Lent: Pharisees

John 9:13-34

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The reaction of the Pharisees of this town is so very different from the reaction of the man who was born blind and healed by Jesus. They were entrusted with leading and teaching the people, yet they weren't willing to believe in the truth even when directly confronted with the evidence. The man born blind didn't begin by insisting that they believe in Jesus as the Christ; they were the ones who pressured him into deciding who He was. They pretended to be seeking out the truth: what happened, how did it happen, who is the person who made it happen. Yet to every answer given which they didn't like they increased their insistence that the answer had to be wrong rather than change their beliefs.
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Does that type of response sound familiar to you? It's much easier to see in other people's reactions to life than in our own. If you think that you never respond to new information like the Pharisees did, it's probably time to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you so you can deal with the reality. I've never yet encountered a person (myself included...) not inclined to hold tight to what they believe to be true even when confronted with evidence to the contrary.
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Knowing that is our natural inclination, the most reliable source to guide us in what is true is the Lord. We can trust ourselves and our own beliefs, knowing that we are like ships at sea without an anchor, or we can trust a strong and steady lighthouse to guide us, knowing that it will never shift with the tide. The Pharisees put their trust in their own intelligence and ended up looking like fools. The blind man recognized the change that had taken place and looked to the One Who had healed him and ended up in a far better position in life. Where will you place your trust today?