livers them from some great danger. But too often
when God clearly intercedes, the momentary thrill of
answered prayer is forgotten. Foxhole prayers and
commitments shouted in the heat of battle are often
abandoned when the threat is over. And these par-
ents, their prayer answered, chose to say no to any
additional grace that God might offer them.
don your gratitude! Forget about the miracle and
healed you! But unlike his parents, the
man stood firm, arguing convincingly
that if this Christ were not from God, He
could not have performed this miracle.
So, in utter frustration, the man found
himself thrust out of their presence, as
alone as his loneliest day of blindness.
defining question. "Do you believe in the
Son of Man?" Yes, the man had met
Jesus but only in his blindness. Now, it
Tell me so I may believe in Him" (vs. 35�36). The
man had to grapple with the meaning of his healing.
Ironically, with no help and guidance from the angry
Pharisees, he was now exactly where he needed to
be. He needed answers that could be found nowhere
else. "Tell me so I may believe in Him."
the one speaking with you." The man confessed, "Lord,
I believe." And he worshipped Christ (vs. 37�38).
troversy? Why did his parents desert him? Why was
he rejected on the very day he should have re�entered
society? It goes back to what Jesus said originally. "All
this happened so that the work of God might be dis-
played in his life" (John 9:3). The healing that was
begun in his eyes ended in the depths of his soul.
Some questioned whether it was even the same man
because they had never really looked at his face--
only his disability. Without the disability they simply
did not know how to relate to him.
miracle, they felt angry that Jesus dared heal the man
on the Sabbath day of rest. They concluded that any-
one doing unnecessary work was sinning against God,
and healing someone could have waited one more day.
But others weren't so sure. Wasn't a miracle an act of
God, proof of God's approval of Jesus? The debate
seemed to grow more heated until they
decided it could only be settled by inter-
rogating the man.
ever experienced, to lay eyes on angry
faces, shaking fingers and a room filled
with utter confusion. Rather than focus-
ing on the miracle, the leaders demanded
to know about the one who had per-
formed it.
have been delusional or an imposter,
they summoned his parents to either answer for him
or to confirm that he actually had been born blind.
The parents knew that to stand with Christ meant
they would be banned from the synagogue. Excom-
munication could last up to two months, robbing
them not only of their place of worship but the center
of their cultural and community life as well. Jews in
good standing could not come within seven feet of
someone who had been expelled from the synagogue,
and if that person died, stones were thrown at his
coffin. Rather than risk this punishment, the parents
distanced themselves from their son, pointing out
that he was of legal age to answer for himself.
they realized that their infant son was blind they
must have struggled and grieved over the situation.
How many times had they prayed that God would re-
store his sight? Now, their most heartfelt prayer for
him had been answered, but instead of standing