I probably shouldn’t find as much pleasure in it as I do . . . but I do! The Pharisees are going nuts! And I love it! There’s a blind guy seeing standing in front of them. He’s the talk of the town. Neighbors of this guy, who had been blind from birth and had grown up next door, can’t get over it. The many who had encountered him as the blind beggar on the street corner can’t believe their eyes as he now walks about unaided exclaiming, “Look at that! Oh, and look at that! Wow, unbelievable . . . look at that!” In fact some of those who used to know him as the blind beggar won’t believe it, saying, “No, it’s not the blind guy . . . just someone who looks like him.” And to those people the former blind beggar keeps looking them in the eye saying, “I am the man!” (John 9:1-9) And . . . it’s driving the Pharisees nuts. Because for all their learnedness . . . for all their high and holy smarts . . . for all their self-serving explaining of the word . . . they can’t refute his bottom line theology.

The blind-from-birth guy’s neighbors know it’s a miracle . . . the blind beggar’s former customers know it’s a miracle . . . and so they bring the seeing blind guy to those who should understand miracles the best, their religious leaders. But what gets in the way of the miracle for them is who did it. Jesus. And so, rather than let the miracle speak to them, they judge the authenticity of the Miracle-Worker.

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.”    (John 9:13-16a ESV)

Get their reasoning? Hmmm . . . spit-mud made on the Sabbath . . . saliva-clay rubbed on someone’s eyes . . . told to go and wash the goo off of his eyes . . . sounds like some work went on here . . . done on the Sabbath . . . we’re not supposed to do work on the Sabbath . . . hmmm . . . nope . . . ain’t a miracle.

So, John writes, they didn’t believe that he had been blind and received his sight. Must be some mistake. Let’s verify that this guy who grew up blind his entire life was REALLY blind . . . not just kind of blind . . . bring us his parents. And they ask his folks two questions: 1) Is this your son, who you say was born blind? 2) If so, then you tell us how he can now see. It’s almost comical. But the seeing blind guys parents don’t find it too funny . . . in fact they’re pretty uncomfortable with it all. Any hint that they believe Jesus made their blind boy see could mean excommunication (9:22). So they answer the first question, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind,” and they dodge the second, “Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself” (9:20-21).

And then it get’s kind of ridiculous. The Pharisees look into the crystal clear eyes of the blind man . . . and the blind man’s eyes look directly back into their’s darkened by pride and arrogance . . . and they say, “Give glory to God . . . tell us that the one who healed you is a sinner.” In effect they’re saying, give glory to God by denying the power of God. Give glory to God by aligning the way of God to our self-seeking understanding. And then, this blind guy seeing comes back with some understanding of his own . . .

So for the 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 answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”   (John 9:24-25 ESV)

BAM!!! Game, set, match! You smart guys who have been studying your way to the top can’t figure out what’s going on here . . . I’ve been staring into darkness for my entire life and hanging out on street corners to make a living and I now what’s going down . . . though I was blind, now I see. And that, my friends, is bottom line theology.

Many things I may not still understand. All the pieces are still being put together. Still leveraging grace pretty heavy to align earth-dictated reality with heavenly-founded promises. But at the end of the day . . . or, in this case, at the beginning of the day . . . I can sit back and say, “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

And I know who gave me sight . . . Jesus, blessed Jesus. Regardless of how we dot our theological i’s or cross our doctrinal t’s . . . one thing I know . . . now I see.

By His grace alone . . . for His glory alone.