As we continue our study of the Gospel of John, we pick up at verse 26, of Chapter 9. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle wrote:
“Then they asked him, ‘What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciples too?” Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where He comes from.”
The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where He comes from, yet He opened my eyes. You know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does His will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth, how dare you lecture us! And they threw him out.” John 9: 26-34
The Pharisees were very upset at Jesus because He had brought sight to the eyes of a man born blind by making clay on the sabbath, and putting it on his eyes, and having him wash in the pool of Siloam. A miracle to be sure, but this was another violation of their Law by a man they had already decided to kill, and He was their focus.
The man that had been born blind was now able to see both physically and spiritually. He knew that this man called Jesus had to be from God to perform such a miracle, but the Pharisees could only see a person they hated no matter what He did that was good. They extended that hate to one trying to tell them truth because they saw him as a disciple of Jesus, and they threw him out of the synagogue. Their prejudices and hate had blinded their eyes to the real love of God, and His mercy and grace.
Prejudices and hate can blind any of us. We can find ourselves looking blindly at a group instead of the people one at a time in the Group. For instance, we are so politically divided in our nation today that hate is surfacing, and physical acts of hate are occurring. For example, people are being tossed out of public restaurants because they follow a belief, not because they had done something wrong. That is prejudice and hate. We can quickly think of prejudices we have formed in the past that can surface if we allow it.
Therefore, let us always look at Jesus, and His Law. He said, “This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:17. Let us look and see what He has done for us on the Cross. Let us see the Love that brought that act. Let us know that it was for every person; that those who would believe it was for them will receive their miracle of unmerited grace, eternal life, unconditional love, unconditional mercy, and the peace of God that passes understanding. When we see these things with our spiritual eyes that have been given sight we may indeed say, “Yes, I am His disciple. Do you want to become His disciple, too?”