The Power of Your Testimony

John 9:1-38
“The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes...and I received sight.”

Have you ever been miraculously healed of an ailment? I have been, and let me tell you, it can make you very happy. One minute you are burdened down by thinking about your illness, with having to deal with the limitations. But when you’re healed, the burden is lifted, and you truly feel set free. Along with that freedom comes boldness. You want to tell someone. Maybe you were shy before the healing, but now you want to speak up. You want everyone to know that God still heals today like He has in the past. And as you tell your story the boldness gets stronger and stronger.

That is what happened to the blind man Jesus healed on the Sabbath. We don’t know this man’s name but we do know that he was born blind. So he had been burdened with his affliction for a long time. When Jesus saw him, He made clay, put it on the man’s eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool. The man did as Jesus said, and he came back seeing for the first time in his life. What an amazing experience to have! To see nothing, then to see everything! Wouldn’t you want to tell someone? Sure you would. You’d want to shout it from the rooftops.

People who knew who the man was asked him how this thing happened to him. And he said the man named Jesus did it. That’s where his faith started. It started with calling Jesus a man. Next the Pharisees called him for questioning. They asked, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” His faith is growing as the day goes on, and he’s getting bolder and bolder the longer he sees. And he says, “He is a prophet.”

The Pharisees couldn’t stand it, they had to talk to his parents, thinking that the whole thing was a sham. But the parents confirmed that their son had indeed been blind from birth. Even angrier than before the Pharisees brought the man back for further questioning. And he’s had all day to walk around as a seeing person. His self-confidence has sprouted wings. They ask him what happened, and he boldly shoots back, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen.” Young people today would say, “Duh! Are you people stupid?” But he’s getting so bold, he starts to challenge them. He presses on, “Why do you want to hear it again?” Lightening didn’t strike him dead so he goes on, “Do you want to become His disciples, too?”

Now he has them on the defensive. They start to explain to him who they are! A man who was a blind beggar at the beginning of the day is now a bold witness for the Lord and is challenging the Pharisees on their own ground. He is so pumped up and set free he even begins to challenge them further and to preach to them. “Well, here is an amazing thing,” he says, “that you do not know where He comes from and yet He opened my eyes.” Good point. By this time he is so bold that he puts himself on their level with his mini-sermon, “We know” he says. “That God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him. ...If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” Everyone else is afraid of being put out of the synagogue but this man is preaching to the Jewish leaders! By this time he is calling Jesus “man from God.” With this they are totally disgusted and without answers, so they put him out.

Jesus hears about what has happened to this blind man since He healed him that morning, and He goes looking for him. From the time he was healed until now the man’s testimony has gone from calling Jesus a man, to calling Him a prophet, to calling Him a man from God. When Jesus finds him, He asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man didn’t know who that was. But he said to Jesus, “Who is he Lord, and I’ll believe in Him?” Jesus tells him that He is that Son of Man whom the man is looking at and talking with. And the man says, “Lord, I believe.” From man to prophet to Lord. With the man’s own words his faith grew and grew as the day went on. And as his faith grew he became bolder and bolder in spreading the word about what happened to him. He became a bold and powerful witness to the healing power of Jesus Christ in his life.

The same thing can happen to you. Power can fill you and make you bold in your witness about what Jesus has done for you. Talk about who He is in your life. Is He a prophet? Is He a healer? A teacher? Or is He Lord? As you tell your story tell the world who He is. Be bold. Pretty soon Jesus will come looking for you, too.