Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”
John 9: 17
Have you ever had someone rain on your parade? Most of us have. You are minding your own business, enjoying life as you see fit, and **BAM** something happens to totally turn your day upside down.
In today’s verse, we rejoin the man who has just been given his sight by Jesus after a lifetime of being blind. He is, for the first time in his life, able to see the sky above, the sun, the faces of people he has known only by their voice, the colors and shapes of fruits and vegetables, people’s clothing, buildings, even the wisps of dust that follow behind people as they walk through the streets. I can only imagine his joy! Suddenly he finds himself hauled in before the Pharisees and being treated like a criminal.
After questioning him about what happened, then arguing back and forth about whether Jesus is from God or not, there is a lull. The room goes quiet for a moment, and one of the Pharisees thinks to look over at the man who had been blind and demand, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
I’m not sure what they expected him to say or why they even asked him, but he gives them his answer. Pay attention to what the man who was blind says about Jesus over the next few verses. The questions he is asked help shape his thinking about who Jesus is.
I know it is looking ahead, but I love that Jesus went and found him (Verse 35). He had realized Jesus was from God (Verse 33), but did not fully comprehend who Jesus was until Jesus found him and told him. Jesus’ question in verse 35 is the final question he needed to formulate the total picture. The blind man was ready to see from a spiritual perspective. That creates an example for me to emulate.
The man’s reasoning is solid – Jesus did a miracle and proclaims the scriptures, therefor he is at least a prophet. Makes sense! It is similar to how prophets in the Old Testament lived. The surprising thing is that the Pharisees, who have seen many healings don’t make the same connection this man did with only one.