The individual first

Read John 9

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him,

 He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

He answered and said to him,

 “Who is He, LORD, that I may believe in Him?”

And Jesus said to him,

 “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

Then he said, “LORD, I believe!” 

 And he worshipped Him.

And Jesus said,

 “For judgment I have come into this world,

 that those who do not see may see, 

and that those who see maybe made blind.”

Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, 

“Are we blind also?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind; you would have no sin;  but now, you say, ‘We see.’

  Therefore your sin remains.

                                                                                             John 9:35-41
Here we have a man blind from birth healed by Jesus.  The scribes and the Pharisees question him and when he tells them the truth about what happened they reject it.
The scribes and Pharisees refused to accept who Jesus was.  They seen the evidence, it was irrefutable.  The man had been blind form birth, and now he could see.
       It was a clear miracle and God was getting the glory, yet, the religious leaders refused to acknowledge that the healing was from God.
These men seemed to have a preconceived idea of how God should work.  They knew the laws about working on the Sabbath, and this man was healed on the Sabbath.
     In their eyes, the healing shouldn’t have been done.  Their reasoning, it was the Sabbath and healing was work, therefore, it violated the law.  Therefore to them the logical conclusion was that Jesus was of the devil.
These men overlooked the fact that a good deed, a miracle, was done.  That only God could have healed the man.  Certainly, the man was not giving anyone else the praise, except God.
Something to think about
These religious leaders looked on the law as a ritual, almost as a superstition. If it wasn’t followed in a particular way their way, a person was sinning.
They seen Jesus as a sinner because he “worked” on the Sabbath and healed a blind man. Who gave God the glory on His day.
They failed to see that while the law was their to guide us to God. It was just a sign post. That God was interested in the heart of the individual not how strictly the individual followed the law.
An old Hasidic Folktale tells this story,
“A teamster sought the advice of the rabbi of Berditschev as to whether he should give up his occupation because it interfered with regular attendance at the synagogue.
“Do you carry poor travellers free of charge?” Asked the rabbi.
“Yes.” answered the teamster.
“Then you serve the LORD in your occupation just as faithfully as you would be frequenting the synagogue.”
All to frequently we in the church set up rules, regulations, and traditions that not only stop God from getting the glory but turn people from God.
We must alway, always remember it is the individual that God is interested in. While rules are necessary to point us to God it is our Faith that saves us. Ephesians 2:8,9 stating,
“For it is  by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.”