In the previous post, we saw that by worldly standards, the man in John 9 is not doing a very good job of sharing his faith: he can’t answer his neighbors’ or the Pharisees’ questions; he gives an incomplete description of Jesus; he hasn’t won a single convert to the faith… But in today’s post, we will see what kind of a response Jesus gives to this man who is humbly and faithfully sharing his faith as best he can. Jesus’ response to this man is a wonderful encouragement to all of us who feel weak or ineffective in our faith-sharing…
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.
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.
There it is again, “I don’t know”. This guy is not afraid to admit what he does not know about Jesus. Again, when the highly-complex theological questions start flying, it is perfectly acceptable to admit that you don’t know the answers. But don’t stop just by admitting what you don’t know. Re-clarify again what it is that you DO know:
24 “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!”
I can hear this guy saying, “Listen guys: I can’t answer all of your theological questions, but I can tell you what I do know: Jesus changed me. My life has been personally transformed by Jesus.”
We can say the same: I was lost, but now I’m found.
- I was blind, but now I see.
- I was a slave to greed, but now I am generous.
- I was addicted to alcohol, but now I’ve been delivered.
- I was in deep depression after my close friend died, but now I am healed and whole because of Jesus.
You know what, I don’t know how telephones work, but I do believe in them. I demonstrate my faith in phones everyday. I don’t know how the microwave works, but I use one, and I can tell you this: it makes my food hot. I cannot explain to you the science of sleep. But I can guarantee, it’s effects are real, and when I don’t get enough, I pay for it.
Since when does not being an expert on something disqualify you from believing in it, and trusting that it is real and that it works?
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.”
Do this: just for a quick moment, consider everything you know about God, about Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the history of God’s work in the world… Now consider this: this guy literally knows ONE THING about Jesus.
Jesus made him see.
That’s it! That one fact is the only theological truth he knows of! And yet, he is willing to go toe-to-toe with the religious experts of his day – these guys were the PhD’s of theology, and this man stood with them with his one undeniable fact about Jesus. And he won. Even the PhD’s cannot dispute what Jesus has done for this man.
34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when He found the man, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
After all this, this guy still doesn’t even actually know who Jesus is. He has already done a better job of defending his faith than I could, and he still hasn’t even “prayed the prayer of salvation” yet!
Remember, in his last encounter with Jesus, this guy’s eyes were caked with spit-mud, so even though his sight was restored, he has still not yet seen Jesus. But his faith in Jesus – it is so, so strong – he is willing to do whatever it takes to get to know this Jesus better and better – if only he could find Him –- or even meet Him…
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when He found the man, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you.” 38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him.
Wow! Y’all! Here is the real miracle of this story: not just that Jesus opened the man’s physical eyes and allowed him to see the world, but that Jesus opened the man’s spiritual eyes, and allowed him to see God.
Like Trees Planted 