Curious Christian

In John 9, Jesus encounters a man blind from birth. His disciples treat him as a theological puzzle: “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus rejects the question entirely. This man’s life is not a case study in blame, but an opportunity for God’s works to be displayed.

Jesus heals him in an unorthodox way, spitting on the ground to make mud with the saliva, then putting it on the man’s eyes and commanding him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. The man came home seeing for the first time in his life. You might think the story would end in celebration. But it doesn’t.

Instead, the man is interrogated. His neighbours question him. The Pharisees drag him in, furious that the healing happened on the Sabbath. They cross-examine his parents, hoping to poke holes in the story. The religious leaders press him again and again to denounce Jesus, to admit that “this man is a sinner.”

He refuses. He doesn’t have all the answers. He doesn’t yet even know who Jesus really is. But he is sure of this:

“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

That humble but uncompromising truth-telling is enough to get him thrown out of the synagogue. It’s also enough to bring him face-to-face with Jesus, who reveals himself fully: “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

The man’s physical sight was the beginning. His spiritual insight is the true miracle.

The man born blind shows us that discipleship doesn’t require us to have every argument ready, every objection answered, or every critic silenced. What matters is holding fast to the truth of what Christ has done in our lives, and the lives of those we love, even when religious gatekeepers demand we deny it.

Sometimes the resistance we face won’t come from hostile atheists or secular critics, but from those inside the faith who are threatened by new things God is doing. They may try to shame you, exclude you, or discredit your story. But your witness doesn’t depend on their approval. It depends on your willingness to say, simply and boldly, “I was blind but now I see.”