The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes – John 9:30

I can see him. With a new world opened to him, he stands before the bearded men with their huge turbans and flowing robes. It is an inquisition that should not be happening. His neighbors have brought charges against him:

“Healed on the Sabbath by Jesus”

 He tell them the truth: “He [Jesus] put mud on my eyes … I washed, and now I see” (Jn. 9:15).

    “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath”, they say.

So they send for the man’s parents and inquire after his birth and condition. The parents feign ignorance out of fear for the bearded men. They call the man back to the stand.

     “Give glory to God … We know this man is a sinner.”

“Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

When an interrogation is baseless, there is a drought of questions and the few are senseless and repetitive.

“Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciple too?”

That cuts deep into their ego! They take cover behind Moses, distancing themselves from Jesus. And that will incite the wonder of any man.

 “Now that’s remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes … If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

 In a rain of accusations and insults, they throw him out. But that’s his second blessing – the final healing of his blindness.

   “Do you believe in the Son of Man”, Jesus says when He finds the excommunicated man.

            “Tell me so I may believe in Him.”

    “You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you.”

            “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him.

That’s the wonder of opened eyes – when the divine opens to the wretched soul! They see beyond the physical and behold the beauty of the glory of Jesus. Darkness is rolled away. The brightness of His countenance illumines the heart, and the body becomes radiant before God. Ignorance recedes, as the heart opens to receive from God through His Spirit (1 Cor. 3:10-16). Joy fills the heart (Acts 8:39), and the new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) comes forth “to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).

Until then, we live as Jacob lived before he returned to Bethel, deceiving and being deceived (Gen. 35:1-7). We wander in a distant land, chewing ourselves for a terrible miscalculation and the dread of a foggy future. We get stuck and humbled among the sheepfold, until a burning bush incites our curiosity. That’s when we engage the “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14), and finally walk into our divine assignment.

Joshua needed to see Him before the Jericho engagement (Joshua 5:13-15). Gideon was lifted from the winepress of fear to experience Him as “The LORD is Peace” (Judges 6:24). Isaiah saw the Lord, “high and exalted”; a view that changed everything for him (Is. 6:1-8). The man born blind received a sanctified view of Jesus and he worshiped Him (Jn. 9:37-38). The Apostle Paul saw Jesus in a shocking and painful way (Acts 9:3-5), and the New Testament church is forever blessed by it.

 All these saints were brought to the reality of God’s presence and sovereign rule over His creation, and called into their divine assignments. They speak to us today out of their experiences and encourage us to lift our eyes towards heaven, where Jesus is seated on the right hand of God in majesty, and behold His glory. For, if our worship is going to be acceptable to God, we need that exalted view of Jesus to transform our lives with renewed minds.

The wonder of opened eyes that humbles and empowers for victorious living!