Do You Really Hear?

John 9:24-28 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. (25) He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. (26) Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? (27) He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? (28) Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.

In the opening verses of John chapter 9, we find Jesus healing a man that was blind from birth. Unfortunately for Jesus, he committed this act on the Sabbath. Immediately after the healing took place, the religious leaders began to interrogate both the young man and his parents about Jesus. They were so appalled that Jesus would perform this miraculous work on the Sabbath that they were searching for some means to convict him.

In verse 24 they begin questioning the young, healed man once again. In fact, they ask him the same questions as they did before. Notice the young man’s response to the second round of questioning in verse 27.

John 9:27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?

Clearly the young man is getting annoyed at the narrowly focused mission of these Pharisees. He has clearly told them what happened, but they are not listening because it is not what they want to hear! In fact, he asks, are you going to listen this time? If I tell you this time, will you also become his disciple?

This young man points out a characteristic about us that we all need to examine. We often search, research or inquire into a subject with the ONLY motive of validating our current position! The pharisees did not want to inquire about Jesus to learn about him. They want to hear what they wanted to hear.

How many of us examine the word of God with the same motive? How often do we look to the Bible to validate a particular viewpoint rather than to truly glean the truths contained therein. Let us all strip away all of our preconceived ideas and filters that prevent us from seeing the truth that God has revealed.