THURSDAY 6th
John 9
NIV (v25) – John 9:25 ‘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!’’
ESV (v25) – John 9:25 ‘He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’’
At first glance, it seems strange to us who read this story to think of this man saying that he did not know if the man who had given him his sight was a sinner or not. We have hindsight, prior to this the man had no sight! He may have heard Jesus on occasions before this, he may have heard about Jesus, but he had never physically seen him with his own eyes. But this day, something incredible would happen to him, he would not only hear this man, he would see him, believe him and receive him.
It is another of those chapters where an incredible miracle caused the Pharisees and the gainsayers to debate, discuss and dispute over Jesus. They call the healed mans parents in for questioning, then the healed man himself, suggesting that to him that the healing had been done by a sinner, to which the man replies, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not I do not know’ he was uncertain about who Jesus was, but the facts were very clear, ‘One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ It is almost as if the blind man was so overjoyed about receiving his sight, it did not really matter who had done the miracle!
The story continues that because the man had a measure of faith and understanding he comes to the conclusion that the man who had given him his sight must be from heaven, and he was then cast out of the Synagogue, for anyone who agreed that Jesus was the Christ would be thrown out (v22)
It is only after this that he encounters Jesus again, and he comes to believing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (verses 35-38).
We have already considered light versus darkness in previous devotions, this story relates toward spiritual blindness, the testimony of this man has also become our testimony as we have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the hymn writer, John Newton also puts it in the song ‘Amazing grace’ I once was lost but now am found, was blind but know I see.’
The people around us are not only walking in darkness, they are also walking as blind men and women, spiritually blind, they may have heard about Jesus, but they have not yet seen him, they have not yet encountered him. There is an old hymn we used to sing, ‘Jesus is passing this way, this way, today, Jesus is passing this way, is passing this way today’. And I am glad of the day when he passed the place where I was sat in my spiritual blindness, and he stopped and opened my eyes to the wonder of who he is and of his amazing grace, and thank God he is still passing this way, by his Spirit he is still at work reaching out to touch spiritually blind eyes to see him for who he really is, and to unblock spiritually deaf ears to hear him calling and to unstop spiritually dumb mouths to sing forth the praises of him who has brought them out of darkness into his light and to bring strength to the spiritually lame to enable them to dance with joy unspeakable and full of glory! He is passing through our communities, he is passing through our towns, Gateshead, Newcastle and the surrounding district, may we rejoice to see and hear of many yet coming to the place of meeting with him, and having their lives transformed by his touch, by his power and with his grace.