Expelled

The man answered , “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. (John 9:30-38)

We want a place to belong, where everyone knows our name. Many of the people that Jesus spent time with and healed remain unnamed in the New Testament. The man born blind, whom Jesus healed, was “driven” out of his synagogue. Even his parents hadn’t been ready to stand up for him. It can be dangerous to disagree with people in authority. Speaking “truth to power” usually results, as it did for that poor man, in that power simply smashing you down.

But this man born blind refused to be silenced, even by the threat of losing his place in society. Perhaps the fact that he’d spent most of his life on the periphery of society anyway, scratching out a living by begging, meant that he didn’t feel very invested in that society to begin with. More likely, the startling reality of the truth was so powerful for him that he cared for nothing but that truth. His life had been so profoundly changed, he could not deny reality, no matter how strongly the people around him wanted to force him to deny it.

Jesus came to him in his abandoned state. Jesus showed him that he wasn’t alone after all. When you have the truth, the only ones you lose are the liars. When Jesus revealed himself to a man of truth, that man recognized Jesus for who he was and worshiped him. Thanks to Jesus, we have a place to belong and he knows our name.

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