One Thing I Know: I Was Blind, Now I See

(adapted from an August 2017 post on The King and His Kingdom)

I talk a lot on here about studying the Bible - and for good reason. If the Bible is the word of God and his way of revealing himself to us, it makes sense to know as much as possible about what it says. 

(and besides, I like studying. As important as it is for everyone, I’ll admit that I’m a little more naturally inclined to want to fill my head with knowledge whether it’s useful or not.)

So yea, studying is important. But like Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, “much study is wearisome to the flesh.” 

There’s a time for studying, but there's also a time for a simple, childlike faith that’s based on what we know about God from personal experience.

And that’s what we see in John 9. In this story, Jesus heals a man who was born blind. He does this on the Sabbath - a common habit of his, and one that really got on the Pharisees’ nerves. So they start asking the man questions about how he was healed. They even bring in his parents to confirm that he had been blind since birth. 

The previously blind man doesn’t know much about Jesus. He thinks he must be a prophet. But when he realizes that the Pharisees don’t think much of him, he’s incredulous. He says:

“Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.

“Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!

“Now we know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.

“If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

The healed man didn’t need to know all the arguments swirling throughout Jerusalem about who this man was.

He didn’t trust the Pharisees, who had spent all their lives studying the prophecies about the coming Messiah. 

He didn’t follow along with his parents, who were unwilling to say anything about Jesus healing their son because they didn’t want the Pharisees coming after them. 

He just knew that he had never been able to see until Jesus opened his eyes, and that was enough for him.

Later, after he had been cast out of the synagogue, Jesus found him and told him the truth - that he is the Son of God. And the man worshiped him, and although we hear no more of his story I’m sure he followed Jesus and learned more and more about him for the rest of his life. 

But it started with a simple faith in the man who opened his eyes. 

Millions of books have been written about why Christianity is true or what we should do about it. And don’t get me wrong, learning everything possible and having a solid foundation for what we believe is vital. 

But don’t get so caught up in knowing about God that you forget about just knowing him.  

Ground your faith in what he’s done in your life, not just facts you’ve learned. 

And never forget the simplicity of; “I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.”