The Man Born Blind (7)

The man born blind has confessed who he was and who he, by the healing power of the Lord Jesus, has become—a seeing man. Now this man stands in the center of the conversation. The next question is asked: How were thine eyes opened? This question is an invitation to speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord. Notice that this man does not just start to speak himself; he receives the opportunity. We hope to consider this.

First, the question needs explanation. This question arises because of the visible change, because of the wonder. The visible difference between being blind and seeing is the cause of this question. So, this question reveals that the wonders of God have a visible effect. If souls are in strife about conversion and its fruits, you can discern that. They are not so involved but seem distant. When God’s justice is requiring full satisfaction from them or from another, the strife is visible in their daily life, but when the Lord gives deliverance, when the Lord reveals Himself, then the joy is also visible. This is how we must read this question. It originates with the neighbors of the man born blind because they have seen his misery. Now they may see his deliverance, and they ask the question, “How were thine eyes opened?”

Do we have a life that awakens questions due to such visible differences? Can our children see the strife on mother’s face when they come home from school? Can children hear the strife in the prayers of their fathers at the tables? Can they tell the difference when God has spoken? Can our children see that the life of God’s service is a blessed service? Not only because of the familiar clichés, or because father or mother attends the Lord’s Supper, but because they see and hear about the powerful work of God who delivers humbled sinners? May the Lord give the upcoming generation to ask because of visible divine power, “How were thine eyes opened?”

Second, this question is asked by witnesses. Why would they ask? Did they ask for curiosity’s sake? When remarkable things happen, the curiosity of people is often the reason of their question. There are people who want to know everything to the finest detail in order to satisfy their curiosity, but after they hear what they want to hear, it leaves them untouched. I know there are people who would like to ask, if they dared, how God works in the hearts of God’s people. Some do this only for curiosity’s sake, but there are those who ask because they long to receive what God’s people receive, by grace. Those people sometimes sing to themselves or with others, “The grace Thou showest to Thy saints, that grace reveal to me.” Do we have a jealousy for the grace that God exalts in the heart of sinners?

Thirdly, this question has meaning for our time of year. When you read this article, the season of house visitation will begin again or, perhaps, has begun already. We often hear the expression that house visitation is soul visitation. In the church the elders have the duty to know the state of the flock; therefore, they come. The motive is to listen for spiritual blessings which may have been graciously given since the last time they visited you. For the elders and deacons this is a task that ought to be done in dependence upon the Lord. May we be blest with office bearers who will not leave their home without bowing their knees to ask for the Lord’s help and leading because without Him they can do nothing. When the deacons attend a house visitation, they are not to be a “silent witness.” They accompany as “helping elders” in this solemn task. Personally, I will never forget when as a deacon I went along on house visitation with our unforgettable brother Bron, who was elder at the time in Fort Macleod. We were visiting a family, and he turned to me and said, “Maybe the brother deacon has something to say.”

The purpose of house visitation is to first ask if our spiritual eyes have been opened. If there may be an affirmative answer to this question, then it will always be in line with the history of the blind man, “How were thine eyes opened?” When something may be heard how the works of God are made manifest, the visit proves a good and quick hour. May the Lord give when the office bearers go from home to home that they may do their work faithfully, asking honestly about that one thing needful. May it be experienced that it is God’s time to manifest His work.

Receiving house visitation can be a great mountain. May it, therefore, be an hour in which the Lord is in the midst to guide it for His honor. If an office bearer at the end of what was said about how one’s eyes were opened discerns that a divine wonder is missing in it, or if words of correction or instruction are necessary, you should take that as a warning on the way to eternity. If it is right, the elder does not speak on behalf of himself but on behalf of the Lord who sent him to your home to be as a watch for your soul. Is house visitation valid for only those who have something to say about the works of God? No, house visitation can also be used by the Lord to make a beginning in a person’s life. May the Lord give love for unconverted souls that in all faithfulness the only way may yet be pointed out, a way in which the power of God will be revealed so that the office bearers may return to ask, “How were thine eyes opened?”

(To be continued)

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