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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
“He is a prophet.” Justification was depicted in a real life event during the earthly ministry of Jesus. This series of articles explores John 9 and the events surrounding the gift of sight which was bestowed upon a man who had been blind from birth. At the end of John 9, Jesus likened the granting of sight to spiritual enlightenment and justification so we are making the same application throughout the chapter.
“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.’” (John 9. 13-17).
A key part of this story is contained in the commentary, “Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.” The Pharisees believed that the keeping of the Sabbath day excluded a number of activities that were simply of their own making. It is true that God had commanded the Hebrew nation to Remember the Sabbath day, but the extension of that commandment to exclude acts of mercy was NOT of God’s design! On one occasion, the disciples of Jesus were criticized for merely walking through a grain field on the Sabbath and plucking off a few heads of grain to satisfy their immediate hunger. This was a prohibition that the Pharisees had inferred from God’s word, but it was not God’s word! In the case of the blind man and the granting of His sight, the Pharisees again applied their interpretive skills and decided that it was unlawful to heal on the Sabbath.
The blind man’s story did not waver; the facts were the facts were the facts! Jesus had told him to go wash, he did it, and his sight was granted. This was all there was to the story – at least until the narrow minded Pharisees became involved. Some linear reasoning was applied that went something like this: “We know that it is sinful to heal on the Sabbath so we know that Jesus is a sinner (not a prophet).” Others applied logic and said, “A miracle has been done (i.e. the granting of the blind man’s sight) so this man (Jesus) must not be a sinner (must be a prophet).” Here indeed was a dilemma for the Pharisees. They could either maintain that their biblical interpretations were correct, or they could admit that Jesus was a prophet. It simply could not be both ways! However, their verbal proofs stood face to face with a miracle that disproved their principles of biblical interpretation. As is the case in real life, living proofs trump verbal arguments every time!
To wrap up today’s segment, we turn to the last verse of our focus text. “They said to the blind man again, ‘What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet.’” If one accepts the premise that miracles were signs of God’s prophets, the blind man could reach no other conclusion. He certainly could not deny the fact that he had been blind, but now was able to see. In this case, the miracle itself stood as living proof of Jesus’ argument, “I am the Son of God!” If the miracle was real, then so were the claims of Jesus.
Verbal arguments are not wrong; they can be valuable tools to determine facts. Neither are the results of true logic invalidated by the false reasoning that some biblical interpreters use. However, a person has to really be blind to argue against a real live demonstration of a proposition! That was the untenable plight of the Pharisees! So can it be ours unless our pride allows us to admit, “I don’t know; I am blind!”
Questions:
1. What rules had the Pharisees made concerning the Sabbath?
2. What admission would the Pharisees have had to have made in order to admit that a true miracle had been performed?
3. The term sinner is used in this passage in contrast with the term prophet. Does this mean that prophets did not commit sin? If not, how is the word sinner used?
4. What proof did the blind man have that Jesus was a prophet?
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