The Republican., 1924-12-04
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1924.
THE MAN BORN BLIND.

The MAN BURN BLIND.
John 9:1-41. Read Chapters and 10.
One thing l know, that whereas l was blind,
THE LIGHT BRINGER.
John does not make any clear mark
of difference between the Feast of
Tabernacles and that of Dedication of
Lights. This latter was about the
time of our Christmas and marked
the cleansing of the temple altar that
had been profaned by idolitrous use
until Judas Maccabeus rescued it, and
storing its stones until the coming of
the Christ, prepared new one and
dedicated it with great joy. 1t must
have been that memory that prompt
ed the question: "If thou be the
Christ, tell us plainly" In the eighth
chapter Jesus proclaims Himself the
light of the world in contrast to the
flaming radiance upon the Jewish hill
and it is against that smoking light
that He stands out as the bringer of
light to the physically blind in the
restored sight of the beggar, as the
bringer of light to the minds Of the
disciples and Jew alike and spirit
ual light to the scattered sheep that
should become zone flock, one Shep-
herd" The giving of sight was an
illustration made possible by circum-
stances as Jesus passed among the
crowds gathered for the feast.
Day after day this blind man had
been led to the temple gate so that
the folke most likely to give would
be appealed to by his distress and it
was probably his own family that
were shrewd enough to select this
place of vantage Church folks are
always the most generous. Jesus saw
beneath the rags the hot resentment
against fate that made him beggar
instead of a producer and in order
that he might have something to aid
his belief rubbed a bit of mud upon
each sightless eye and told him, "Go,
wash in the Pool Of Sloan" 1t must
have been a trying walk as he STUN
bled along but he stuck to the job and
gained his kingdom. Afterward,
when he was an outcast by action of
the officials, Jesus searched for him
and found him and brought him into
the sweep of His love that lighted
the inner recesses of his mind and
| heart.
THE THEORY BLINDED.
Men are continually coming to
facts that they fail to see becausethey
are trying to make them square with
something they think is true. If we
come to the bible to prove that we are
right in claiming that immersion is
the proper mode Of baptism, it isn't
particularly hard to do so and there
are a dozen other things that are pos
sible in the same fashion. State
ments are seen thru the theory and
the disciples held that sin was the
only cause of suffering. To find one
uffering from birth was quite jolt
but the theory must be stretched to
cover in. How fine they felt in their
seeing that proved that they were not
sinners like this beggar! How snug
ly-self-righteous was the question
they asked for they had no pity. "Gee,
he's getting what's coming to him!"
is in their attitude, and as for helping
him it never entered their heads. Je-
sus smashed their theory and rebuked
their hold-offishness by giving him his
sight. Change the punctuation and
our Lord says: Neither he nor his
parents sinned. But that the works
of God should be made manifest in
him, we must work." etc. Suffering
is to be met by helpfulness, not by
helplessness. Thru the veil of their
theory they could see nothing but a
ragged beggar forever doomed; thru
the clear vision of His will-to-serve
Jesus saw "a man" and an opportuni-
ty to bring him to full stature. His