One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see

 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.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."  Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

- John 9:18-41

 In the past couple of chapters in John, Jesus has been in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, an eight-day feast of the coming kingdom, commemorating the time that Israel lived in tents, or tabernacles.  It's also a harvest festival.  It is now the last, great day of the feast.  Jesus has just passed through the crowds out of the temple, as the leadership seeks to arrest Him.  Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is he?"  He said, "I do not know."  They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

  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.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  Again we remember that the term "the Jews" is used most often in John's Gospel as a sort of political term; it is meant to denote the leadership among the Pharisees and other ruling parties, and those who follow them, who now seek to put Jesus to death.  We remember that all of the people here are Jews, including those whom we have been told came to believe in Jesus as He spoke in the temple, even as He engaged in adversarial dialogue with members of the religious leadership.  We now see the position of the parents of the man healed from his blindness; they are put under the microscope as possible witnesses to this sixth sign performed by Jesus in John's Gospel.  But they fear being put out of the synagogue.

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."   My study bible says, "With Jesus not present, the Pharisees call Him a sinner, but earlier when He asked them face-to-face, 'Which of you convicts Me of sin?', they evaded the question [see yesterday's reading].  Give God the glory! was an oath formula used before giving testimony.  Nevertheless, the healed man will indeed give God glory.  The more he is pressed, the more fervent his faith becomes, while the Pharisees lapse into deeper darkness."

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know:  that though I was blind, now I see."   My study bible has a note that tells us:  "This healed man becomes a model of Christian witness.  Many people do not bear witness to Christ because they fear that they will be asked questions they cannot answer.  This man's answer to people much more educated than he provides the solution:  he admits what he does not know, but follows up with what he does know.  The formula, 'That I don't know, but what I do know is this,' is foundational to witnessing one's faith to others."

Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  Refusal to listen accompanies resorting to insults on the part of the leadership, just as they have done with Jesus.  They can't refute his logic, nor the truth he's telling.  They don't want to come to the conclusions this blind man is witnessing to, so the response is a personal diminishing.  As a witness, they are saying, this healed man is worthless to them; the insult is an implied superiority on their part -- a conclusion among the leadership that they can learn nothing from the witness.  And indeed, they can't, because they refuse to hear.  So they throw him out.  My study bible notes on this passage, "The unprecedented nature of opening the eyes of one who was born blind is a confirmation of Christ's divinity.  This was one of the signs of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7) and a prerogative belonging solely to God (Psalm 146:8)."

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him.  My study bible teaches us:  "Having opened the blind man's eyes, the Lord also opens his heart and illumines his spirit.  The man moves from knowing almost nothing about Christ, through the conclusion that Jesus could mot possibly be a sinner, through confessing that Jesus must be from God, to finally seeing Him as the divine Son of God and worshiping Him."

And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  A note says, "Our Lord's coming brought judgment to the world, not because He came to judge (12:47-48), but because of man's accountability to Him.  Those who see and hear Him but do not believe are judged by their own faithlessness."

The challenge here is understanding that there are those who just don't want to hear.  It doesn't matter what the great news is, nor even how miraculous and good the effect.  If a conclusion is too threatening to someone's way of life, or conventional sets of prejudices, or foregone conclusions, then they will not want to hear real witnessing, real truth, or real logic.  They will be angered by the conclusions that one is pointing to.  A truly open mind and open heart requires courage.  It requires the courage to go beyond oneself, and to give up conventional and comfortable framework.  God always calls us beyond what we know already.  It doesn't matter that these Pharisees are the learned religious men of their time.  It matters not at all that they are experts in the Law.  The conclusions they draw are false and they are also prejudiced:  they are those things that must be for them so that they retain their leadership positions, their superiority, their own capacity to judge.  What Jesus offers, and particularly through the witnessing of this blind man who has been healed, is something threatening to all that they personally hold dear above all else:  their positions, their own authority and judgment.  So they seek to rid themselves of the blind man, and of Jesus.  And this is something important when it comes to witnessing, as my study bible points out.  We stick to what we know, and admit plainly what we don't know.  After all, the mysteries of God are so far beyond us that in order to truly understand what it is to be a follower of Christ, we know that there is so much we simply don't know.  And it's an important article of the faith that there is so much that is beyond us, awaiting us, above us.  But even that which we do know, say, for example, the effects of our faith in our own lives, our own healing, or help, or comfort, or direction, may be something that is not viewed at all as good news to someone who finds the conclusion threatening to their own point of view.  It's something important to remember, as witnessing is also a part of our lives, even in very simple, direct terms -- even sticking simply to our own experience and nothing more.  But the bedrock of faith is that:  experience.  And there is more; a real love of Christ or any experience of this faith also solidifies identity.  It becomes a part of who we are.  Just like the formerly blind man now knows something about himself and his life.  It's something his parents can't give him nor even support as witnesses, but it belongs strictly and permanently to this witness, this healed man, who now knows something about himself and His relationship to Christ.  It's that place we remember, and hold onto, regardless of whether or not others want our witness to it.