Progress in knowing Jesus

Sunday July 18, 2021

Progress in knowing Jesus

He (the blind man) answered : The man who is called Jesus made mud, applied it to my eyes and said to me : Go to the basin of Siloam and wash yourself.

They said again to the blind man : What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes ? He replied : He is a prophet !

Jesus learned that they had cast him out. Having met him, he said to him : Do you believe on the Son of God ? He answered : And who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him ? You have seen him, Jesus said to him, and he who is speaking to you is he. Then he said : I believe, Lord. And he bowed down to him. John 9:11,17,35-38

The man born blind is an example of someone whom Jesus meets, who is converted, boldly testifies and, as a result, grows in the knowledge of his Savior.

People of course quickly notice the change in this once blind beggar. They ask themselves questions, and the first is : How then were your eyes opened ? He explains : “The man called Jesus made mud, applied it to my eyes and said to me : Go to the basin of Siloam and wash yourself. So I went there, I washed myself and I could see”. This is how a child understands that God loves him, comes to Jesus, believes and obeys.

The Pharisees ask him for his appreciation of Jesus. The ex-blind man goes one step further and declares before religious leaders that he who healed him is a prophet. He understands that Jesus is a man in a special relationship with God, who transmits the thoughts of God to others and who can act miraculously on his part. Likewise, a believer discovers that this Jesus, in whom he believes, is more than a man : he is the envoy of God, the image of God in this world, the one through whom we know God.

Called to give his testimony a second time before the Pharisees, the blind healer recognizes that he has become a disciple of Jesus (v. 27), of one who has demonstrated by this miracle that he is of God (v. 31). This man actually sees clearly, more clearly than the Pharisees who do not want to believe in Jesus.

He is driven out of the Jewish community. Jesus finds him and reveals himself to him as the Son of God : he believes and pays homage to him.

Let us also grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Source (Pleasing the Lord)