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 

 

Our current setting for our readings is the Feast of Tabernacles, on the last great day of the Feast (the eighth day).  It is the final year of Christ's earthly life and ministry.  (See the readings beginning from Friday, February 4th for the occurrences at this feast).  Yesterday we read that 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."  Let us note one powerful effect of Christ's intervention and healing in this man's life; even his parents are so afraid of the religious authorities (in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is used as a political term for those in the religious leadership hostile to Christ).  His parents do not openly support him, and he must stand on his own.

 

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 comments that with Jesus not present, the Pharisees call Him a sinner, but earlier when He asked them face-to-face, "Which if you convicts Me of sin?" (John 8:46), they evaded the question.  Give God the glory! was an oath formula which was used before giving testimony.  Nonetheless, the healed man will give God glory (see verse 38).  The more he is pressed, my study Bible says, 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 calls this healed man one who has become a model of Christian witness.  It says that many people do not bear witness to Christ because they fear they will be asked questions they cannot answer.  This man's answer to people much more educated that he provides the solution.  Let us observe carefully, that he admits what he does not know, but yet follows up with what he does know.  My study Bible names this formula, "That I don't know, but what I do know is this," as 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.   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.  Once again we observe that the more this healed man is pressed, the more deep his understanding and faith grows.  The Pharisees, on the contrary, dig deeper into their darkness and blindness.  Unable to refute the healed man's logic or the truth of what he reveals, they resort to personal insult (see also John 8:48).  My study Bible notes that, having opened the blind man's eyes, Christ also opens his heart and illumines his spirit.  The man moves from knowing almost nothing about Christ (verse 25), through the conclusion that Jesus could not possibly be a sinner (verse 31), through confessing that Jesus must be from God (verse 33), to finally seeing Him as the divine Son of God and worshiping Him (verse 38).   Additionally, my study Bible notes of this passage that 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 prophesied signs of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 35:5, 42:7) and a prerogative belonging solely to God (Psalm 146:8).

 

 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."  My study Bible comments that our Lord's coming brought judgment to he world, not because He came to judge (John 12:47-48), but because of humankind's accountability to Him.  Those who see and hear Him but do not believe, my study Bible adds, are judged by their own faithlessness.  Jesus' own words make clear that it is in their self-righteousness that sin remains; one truly seeking but unable to grasp a deeper truth is not condemned here, just as the disciples themselves remain "learners."  Christ judges by depths of the heart we don't know, not by appearance.

 

 We note the progress of the formerly blind man.  In the progress of his faith after his healing, he makes that journey that those of us touched by the healing power of Christ's love may have found for ourselves.  All too often, we are left with our experience, clinging to a truth that others would deny all around us, in one form or another.  Let us note here that even his parents, in some sense, desert and abandon him, leaving him on his own to fend for himself and testify for himself to the religious authorities, who eventually excommunicate him.  Jesus has taught about Himself, "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53).  In today's story, we have illustrated what it is to be in that vise, in which all is separated out, and yet there is a deeper truth borne of experience of God's love and healing to which we must cling.  Note how this is a part of the process of deepening faith.  No matter what comes, no matter the strife and the denial, even the abandonment of parents, even excommunication from temple and community, this healed man's faith is rooted in what he knows, because that experience of healing and love runs more deeply within us than what the world can offer in doubt, denial, and strife.  And this is the work of faith.  So this "illumined" man who has had his eyes open truly sees what so many do not, and he remains for us an example of testimony.  Straightforward and simple, he sticks to what he knows, and does not deny that there are things he doesn't know.  All of this is testimony to the truth of his life and who he is, and of his experience of Christ.  Let us live likewise and learn from his example for us -- he sees in many more ways than the healing of physical sight, this sixth sign in John's Gospel which manifests the presence of Christ and the Kingdom.