"John 9:1-34
Tell your story persistently
If you are a Christian today you have a testimony. Whether you were brought up as a Christian or whether you have only been a Christian for a few hours, your story is powerful. At HTB, for example, at the end of Alpha, I often interview people who have come to faith in Jesus in the last few weeks. However ordinary and undramatic their story is, there is great power in a testimony about Jesus. All of us can communicate the gospel by simply giving our own testimony.
I love the story in today’s passage about the man born blind. First, Jesus expressly repudiates the automatic link between sin and suffering (vv.1–3). The Pharisees assumed that the man was blind because he had been ‘steeped in sin at birth’ (v.34). Even Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ (v.2). Jesus tells them that they are asking the wrong question. He replies, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned … but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life’ (v.3).
Second, we see how it is always possible to attempt to explain away miracles of healing. When the blind man’s eyes were opened, his ‘neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No he only looks like him” ’ (vv.8–9a).
Third, we see the danger of getting caught up in minutiae and missing the whole point. When the man gives his testimony of healing some respond, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath’ (v.16).
This man simply tells his story over and over again. He does not have the answer for all their complex questions. However, he gives the best answer that any of us can give when we are asked questions to which we do not know the answer. He simply says, ‘I don’t know’ (v.12).
What I love most is his answer when he finally gets frustrated by all their skepticism and cynical questioning. He tells them he does not know the answer to all their questions ‘But one thing I do know, that whereas I was blind before, now I see’ (v.25, AMP).
This is the power of the testimony. It is an almost unanswerable way of dealing with objections: ‘Before I was like this … and now I am like this … This is the difference that Jesus has made to my life.’
Telling our story is still one of the keys to communicating our faith in the modern world as it was here in the New Testament.
Lord, thank you for the power of the testimonies we are privileged to hear so often – those who say, ‘I was blind but now I see’ (v.25). May there be many more who can testify about encountering you, having their eyes opened and being healed."
1. Thank You Lord for this Word that indeed, You have changed me.
2. Lord, I praise You in spite of challenges with my rooms. You know the pages of my book. I entrust this unto You.
3. Thank God for open options. You are taking care of me always.
