I had to smile as I read this passage. It’s about a man born blind, whom Jesus heals on the Sabbath. Uproar ensues as the Pharisees get all cranky about Jesus doing a miracle on the Sabbath. What I find amusing is how the man responds to the Pharisees.

After they ask him a second time how Jesus healed him (and they drag his parents into it), he says, “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?”(Sarcasm?)

I imagine that those witnessing this exchange probably looked at the ground to hide their chuckling at a commoner just having dissed on the religious elite. Not used to being talked back to, they brought more ridicule upon themselves by insisting that the man agree with them that Jesus was a sinner and that He was not legit because they didn’t know whether He was from God. Said the man in reply, “Well here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes. …If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

Jesus had just saved the man from a life of blindness and the Pharisees were blinded to who Jesus was. The man, on the other hand, counted himself a disciple and could not help but proclaim what he had witnessed. Even in the face of controversy. He wasn’t intimidated by the religious elite who were trying to discredit Jesus. He merely stated the obvious truth. “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (v. 25)

This is a notable example for all followers of Christ to observe. If God has done something great in your life, it is immediately obvious to not only you, but those around you. Let not the arrogance and jealousy of Christ’s detractors steal your joy. Simply proclaim what He has done, and all who can’t believe it will have no logical rebuttal. Note the Pharisees’ mature response to the man’s schooling them: “They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sin, and you are teaching us?’ So they threw him out.”

The experts in the law had no intelligent response to Jesus’ miracle. If you’re on the side of the miracle worker, be emboldened.