Episode 66 - Do we fear confessing that Jesus is the Christ? - John 9:18-23

John 9:18   The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore, his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

People will believe what they want to believe. That is a definitive statement for our society today. With so much fake news being spread around via social media and other means, people don’t know who to believe anymore. This miracle section is evidence that people of our times and culture are not the first to experience this. 

Nicodemus, as a representative of the Jewish leaders, had approached Jesus and said, “We know that you have come from God.” (John 3:2) He reasoned that simply from the first few miracles Jesus had performed, he said, “No one can do these things unless God is with him.” Other people had been benefactors of his miracles and asserted that he was the Prophet like Moses. Others even asserted that he was the Christ. (John 7:41)

However, we see here that the Jewish leaders not only want to refuse to believe that Jesus is anything but a blasphemer, they want to deny simple truths that everyone else seems to recognize, namely that this man had been blind from birth. So, they question his parents and, in doing so, even impugn their integrity. (“Is this your son, who you say was born blind?”) They suggest that this couple is either too stupid to know whether their adult son was born blind or have some motive for saying that he was. How ridiculous.

The man’s parents respond to their question in a “just the facts” manner in which their son had responded earlier. They affirmed that he was their son and that he was born blind. But, John suggests that they even knew how he was given his sight and that they’d even made a conclusion that Jesus might be the Christ (Messiah). Yet, they don’t offer that information. They say that they don’t know. John tells us why they don’t offer this information because of the fear of being thrown out of the synagogue, which meant being totally excluded from the community. This is evidence of how deluded the leaders had become and how they were digging their heels into the sand in rejection of Jesus, even in the immediate wake of this amazing miracle.

I see two primary takeaways for us in this section. The first is understanding that people may believe that he was a real man or a dynamic teacher, perhaps a spiritual man. Ben Franklin believed that Jesus was a man of good morals. But, they draw the line at confessing that he was and is God’s Messiah and that he is truly the Son of God. The question then to us is, “Are we willing to confess his true and full identity despite fears of what others may think or do to us?”

The second take-away is that we have no power to convince people that Jesus is the Christ or that Jesus is the Son of God. Despite all of our evidence and arguments, people will believe what they want to believe. We can pray for them, love them, and tell them what we believe is the truth. But, we must trust God to change their minds to accept Jesus.