The man replied, “I don’t know if he is a sinner or not. All I know is that I used to be blind, but now I can see!”            John 9:25 (CEV)
I love this story of the blind man in John’s gospel. It goes on for 41 verses which is pretty long as gospel stories go. The Pharisees are like a terrier with with a bone that they are not going to let go! They want to “expose†Jesus and slap Him down. That’s the prelude to finding a reason to kill Him! So they follow this man around trying to get the real story or “inside scoop†about what happened. Does this sound familiar?
The man was born blind. The disciples think, as many from their time and even a few still today, that the blindness was a “punishment†for some sin of the parents or even the then infant! Jesus says, “No†to that hypothesis.
Then instead of just speaking “Be healed!†or something similar, Jesus makes mud out of His spit and dirt and puts it on the man’s eyes and then tells him to go wash in a local pool of water. Why?
None of the neighbors believe him. They want him to explain what happened. (Notice no one called it a miracle!) They try to explain it away. The former blind man does not help them out.
Then the Pharisees start their investigation. Question upon question and they do not get the answers they want. They put the pressure on the man’s parents and they cave in and dump the interrogation back on their son. Nice parents! The man finally gets tired of the harassment and tells the Pharisees that he doesn’t know anything about Jesus but he knows he now sees. But then the Pharisees step over his internal line and shout that Jesus is not from God and the man “goes off†on them in his defense of Jesus’ goodness. The Pharisees throw the man out of the Temple.
Jesus hears about this and goes looking for the man. He speaks clearly to this man about who He is. The man falls down in worship.
There are many things that I do not know about Jesus. There are ways that He works and the timing in which He works that I do not understand. But I know that at one time I was closed off and broken in pain and now I am whole. I was blind to Jesus but now I see. And that is enough. It is a story to share with others. I do not have to have all the answers to all the questions in order to share my story. “I don’t know†is a legitimate answer. It is about Jesus in my life that encourages others to give Jesus an opportunity in their lives. That is all Jesus needs – an open door to come into someone’s heart.
