Standing on the Facts

“So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, ‘Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.’ He then answered, ‘Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ So they said to him, ‘What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?’ They reviled him and said, ‘You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.’

The man answered and said to them, ‘Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.’” John 9:24-33

The blind beggar would not be dissuaded. Even when the rich and influential Pharisees harassed him, trying to make him go back on his story, he refused to give in. He had been blind; now he could see! And he knew Jesus Christ was the One who had healed him. Nothing the Pharisees did made him say otherwise. Few things are more compelling than an eyewitness account. An eyewitness knows the truth. He does not depend upon someone else’s interpretation of events because he was there himself.

Like the blind beggar, the apostle John had an eyewitness, life-changing encounter with Jesus. John knew from one-on-one personal experience that Jesus is the Messiah. John was there when Jesus healed this beggar. He stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus hung there in agony. John staked his life, his very being, on the truth that Jesus is God’s Son. Eventually, the hostile Roman Emperor Domitian left John on the Isle of Patmos to die because he wouldn’t recant.

Through the Gospels, you also meet Jesus face-to-face. Have you staked your life on the truth of God’s Word? As you obey, you become an eyewitness to the reliability and power of Scripture.

Our faith is based on the sound evidence of God’s truth, not blind belief!