One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God," they said. "We know this man is a sinner." He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?" John 9:24-27

REFLECTION
The man who had been blind from birth was brought to the Pharisees. Picture this: these strict religious leaders are looking straight into the eyes of a man who is finally able to see. This man must have been overjoyed and completely blown-away by all the bright colours, beautiful faces, blue skies, clouds, flowers, trees and animals that he can now see for the first time in his life with his very own eyes!
And now the Pharisees want to know who on earth put these little sparkling stars in his eyes and who is responsible for painting that annoying smile on his face without asking for their permission first.
The Pharisees want to make sure that nobody is fooling around with them and they even interrogate the blind man's parents to make sure that this man is really telling them the truth. And the truth is: this man is miraculously cured by Jesus!
The Pharisees' instruction to "Give glory to God" sounds great, but actually these words mean that the religious leaders still didn't accept the man's testimony. They asked for an answer that they wanted to hear, rather than accepting the truth about Jesus that they needed to hear.
I just love the man's reply, "Do you want to become his disciples, too?" Now the man is really pushing his luck! But he just doesn't care. Nobody is going to steal his joy - not even the Pharisees!

PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus, you exposed the true characters of these religious leaders by curing this blind man on a Sabbath. I think the man didn't mind at all that you performed this great miracle on a day of rest. I believe his gratefulness and joy are hard to describe!
When I think about all the people that you rescued from darkness, loneliness and despair, I want to sing your praises every day of the week! I just can't understand how spiritually blind some people are. Don't they see the happiness, the freedom and the peace of mind that you have given so abundantly to your children? Don't they want to experience the same joy too? Don't they long to be pulled out of the darkness into your glorious light? Whatever some ignorant people say or think about you - I know you better. If they don't want to find out for themselves, if they prefer to stay blind, well - that's really sad and that's their loss. But even so, nobody is going to steal my joy!