The miracle of conviction
Noel K. Anderson
First Presbyterian Church of Upland
Who likes a good courtroom drama? Classic movies like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Rainmaker, A Few Good Men—all convert the normally-dry proceedings of a trial to passions, emotions, and great surprise arguments to convict or otherwise convince a jury of the proper course of justice.
Today’s text is such a drama—among the most fascinating dialogues in the Bible. Filled with passion, justice, and an abundance of irony, the exchange between a formerly-blind man and the Jewish leaders gives us a glimpse into the core difference between authentic faith and manufactured religion.
A little background: at the start of chapter 9, Jesus’ disciples ask him why the man was born blind. Was it his sin or his parents that caused this? Jesus heals the blind man (without asking him) by making a mud pie and smearing on his eyes and then telling him to wash in the pool of Siloam. Once the man emerges healed, the people are amazed. The Jewish leaders hear about it and question him, but he doesn’t know anything—he doesn’t know, but he confirms that he was born blind but now can see. “What do you think of this guy?” they ask him, already convinced that he’s a sinner because he made the mudpie on the Sabbath, which they agreed was a sin. The man doesn’t guess but proclaims, “He IS a prophet!” meaning God sends him to do God’s will and work.
That’s not what they wanted to hear, so they send for the man’s parents to be sure he really was blind from birth. Yes, they say, but they evade any other questions to keep out of trouble. “Ask him yourself, “ they say, “he’s no longer a minor and can speak for himself.”
They call him in to question him the second time, and this is where our text begins:
John 9: 24-34 New Revised Standard
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.. †
Walk the text
Fascinating dialogue
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
The key verb in this dialogue is know. It is used magically—seven times in this passage. They say, “We know this man’s a sinner.” That is their conviction, so their only point in questioning the man is to confirm what they think they already know. It’s called confirmation bias—they know what they want to hear, and they ask this man to tell it to them. It’s the same reason conservatives like Tucker Carlson and progressives like Rachel Maddow—we’re going to hear what we want to hear—something to confirm our present bias. The Jewish leaders, like many Americans, don’t want to learn anything; they just want to be told they’re already right.
But the man doesn’t play along:
25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
The Jewish leaders say, “We know,” but the man says, “I don’t know about that.” He is practical and straightforward. He has already told them he believes Jesus is a prophet—sent from God and doing God’s work—as if to say, “Any of you got a better explanation? Wanna share it with us all?”
26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen.
Conviction, ltd.
Really knowing
Their convictions made them unteachable. And we need to talk about conviction here. We hear the word “know” as in “we know” in this passage seven times. The word is used emphatically, suggesting “we really know.” We all know there is a difference between knowing something and really knowing something, such as a foreign language. I can speak a few phrases of French and a little bit of Indonesian, so if you heard me, you might think I know those languages, but I assure you, I don’t really know them.
Whether we know something slightly or well may be a matter of skill and practice, as with a language, but there is another kind of knowing—the kind that becomes a core belief—something you live by and may even fight or die for. That kind of knowing is called conviction.
Conviction is a courtroom word. To secure a conviction means a person’s guilt or innocence of a matter has been more or less proved. The word convict has the same root as the word convince. To have a conviction is to feel totally convinced about something.
The Jewish leaders want the blind man who now sees to convince them that they have been right all along about Jesus in saying he is a sinner, but the man is convinced that Jesus is doing God’s work. His conviction that Jesus is good supplies him with such strength in this encounter.
karmic law
Not for Christians
The man born blind lived his entire life under a cloud of suspicion that he deserved his horrible fate. Even the disciples ask, “Who sinned? The man or his parents?” because they couldn’t imagine someone suffering like this outside of some scheme of divine justice.
In all the world’s religions—except Biblical faiths—the most common worldview about human suffering is Karmic Law or Karma. If bad things happen to you, it is probably your Karma working out. You did something awful in a former incarnation, or else you did something wicked in this life that demanded a balance of justice. It was a big part of Judaism as well. The Sadducees believed that human beings were responsible for their own fate. Wisdom or foolishness makes the difference between happiness and misery. Like Job’s so-called “friends,” they couldn’t believe that such awful things could befall a righteous man, therefore your miseries are evidence of your sin, so you probably should go ahead and curse God and die. Some friends.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that many Christians secretly believe in Karma—that bad things happen to us because we’ve done something wrong. Our sins lead to unrelated incidents of misery, but that misery is nonetheless caused by our having sinned. Well, that’s nonsense, and Jesus says so early in the chapter. When the disciples ask him who sinned, Jesus says,
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” [John 9: 3]
He was born blind for God’s ultimate glory, not because of sin—either his or his parents. Karma and Karmic Law are right out. Misery and evils done to us are mysteries, not cosmic justice playing out, as tempting as that may be to think. The blind man’s new boldness reveals that he gets this at a gut level. He won’t pull his punches.
