The Conclusion

Scene 2

The clamoring crowd pressed against the man formerly known as the blind beggar. They wanted to hear his story. They wanted to see this anomaly. Jerusalem was in an uproar. Word spread quickly and eventually even the ruling class was made aware of this strange thing. Some scoffed in disbelief while others thoughtfully considered these happenings. The time was at hand for the Messiah to appear which caused excited anticipation.

A few days had passed and they brought the man to the Pharisees who thoroughly questioned him. The Pharisees are skeptical for reasons other than fear. Their skepticism is based on pride. They are the most learned and disciplined in the land and all things spiritual pass through them for their analysis and approval.

They questioned the man and not being satisfied they questioned his parents. His parents had one more opportunity to exercise faith. They feel the pressure once more and question deep within themselves, “Will they deny the son?” And they did. We are not told of other opportunities they had to regain their faith and hope. Hopefully they were able to regain their sight and rise above their insecurities and fear. The tension and pressure in the room was a thick and heavy tension that one feels when he is not among friends. The Pharisees asked for the man’s analysis and then ridiculed him for they did not like what they heard. He was no stranger to ridicule. They degraded him and his parents; and through the hardness of their heart and the blindness of their eyes they cast him out of the synagogue. A man who was familiar with rejection was rejected once more. This time, however, the sting of rejection was as absent as his blindness.

Scene 3

The man formerly known as blind went his way with joy in his heart as if he were dreaming. It all seemed surreal. He took a stand for Jesus and suffered the consequences. This stand equally spread throughout the community and it reached the ears of Jesus. Jesus searched for the man and finding him He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Humbly the man replied, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” As awareness rose within his spirit that he was standing and listing and seeing the Son of God, the Messiah, he worshipped. He had given Jesus his life as he stood before the Pharisees, now he gave Him his heart. And once more the former blind beggar became an occasion for others to see. The Pharisees that followed Jesus were as remote anthropologists in the deep jungles of the Amazon following a lost tribe watching but could not see.

Commentary

I am the parent of the one born blind. I have opportunity to exercise or deny faith. Residing within my decision is my son’s faith or lack thereof. What will I do? Cower in fear and condemn my son to the same hardship, training him that the Word of God cannot be relied upon? That God Himself cannot be trusted? Will I have the arrogance of the Pharisees that pretends to have all the answers and thus condemn him to the Law without Grace and the power thereof? The only answer with acceptable results is to have faith – believe in the Word of God and allow that belief to permeate into my thoughts, emotions, and experiences. There will come a day when my son will be of age and have to answer for himself. He will have to have a faith of his own. But what model will I give him until then?

It truly is a fearful thing to be in the hands of the living God. And we are all in His hands. We are all blind, subhuman beggars discarded, avoided, despised until Jesus passes by and notices us. He notices us. We are not a statistic or a theological debate for Him, but people – people of value. His touch makes all the difference and we display the works of God. His works are not generally clean and pretty. His works often produce controversy and conflict. But He is always glorified. And it is always exactly what we need.