I Once Was Blind But Now I See!!!
John 9
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
The verbal exchange between the blind man and the Pharisees is one my favorite passages in the bible. The setting is that Jesus has just healed this man, who had been born blind. Normally when someone was born blind it was assumed as that they or their parents had done something wrong to deserve it. What a horrible assumption! In this case, they also wanted to prove that the man who healed him, Jesus, was also a sinner because he healed him on the Sabbath day. This was a day in which no one could work, regardless if this work was something good like this.
But they still had a blind, young man in front of them who was saying that Jesus had healed him and was a prophet. He reasoned if he wasn't a prophet, he could not have restored his sight. They even interrogated the boy's parents to see if he was lying. Then, they tried to get him to admit Jesus was a sinner. And then my favorite line, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. But one thing I do know was that I was blind but now I can see." The man didn't presume to know anything about Jesus other than what he had done for him.
Still not listening, they asked him again how did Jesus do this? Then, my second favorite line comes when young man says, "I have already told you and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear this again? Do you want to become his disciple too?" With this, they threw him out of the synagogue.
We see the hard heart of the Pharisees here. Even though Jesus' work is right in front of them, they can't accept it. Why? Because then they will have to acknowledge who Jesus is. They are so prideful that rather than celebrating this man regaining his sight, they try to rationalize why it didn't happen. After all there were only three possibilities. Either the man or his parents were lying, he was never born blind, or Jesus really healed him. The only logical conclusion was the third one, but they still could not accept it. This scene reminds us that someone can have all the logical information about Jesus, and yet their hardness of heart will find a way to deny Him no matter what he does.
In a similar way, we might say that while people may argue at the notion of Jesus, they can't argue with a changed life. The greatest testimony about Jesus will always be, "I was blind, but now I see." And this is not only physical sight, but spiritual as well!
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
The verbal exchange between the blind man and the Pharisees is one my favorite passages in the bible. The setting is that Jesus has just healed this man, who had been born blind. Normally when someone was born blind it was assumed as that they or their parents had done something wrong to deserve it. What a horrible assumption! In this case, they also wanted to prove that the man who healed him, Jesus, was also a sinner because he healed him on the Sabbath day. This was a day in which no one could work, regardless if this work was something good like this.
But they still had a blind, young man in front of them who was saying that Jesus had healed him and was a prophet. He reasoned if he wasn't a prophet, he could not have restored his sight. They even interrogated the boy's parents to see if he was lying. Then, they tried to get him to admit Jesus was a sinner. And then my favorite line, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. But one thing I do know was that I was blind but now I can see." The man didn't presume to know anything about Jesus other than what he had done for him.
Still not listening, they asked him again how did Jesus do this? Then, my second favorite line comes when young man says, "I have already told you and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear this again? Do you want to become his disciple too?" With this, they threw him out of the synagogue.
We see the hard heart of the Pharisees here. Even though Jesus' work is right in front of them, they can't accept it. Why? Because then they will have to acknowledge who Jesus is. They are so prideful that rather than celebrating this man regaining his sight, they try to rationalize why it didn't happen. After all there were only three possibilities. Either the man or his parents were lying, he was never born blind, or Jesus really healed him. The only logical conclusion was the third one, but they still could not accept it. This scene reminds us that someone can have all the logical information about Jesus, and yet their hardness of heart will find a way to deny Him no matter what he does.
In a similar way, we might say that while people may argue at the notion of Jesus, they can't argue with a changed life. The greatest testimony about Jesus will always be, "I was blind, but now I see." And this is not only physical sight, but spiritual as well!
Comments
Post a Comment