John 9:35-38
35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36"Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
37Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
38Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
INTRODUCTION
The blind man’s sight had just been miraculously restored by Jesus. At the inquiry of the religious leaders, he testified to the miracle as having been the work of God but was refuted by them and subsequently, excommunicated
PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING
35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man? 36"Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him. (John 9:35-36)
Jesus had not chanced upon the “blind” man, who could now see. In fact, Jesus had gotten news that the religious leaders had him excommunicated, and he searched for him till he found him (v35).
This indicated to us the heart that Jesus had for the lost, that he does not passively wait for them to come to Him, but rather Jesus went out to bring them in.
The blind man, in a short time span, had regained his sight but at the same time, he lost his place in the community and his confidence in the Mosaic system, which had just excommunicated him (v34). Desperate, he asked Jesus who the Son of Man was.
Effectively, this could be paralleled to society today where people are searching for a new meaning in life due to many reasons. Maybe the previous way had failed them or did not satisfy their answers. Or maybe, they faced a major setback that destroyed their zeal for living. We all know such people because we were like them before – lost and searching for some meaning and purpose in life… till we found Jesus. Now that we have found our life’s meaning, shouldn’t we be telling others about it?
LET CHRIST BE RECOGNIZED
37Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." 38Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. John 9:37-38
Although the blind man was now able to see, he had not truly “seen” until he recognized Jesus for who He really was – the Son of Man and the Messiah he had read about since the time of Moses!
Not only did he regain his physical vision, he had gained something even more important – his spiritual sight and he began to see Jesus for who he really was! All along, the way to salvation and life was in front of him but recognition eluded him until Jesus said those words and it was as if scales fell off his eyes.
The same could be said of people nowadays. People have become so engross with their own passions, joys and sadness, or basically so caught up in life itself, that they are unable to identify the true giver of life. We need to be the ones to point them in the right direction and tell them the way to salvation and eternal life. Quite literally, we are the ones who can help them restore their spiritual vision and help them to recognize the Savior our Lord Jesus Christ!
CONCLUSION:
People in the world today need the Lord. Once we were a blind people but now that we can see, we have to lead others, who are blind, to recognize the true Healer.
How were you different before from now?
Recall how you felt when you first “saw” Christ?
Written Ian Koh
