A Guide to Witnessing
Keith McFarren
March 15, 2026
John 9:1-11
    When I read this
scripture about the blind man, I couldn’t help but remember the article I read
some time back that told the story when all the blind men that Jesus ever
healed got together for a reunion.
    They all sat
around a table and at first seemed to get along with one another as they talked
about the miracle of sight that Jesus gave to each of them but the more they
talked about how Jesus had healed them, the more they discovered that they had
all been healed in a slightly different way.
    For some, the
healing came with nothing more than a simple touch from Jesus (Mt 9:29;
20:34).  One guy stood up and proudly
boasted that he had so much faith that Jesus didn't even have to touch him to
perform the miracle (Mk 10:52).  After
hearing the bragging of the first two guys, another guy sitting over on the
side meekly said that Jesus not only touched him twice, but also "spit on
his eyes" in order for him to see clearly (Mk 8:23).  Another guy sitting over here really felt
embarrassed to admit that even though a touch wasn't part of his healing,
Jesus' "spit" wasn't enough either.
Jesus had to mix his saliva with dirt and put the mud on his eyes and
then told him to go and wash in some pool of water (John 9:6-7).
    As they listened to each other
you could feel the juices of competition and jealousy and even a little
superiority begin to flow.  Each one
thought that his healing was the right way to do it and that his way was better
than all the others.  Pretty soon,
because each thought his way to salvation was the only way, they began to get
mad at each other and they began to divide up into their own little healing
groups.  
    Over here were the spittites
and non-spittites; over there were the muddites and non-muddites; and over
there were the touchites and non-touchites.
Each in their own little group.
Each group thinking that they were better than all the other
groups.  Each thinking that their way of
salvation was the only way to true salvation.
That, they say, is how Denominationalism was born within the church.
    Is one way to salvation better
than another?  Is the United Methodist
way better than the Baptist?  Is the
Assembly of God way better than the Presbyterian?  I don’t think so.  Why?
Because God’s grace is meant for all people.  God’s grace is God’s grace.
    Let’s get back to the basic
picture of our scripture reading this morning.
Jesus is teaching in the Temple when the Jews pick up stones and try to
kill him.  And as only Jesus can do, he
somehow manages to escape by blending in with the crowd and making his way out
of the Temple.
    But on his way out he sees a
man who was born blind and despite being followed by men who are out to kill
him, Jesus is overcome with compassion and he stops dead in his tracks and
heals the man.  
    So maybe this is the chance
that the blind man has been waiting for!
With mud on his eyes and mud probably dripping down his face he worked
his way through the streets of Jerusalem trying to find the pool where he could
wash.  He trusted in Jesus and did
exactly what Jesus told him to do.  He
found the pool; he washed and he was no longer blind.  He washed and he could, for the first time in
his life, see.
    What a way to have your life
changed.  A little mud, a little water
and in the blink of an eye, your life is changed.  But my conversion wasn’t like that at all.  And maybe neither was yours.  I don’t know if I was ever “converted” from
who I was to who I am today, because I’ve pretty much always felt the way I
feel now.  It’s just that my relationship
with God and my faith in general, has grown stronger and continues to grow
stronger as time goes on.
    This is the point I think we
need to remember.  Some of us, like the
Apostle Paul, have had life shattering conversions and others of us, perhaps
like you and me, haven’t.  But what needs
to be remembered is that one way is no better or worse than the other.  Salvation is salvation.  It’s not a competition.  What matters is that it happened.  What matters is that through his
unconditional love God has worked in his own way to bring about our salvation.
    Here was a man whose need was
not only physical but also spiritual.
Here was a man who needed acceptance; here was a man who needed to know
that someone cares about him.  He needed
to know that God cared…and Jesus fulfilled that need.  But that’s what Jesus does isn’t it…he
fulfills that need that is in all of our lives.
    And from that
point on the rest of the story seems to turn into one big ball of mass
confusion.  It seems that time and time
again the people really weren’t sure if the man that could now see was the same
man that used to be blind.  
    But maybe we
should give them the benefit of the doubt.
After all, the guy sat in the same place day after day, week after week,
year after year and when you walk by something everyday you get to the point
that you know it’s there but after a while you don’t even look at it
anymore.  You kind of ignore him.
    He’s there but you
no longer pay any attention to him. He’s a permanent fixture, he’s always
there, and you know he’s there, but so what?
Kind of like the pictures on your wall at home – you know they are there
but how often do you stop to look at them.
