miracle that threatens the leadership. It is the implication. Jesus is God. How can this be?
The glory of these signs and the depth of the challenge they presented to established religious thought overshadow another facet that we must examine. It is the thought of the divine calendar. For just a moment, we need to step back from the events recounted on the day of the miraculous and ask what these people’s lives were like just the day before.
The man born blind lived all of his life waiting for the day that God would use him.
The man at the pool of Siloam waited thirty-nine years for the day God would arrive.
The woman with scoliosis waited eighteen years for Jesus to notice her.
The woman with the hemorrhage waited twelve years to touch His robe.
And so it goes. Years and years of life under duress. Years and years of not understanding why. Years and years of suffering.
” it was in order that the works of God might be displayed” God’s calendar was already marked for the day of display. The rest of the time was preparation and waiting.
The day before God’s display, each one of these people faced life’s torturous perversities. It’s doesn’t take much imagination to put ourselves in their shoes. They were probably thinking one of two things:
- “God, why did you leave me like this? Every day life is so hard. Others are blessed but I am cursed. What did I do to deserve such treatment from you? I’ve given you everything I have. I’ve repented and tried to live the best life I can. But every day, Lord, I hurt. Every day I’m ridiculed. I’m nothing but garbage to them, Lord. Lord, I am so alone in life. Some days I just want to give up. Some days I just don’t care anymore. I know that You want me to praise You in everything, but God, how can I praise You when I don’t even feel like a human being anymore? Lord, don’t you hear me? I’m so afraid. What will become of me now?”
- “God, my life isn’t what I wanted. But it’s all that I have. I am resigned to it. I know that You have Your purposes for me, but I just can’t see them. Every day is the same as the last with no relief in sight. I’m not complaining, God. Your will be done. But sometimes I wish it could have been another way for me.”
Cancer, bankruptcy, birth defects, homelessness, poverty, disease, conviction, segregation: we have our modern day equivalents. The ones at the side of the road. The ones passed by. The ones who don’t count. The ones who spend their lives waiting so that God’s glory may be displayed in them. Complaint or resignation. Those are usually our solutions. Either one is the result of a timing problem.
Don’t look at the miracle. Look at the life. The day before the miracle that life was filled with fear and hurt and exclusion. The day before that life was hopeless, harmed and horrible. The day before it looked as though God did not care.
What day is it on your calendar?
