Day 6 – Jesus cures a blind man (part 2)

Bible reading: John 9:13–18, 24–34

The Pharisees talk to the man who had been blind

13 The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 It was a Jewish day of rest when Jesus had done this miracle. He had used mud to make the man's eyes able to see. 15 So the Pharisees asked the man again, ‘How did you become able to see?’ The man replied, ‘Jesus put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I can see.’

16 So some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man Jesus cannot have come from God. He does not obey the rules about our day of rest.’ But other Pharisees said, ‘Nobody who is bad could do great things like this!’ So they did not agree with each other. 17 The Pharisees spoke again to the man who had been blind. They said to him, ‘What do you yourself say about this man? It was your eyes he has now made able to see.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’

18 The Jewish leaders still did not believe that the man had really been blind. They did not want to believe that he had now become able to see. So they told the man's parents to come to them.

John 9:13-18 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

24 So the leaders again spoke to the man who had been blind. They said to him, ‘In front of God, promise that you will speak only true things. We know that this man Jesus does not obey God.’ 25 The man replied, ‘I do not know whether he obeys God or not. But I do know one thing: I was blind and now I can see.’ 26 Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he make your eyes able to see?’ 27 He answered them, ‘I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you want to become his disciples too!’ 28 Then the leaders were very angry with him. They shouted at him, ‘No, it is you! You are that man's disciple. But we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses. But who is this man? We do not even know where he comes from.’

30 The man answered, ‘That is a very strange thing! You do not know where this man comes from. But he is the one who made my eyes able to see. 31 We know that God does not listen to people who do not obey him. But he does listen to good people who do what he wants them to do. 32 Nobody has ever made the eyes of a blind man able to see, if that man had been blind when he was born. Since the world began, that has never happened! 33 So this man Jesus must have come from God. Unless he came from God, he could not do anything like that.’

34 The Jewish leaders answered him, ‘Since the day that you were born, you have never obeyed God's laws. You cannot teach us anything!’ And they threw him out of the meeting place.

John 9:24-34 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

Reflection

This second part of the story is rather amusing. First, the religious leaders try to persuade the man that Jesus could not have healed him – using a very unreliable religious argument. The man refuses to discuss their religious ideas. He simply tells them what had happened.

They do not believe him

They do not believe him, so they go to the parents and severely question them. They are very afraid. They confirm he is their son. They confirm he was born blind. But they dare not say more for fear that the religious leaders will ban them from the synagogue, the place of worship. ‘Ask him,’ they say, ‘He is of age. He will speak for himself.’

So the religious leaders try to argue with the man again. ‘This Jesus is a sinner,’ they say, ‘God does not listen to sinners, so he could not have healed you.’

Again, the man refuses to argue with them! ‘I do not know if he is a sinner or not. But I know I used to be blind and now I can see.’

What power there is in a personal story like this!

They insult the man. He laughs at them, ‘Do you want to become his followers too?!’

From man to Lord

Later, Jesus finds the man and asks him if he believes. The man is learning fast. Earlier, he had said ‘The man called Jesus’. Now he calls him ‘Lord’ in an attitude of worship with faith.

This is what Jesus means when he says that he came to the world for judgement: so that those who are blind could get their sight. And so that some of those who think they see could realize they are blind – like those religious leaders. Are you still spiritually blind or are you beginning to see?