John 9: 13-23…. You’d have thought that everyone would have been happy!

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

Comment: You’d have thought that everyone would have been happy because the blind man could see. The man couldn’t see Jesus before he was healed and Jesus, as far as we know didn’t go to the pool with him. Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath, and I have a sneaking feeling that He was wanting another session with the leaders – Jesus was heading to Jerusalem and the Cross! i) Pharisees – how did you receive your sight? ii) The man – “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some Pharisees – “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” Other Pharisees – How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” Others – ‘He is a prophet’. The parents – He is our son; he was born blind; he’s an adult; we no know nothing about what happened; we afraid, ask him. And so the story continues!

Prayer: ‘With Your guiding ‘black and white’ rules, please help us to live aright with tough decisions.