Lesson 55

The Gospel of John

World English Bible translation

Today's Scripture

9:18 The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, 9:19 and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?"

9:20 His parents answered them, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 9:21 but how he now sees, we don't know; or who opened his eyes, we don't know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself." 9:22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 9:23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age. Ask him."

9:24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner."

9:25 He therefore answered, "I don't know if he is a sinner. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see."

Today's Lesson

When the man that had been born blind testified to the Pharisees that Jesus had cured him and that he now believed Jesus to be a prophet, the Pharisees believed they were being duped. They believed that this man was obviously a follower of Jesus that was attempting to fool them. Therefore, they called the parents of the man in order to verify his story.

The parents were scared to death to be brought before such an important group of people and to be asked to testify to a situation that obviously was beyond their experience. They had already heard that the religious rulers considered this to be a difficult problem. Anyone who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah would be shunned or excommunicated. Such a person would lose all status in this most Jewish of cities. The person who was "put out of the synagogue" would most likely lose all business connections and would lose all but their most personal possessions.

So, when the parents were asked to verify the testimony of their own son all that they would confirm was that he had been born blind. How he had been healed they would not guess. He is of age, ask him yourself. The man was recalled and was directed to renounce Jesus as a sinner.

His response is a beautiful example of truthfulness and clarity. "I don't know if he is a sinner. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." What more could be clearer to him? For all of his life, he had seen nothing of the world around him. Jesus had entered his life and suddenly, without rational explanation, he could see everything. How startling the world must have seemed to him! Everything he had experienced and knew was still there, but a completely different experience to everything in his world had been opened up to him. It must have seemed a dream to him. Perhaps he wondered how permanent the effects were. Would he have his sight for the rest of his life or was his vision a temporary reprieve?

He did not know that much about Jesus. Perhaps to these men Jesus was considered a sinner. All that he knew was that before Jesus had come into his life, his eyes had been dead. After Jesus arrived, his whole life had changed. He did not want to return to his old life. Before, he had been forced to beg on the street. Now, for perhaps the first time in his life, he had found hope. And he was unwilling to possibly give that hope up by denying the one who had given it to him.

"One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." There is a point in every believer's life when we realize that our contact with God has changed our lives. God touches us in an unsuspecting way. Before we know what has occurred to us, we suddenly see that our whole perspective on life has changed. "I don't know what's going on, but I know that I see things differently now." In the modern vernacular, most believers can look at this blind man's response and say, "been there ... done that!"

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