Tell Me So I Can
John 9:35-41
When Jesus healed the blind beggar in John 9, He was long on spit and mud, but short on words.
He told him where to go, and what to do.
He didn’t tell him why.
I imagine that given his place there at the roadside, dependent on others day after day, he was accustomed to this.
Move over there. Pick up your cloak. Get out of my way.
What’s the matter with you? Are you blind?
None took the time to explain. They just jostled and pushed and pitied and sighed.
So it perplexes me, but only a little, that when Jesus caked his eyes with mud and sent him to wash, he didn’t ask why.
He went, and washed, and began to see.
He returned home not to meet the Healer, but to be deposed by the Pharisaical inquisition. Whether Jesus had moved on, or the blind man didn’t return to his same place at the roadside, their paths did not cross.
But before long, word reached Jesus that the Pharisees had tossed the man — from their presence and likely the synagogue — and He went to find him.
The religious rich and powerful set him into exile.
His closest kin withdrew.
Ejected and rejected.
But Jesus, first among outcasts, sought him out.
The One despised and rejected, the One we esteemed not, the One familiar with this man’s and every man’s suffering, found the blind man to finish His life-giving work.
He introduced Himself to the man, who surely believed by now he’d received more life through Jesus’ gritty touch than he’d ever need. Why, he just risked everything in defense of this Man he’d barely met.
As best as he could tell, he already had enough.
Jesus came and brought him more.
Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. (John 9:35-38)
Hearing of his encounter with the religious elite, one could easily assume he knew all about the Healer, knew of the Rabbi’s teaching, knew of Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God. The Son of Man.
But reading of his encounter with Jesus, I believe he did not.
Jesus asks, Do you believe?
The man responds, Tell me so I can.
And in the moment Jesus tells the man that He is He, the man believes, and worships, and finds that enough can be so much more.
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Ending my stay in John 9 with this. For other John 9 posts, look here.Two Things They Knew One Thing I Know Never On Sunday When the Blind See, the Seeing...Don't He Came Home Seeing NeitherPhoto: Raindrops by Łukasz Tyrała
Lyla:
“KISS” No, not the rock band but ‘KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID’.
When my younger brother was in one of the early grades in school, he came home and told Grandma Edna that he wasn’t going back to school because he had determined, based on his classroom experience, that he was “smarter than the teacher”.
That’s us in a nutshell; we think we are smarter than the teacher and we just can’t quit tinkering with the Message.
Dad
2011/03/22 at 8:20 AM
The KISS method struck me more than once as I spent time in this passage, Dad.
And I do note that David went back to school.
2011/03/22 at 5:41 PM
It seems his only question was enough …
2011/03/22 at 10:36 AM
Yes, exactly, Susan.
2011/03/22 at 5:40 PM
This series on the blind man have been wonderful. Although they feature the man, the focus is on Jesus and His work. I’ve loved every one. Our Lord is so precious.
2011/03/22 at 10:58 AM
Thanks Solveig. And yes, He is.
2011/03/22 at 5:39 PM
this touches my heart and gives me rest and peace.
2011/03/22 at 12:56 PM
I’m glad for that, nance.
2011/03/22 at 5:39 PM
And so we are called to tell them so that they can.
Love getting down into the grit of scripture with you, friend.
2011/03/22 at 1:05 PM
Yes, Sandy, I thought of that too. There’s something that needs telling.
And it’s part of the mystery of this passage to me — that Jesus really didn’t speak to the man of what He was doing, Who He was, why He got involved. He just healed.
And then went looking for him again…
2011/03/22 at 5:38 PM
Lyla,
I’ve been away from church for the past two weeks. One week on vacation and the next at home with the flu. But I feel as if I’ve “heard the Word” here in your posts from John 9. You have ministered to me here, my friend. Deep gratitude to you for spending time with this chapter and then unfolding it for us here. Blessings!
2011/03/22 at 9:00 PM
Deidra, I love John 9 for all kinds of reasons. Almost as much as I love John 10. Hope you can make it back to hear it out loud now on Sunday!
2011/03/22 at 9:27 PM
I’ve loved this series. I agree that his question shows he didn’t know. I want to ask, “How could he not have known.” But then I look around where I see God everywhere in all of creation, asking the same question but knowing full well most of my neighbors don’t know Him either.
2011/03/22 at 9:59 PM
It’s interesting though. He did know some things, for being a roadside beggar. He knew that “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” I imagine he must have had some training before he went off on his own. And I suppose he picked things up on the street as well. What’s amazing to me is just how ready he is.
There is not a moment’s hesitation, a shadow of doubt.
2011/03/22 at 10:13 PM