How would many describe an insignificant life in the time of Jesus? A child born blind, growing into adulthood, and now living as a beggar is one way from John 9. He’s not wealthy or powerful. Would anyone desire to trade places with him? A adult man born blind man is seen by Jesus, loved by God. The Lord has a unique and powerful plan to make him a testimony of Grace through Jesus to the religious elite of Israel.
The story is continues through the whole chapter, moving from Jesus declaring his blindness is a designed opportunity for God to work to his healing testifying to the whole community, and finally to his coming to faith in Christ. It is a Sabbath, and the Pharisees are already highly irritated with Jesus for healing a lame man at the Pool of Bethesda. Isaiah 35:5 and 42:7 remind us that the Messiah would come and open blind eyes, but no one had ever seen one born blind healed. Confusion ensues as the recently healed man becomes the talk of the town and is soon brought to the religious leaders to validate what has happened.
Directly preceding healing this man Jesus declared “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” A man blind for more than twenty years is healed and the community is abuzz. We don’t know his name yet his story has captured the attention of the whole community. This testimony provides the pharisees a poignant opportunity to reconsider Jesus. The “Sent One”, Jesus, has sent this newly healed man to the everyone, scholars included, resulting in a deeply unsettling impact.
In John 6:28-29 we are reminded the first work we are here to do is to believe in Jesus. Do we? John 7:17 connects our capacity to discern practicable truth with first choosing to do God’s will. Have you? In this chapter the once blind beggar will do both of these, and share his story of encountering Jesus with many. God’s love and mercy have powerfully manifested to this grateful man, and “the riches of His Glory …” (Col 1:27) are being made known to a community.