WHAT THE BLIND MAN SAW
John 9:29-34 NKJV
29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”
30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.
There are many people I want to visit with in heaven. The blind man in this story is one of those people. This guy has some grit. He gets healed by Jesus and then stands down a hostile group of Pharisees with some simple but accurate theology.
This blind man was born blind and would sit and beg in order to survive. Jesus puts clay on his eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, and he can see for the very first time in his life. Of course, Jesus heals the man on the Sabbath, which always served to infuriate the Pharisees, and so they bring in the former blind man for questioning. These skeptical religious leaders don’t even believe the man was born blind until they call in his parents. These parents are so afraid of the Jewish leaders that they barely acknowledge their son’s healing. The fear of people is a horribly oppressive thing to have in your life.
Their son was not afraid. He told them it was Jesus, who he considered a prophet. When the Pharisees tried to discredit Jesus, the former blind man set them straight. Because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, the Pharisees claimed He was not from God and a sinner. The ex-blind man gave them a quick lesson. If Jesus was a sinner, He would not be doing these amazing miracles. If Jesus was not from God, then He would not be able to open the eyes of a man born blind. Then, the man summed up his brief but correct assessment of Jesus. “If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
All that education, and the Pharisees missed the ministry of Jesus. A man who had never had the privilege of reading the scriptures was perceptive enough to realize that without God, no miracles would take place. So, Jesus was from God. Instead of pondering what the ex-blind man said, the Pharisees came back with such a lame religious answer. They told the man that he was born in sins and in no position to teach them anything, and they kicked him out of the synagogue.
Reading the rest of the chapter, we find Jesus revealing Himself as the Son of God to the man who had been healed. And the man at once worshipped Jesus. Jesus explained that it was the Pharisees who were blind. Their blindness was due to their hard hearts.
APPLICATION
Isn’t’ it fascinating who Jesus reveals Himself to in the book of John? A Samaritan woman who had been married five times and a man born blind. The lesson for us today is that we connect with the Lord with our hearts first. Having a good working knowledge of the scriptures is important. But having a heart that is open to God is even more important. I am all for education, but we don’t come to God by our intellect. If IQ was the determining factor for connecting with the Lord, so many of us would be left out, including me. No, we believe with our hearts. We keep our theology simple. God is real. God is good. God sent His Son to take our place and die for our sins. God raised Jesus from the dead to make us right in God’s sight. Believing Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world is the way to salvation. This message applies to the simple and the brilliant alike. We believe with our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. We agree with the blind man who saw the truth, and we worship the same Jesus he did.