An Evidence Of The Truth

of what He said by performing some miracle. If He had said He was

the Light of the world, He would show them in what way He was the

Light of the world. If He had said He was the Life of the world, He

would prove Himself to be such by quickening and raising the dead;

just as He did, after telling them that He was the Resurrection and

the Life, by going to the graveyard of Bethany and calling Lazarus

forth. When Lazarus eard the voice of his friend saying, "Lazarus,

come forth!" he came forth immediately.



The Son of God does not ask men to believe Him without a reason for

so doing. We need to keep this in mind. You might as well ask a man

to see without light or eyes, as to believe without testimony.



He gave them good reason for believing in Him, and proved His

Messiahship and authority. He not only told them that He had the

power, but He showed them that He had.



These two men, then, were both at Jerusalem. One held as high a

position, and the other as low a position, as any in the city. One

was at the top of the social ladder, and the other at the bottom.

And yet they both made a good confession; and one was as acceptable

to Jesus as the other.





I





The man mentioned in this chapter was born blind. We find the Lord's

disciples asking Him:



"Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born

blind?"



Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but

that the works of God should be manifest in him."



When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the

spittle; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

and said unto him:



"Go wash in the pool of Siloam."



The blind man went his way and washed, and his eyesight was

restored.



Observe what that man did. He did just what Christ told him to do.

The Savior's command to him was to go to the pool of Siloam and

wash; and "he went his way therefore, and came seeing." He was

blessed in the very act of obedience.



Another thought: God does not generally repeat Himself. Of all the

blind men who were healed while Christ was on earth, no two were

healed in exactly the same way. Jesus met blind Bartimeus near the

gates of Jericho, and called him to Him and said:



"What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?"



The answer was: "Lord, that I might receive my sight."



Now, see what He did. He did not send Bartimeus off to Jerusalem

twenty miles away to the pool of Siloam to wash. He did not spit on

the ground, and make clay, and anoint his eyes; but with a word He

wrought the cure, saying:



"Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole."



Suppose Bartimeus had gone from Jericho and had met the other blind

beggar at the gate of the city of Jerusalem, and asked him how it

was he got his sight; suppose they began to compare notes--one

telling his experience, and the other telling his. Imagine the first

saying:



"I do not believe that you have got your sight, because you did not

get it in the same way that I got mine."



Would the different ways the Lord Jesus had in healing them make

their cases the less true? Yet there are some people who talk just

that way now. Because God does not deal with some exactly as He does

with others, people think that God is not dealing with them at all.

God seldom repeats Himself. No two persons were ever converted

exactly alike, so far as my experience goes. Each one must have an

experience of his own. Let the Lord give sight in His own way.



There are thousands of people who