Contrasts
Characters from opposite ends of the spectrum
Now consider the enormous character clash of these players. The man born blind likely would have lived on the streets and made his living by begging. He lived his life at the bottom rung of social status. Most of the community thought he was there because of sin, so social oppression would have been his norm. Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders are at the very top—they have wealth, high status, and a robust support network. They are the in-crowd—the righteous in-crowd. The blind man may have had some caring parents and kind neighbors, but he is otherwise alone. They are highly-educated; he has lived on the streets. This contrast is significant because of what comes next. Continuing verse 27:
“Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
Is he turning the knife in the wound? “You already had me here, and I told you my story, so why would you have me back? Oh, I know—you must be seeking to follow him as well! Oh, how great would that be! All of Israel’s leadership lining up behind the one who speaks with real authority—the one with the power of God to heal! He could heal this rotten and corrupted Temple as well, couldn’t he? That would be a great thing for all Jews, now wouldn’t it?”
Despite the temptation to think he’s being just sassy or defiant—getting his digs in at a world that rejected him—I don’t think he’s being a smart aleck. I think he is genuinely taken with Jesus—he’s a true believer—and can’t help but marvel at the hope and possibility suggested by the idea that Pharisees and Sadducees might follow Christ as well. It would be wonderful—an end to the class divisions and political corruption of Jerusalem. Much like the good-hearted Christians today who might put a “Jesus for President” bumper sticker on their car, I expect this comes from a positive sentiment rather than a rebellious one. Either way, he exhibits extraordinary confidence. He has gained more than his eyesight through his encounter with Jesus; he has gained conviction as a witness to Christ. Yet he does arouse their ire. Verses 28-29:
Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
sources
Not all conviction is good conviction
We know! they say. Our convictions land us with Moses, but we do not know where this guy comes from! If only they did! In what are their convictions based? God did reveal himself to Israel—to Abraham, the Patriarchs, and Moses—two-thousand years before this drama. What is the foundation of their convictions? There are several possibilities:
1. TRADITION—like Fiddler on the Roof in all the best ways.
2. NATIONAL IDENTITY—We are God’s People! (It is about US preserving US)
3. POWER—We got a good thing going and don’t need anyone rocking the boat.
4. DIVINE REVELATION—“God told us Himself.”
The problem with tradition is that it amounts to, “I believe it because my grandmother believed it!”—not really a good foundation for conviction at all. As for national identity, that’s just tribal pride—there’s no real virtue in it. To hold a conviction “because it empowers me” only reduces truth claims to a kind of survivalism. It has nothing to do with truth, just usefulness to yourself. Divine revelation is the correct foundation for conviction, but as we see in our story, it is impossible to translate to others unless God should throw that switch in the minds of others.
The blind man who sees has true conviction. Touched by Christ, he courageously speaks of Jesus to the leaders of his world. Notice how marvelous he sounds—even elegant—from verse 30:
“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.”
Who is teaching whom? Who sounds like he has the degree from Harvard Law School now? Who is the teacher and who are the taught? They can’t answer him, but they answer anyway—verse 34:
“You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
It is so obvious that they have lost that all they can do is revert to their lame, former position: But you’re a big sinner!—and then eject him from their clubhouse. It’s the kind of thing you say when you’ve lost, and you know it, but you have to do whatever is necessary to preserve your power. It is the death of authentic faith and conviction.
The Holy Spirit
Faith is a gift, not an opinion
In the New Testament, the chief role of the Holy Spirit is to convince and convict—remember; it’s the same word. Why didn’t the pious and believing Jewish leaders accept that Jesus was their Messiah? Why does one person believe and another not believe? Two identical twins sit side-by-side, listening to the same Gospel message. They have the same social background and essentially the same biological makeup, but one hears and says, “Ah! This is the truth—I am convinced!” and the other says, “I just don’t get it.”
We may be able to talk people into the wrong kinds of conviction—we can convince them that tradition is worth preserving, or that their group identity and sense of self is more important than their individual thoughts and needs, or that by holding certain opinions, they are more likely to thrive and flourish in this world with greater personal empowerment. Still, only God’s Holy Spirit can throw that spiritual switch moving one from disbelief to authentic faith.
Every conversion is a miracle—a miracle of conviction. Some would say that the other miraculous thing about this text is the miracle of disbelief—how could they not see that Jesus was the promised one—the one they awaited and prayed for?
God is sovereign: he opens hearts, and he hardens hearts. We can’t be too hard on people who say they don’t believe. Faith is a gift, not an opinion.
Our witness to Christ in this world does not depend on our being high-minded or clever. We don’t have to be aggressive or anxious in our outreach. We can do no good unless the Spirit works through us. Therefore, all we need to be is humble and obedient. God puts us where he wants us. What we need to be is ready to serve at any moment—willing and compliant—not armed to the teeth with memorized Bible verses or sophisticated arguments to unmake atheism.
All conviction—either ours or that of loved ones we would reach—must flow from the Holy Spirit, or it is not worth our time and effort. Let us seek to submit and subject ourselves in every day to the work of the Holy Spirit within and among us. Let us bring him our blindness, deafness, ineptitude, and inadequacies in order that he make us what he wants of us. Let us bring our sin forward as a gift offering, in order that we may be healed by his grace and made useful in his kingdom. †
Questions
- Who is the blind man and why are the Pharisees questioning him?
- Does he know Jesus? And what is his answer to the Pharisees? Vs.25
- What are some of the fears we have in speaking clearly regarding our beliefs about Jesus?
- What is the argument the blind man uses to defend that Jesus is from God? (vs.30-33)
- Why did the Pharisees throw him out of the synagogue?
- Why did the man believe finally, while the Pharisees remained unbelieving?
- How does it feel sometimes when others reject your simple statement of your belief?