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| Pastor S.O. Ajayi |
This story tells us how our Lord gave sight to a man who had been blind from birth.
1. The question “who made him to be born blind?” The Jews belief that anybody that suffers is as a result of sin (relationship between sin and sickness). This relationship between sin and sickness is still prevailing at Jesus time.
2. There are difficulties here because someone born blind shouldn’t have sinned in the womb. The Jews believed that people inherited the sin of the parent, the Rabbi also believed that the sin of parent can affect the baby in the womb.
3. Jesus does not tell them the reason of the sickness but the purpose, so that the glory of God may be manifested.
4. Jesus works are really God’s work. He is blind so that God’s power may be seen in His work, He has power to give sight to the blind man.
5. Jesus said that He is the light and He really shows is that He is the light.
6. The exact date of the healing was not given, it may not take place at the feast of tabernacle but that of dedication (three months after tabernacle).
7. The story of the healing is written in a dramatic way, question and answer between Jesus and the people (it’s like a drama).
8. The story is how a man who sat in darkness was brought to light, not only physically but spiritually, he recognized Jesus is the Messiah.
9. The story also shows how people who pretended to see move from the light to darkness. The blind man ends up with the Pharisee spiritually blind and the man sees. That is the meaning of the healing.
10. The blind man speaks and gives a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ. From the interrogation, all what the man knew was that it was Jesus that healed him and when they intensified the interrogation, the blind man moved from there and called him the prophet (from Jesus to prophet) and finally called him man from God.
11. When the blind man had his eyes opened, the Jews became more blind, ignorant to see the truth.
12. The people who interrogated Jesus accepted the healing, they are not offended by the healing of the man but Jesus violated the Sabbath rule.
13. The second interrogation was made by those who are very hostile to Jesus. They doubted the healing and to show it, they then went to ask the parent of the blind man to show that the man was never born blind. In the final interrogation, all interest to see where the true lie disappeared because the kept asking the man “tell us”, they seek to trap the man in seeking him to repeat the saying of the miracle.
14. At the end of it, the people who sat on judgment on the miracle were judged guilty by Jesus.
LESSON OF THE STORY
a. The triumph of light over darkness, the primary lesson that the evangelist likes to convince is triumph of light over darkness.
b. Apologetic lesson – in addition to light and darkness, sight and blindness drama, the evangelist has purpose in presenting the story. He heard some of the doubt that border the authority, the violation of the Sabbath day was in authentic tradition of the Sabbath (compare Mark 3:1-6, Luke 13:10-17) where Jesus is being rebuked of working on the Sabbath dominate the story. The church used this as an apologetic king.
c. There is also what you call baptismal lesson – the story of the blind man appeared seven times in the catacomb (place where Christian hide during persecution and used for worship). They used this for baptism, moving from the darkness to light (use as a baptismal lesson) as they asked three questions is also asked before baptismal lesson.
Finally, such a miracle is meant to make us hopeful about our own souls and the souls of others. Why should we despair of salvation while we have such a Saviour? Where is the spiritual disease that cannot take away? He can open the eye of the most sinful and ignorant; and make them see things they never saw before. He can send light into the darkness of heart and cause blindness and prejudice to pass away.
PASTOR AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR STEPHEN OLUWATOYIN AJAYI is a prophet, a teacher, an administrator with prospect, academician and a writer of many Christian books. He is the church planter of Christ Apostolic Church, Victory Centre, Ibadan, he is the DCC Superintendent of Christ Apostolic Church, Oke-Iye DCC, Ado-Ekiti. He is also the Ministers’ Wives Coordinator, Sophia-Ajayi Region, Ekiti State.