Personal Faith

No one can speak to our faith.

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, 'Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?' His parents answered, 'We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.' His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, 'He is of age; ask him.' - John 9:18-23

Today's Gospel reading continues following the story of the man born blind.

Yesterday he was healed, gaining his sight, and today the skeptics continued to probe, asking his parents if this is the same guy they believed was blind.

The amazing thing about the reaction of the parents is that they were afraid they would get themselves in trouble if they said anything about the man who cured their son, so they offered the son up.

Ask him yourself, they said.

It is true that we are all responsible for our own beliefs.  No one can nor should speak for us when it comes to what we believe or experience in life.  It is our story and worthy of our own telling.  But what about the parents?

I would have expected that they would have wanted to meet the man who helped their son, but fear kept them from getting involved.

I guess it comes down to this.  It is up to us to be our own spokespersons.  When we offer our witness, people are more likely to believe us, and yet even then, some will doubt.

They can see the result with their own eyes and question our validity.

For them, no testimony will matter.

If they hear and don't believe, we should just do as Jesus said, and move on.

More to come...