Seeing is Believing

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains” (John 9:35-41).

The man who received his sight answered the Jews’ attacks with a simple declaration of truth… “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). His testimony was met with contempt and the elders cast him out of the synagogue… “’You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?’ And they cast him out” (John 9:34). But the Savior knew this man had a longing to know the Christ, so the Shepherd sought him out and revealed Himself to him. Just the day before, both the blind man and the Pharisees were among the crowd of Christ followers. But the man who was born blind could now see and worship the Son of Man, even without going into the synagogue. In the light of this great sign, some of the Pharisees realized they missed something. They could not see who Jesus was even through the miracles, signs, and words that demonstrated the truth that He was the Christ. They admitted that they could see the miracle He performed… “They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’” (John 9:26). But they could not see past the fact that Jesus did this work on the Sabbath. They could not embrace the truth that Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath… “And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath’” (Luke 6:5). Because they had seen and rejected the sign that revealed Him as the Christ, the Pharisees who followed Jesus remained enslaved in blindness and guilt. The man born blind was healed and delivered from blindness and sin because he believed the sign that revealed Jesus as the Son of Man. After receiving both physical and spiritual sight, he left the crowd of Christ followers to become a disciple because for truth seekers like him, seeing is believing.

Out Teacher, the Holy Spirit asks the familiar question today, are we Christ followers or disciples? Both followers and disciples are truth seekers. We go to church, Bible studies, and small groups because we love to hear the word of God. We spend time reading the scriptures and in prayer because we are encouraged by God’s truth. But every time we hear or read God’s word He is speaking truth to our ears and into our hearts… “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever” (Psalm 119:160). God’s truth is precious and powerful. He so earnestly wants us to see His truth that through the Holy Spirit, He promises to accompany us and to reveal His truth to us as we listen to or read His word… “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth… He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14). Jesus taught that the truth revealed in God’s word can separate us from the crowd of followers and empower us to live above the sin of this world… “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

The difference between Christ followers and disciples is a willingness to embrace the truth revealed by the Holy Spirit when we hear or read God’s word. Mere followers are like the Pharisees who have read the word many times and don’t think they can learn anything new from it. Their eyes are closed to the very personal and powerful truth the Teacher might want to reveal today and they will not grow in their knowledge of the Lord… “Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matthew 13:13). Disciples are hungry for and anticipating a revelation of truth every time they approach God’s word… “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me” (John 17:8). Disciples, like the man who received his sight, are set apart from followers as they seek and embrace Christ’s revealed truth.

As we grow up into Christ we are set apart from the crowd of followers and grow as His disciples because when it comes to His truth, we know…

Seeing is Believing.