John 9:30-34: a reflection

30The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him. 32Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.

The man born blind, whom Jesus had healed, is pressed by the Pharisees to denounce Jesus, but he will not. He has no theological training to match theirs, but he reasons simply from what he knows: Whether he is a sinner, I don't know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see. And when pressed further, he boldly concludes, If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. He holds to the simple testimony of what Christ did for him, and for it he is thrown out; yet he does not back down.

Notice the man's simple, bold testimony, held even at cost. He did not have the learning of the Pharisees, and could not debate them on their terms; but he knew one thing for certain, that Christ had opened his eyes, and he held to it. When pressed, he did not back down or soften his testimony to appease them; he stated plainly what he had experienced and reasoned from it, even drawing the bold conclusion that Jesus must be from God. And when it cost him, when they threw him out, he still did not deny what he knew. His simple testimony was held firmly, even at cost.

That simple, bold testimony is worth emulating, for we can feel that unless we have great learning or eloquence we cannot testify to Christ. We may think we must be able to answer every objection, to debate the learned, before we can speak of Christ; and so we stay silent. But the healed man simply testified to what Christ had done for him, one thing I know, and held to it boldly, even when it cost him. You do not need great learning to testify to what Christ has done for you; hold to the simple testimony of your own experience of him, as the healed man held to one thing I know, that I was blind and now I see. And do not back down or soften it when it costs you; the man was thrown out but did not deny what he knew. Hold firmly to the simple testimony of what Christ has done in your life, even at cost, as the healed man held his and would not deny it, though it cost him his place.

Lord, the man born blind, whom you had healed, was pressed by the Pharisees to denounce you, but he would not. He had no theological training to match theirs, but he reasoned simply from what he knew: whether he is a sinner, I don't know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see. And when pressed further, he boldly concluded, if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. He held to the simple testimony of what you did for him, and for it he was thrown out; yet he did not back down. Show me the man's simple, bold testimony, held even at cost. He did not have the learning of the Pharisees, and could not debate them on their terms; but he knew one thing for certain, that you had opened his eyes, and he held to it. When pressed, he did not back down or soften his testimony; and when it cost him, he still did not deny what he knew. Let me emulate that, for I can feel that unless I have great learning or eloquence I cannot testify to you. I may think I must be able to answer every objection before I can speak of you; and so I stay silent. But the healed man simply testified to what you had done for him, and held to it boldly, even at cost. I do not need great learning to testify to what you have done for me; help me hold to the simple testimony of my own experience of you. And keep me from backing down or softening it when it costs me, Lord; the man was thrown out but did not deny what he knew. Help me hold firmly to the simple testimony of what you have done in my life, even at cost.