John 9:18
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight.
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In the verse for today we are looking at the account of a man who had been born blind and who then received his sight by following the instruction of Jesus. {Jn.9:1-41} And seeing, now for the first time in his life, that opened the door to many other things: Jesus' disciples (including us) growing in the knowledge of the Word, a marvelous testimony, debates by his neighbors and those who knew him before, a bitter attack by the Pharisees, fear and rejection by his own parents, oh, and of course eternal salvation as he worshiped the Lord Jesus Christ!
When Jesus and His disciples were leaving the temple and encountered that blind man, they had asked Him why he was blind, believing it was either because of his sins or his parents sins. That was a common belief of the time—and often in ours!
The Lord immediately told them it was neither, but rather that the works of God might be displayed in him. Something that we need to remember as we face the many afflictions that are common to all believers. {Ps.34:19} And by the way, another answer provided by the word of God regarding the man's blindness is the fact that, as God told Moses, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” {Ex.4:11}
When people asked that man who had been born blind what had happened to him, many thinking that it was not even the same man, he was telling them what Jesus had done, a testimony. That caused them to bring this man touched by Jesus to the Pharisees. They too asked how he had received his sight, but with a very wrong motivation. They were threatened because they thought that God had to work through them—not through a lowly man like the son of a carpenter.
Those 'religious leaders' did not know what would be revealed a bit later through the apostle Paul, an ex-Pharisee—God works through each believer individually just as He wills. {1Cor.12:11} So they called the man's parents, basically putting them on trial, asking how does your son now see? His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." {Jn;9:20-21} They were afraid that if they agreed that Jesus had healed their son they would be kicked out of the synagogue.
We need to know that if we are going to stand for Jesus we will need to be prepared to stand alone—even those closest to you may fail you. The word of God however says, 'Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." {Deut.31:6}
So, the man who had received his sight was brought before the Pharisees and they said to him, 'we know this man (Jesus) is a sinner' looking for agreement. He said with a godly boldness, 'one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.' And when they said that they did not know where Jesus was from he said, "Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” {Jn.9:30-33}
This man who had never seen a single written verse of the Scriptures or even been allowed in the temple grounds was now teaching the teachers of Israel. Jesus had been rejected by those Jews just before so He left the temple {Jn.8:59} and sent a blind beggar, now healed, to teach them.
Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you." And he said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped Him.” {Jn.9:35-38}
“Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness” (Psalms 95:6-8)
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD
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