In my gospel readings time the other day, I found myself re-reading the same chapter which I had read the day before, that is John chapter 9. This time around I was really struck by the words of the man born blind, who Yeshua the Lord healed, recorded at John 9:25b: ‘One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.’
It was the words ‘one thing’ which particularly caught my attention and brought to my remembrance the same words being used in one of my most personally instructive and favourite Psalms. Psalm 27:4 says this:
‘One thing I have desired of the LORD, that I will seek
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life
To behold the beauty of the LORD
And to inquire in His temple.’
Beautiful words of David the king (underlined for emphasis).
On both occasions of reading John 9, I had been struck by the same thought. Today, however, another ‘one thing’ came to mind. This time it that which concerned a rich young ruler who came to Yeshua seeking the means by which he could obtain eternal life. The Lord told him – sadly for him, his ‘one thing’ kept him from obtaining eternal life! May that never be the case of any who read this – if anyone does not know that they by God’s grace through faith in Lord Yeshua the have obtained eternal life, I urge you to read The Gift (under the Writings & Articles tab on the website).
Mark 10:17-22 records the account:
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honour your father and your mother.’ ”And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Underlined for emphasis)
What a contrast! What a difference a ‘one thing’ in the particular circumstances can make! In the examples above, that difference was an eternal one.
Among these Scriptures, the ‘one thing’ stated at Psalm 27 has, over the years, come to do a continuing work in my heart, yet on the day of my reading, how deeply struck I was by the greater import of John 9:25b. How deeply grateful and thankful to Almighty God, the Heavenly Father, we can be for His gift of salvation by His grace working in us, through the faith which He has given us in His Son, Yeshua the Messiah. For it is by His grace alone, through the working power of His Spirit, He enables us who believe upon Yeshua to say those very words spoken by the formerly blind man healed by His Son, Lord Yeshua: ‘One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.’
Further on in the passage at John 9:39, recording the ending of the encounter between the formerly blind man and Lord Yeshua, the Scripture says this:
‘And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into the world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
Glory to God! We who were formerly spiritually blind now, by the grace of God opening our eyes to ‘see’ Yeshua and, by His Spirit opening our hearts to receive the gift of life in Lord Yeshua, may truly see.
There may be many things we know – or think we know – in this life, but may we always know with certainty this ‘one thing’ in ever deepening revelation understanding by the Spirit of God in us, through Messiah Yeshua the Lord.
‘One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.’
(John 9:25b)
Amen.
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