Here's lookin' at you kid...

John 9:1-41 is a whole chapter dedicated to a seeing blind man. Some words are taken directly from the New King James Version.

This is the story.
Jesus and His disciples were passing by a man who was born blind and suddenly, the man finds himself to be the center of a discussion.
"Teacher," the disciples asked. "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
I imagine the blind man perked up his ears.
How many times had he been tormented with the same question?

Jesus answered, "This man didn't sin, nor did his parents sin. He was born blind so that the works of God could be revealed in him. And right now, I am going to do the work of God in Him. I am going to be his light while I am here."

Have you ever wondered why you are in a hopeless situation? Perhaps it is so the works of God can be revealed in you. It is His work. The blind man didn't even ask to be healed. Holy, Holy God.

Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with his saliva and anointed the man's eyes with the lukewarm clay. "Go wash in the pool of Siloam," he said to the blind man. So, he went and washed his eyes and came back seeing.

The neighborhood was amazed. They argued among themselves as to whether this was the same blind man that they all knew. "I am he," said the seeing man.
"What in the world happened," they asked.
"A Man called Jesus made clay and put it on my eyes and told me to go wash in the pool of Siloam, and I did, and now I can see," explained the no-longer-blind-man.
"Where is He?"
"I don't know," he said.

So, they took the ex-blind man to the Pharisees. I'm not sure what their motive was. Jesus had healed the man on the Sabbath day, which was against the rules of the religious leaders. The Pharisees asked him how he received his sight, and he explained everything again. The Pharisees figured that the Man that healed him couldn't be from God because He didn't keep the Sabbath. Others argued that no sinner could heal a man.

The Pharisees weren't satisfied with the man's idea that Jesus was a prophet, so they asked his parents to confirm that this was indeed their son and that he was born blind. They agreed to those truths, but they didn't want to get kicked out of the synagogue so they played it safe and told the leaders that if they had any further questions they should direct them to their son.  I wish they had jumped up and down for joy for their son's good fortune instead of playing it safe and maintaining their position in the synagogue.

Here's where it gets interesting. The blind man begins to get fed up with the religious leaders. He gets sarcastic and he can afford to be. What hold does a religious hypocrite have over him when he can see for the first time in his life?

So, they called the man in again and said, "Come on now, give God the glory! (Wasn't that what he was trying to do?) We know that this Man is a sinner."

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see."
Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?"
He answered them, " I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?"

They went on to say that they didn't know where Jesus was from.
The seeing man said, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes. If He was not from God, He could not do this."

The Pharisees didn't know what else to do but throw him out of the synagogue. Their pride couldn't handle the fact that even with his little knowledge, the blind man knew more than they did.

And this I love. Jesus heard that they kicked him out of the synagogue. He went and found Him and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"
He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"
Jesus said, "Here's lookin' at you kid," only it sounded more like, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."
"Lord, I believe!" worshiped the blessed man.

I wonder how many people we pass in a day who are asking the same question-"Who is the Son of God? I want to believe in Him."
They are just waiting for Him to be revealed.

Jesus had a crowd around Him. He said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."
Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains."
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We can be a blind seeing man or we can be a seeing blind man.

I want Him to put His homemade clay on my eyes.