Text: John 9:1-41
“Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’” —John 9:3
Two years after being released from a juvenile detention center where I gave my life to Christ, I was invited to come and speak at a gathering of Juvenile Justice workers in Florida. I was asked to come and share my story as “one who had successfully made it out” of the system. At the time, the juvenile justice system was seeing very few teens rehabilitated and my story gave them hope—at least for most it did.
There was, however, one person in the room who was noticeably uncomfortable, if not antagonistic, with the gospel message I shared. He was a youth psychologist, and he couldn’t help but lob a sarcastic grin every time I mentioned the name of Jesus in my testimony. I remember walking away from that meeting thinking, “This is a person who works with troubled teens for a living. He gets paid big bucks to help turn young lives around, yet he would probably rather me still be living like a hoodlum on the streets than out here rehabilitated but giving all the glory to God.”
Instead of celebrating a young person being transformed, even if it were through the power of Christ, that youth psychologist couldn’t get past his disdain for the One Who did the transforming. He reminded me of the Pharisees in John 9, who failed to rejoice over one who had been healed because they had a problem with the Healer.
After Jesus miraculously healed a blind man and gave him new eyes to see, the Pharisees were triggered. Jesus was a threat to their agenda, and every miracle He performed ripped more clout away from that agenda. To save face, they needed to disrepute the works of God being displayed through Jesus. How? By doing what every attorney does in a court of law when they cross-examine a witness—taint the witness’ credibility.
After the man who had formerly been blind was brought before the Pharisees, they interrogated him and his parents. Not getting the answers they wanted, they tried to leverage the man’s past to injure his reputation, cripple his dignity, and delegitimize his witness for Christ. “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” It then says that “they cast him out.” (John 9:34)
I love that this story doesn’t end there. The Pharisees didn’t get the last word in this man’s life…
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Jesus didn’t heal this man just to have him crippled again by judgmental people who wanted to take swipes at his past (sins that may have been real or fabricated). Jesus made sure this man got past his past. Jesus pursued him, reaffirmed the man’s faith, restored his dignity, and turned him into a worshiper. All this not to make this former blind man the hero in the story, but to see JESUS as the HERO in the story.
Jesus always counters the efforts of those who seek to invalidate our faith. In being His witness, let us not try to do the job of the Holy Spirit in changing the minds of others, may we simply abide in Him as He displays His works through us… again and again and again.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, again and again you prove your love and faithfulness in my life. Thank you for the works you do, and keep doing, to grow my faith in a world that is hostile toward Jesus. Empower me through the Holy Spirit to continue to be the witness you need me to be in troubling times. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Personal Application or Group Discussion:
- When has your witness for Jesus been met with angst, hostility, or even persecution?
- When have others tried to leverage your past to cripple your dignity or invalidate your faith?
- What does this story in John 9 teach us about God? Ourselves?
- What is the Good News in this story that you can share with others?
- To whom is God calling you to be a witness of His goodness this week?