The Testimony of the Healed Man

Topic: Blindness
Passage: John 9:24–34

October 7, 2019

Commentary

The Pharisees tried to pressure the healed man into withdrawing his testimony about Jesus. They wanted him to say that the miracle of his sight was only a miracle of God and that Christ was a sinner (v.24). He would not debate the character of Jesus Christ, because that was beyond his knowledge and experience. On the other hand, he refused to deny what he knew for certain and that was; “One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see” (v. 25). It would have been easy for the Son to hide his confession and thus avoid controversy, but he fearlessly stood his ground. He knew what a difference Christ had made in his life, and he could not deny it. Everyone who has met Christ and trusted Him should make it known openly.

These Pharisees asked him to go over the story again, hoping to find some contradiction in his report (vv. 24-30). At this point, the former blind man got impatient. He had already told them how he was healed (v.15) but they had not wanted to hear. It seemed incredible to him that these Pharisees would not know the man who had opened his eyes (vv. 31-33). After all, how many people were going around Jerusalem, opening the eyes of blind people? He reasoned that God grants not the requests of sinners, but of the righteous. Therefore, this man had to be from God, or he could do no miracles.

 

Angered by the fact that their authority had been questioned, these religious leaders officially excommu­nicated this man from the local synagogue (34).

 

Application

It is so easy to have blind spots in my life. When is the last time someone has revealed a blind spot to me? Was I willing to admit it and do something about it? I want to do a better job in this area. Because other people don’t always do things the same way I do it is easy to think they are not doing it the right way. Lord, help me to be more positive and less negative toward others.

John 9:24– 34 (NET)

24 Then they summoned the man who used to be blind a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing—that although I was blind, now I can see.” 26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?” 27 He answered, “I told you already and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You people don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”

28 They heaped insults on him, saying, “You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man comes from!” 30 The man replied, “This is a remarkable thing, that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see! 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never before has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They replied, “You were born completely in sinfulness, and yet you presume to teach us?” So they threw him out.