Giving God the Glory

March 16 Giving God the Glory John 9:24-41

“We now see the sum of this passage – that Christ came into the world to enlighten the blind and to drive to madness those who think they are wise. In the first place He mentions enlightening, which is properly the cause for His coming. For He did not come to judge the world, but rather to save that which was lost.” John Calvin “Commentary on John” Vol. 4:255

For a second time the Pharisees interrogated the man who had been healed. It is evident that they had made their minds up before even speaking to him. They charged him to give glory to God and to accept that Jesus was a sinner. Obviously, it had not occurred to them that by accepting the man’s testimony and praising Jesus for the miracle, they would be glorifying God. For the Christian, to do one is to do the other. Instead, they tried to browbeat the man into condemning Jesus.

We do not even know the man’s name, which is a pity because he comes across as being a very likeable person. He was not intimidated by the threats of the Pharisees; he was prepared to tease them with gentle prodding; in the end he refused to speak ill of the One who had healed him. In fact, he went further. Eventually, he came to have faith in Christ as Lord and worshipped Him. It is a remarkable story and it gives weight to the importance of personal testimony. The man knew that he could not compete with the Pharisees when it came to complicated theological arguments (though he gave it a try). He knew, however, that he was on solid ground when he simply pointed out the change in his condition: “I once was blind, but now I see!” Who can argue with that? More and more, in our world, we are finding that, where propositional truth fails, personal testimony prevails.

It’s ironic that the Pharisees compared Jesus’ ministry to Moses’, given the parallels that are obvious from the text. They claimed to be disciples of Moses, but failed to see how Jesus fulfilled the provisions of Moses’ Law. They saw the Law as an end in itself; they could not see how it pointed to Christ. They were stuck in the past, rigidly preserving institutions and interpretations of the Law. Their eyes were closed to the new thing God was doing. The Light of the World was among hem, but they defiantly closed their eyes. They were more interested in determining who was to blame for breaking the Sabbath, than in celebrating the miracle. His sight was restored; they were blind. Worse still, they condemned themselves since they were so adamant in their protestations that they could see.

The final recorded encounter between the man and the Messiah was incredibly touching. One wonders how the story emerged, unless some of the disciples were present. It is tempting to imagine that the man himself may have been the source for the oral history of his healing. If so, then he must have become a true disciple of Jesus. Perhaps it was modesty that caused him to tell the story, but not to give his name. As Jesus spoke with him, his faith-progression took a decisive step. He had called Jesus “the man” and then “the prophet,” but he was moved, in time, to call Him “Lord.” What began with self-interest concluded in praise. Note that Jesus did not refuse the man’s worship. A merely mortal leader, especially a spiritual one, ought to have recoiled in horror, but Jesus did not. That He accepted the man’s worship tells us that Jesus did not find his praise blasphemous. Instead, as the Pharisees had asked, as the man worshipped Jesus, he gave the glory to God.

For further reading: Psalm 105:1-22