The Proof Is In The Pudding! John 9:24-34

 John 9:24-34

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?” 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

The leaders will not let go of this. They accuse Jesus of being a "sinner". They keep calling him "this man". They won't even mention his name (Jesus), the name by which every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is indeed Lord of heaven and earth. 

“The man is being told that he has not been completely frank up till now. He has held back something which would show Jesus to be a sinner.” (Morris)

The Pharisees' judgment of Jesus as a sinner is subjective and based on based on their own traditions, not necessarily the Old Testament Law (the Torah). The man does not take the bait. He replies directly and honestly. He is not in a position to make judgment about anything except what Jesus did for him. Then, he says the famous words, "One thing I know, I was blind but now I see." 

People can try to prove there are contradictions in the Christian faith. But they cannot take away a person's  testimony about what Jesus has done in their lives. A Christian can say to any naysayer, "One thing I KNOW, I was blind but now I see!" Though our Christian faith is not based only on experience, but also on truth (as revealed in the scriptures), experience provides additonal persuasive support. 

After further inquiries, the man starts to get a little "chippy". He chides them by saying, "What do you want to become one of his disciples too if you are so interested in this matter?" 

The man begins to question their line of reasoning. It is as if he is saying, 

“Your unbelief and ignorance in the face of the evidence is more of a miracle than my cure.” (Guzik)

At this point, the leaders are thoroughly offended by the man and start insulting him. They are not used to anyone challenging their authority, and this man clearly isn't afraid to. If you had just been healed of blindness you endured your whole life, you might be pretty bold too! 

Logically the man challenges their assumptions one by one.  God does not condone sin and only listens to godly people who do his will. God listened to Jesus which resulted to the man getting healed miraculously. God gave Jesus a word of knowledge about the healing effects of the pool of Siloam, that proves Jesus acted on God's behalf to heal the man of lifelong blindness. 

"Isaiah 1:15 and Psalm 66:18 are passages that say that God is not obligated to hear the prayer of a sinner. With knowledge of the Scriptures and valid application, the simple man born blind proved that their claim “we know this man is a sinner” was false." (Guzik)

Having no answer to the man's questions and challenges, they resort to continued insulting and shaming the man. They accuse him of being steeped in sin since birth.  They are saying that because the man was born in sin, he was under a curse which caused his blindness. Most people received the consequences of sin, as they committed them here on earth. But this man was so full of sin at birth, God made him to be born blind.  

"These religious leaders despised the common people, and this man in particular. They were especially angry because he was right and they were wrong," (Guzik)

Finally, they used their authority to throw the man out of the temple and excommunicate him. 

"The excommunication of the blind man – difficult as it was – turned out to be a good thing, because he would shortly be far more connected to Jesus."  (Guzik)

Have you ever made someone mad just by living out your Christian faith? Sometimes when you don't participate in something of the world that is going on around you, your abstinence will cause people to notice you and wonder why you are not joining in? This is a very subtle form of persecution, and you will feel the pressure to fit into the crowd. Though it is good to be well versed in the reasons why you believe, there is nothing more powerful than your personal story of Jesus' transformative work in your life!  You can say, "This is what I was like before. I met Jesus. This is what I am like now!" You can argue with me about Jesus until you are blue in the face, but I know happened to me and who did it.  Of course if you already have a relationship with this person and they respect you all the better. The more people they meet like you the more evidence they witness about who Jesus is! The proof is in the pudding!