John 9:35-38 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said to him, Do you believe on the Son of God?… 1. The man is cast out, but he carries with him the immovable conviction of ver. 33. Every power for good in this world is of God, whether in the form of material science, conquering disease, and lightening labour; or in that of political and social reform, purifying the polity of nations and making the brotherhood of man more real; or in that of spiritual teaching, stirring deeper fountains and casting higher lights. Let us believe that "every good and perfect gift cometh from God." 2. The rumour of his expulsion reaches Christ, and indignation at the injustice done, and yearnings after a soul so true and simple, unite in urging Him instantly to seek the despised outcast. And so through the great Jerusalem of the world Christ is still passing, seeking every brave and honest witness to the vision he as yet sees. Be faithful to your sense of duty at whatever cost, and Christ, though unseen, is following you to find you. 3. Christ perceived that the man was able to bear a purer light than that of nature, that his trust in divine goodness had prepared him for the manifestation of the life of God. So He puts the question, "Dost thou believe," etc., and lifts the man's thoughts above the circumstances of the hour. There is no dwelling on the recent miracle, no indulgence in invective against the Pharisees, no discussion of the man's prospects. It was as if a little crowded, noisy room were changed for the vastness and hush of a great cathedral. Let us be thankful to the Master who is still arresting us as we go on our selfish, earthly way with the same tranquilizing, purifying question. 4. Certain underlying beliefs are assumed in the words of our Lord. (1) The fatherhood of God. The duty here is no vague abstraction. Most religions have a faint glimmering of Christ's truth — but it was left for Christ to start the cry in the prodigal, "I will arise and go to my father,"(2) But Christ claimed to be in an unique sense the Son of God, and the man so understood Him. Messianic ideas were started in the man's mind by the question, and his thoughts would go back to that fourth form which was seen walking in the Babylonian furnace. He, therefore, simply asks, "Who is He," etc. The tones of our Lord's voice probably revealed who the questioner was, for this was the first time the man had seen Jesus. 5. Spiritually the man was in a quickened state. His fidelity to truth had been manifested amidst sore temptations. His religious convictions had been forced into practical assertion. And now, whilst his ears are yet ringing with the taunts of sacerdotal pride, and whilst he is trembling with righteous indignation against those who blasphemed goodness, this wondrous stranger demands faith in Him for whose coming every pious Israelite yearned. All that the man had ever believed and felt now welled up into that "Who is He." Have we not here the attitude of many honest and reverent thinkers today in the presence of the great problems of religion and life? The great question now is, "What think ye of Christ?" And the answer is gathering volume and distinctness which confesses Him the Son of God and the Son of Man. The inspiring purpose of the man was "that I may believe," and the same purpose underlies much of modern intellectual restlessness. 6. "Thou hast both seen Him," etc., was the reply of Christ. It is possible then to be in the presence of Christ, and yet not know Him to be the Son of God. The world is full of Christ's presence. (1) Hospitals, orphanages, etc., witness that Jesus is still passing through the crowded highways of modern life. These spring from the seeds which Christ sowed; yet there are those who fail to recognize Him. (2) Still more is Christ a living presence in those He sends forth on missions of mercy at which the world is filled with reverent wonder. (3) And shall we not claim for the Church the indwelling presence of her Lord. 7. But there are grounds for the hope that all who approach in the spirit of the man born blind, evidences of Christ's power and presence, will say with him, "Lord, I believe." (J. R. S. Harrington.) Parallel Verses KJV: Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? |
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