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The courage to bear witness for Jesus

Text: John 9 : 10-41

THE COURAGE TO BEAR WITNESS FOR JESUS

The Pharisees began their attack on Jesus almost immediately. Soon after they heard the testimony of the former blind man, some of the Pharisees said,

“This Man is not from God,
because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
John 9:16

John noted that The Pharisees were not unanimous in their conclusion. Some did conclude that they did not believe that Jesus was from God. They arrived at this conclusion from application of their deductive reasoning approach. The Sabbath was given by God and could not be broken. Since Jesus healed the man on a Sabbath, he had broken it and therefore He could not be a Man sent from God!

There were other Jews who did not fully subscribe to this kind of reasoning. Their counter argument was noted by John.

“Others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner
do such signs?’
And there was division among them.”
John 9:16

The Pharisees could not come to an agreement among themselves. Nevertheless, the more aggressive ones raised a question.

“What do you say about Him because
He opened your eyes?”
John 9:17

Without hesitation, the man who was healed replied boldly.

“He is a prophet.”
John 9:17

This spontaneous and bold statement must have initially stunned the Pharisees! They were probably caught off guard. They were not prepared to give an answer to this statement.

AN INSIDIOUS APPROACH

The Pharisees brushed aside the statement of the former blind man. Was this man really blind in the first place, they wondered? How foolish that approach was! Who would pretend to be blind all his life? Nevertheless, the Pharisees pursued this insidious line of approach.

“But the Jews did not believe concerning him,
that he had been blind and received his sight,
until they called the parents of him who had
received his sight. And they asked him, saying,
‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind?
How then does he now see?'”
John 9:18-19

The arrogant Pharisees began with a conclusion. They did not believe that Jesus healed the man. Neither did they believe that the man was born blind. As far as they were concerned, Jesus was a sinner!

They interrogated the man, and then his parents, with one idea in mind. They wanted to discredit Jesus as a fraud! They were willing to do anything just to prove that Jesus was a sinner!

FEAR OF THE JEWS

Fear can do terrible things to people. The parents feared the Jews more than they loved their son apparently. When The Jews interrogated them, they found themselves saying, defensively.

“We know that this is our son, and that he was born
blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know,
or who opened his eyes we do not know.
He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.”
John 9:20-21

In other circumstances, the parents would have spoken with great joy that their son who had been blind since birth could now see. However, the fear of the Jews was so great that they spoke as they did. John explained the sense of fear that was in their hearts.

“His parents said these things because they feared the Jews,
for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed
that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
Therefore, his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’ “
John 9:22-23

A WICKED PLAN THWARTED

The Jews had tried to intimidate the parents of the man who was formerly blind. If the parents feared them enough, they might just deny the miracle that Jesus had just performed! They knew the significance of the miracle, even though they tried to deny its reality. Only the Messiah could wield the power of God with such ease! But how could that be? They had resisted and denied Him all this while. Could they have been so deadly wrong all this while? The parents had feared the Jews, but not enough that they would deny their own son. They did not speak up more vociferously than they did. But the very act of declaring that their son was indeed born blind went against the plot of the Jews to discredit Jesus.

The Jews laid down a wicked law to excommunicate anyone who confessed that Jesus was the Christ. But they could not force the parents to deny their own son. Not even they could force the parents to deny what were fundamental facts! Their wicked plan of intimidation had failed. Would the Jews now consider the possibility that they could have been mistaken? Would they ponder over the possibility that Jesus was the Christ?