YOU HAVE SEEN HIM
John 9:24–38
“It’s a miracle!” squealed 8-year-old Denise when first outfitted with glasses. Everything came into focus, and she delighted in her new world.
Jesus performed a miracle, curing a man born blind. The sign punctuated His previous teaching encounters at the Feast of Tabernacles. He enabled the man to see physically and eventually led him to see spiritually. Are you open to see Jesus’ truth about Himself?
I Can See (24–25)
Jesus healed the blind man on a Sabbath. The Pharisees sought evidence to disparage Him. They questioned the man’s parents and questioned the man twice with rising frustration at these uncooperative witnesses.
In the second interrogation, the Pharisees put the man under oath, insisting he “give glory to God.” The investigators determined Jesus defiled the Sabbath with two prohibited acts: healing a person and working by making clay.
The former blind man wanted no part in judging Jesus and declined to affirm Him as a sinner. He testified to the factual evidence he knew. Once he couldn’t see, and now he could. His experience topped warped Pharisaic theology.
You Can’t See (26–34)
The Pharisees continued their line of questioning: What did Jesus do? How did He do it? Perhaps they hoped the man would contradict his position.
The man’s patience wore thin. The Pharisees weren’t listening, so he ironically asked if they wanted to follow Jesus. Their answer exposed allegiance to a religious system, not God. They cared more about the letter of the law than relieving human suffering.
The religious leaders haughtily claimed to be Moses’ disciples. They pledged allegiance to Moses over God because they knew Moses’ origin. They denied knowledge of Jesus’ origin. John wrote that Moses pointed to a coming Messiah (1:17; 5:45–47). But these self-described Moses disciples didn’t recognize the Messiah. Hope in Moses falls short of what people need.
The Pharisees’ spiritual blindness shocked the once blind man. He reasoned rightly that Jesus’ miracle established Him as from God. What sinner could do such a thing? Sinners don’t receive God’s approval. The man’s good theology taught the teachers. The man pressed his point. Healing people blind from birth just didn’t happen, but Jesus did it. He must be from God. The Pharisees ascribed the man’s blindness to sin. They resorted to insults to hide their incompetence. Then the Pharisees booted the man from the scene.
I Can Really See! (35–38)
News of the former blind man’s abusive treatment reached Jesus. He found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” This title emphasized God’s revelation of Himself through a human Jesus. The man asked, “Who is He?”
Jesus identified Himself as the Son of Man, and the healed one declared, “I believe, Lord!” Do you see the faith progression? From the first encounter, the light began to dawn. It finally hit home with sincere belief. God reveals Himself to people open to Him until faith comes alive.
The man wanted to believe. Jesus led Him from belief because of a miracle to belief in the One who performed the miracle.
Physical sight progressed to spiritual sight. Worship of the divine-human Jesus confirmed the man’s faith. How clearly do you see Christ these days? Proclaim your faith through worship.
By Darryl Wood
Retired pastor, current hospice chaplain and interim pastor
