“They said to the blind man again, ‘What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’ ” John 9:17
In our study of the man born blind, we are learning how to overcome spiritual blindness. Last time we discovered the first symptom of spiritual blindness is to deny your own sinfulness by focusing on man-made traditions (John 9:13-16a). The first solution is to digest the facts about Jesus (John 9:16b-17). Today we learn the second way to overcome spiritual blindness is to DEVELOP A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS’ IDENTITY (John 9:17).
The blind man’s neighbors question him further to help resolve the dispute among the Pharisees. “They said to the blind man again, ‘What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’ ” (John 9:17). They would not normally question an illiterate beggar but because he did know what happened they want to know what the former blind man concluded about Jesus. He boldly said, “He is a prophet.” Apparently, his gratitude for Jesus’ healing was greater than any fear he had toward the Pharisees. This is more than what he said earlier when he referred to his healer as “a Man called Jesus” (John 9:11). The former blind man places Jesus in the highest position he knew – that of a “prophet.” Christ performed an extraordinary miracle like that of a prophet of God. Like some of the Pharisees, the former blind man honestly assessed the facts about Christ and concluded that He was much more than a sinner. Jesus was an agent of God empowered by God.
Many non-Christians need more than one exposure to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The number of times they need to hear the gospel is often proportional to their starting point. For example, a Roman Catholic may only need to hear the gospel once because Catholicism already believes that Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose from the dead. But they do not understand that all a person must do to receive everlasting life is to believe in Jesus alone. They have been taught they must also do good works to get to heaven.
On the other hand, a Muslim may need to hear the gospel several times and in different ways because they have been taught that Jesus is merely a prophet who did not die on a cross nor rise from the dead. They also believe the Bible is corrupt and cannot be trusted, so they may need to investigate the historical evidence of Christianity before they are ready to believe in Jesus alone as their only hope of heaven. Both Christians and Muslims believe God is one, but the Muslim will need to decide is He Allah or Jesus? You cannot believe what you do not know.
We see throughout John chapter 9 that the man born blind continues to grow in his knowledge about Jesus. We must be patient with non-Christians and help them progress in their thinking until they see Christ as the Giver of eternal life (John 9:35-38; cf. 4:10-26; 20:31).
The second symptom of spiritual blindness is to DISBELIEVE THE FACTS ABOUT JESUS (John 9:18-20). When the bind man said Jesus was a prophet (John 9:17), the Pharisees were unwilling to accept this praise of Christ, so they tried to obtain evidence to deny that the miracle even happened. John writes, “But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.” (John 9:18). The spiritually blind Pharisees refused to believe that the man had been blind and was now cured until they spoke with the man’s parents.
If this man had been blind and could now see, then a miracle had taken place and they would not be able to deny that Jesus was from God. To deny this miracle, they summon the former blind man’s parents. “And they asked them, saying, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ ” (John 9:19). Either this man was blind and now he sees or they assert that this man cannot be their blind son because this man can see. If he is the man born blind, the Pharisees want to know “How then does he now see?”
The Pharisees do not believe the identity of the man until the parents tell them. “His parents answered them and said, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind.’ ” (John 9:20). Sometimes we may need to hear the truth from more than one person. Jesus will be more than glad to provide us with additional witnesses to the truth about Him.
When I was a young believer in a “Christian” college, I had a New Testament professor who tried to deny the miracles of Jesus Christ by offering rationalistic explanations. For example, when the Bible says Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two sardine-sized fish (John 6:1-13), my professor said when the young lad donated his meal for Jesus to use, the rest of the people pulled out their lunches so that after everyone was done eating, there were many baskets full of leftovers. When the Bible said Jesus walked on water (John 6:15-21), my professor said Christ walked on a sandbar just underneath the water so that it “appeared” as though He was walking on water. In both accounts where the Bible clearly describes a supernatural miracle by Jesus, my professor disbelieved the biblical data to deny the supernatural power of Jesus Christ. Why do people do this? Perhaps it is because they don’t want to be accountable to God and accept His assessment of their sinful lives. If Jesus is God, then they must humbly admit their sinfulness and then believe or trust in Christ alone to save them.
What about you? Do you refuse to believe Jesus is God simply because someone told you He is not God? It may have been a professor or imam or monk or priest or parent or peer. But is that sufficient grounds for rejecting the Person Who claimed to be the Eternal I AM? Have you taken time to investigate the historical evidence about Jesus Christ before you come to a decision about His identity? If not, why? What keeps you from discovering more about Jesus?
The man born blind did not know all the facts about the One Who restored his sight, but what he did know was he was once blind, but now he sees. What about you? What do you know about Jesus Christ? What do you need from Him to believe He is Who He said He was – the Messiah, the Son of God, Who gives everlasting life to all who believe in Him (John 4:25-26; 9:35-38; 11:25-27; 20:31)? Jesus will gladly meet you where you are at to reveal Himself to you.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, before I believed You are the Christ, the Son of God, Who gives everlasting life to all who believe in You, I thought You were a good moral teacher who lived a life worth imitating. Gradually, however, You revealed more and more of Yourself to me through the Bible, my circumstances, and other people so I could no longer conclude You were simply a good moral teacher. Your words and Your works led me to one conclusion – You are the Messiah-God, and You alone could save me from my sins forever and give me everlasting life the moment I believed in You. No one else compares to You. Precious Lord, there are millions of people who do not know or believe the truth about You yet. They were born spiritually blind and they remain that way because they refuse to believe the facts about You. Their hearts are blinded by the father of lies. I pray in Your name that God the Holy Spirit will persuade them to believe in You as the Christ, the Son of God, that believing they may have life in Your name alone. There may be some in the world who have made this decision to believe in You, but because of their fear of family or their religious community, they have kept that decision a secret. Lord, You know who those people are and You can be their Provider, Teacher, and their Guide. Please bless, teach, and provide for them so they can become all You created them to be. In Your matchless name I pray. Amen.