I Once Was Blind

The healed man's testimony was devastatingly simple: "I was blind. Now I see." No elaborate explanation. No dramatic flourish. Just the bare facts. And those facts changed everything.

John 9:10-11, 25: ¹⁰ So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” ²⁵ He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

When the neighbors asked the formerly blind man what happened, he didn't give them his life story. He just said, "The man who is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went away and washed, and I received sight."

Later, when the Pharisees interrogated him again and again, wearing him down with questions, he finally just says, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."

This is powerful. Sometimes we think we need to have all the theological answers figured out before we can tell people about Jesus. We think we need to be able to explain every doctrine, defend every criticism, answer every objection. But the most powerful testimonies are often the simplest ones: Jesus changed my life.

Here's what we can't miss though—this miracle with the blind man is a sign. John uses that word intentionally. It points to something deeper. Throughout Scripture, blindness is the metaphor for our spiritual condition outside of Christ. Second Corinthians 4:4 says Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Does it offend you that the Bible represents you outside of Christ as blind? It shouldn't. It's only in understanding our spiritual condition that we recognize the miracle we need. You were helpless, hopeless, dependent, spiritually impoverished. You loved the darkness. You couldn't see Jesus, but Jesus saw you. And because you couldn't see Him, you couldn't seek Him.

This man didn't find Jesus. Jesus found him. He was totally dependent on Jesus seeking him, seeing him, finding him. That's grace. That's why we sing "Amazing Grace." But until you know you were blind, you'll never think grace is amazing.

If you're reading this and you've been transformed by Jesus—you once were blind but now you see—then tell people. Don't overcomplicate it. Just give them the facts: this Man changed my life. I was lost in darkness, and He gave me light. I was dead in my sins, and He made me alive.

And if you're reading this and you've never been struck by the glory of God, maybe you're beginning to recognize you need sight. You know what the other blind man in the Gospels did? Bartimaeus just cried out: "Son of David, have mercy on me!" You can be blind and cry out for mercy. And the Savior can give you sight.

Stay dialed in.