1 Chronicles 25-27 John 9:1-23

“The neighbors and some people who had earlier seen this man begging said, ‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘He is the one,’ but others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am the man.’” (John 9:8-9 NCV)

Jesus. Another healing. Another Sabbath Day. Another scandal. Yep, this time the healing was so incredible that people debated that it had happened. Sometimes when my wife accuses me (rightly) of doing something wrong, I joke with her and say, “It wasn’t me, it was someone who looks like me.” That was the serious reaction of people when Jesus healed a man who’d been blind since birth. The disciples wanted to know whose sin caused the blindness. Jesus scoffed at them, noting that the main issue was that God would receive glory in the healing. Jesus’s method was different. He spit in the ground, made mud, put it on the guy’s eyes, and then told him to wash it off. The reaction of the people and the Pharisees was amazing for their lack of belief. The healed man is telling people what Jesus did, and some would say that he wasn’t the same guy who’d been blind. The Pharisees doubted the healing because it took place on the Sabbath and involved work: making mud and washing. They finally went to the man’s parents who identified that their son had been born blind, and now was healed, but they took the Fifth on how it happened.

We’re trained at an early age that if something’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. This healing seemed too good to be true for most of the people. Yet God does things that are too good to be true on a regular basis. In this case, not only was the man healed physically, he was also healed spiritually, and he told people about Jesus, even when they attacked him. Who was blind in this story? The Pharisees were the ones who were truly blind. They couldn’t see the truth right in front of them. There are many people today who suffer from that same blindness. The truth of Jesus is real. They’ve seen the changed lives of friends and family. They’ve seen people rescued from their sins and addictions. Still, with all the evidence right there in front of them, they reject God and attribute the changed lives to some kind of psychology or human willpower. The greatest testimony to the love and grace of God is the way He’s changed our lives. We need to let people know how much God has changed our lives and that they too can have a life-changing experience with Jesus Christ. This news isn’t too good to be true. This is the good news that is true.

Lord, continue to change my life so that people will see You when they look at me. Help me to share the amazing experience of salvation and forgiveness that comes only from You.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.