Focus! Keeping Your Eyes on Jesus in a Near-Sighted, Distracted World! (The Blind Man in John 9 – Part 5)

This man who has been miraculously healed by Jesus does not hesitate to self-identify as the blind beggar everyone knew. But now he could see!

In this series of blog posts on FOCUS I want to examine my own vision and ask if my spiritual eyesight is getting dim, distracted, or damaged by choices I make. We will be looking at a number of key biblical passages which emphasize this sense of sight. I am particularly looking forward to pondering the healing miracles which turned blind people into sighted people.

In our discussion of this most extensive description of a miracle in all of the Bible, we have seen the disciples’ asking about the cause of the blind man’s disability. We noticed that Jesus didn’t mind their multiple choice question. He just objected to there being only two possible answers in the minds of the disciples. Jesus declares that neither the man born blind nor his parents were to blame for his “handicap,” but this happened “so that the works of God would be displayed in his life.”

Details! Details! Well, one work has already been displayed! The man obeys Jesus, goes and washes off the mud in the pool of Siloam, and comes home SEEING! The neighbors and those who knew him from his daily begging want the facts about how he got healed. When I was a kid, TV was in its infancy — and one of my favorite shows was Dragnet! Sergeant Friday’s classic challenge to a witness of a crime was, “The facts, Ma’am. Just the facts!”

The Bare Facts: That’s what these people wanted from the man born blind — the facts. And that’s what he gives them. I’ll bet he ticked off the six points of his healing, holding up his fingers as he went over the steps:

Geographical Ignorance: They then ask him where this Jesus is and he says he doesn’t know. It is interesting that Jesus doesn’t tell the man to go wash and come back. The man could have easily not come back to where Jesus was (although the story sounds like it took place close to where he lived, or at least begged). I suspect he wanted to thank Jesus for the miracle of sight.

Today’s Challenge: This man knew virtually nothing about Jesus. “The man they call Jesus,” he said. And the man is not yet saved. But Jesus had compassion on him and healed him. How has Jesus healed you? Thank God today for the simple steps He took to bring you into His family!