During the 1990’s, a form of art known as Magic Eye pictures became very popular. These pictures looked like a chaotic mess of multicoloured patterns that seemed to be arranged in no logical order. However, hidden in the chaos, if you were able to see it, was a three-dimensional image. The goal was to adjust your focus beyond the page, looking ‘through’ the picture, until the hidden image became visible.
Some people were able to look at Magic Eye pictures and see the hidden image quickly. Others, however, would spend a long time moving the picture backwards and forwards, adjusting their focus, trying desperately to find the image contained in the picture, but with no success. For some, the image was obvious, but, for others, they just couldn’t see it.
We can think about the story of Jesus healing of the man born blind in John 9 sort of like looking at a Magic Eye picture. There is a lot going on in this story, with conversations between various characters as they try to make sense of what Jesus had done. They are trying to understand how this person, who had been born blind, was now able to see. The Apostle John uses the analogy of blindness and sight to show how some people who think they can ‘see’ and have a clear perception of God can’t see the truth at all. John also shows that Jesus opens the eyes of others so they can see the ways God is at work.
This theme begins at the start of the story when Jesus’ disciples ask him whether the man’s blindness was the result of his own sin or the sins of his parents (verse 2). In the view of many Jewish people at that time, if you were a good person and did good things, God would bless you with good. If you were a bad person who did bad things, then bad things would happen to you. We see this same idea in the way a lot of people today understand karma, the idea that what you put out into the universe, either good or bad, comes back to you in one way or another. It is also the idea behind people’s questions about what they might have done to deserve bad things when life doesn’t go the way they want or hope.
Jesus offers a different interpretation of the man’s blindness which gives us a new way to understand the place of struggles, difficulties or tragedies in life. He told his disciples that the man’s blindness wasn’t the result of either his sins or the sins of his parents, but ‘so the power of God could be seen in him’ (v3 NLT). Jesus teaches us not to see bad things that happen to us or to others as the consequences of our wrongs or the punishment of an angry God. Instead, Jesus wants us to see them as opportunities for God to show us how he is at work in bringing good from bad, healing the wounded, and renewing what was broken.
Through the story, people other than Jesus tend to focus on sin and guilt instead of the power of God to heal and give life. In verses 16 and 24, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being a sinner because he was healing on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, when no work was permitted. They also accuse the man born blind of being a sinner in verse 34 when he defends Jesus and what he did for him. Like a Magic Eye picture, they are looking at Jesus, other people, and the world around them and couldn’t see God working in Jesus who was right in front of them.
Jesus, however, gives us a different way to see our lives and the lives of those around us. When he opened the eyes of the man born blind, Jesus also opened the eyes of his heart to see the way God was at work in the man’s life. The man born blind could see God’s work because Jesus did something for him that no one else could do. In time, the disciples would see it as well, especially after Jesus’ resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Maybe John’s purpose in recording this story is to open the eyes of the reader, and to open our eyes as we hear this story today, to see the brokenness of the world and the bad things that we experience in a radically different way. Maybe John’s reason for writing this story is to open our eyes to see that God is at work in tragedy, suffering, brokenness, and pain to show us the glory of his goodness and grace which heals the wounded, restores the broken, and brings the light of hope, peace, joy, and love into the dark places of our lives.
When bad things happen to us, when life goes wrong or tragedy strikes, it can be easy for us to ask what we’ve done wrong to deserve it or to blame others for what has happened. Jesus wants to open our eyes and minds to a different perspective when he says that he came into the world ‘to give sight to the blind’ (v39). Jesus wants to open our eyes to the possibility that the bad things which happen to us or to the people around us aren’t necessarily because of our sin of the sin of others, but so we can see the way God is at work in our lives. We need to acknowledge that when we do wrong, bad things often happen as the direct result. However, this story tells us that God can use even the worst circumstances to show us how he is at work in our lives. The opportunity and the challenge for us is to stop asking who is to blame, and begin asking, ‘How is God at work?’ or ‘What is God planning to do here?’ When our eyes are opened to the possibilities of seeing God do something good for us and for others in even the most challenging or tragic of circumstances, we might see that God is a lot more active in our lives and the lives of the people around us than we thought.
Sometimes seeing God at work is more difficult that seeing the image in a Magic Eye picture. Often, the harder we look for the image in a Magic Eye picture, the more difficult it is to see it. It can be easier for us to see what we’re looking for, however, when we stop trying so hard and relax our eyes. Maybe it works the same with seeing God at work in the difficulties and hardships of life. Instead of trying harder, maybe we need to admit to Jesus that we find it hard to see him working in us or through us, or maybe that we can’t see him at all, and ask him to open our eyes to see God’s saving and restoring power at work in us, around us and through us when he’s ready to show us.
Seeing the hidden image in a Magic Eye picture can be difficult. It can be even more difficult to see how God is at work in the brokenness, suffering, wrongs, and hardships of this world. Jesus promised that he came ‘to give sight to the blind’ so that we can see the power of God to bring healing, hope, wholeness, and peace through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection for us. God open our eyes to see him at work in us, around us and through us, so that others might see him at work for good, in us and in our community of faith.
More to think about or discuss:
- Was there ever a time that you found it hard to see something that was right in front of you? Why was it so difficult to see?
- What is your reaction to Jesus’ words about God’s works being displayed through the man’s blindness? Do you find them easy or hard to accept? Why?
- How might a hardship you’re facing look different if you viewed it as a way for God to show you how he is at work?
Pastor Eugene Online 
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