John 9:8-12

When the people who knew the blind man realized that he could now see, they were quite confused. Some asked, “Is this the same man?” Others said that it was definitely the formerly blind man, and others rejected that thought entirely, guessing that this was just someone who looked like him.

 

But the man himself said, “I am.” I am the man who was blind from birth. I am the man you’ve seen begging out here all these years. I am.

 

Just for the sake of intellectual honesty, what does it mean that this man uses the same words, ego eimi, that Jesus used in John 8:58 as God? Is this man claiming to be God? No, the context makes it clear that he is claiming to be the man who was blind from birth and begging in the neighborhood. Well, then, if this man can use the same words as Jesus used and not be saying he’s God, how do we know that Jesus was claiming to be God?

 

It seems to me that only people who don’t want to believe Jesus’ claim to be God would believe this argument has weight. Ultimately, it is not only the words Jesus used that tell us He is God; God is not the only one who can use the words ego eimi, “I am,” as though they are exclusively God’s words. The context in which Jesus used the words tells us that He is claiming to be God, just like the context in which this formerly blind man is using the words tells us that he is claiming to be the man born blind. If the blind man were saying what Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” then we would have legitimate reason to think he was also claiming to be God. Why? Because this statement says several things. 1. Jesus claims to have existed since before Abraham’s time, even though His earthly body is around 30 years old; 2. Jesus shifts verb tense. He doesn’t say, “Before Abraham was born, I was,” but, “I am.” Jesus’ abnormal use of the language indicates that He is trying to make a point. 3. The words “I am” have been used in the Hebrew Scriptures to identify God. 4. The context lets us know that Jesus is trying to demonstrate to the Jews that they should love Him and honor/glorify Him because that is what God the Father wants and because that is what Abraham did; in other words, the context teaches us that Jesus is claiming to be someone very special with a unique relationship with God. When Jesus says, “I am,” in a context where He is seeking to identify Himself, claiming that He has existed since before Abraham and changing the verb tense to make some point, it is legitimate in this context to understand that Jesus is claiming to be the same “I am” as God, the one in Exodus 3:14. So Jesus can use the words ego eimi in one context, claiming to be God; at the same time, the man born blind can use the words ego eimi in another context and merely claim to be the man born blind.

 

Back to the man born blind. Since he insists, even though he can now see, that he was born blind, his neighbors and those who recognize him want to know how his eyes were opened. A fair question? Certainly.

 

And the seeing man tells them what he knows: “A man called Jesus made mud/clay and anointed my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. I went and washed, and then I could see.” He identifies the healer. He describes the method. He testifies to the result. This now-seeing man is a faithful witness.

 

The neighbors wanted more. They wanted to know where the healer was. The seeing man did not know the answer, and said so. Again, he was a faithful witness. He said what he knew. He also testified to his own ignorance when necessary.

 

I must also be a faithful witness. Of what? Of what Jesus has done in my life. I think sometimes as Christians we have a hard time recognizing what Jesus has done in our lives, besides the inward work of salvation – especially if we were raised in a Christian home. We find it easier to tell the amazing stories we have heard from others. And so we give weak, second-hand stories of things we don’t really know. I’m not saying that second-hand knowledge is bad. Some of it is excellent. For instance, the main second-hand knowledge we ought to give people is what the Bible says, because then people can read it first-hand for themselves. But some of the second-hand stories we hear from other people are hard to verify, and if people doubt what we say, we have a very hard time being absolutely sure of the details because we didn’t experience the situation ourselves.

 

So what am I saying? As a Christian, I need to ask God to show me more and more clearly what He is doing in my life – and then I need to tell others what He has done! Personally, I have been realizing more and more than it is God who is providing for me and my family every day. We have been stressed about not having enough sometimes… but we have never come to the place where we don’t have enough! Someone might say, “Well, your wife has her own business and works hard to bring money in, and you work weekly at the Old Spaghetti Factory, so of course you have enough. Everyone who works hard has enough, whether they are Christians or not.” But this does not negate my testimomy, because when I go to the Scriptures I find out that God takes care of those who hate Him, so I should expect to see non-Christians being provided for, too! Matthew 5:44-45 says, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” My testimony is reinforced by the Scriptures, so that if someone says, “God isn’t providing for you; you are!” I can respond, “I know that God is providing for me. What you don’t realize is that He is providing for you, too. Stop rejecting Him. He’s taking care of you, whether you realize it or not!”

 

What else has God been doing in my life? He has helped me to let go of anger. With my friends. With my kids. With my wife. With my work situation. I could share exactly what I mean in each of these areas. How? By showing me that He is at work in the lives of fellow-Christians, so that the imperfections that frustrate me will one day be done away with. By showing me that this work is in His hands, not mine. By showing me that even the frustrating things in the non-Christian world will one day be dealt with, and that the people and situations I get angry with suffer from the same weaknesses I suffer from – weaknesses Jesus has died to heal or do away with!

 

What else? He has helped me to give up control of my academic career. I should say, He is helping me. I love control in that realm. But Jesus is showing me bit by bit that He has other priorities. Jesus is leading me toward those priorities (my family, kingdom work, etc.). At the same time, Jesus is showing me that I can trust Him with my academics. He gives me enough time to accomplish what needs done. Before I would have neglected other priorities to GUARANTEE that my schoolwork was done well (I still do, more than I should). But Jesus has helped me to keep my focus mainly on His priorities, setting aside my desire for control – and has shown me that He has my schoolwork under control, too.

 

I could go on. But this is the kind of witnessing we need to do, telling people what Jesus has done in our lives, what we have experienced and seen. It must, of course, match the Scripture’s testimony. If we claim that God is doing something that He says He doesn’t do, then we might want to rethink our claims. But Jesus is impacting lives now. In many different ways. People are similar, but our differences should be reflected in our testimonies. A businessman’s testimony will show how God is leading him in his business life, while my testimony is more about God leading a student. A homeless person’s testimony will demonstrate that God is faithful on the streets! As Christians share what God is doing in all our lives – directly, with our neighbors and co-workers – people will be unable to shut us up simply by telling us that we can’t be sure such-and-such really happened. We will know exactly what has happened, and our certainty will remain even when others refuse to accept our testimony. We will have reason to share the same stories with others.

 

May I – may we Christians – be faithful witnesses!