Day 25 - Ordinary Sinners - More of Jesus Devotional

Ordinary Sinners

Zema Chambers

“. . .how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” The religious leaders’ comments were captured by John (John 9:16b) as they described Jesus. Such is the comment of those with a doctrine and not an experience. Jesus was neither ordinary nor was he a sinner. But, what about you and me?

Sometimes we tell ourselves these very words. I’m just an ordinary sinner. How could the miraculous happen with me? While the religious leaders in that time felt they had the inside track with God, we know they didn’t. In fact, there were some religious people that were called “whitewashed graves”.

The religious people had all the rules. The ordinary sinners just had mud to cover their eyes and listen to Jesus. Ordinary sinners have a trust born from a desire to be whole. They are willing to brave the cutting comments of the skeptics because they don’t just talk about God, they experience Him.

The blind man in John 9, had an experience. He was an ordinary sinner. He was doubted and bullied by the religious leaders. He was teased and questioned about his experience. They even went to his parents to get a little more dirt on him to discredit his credibility to testify to the power of the miraculous. However, he trusted that Jesus was NOT an ordinary sinner. He trusted that Jesus was a healer. The more he was badgered, the more his ire rose until finally he declared “if this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.” The religious leaders were so infuriated and backed into a corner that they could only throw out an insult to the man and lean back on their own religiousness - “Are you trying to teach us?’ (Can you hear them sputtering?)

We might be ordinary sinners or even blind in areas of our life, but it is time to let the miraculous happen. Let’s unabashedly proclaim “I believe in the God of Miracles”!

Questions:

Where are your blindnesses?

Who are the “whitewashed grave” people who try to put you in a religious mold keeping you from the miraculous?

How have you experienced the miraculous works of Jesus?