Once I Was Blind, But Now I See
Christ was quick to correct them. He used this man’s suffering to teach about faith and glorify God. We live in a fallen world where good behavior is not always rewarded or bad behavior not always punished. Therefore innocent people sometimes suffer. If God took suffering away whenever we asked, we would follow Him for comfort and convenience, not out of love and devotion. Regardless of the reasons for our suffering, Jesus has the power to help us deal with it. When you suffer from disease, tragedy or disability, try not to ask why did this happen to me? Or what wrong did I do? Instead, ask God to give you strength for the trial and a clear perspective on what is happening.
God has created you and me for His glory. He did not create us that we might try to be a somebody down here. He created us for His glory. If we miss that, we miss the entire purpose of our creation. These trials and sufferings come to us because they bring about the glory of God. This blind man, through the healing of his blindness, will bring about the glory of God. Not only will this blind man see (and think how much he would enjoy seeing all the rest of his life), but also he will see Jesus Christ and come to know Him as his Savior.
Listen to his testimony: “One thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
(John 9:25).
That is the testimony of any sinner who has been saved. Once I was blind, but now I see. Once I was in spiritual darkness but now I am in spiritual light. Once I did not know Christ, but now I know Him as my Savior. These days many of the testimonies we hear are padded and embellished and polished up to make them attractive. Emphasis is placed on the past, so much so that the people actually come out as heroes in their testimony. They were leaders in crime, they were rubbing shoulders with the gang leaders, they were the worst alcoholics, the worst gamblers, sexually corrupt and on and on. Then they heard the gospel and were converted. The really important part of any testimony one wants to hear is simply this, “Once I was blind; now I see.”
Let us consider how the condition of the blind man parallels our condition as sinners before we were saved.
The blind man was outside the temple, shut out from God. Remember that Paul says in Ephesians
The man was blind. He was unable to see the Savior. The author of this narrative remembers the days he was wallowing in spiritual darkness. God was no more relevant, in this scientific era, I used to say. If there were a God who had created the earth and heaven, He had either lost control over them or has lost interest in them. It’d true mankind is in dire straights, but the answer lies in the generation of wealth and scientific development, I would argue. That this philosophy was totally flawed became clear to me when I came to know Jesus.
We were blind without Christ. Did you see Him as your Savior before you were saved? Was He the wonderful One to you then? No. We were blind like the man born blind. He had not seen the man who cured him of his blindness.
The man had been blind from birth. We were born in sin. We came into this world as sinners. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God”. The blind man was beyond human help. Nobody had a cure for his blindness. We were helpless sinners in this world and no one had a cure for us.
He was a beggar. This is what hurts a lot of people. They hate to admit they are beggars. They would be willing to pay for salvation, but it is not for sale. You have to come to God for salvation as this beggar did. God gives it away. This beggar could never have bought salvation because he had nothing with which to buy it. “"Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters! Also, you that have no money, come, buy, and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).
He made no appeal to Jesus. Blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46) was loud and insistent, he wanted to see again, but this man just sat there. He didn’t know Jesus. It took him a long time to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Friend, did you really want to get saved? Were you looking for salvation? Were you looking for the Lord Jesus? If you are the average person, you were not. You were not looking for Him, but He was looking for you. That is the story of a man and his salvation.
It is so with the steps of every sinner. We are blind at first. We are lost sinners, and we don’t even see our lost condition. Then we come to Christ. He reveals Himself to us; our eyes are opened and we see who He is and what He has done for us. Then the question is: “Will you believe?” This man’s answer can also be your answer, “Lord, I believe.” And you will fall at His feet and worship Him like the formerly blind man did.
The neighbors were a little scared. Something unusual had happened and they couldn’t understand what. So, they took him to the Pharisees who started asking questions. The Pharisees looked at the issue from an entirely different angle. A man born blind has had his sight restored to him, but what mattered to them was someone has had performed manual labor on Sabbath--a dreadful sin. The perpetrator had to be identified and brought to the book.
They subjected the ex-blind man to intense questioning. All he could say is the person who cured him was a prophet. All that he knew was, he reiterated, He was blind, but could see now. This monumental witness was of no consequence to the religious leaders. They threw him out. Jesus declared he came to cure the blind, but sadly, those with normal sight chose to become blind.
The man didn’t know how or why he had been healed but knew his life had been miraculously changed, and he was not afraid to tell the truth. You don’t have to have all the answers to share Jesus with others. It is important to tell them how He had changed your life. Then, trust God will use your words to help others believe in Him too.
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