(John 9:2-3, 18-23)
If you were born blind in Jesus’ day, the common thought was that you or your parents had somehow sinned. Jesus’ disciples wanted clarification on that point as they happened upon one particular blind man.Jesus didn’t answer as they anticipated: “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (Jn.9:3).Not that the blind man’s parents were anywhere to be seen at that moment, but assuredly they would have been pleased to know that Jesus had pronounced them guiltless regarding the blindness of their son. But it wasn’t long before they were expected to account for his sudden and unusual behaviour shift. They were summoned to a public meeting in front of the Pharisees. There they were asked to confirm the identity of their son, and swear to the fact that he actually was born blind. Such was the mood of the inquisition that the parents understood immediately the ramifications of giving the wrong answer. One wrong word and the Pharisees would ban them from having anything to do with the synagogue. They had a lifetime of social interaction to lose, so they just claimed him as their son and said, “He is of age; ask him.” It’s a horrible day when parents are forced to shrink back from celebrating their son’s life-changing blessing. Such is the hate and cunning of Satan. He drills deep inside the minds and hearts of those who claim to be the defenders of God’s word and poisons them. Instead of praising God for the obvious miracle that had taken place among them, the Pharisees determined that it must have been of the devil; after all, it happened on the Sabbath. Which was just their way of saying, ‘We will tell you what God thinks about everything—at all times!’The parents must have left that meeting with their minds and hearts awash with mixed emotions. But knowing that the hate of the Pharisees didn’t shake the faith of their son, we can be assured that overwhelming joy would sooner or later come to that family home.(John Staiger)If you have been blessed by this post, please feel free to ‘Share,’ ‘Like,’ or comment.
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