Jody's Devotionals

³⁵Jesus heard that they [the religious leaders] had thrown him [the man born blind whom Jesus had healed] out, and he found him and said to him, “Do you believe in the son of man?”

³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir, so I can believe in him?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him! He is the one speaking to you!”

³⁸He said, “I believe, Lord!” And he worshiped him.

³⁹Jeus said to him, “I have come into this world for judgment, so that those who don’t see might see, and those who see might become blind.”

⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “We aren’t also blind, are we?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But because you say, ‘We see,’ Your sin remains.” — John 9:35-41

Once we’ve experienced something special with the Lord, we have a special responsibility for those who have not.

Why do I say that? Let’s look at these Pharisees and see. Jesus lets us know in this passage that this story of the man who was born blind—you can read the whole thing by reading John 9:1-41)–has much more to do with our spiritual sight than our physical sight. He’s interesting in spiritual blindness and its cure.

He tells the man born blind who the son of man is, that he is looking at the Messiah, the savior, and the man understands instantly.

On the other hand there are some Pharisees amongst those who follow him around. We often don’t think of the other people who followed Jesus around, but besides the twelve, we know that a number of others did, including, surprisingly, some women. It was difficult for these women to travel with an itinerant preacher in those days. There were also others, including some Pharisees who went around listening to Jesus.

These men now wonder if they are to be considered blind. I don’t think this is the question of Pharisees who had rejected Jesus. First, they had already shown they didn’t care about him. Second, they weren’t there when all this happened. These Pharisees know what has been going on. They want to know if Jesus thinks they are blind.

Jesus looks at them. They have two advantages. They are steeped in God’s word. They know the scriptures. Further, they have followed him around. They’ve seen something in Jesus that draws them. It has made them follow him around. Yet something else keeps them away.

Why weren’t they involved in the dispute with the religious leaders, those other Pharisees who had questioned the man? They would surely have known, and their testimony would be valuable. But though they knew, they hadn’t made a decision. They hadn’t decided to live in the light and testify about the light. They probably stood back because of the consequences of taking a stand.

I know so many Christians who have special knowledge, or who have experienced special outpourings of God’s Spirit, of God’s grace. They have something to live, they have something to share. Yet they are so often hiding out where nobody sees, or saying nothing, often because they are afraid of opposition. I have been guilty of this myself.

But listen to Jesus! When God lets you see something it gives you a responsibility. God gives you light so you can shine it on others. God gives you experience so you can testify.

Don’t stay silent!

³⁹Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified: “He told me everything I had done!” ⁴⁰So as the Samaritans were coming to him, they kept on asking him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days. ⁴¹And very many believed because of his word. ⁴²Then they said to the woman, “It’s no longer because of what you said that we believe. For we ourselves have heard, and we know that this man is truly the savior of the world.” — John 4:39-42

Are you afraid to talk about your faith? Are you concerned that you might not know enough or that you might not be persuasive enough? As I read the Bible I’m amazed at how little it takes for God to be able to use someone. I like to keep my eyes open for examples, and in our passage I found yet another one. Jesus uses someone who knows very little about him, yet she has a testimony.

This is part of the story of the Woman at the Well. This story is told only in the gospel of John, and it’s worthwhile reading the whole chapter. Many Christians are hesitant to share their testimony. One of the reasons is that they’re afraid they don’t know enough. But you don’t have to know very much to express what has happened to you personally. Another thing that makes people afraid is the words we use to talk about sharing our faith. “Evangelism,” “faith-sharing,” and even “testimony” make it sound like we’re doing something out of the ordinary. Further, people have used these names for some pretty annoying activities.

But testimony is really very simple. It’s sharing something that happened to you. For example, I have very little difficulty sharing the story of something that happened to me at the mall, at one of my client businesses or something similar. Now think about it: That’s all the woman at the well did. She told one story about one encounter, and let the rest go. Watch, however, as the story moves forward.

The woman at the well gives her testimony that Jesus had told her everything she had done (John 4:39). The same verse notes that many believed because of her testimony. But what did her testimony accomplish? Did it, by itself, convince people to believe in Jesus?

In verse 42 we get the testimony of the people afterward. They have come and seen Jesus because of her testimony, and now their belief no longer rests on her words, but on their own knowledge and experience of Jesus. The weight is off the woman who originally gave testimony. Her testimony didn’t need to do anything more than bring the people who heard it to Jesus.

That’s all our own testimony needs to do. We can be joyful when people come back and say, “It’s no longer because of what you said that I believe. I’ve seen and experience Him for myself!”

[This devotional is based on my notes on these verses on the Participatory Bible Study Blog.]

²⁴They called the man who had been blind again, and they said, “Give glory to God, we know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵Then he answered and said, “I don’t know if he is a sinner or not, but I do know one thing: I was bind but not I see.” — John 9:24-25

We like to know lots of stuff. Hmm! Let me make that more personal. I like to know lots of stuff. I hate it when someone asks me a question and I don’t have the answer. I’ve learned to live with it, because there are so many things I don’t know.

One of the things that keeps some Christians from witnessing is their lack of knowledge. What is going to happen if the person I’m talking to asks me a question for which I have no answer? What if I don’t even understand the question? They’ll think I’m silly, and they’ll think Christianity is silly.

But there’s this really good answer that just anybody can use. The man Jesus healed of blindness knew it.

Here it is: I don’t know. If you read the whole chapter you’ll find there are a lot of things this guy doesn’t know, and he’s not afraid to admit it. He doesn’t know who healed him. He doesn’t know if the healer is a sinner. When he talks to Jesus later he doesn’t know who Jesus is.

But he knows just one thing: He was blind, and now he can see.

In most things in our lives we can’t get by with knowing just one thing. But in our spiritual lives, we can. That doesn’t mean we have to stick with just one thing, but one thing can be enough.

One thing I know—once I was broken, now I’m healed.

One thing I know—once I was far from God, now I’m reconciled.

One thing I know—once there was no joy in my life; now it’s filled with joy.

One thing I know—Jesus is the one person I need to know.

And that’s all you need to know in order to give your witness. Can’t answer all the historical and theological questions? You know one thing—he set you free.

Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” It’s the right answer to the vast majority of questions. And don’t be afraid to share what you know—even if it’s only one thing.