A Remarkable Healing and a Sad Reaction

Reading Time: 5 Minutes

What would you choose?

John 9.13–17 – They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

The healing of the blind man presented the Pharisees with two options:

(1) They could rejoice and celebrate something completely unheard of, a person blind from birth being made to see.

(2) The alternative was to be incensed that the healing of this man happened on the wrong day of the week, the Sabbath.

My question is, how can such an amazing miracle divide people?

If you haven’t had a chance to see the two videos about Shane Kampe and Whispering Danny in yesterday’s article, I have put them in this article, too.

Whispering Danny – https://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/whispering-danny/

Shane Kampe – https://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/shane-kampe/

I also recommend that you go to the comments section of yesterday’s article and view Molly Arcano’s video. She has a powerful message that will bring hope and joy to your life.

As I think back on early days with Shane and Danny, I didn’t meet them until the time that Shane had gone through rehab for a traumatic brain injury. After the time of his healing and rehabilitation, the three of us were having lunch at a favorite place of ours, Fric and Frac. During the conversation, both men told stories of how their friends were actively explaining away Shane’s healing. Many simply did not or would not believe that God had healed their friend.

A few years later, one of Shane’s nurses from neuro-ICU at St. Luke’s cornered me at the hospital. She was adamant that Shane was nothing less than a walking miracle from God.

When a miracle from God occurs, God always gives us an option – either faith, or some other explanation.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had heads that were full of information about God, but their hearts were so hard that they couldn’t accept the miracle before their eyes. Instead of faith, they turned to his parents for an explanation.

The parents don’t clear up the confusion.

John 9.18-23 – The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

The formerly blind man could have said to the religious leaders: “Doesn’t Jesus’ miracle mean anything to you at all? Do I even matter to you?” Instead, he responded to their questions and said, “He is a prophet” (Verse 17). A prophet is a person whom God has chosen to say or do God’s will in the world.

These religious men ignored the man’s statement and began to question his parents.

One of my favorite sayings is that it is more important to be loving than to be right. We may often win a single “battle” of being right and lose the entire “war” of helping someone experience God’s love.

The religious authorities were not content to be loving. They had to be right on the question of the Sabbath, so they sought answers from the man’s parents. (Notice how their intense drive to be right caused them to miss the miracle of a fully healed man who was standing before them.)

What came next is profoundly tragic! The parents lived with a son who was blind from birth. Their formerly blind son was standing beside them, seeing colors and people for the first time in his life. Yet, they didn’t have the courage to challenge the hard hearts of the religious authorities. I cannot imagine the sadness and betrayal the man must have felt.

Your Turn

How shall we respond to this portion of the Bible?

Let’s rejoice over the miracles that God has allowed us to see on a regular basis at Maywood. Join me in praising God for stories like Molly, Shane and Danny – along with people who are free from addiction and living abundant lives with Jesus.

Let’s pray for miracles of healing for people suffering with corona virus.

Let’s determine for our speech to be full of love and grace. There are also times for our speech to be “seasoned with salt.” Let’s know when to be salty.

Today’s Prayer

Dear God, we praise you for every miracle you have allowed us to see. During this time of world-wide sickness, we pray for multiple miracles of healing, grace, and freedom. May you be glorified in what is taking place on earth.