    The tragedy in all
of this is that we tend to overlook non-essential people and that’s why they
didn’t know if the guy that got healed was really the blind man or not.  Despite it being a life changing event, the
overall physical change was very, very small.
His eyes were once blind but now he could see.
    The people around
him could tell that something had happened.
Something had definitely happened.
He was running around.  He was
seeing things.  He was talking to
people.  He was smiling and he was
laughing.  He was like a new man doing
and seeing things he had never done or seen before.
    That’s because
receiving our salvation should make a difference in our life.  There needs to be some changes…both
physically and spiritually.  There needs
to be an obvious dimension of difference, an attractive difference, an obvious
difference.  
    A genuine
conversion of our heart needs to bring about a difference in how we act and
what we say and how we love and treat others.
It needs to bring about a difference in the relationships we have with
other people and it needs to bring about a difference in our relationship with
God.  
    Because when it
comes right down to it there is no better way of knowing about Jesus or no
other way of knowing what kind of effect Jesus can have on your life than
showing others the difference Jesus can make in our life.
    When we get down
near the end of the story the main issue is no longer about the man who used to
be blind.  He and his blindness are still
at the center of controversy but they are no longer the issue.  The real issue is not the identity of the
blind man but is instead the identity of Jesus.
The real problem of blindness is not the physical blindness of the man
that Jesus healed but is instead the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees.
    The Pharisee’s
were totally blind to Jesus and refused to see him for who he was and for what
he was.  We use the term “in the dark”
when we talk about someone who doesn’t know or understand something.  Today, it would be safe to say that the
Pharisee’s were “in the dark” about Jesus.
    Jesus said “I
am the light of the world.  I f you
follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have
the light that leads to life (John 8:12).

These men who had always been able to
see the physical light could not see the Light of the World and yet, he was
standing right in front of them.
    Yet the man who
had lived his life in total physical darkness ended up believing and worshipping
Jesus when he said nothing more than “I believe” (John 9:38).  The longer this man experienced this new life
through Christ, and the more he experienced his newfound spiritual freedom, the
more confident he became in the one who had healed him. The blind man gained
not only physical sight that day but he also gained his spiritual sight when he
first recognized Jesus as a prophet and also as his Lord.
    The Pharisee’s on
the other hand weren’t only blind to Jesus but they were also blind to themselves.  The Pharisees who think they know it all,
don’t even realize that they can’t see, and that they are the one’s that are
really blind.  They knew so much and
claimed to see so well, but they failed to recognize the Son of God when he was
right there in front of them.
    We’ve talked about it in
Sunday school a number of times and in various other conversations, “We don’t
know what to say to others about how God has changed our lives.”  We don’t feel comfortable telling others what
a difference God has made in our lives.
    Our scripture reading this
morning shows us a good way to do it.
Just share it like this guy did.
And how he did it was all very natural.
He just told the others what happened to him.  
    He told them to the best of
his ability who did it.  He didn’t
embellish it.  He didn’t make it more
than what it was.  He just told his
story.  If you are living your life
outside the church as a Christian, there are people out there who want to know
why you are like you are.  People out
there who want to know what happened to you when you met Jesus.
    The blind man who had his eyes
opened this morning had an unshakable assurance about Jesus.  He said, “Whether this man Jesus is a sinner
or not I don’t know.”  Here was a guy
that had a beautiful disregard for theological hairsplitting.  “But I do know,” he said, “that I was blind
and now I can see.”
    Beyond a doubt, he knew was
that his life was no longer like it was.
He once was blind but now he could see and it was all due to the
presence of Jesus…and he was willing to share Jesus and the love that Jesus
brings out in us with all that came within his presence.
    Take a look at yourself this
morning. It’s the 4th Sunday of Lent.  A time of the year when we are supposed to
reexamine our inner selves.  Take a
closer look right here in your heart.
Take a look at how you are living your life.  
    Does your life reflect the
“light of Christ” or does it reflect the “unfruitful works of darkness?”  Are you willing to share your faith and
witness to it?  Are you willing to share
the love of God and the salvation that God gave you with the world around you
or will you live in solitude, in the darkness, and keep it all to
yourself.  
    I encourage you
this morning to reexamine yourself and take a look at Jesus, the one who calls
us from darkness into light.  Take a look
at Jesus, the Light of the World.  Are
you blind or has the light of God allowed you to see?  And if you can see are you willing to share
your story with those who who are blind and desperately need Jesus?