When your testimony goes on trial (2)

John 9:13-41

When Your Testimony Goes On Trial

The Gospel of John (pt 38)

John 9:13-41

August 31, 2025

     Open your bibles to John 9. QUICK RECAP OF last week, we looked at the beginning of this chapter and the miracle Jesus performs of healing a man who had been blind since birth. Jesus spit into the mud and put it over the blind mans eyes and he is healed. PASTOR MATT SAID SOMETHING THAT I STILL CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT LAST WEEK. HOW MUCH SPIT DID JESUS HAVE TO SPIT FOR IT TO BE MUD??

The disciples asked Jesus a common question of the day, “Jesus, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

They reduced this man’s problem down to a neat equation: sin in = suffering out.

They believed what they had been taught that all personal suffering is due to personal sin.

Today, we might call that Karma Christianity. ‘You get what you deserve.’ Listen, that’s not the gospel!

That’s paganism dressed in church clothes. The gospel is just the opposite because it’s built on grace.

· Karma says life gives you what you deserve.

· Grace says God gives you what you don’t deserve.

     Jesus answers the disciples question, but didn’t choose A or B of their multiple-choice quiz. He provided the right answer. He said: “Neither. This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

     Jesus wasn’t denying that sin broke the world generally; He’s denying that this man was being punished by God personally.

Jesus is saying that not all suffering has a PERSON to blame. Sometimes it has a PURPOSE to fulfill.

Sometimes God takes a burden you experience and turns it into a billboard for His glory to be on display. Your pain can be a platform for God’s power.

God is not delighted by human suffering, but He is not defeated by it either. He weaves our suffering into His story for our good and His glory.

Frequently in Scripture, physical blindness is presented as a picture of spiritual blindness. While relatively few people are born blind physically, all of us are born blind spiritually.

We do not know God and cannot see spiritual realities.

We saw last week that the reason for that is that Satan has blinded the eyes of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel and the glory of Christ. It’s not that people won’t see; it’s that they can’t see.

God must heal our spiritual blindness, and He does that by giving us spiritual sight so that we can see spiritual life. That’s what salvation is. It’s by God’s grace through faith in Christ that we move from spiritual darkness to spiritual light. Spiritual death to spiritual life.

     Your experience of how God saved you and you moved from spiritual blindness to spiritual sight is called a testimony. God has given you a personal testimony and you are to share it with others. While every Christian is saved through the same Gospel truth, not every Christian experiences it the same way.

Salvation comes through the same Person, but their experience with that Person is unique. Your salvation story is unique to you.

Today, we’re talking about: “when your testimony goes on trial”. Looking at John 9:13-41 GOING TO CHUNK IT UP BECAUSE IT’S A LONGER PASSAGE.

We’re going to see the blind man share his testimony and receive persecution. SO WHAT DO WE DO WHEN OUR TESTIMONY GETS TESTED?

When Your Testimony Gets Tested…

1. TELL THE TRUTH.

     V13-14: “They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.”

Pharisees investigating. Sabbath day, no work to be done.

That’s what they’re really mad about. Jesus healed on the Sabbath.

They fixate on the day, not the deliverance of the man.

Their religion was so bound up in rules that they missed the Redeemer.

Religion without compassion always misses the miracle. They didn’t care about the man; they only cared about their mission. What was their mission? They wanted Jesus dead.

They ask him to tell his story. I want you to notice how clear, simple, and personal it is.

     V15: “Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

The Pharisees asked him how can you see?

He is straight to the point. The man put mud on my eyes. Then I washed my eyes. Now I see.

All he does is tell them exactly what he experienced.

He doesn’t try and turn it into a science experiment and make something up about the natural healing components found in mud… he just repeats the facts.

This is the second time this man has shared his testimony of what Christ had done for him. The first time he shared what happened with his neighbors, and it was a little bit longer.

     V10-11: “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

The first time he tells his story, it’s 33 words.

The second time he reduces it to 13 words. ‘He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.’

When he’s asked to tell it a third time in v25, he shrinks it down to seven words:

     V25b: “I was blind but now I see.”

 If he had to tell it a fourth time, he probably would have just said, ‘I see’!

He keeps the story clear and the center Christ. He keeps the main thing the main thing.

Two things to keep in mind while sharing your testimony:

1. Your testimony doesn’t need to be dramatic; it just needs to be clear and focused on the truth. We learn from this man that the key is to keep it simple AND FOCUSED ON THE SAVIOR

2. A simple testimony beats a slick argument.

How to tell your testimony: Before Jesus → How I met Jesus → After Jesus.

When you became a Christian, Jesus didn’t make you His attorney. He made you His ambassador.

You are not called to be a professional arguer; you’re called to be a faithful witness.

In a court of law, what is the job of the witness?

A witness doesn’t argue the case; a witness tells the truth.

They tell the truth about what they know, seen, and experienced. That’s it.

They don’t argue what they think; they share what they know.

You should never try to argue and debate someone into salvation. Why? Because anything you can talk someone into, someone else can talk them out of. If you talk someone into becoming a Christian, they are your disciple, not Jesus’ disciple.

 Pastor Matt said this last week: This man is proof that you don’t need to know everything to share something.

Often times this is the very reason that keeps us from sharing our testimony!! This is a weapon of the enemy, which is spreading doubt and anxiousness of being asked something that you don’t know. You don’t have to know everything. You will never know everything. Tell people what you do know and what God has done for you!

Truth: This guy met Jesus once for about FIVE MINUTES, and he’s already spreading the word.

Some of us have heard about Christ our whole lives and are still reluctant to tell anyone about Him.

He’s sharing what he knows.

His testimony wasn’t overly theological or analytical. But it was personal.

They could’ve peppered him with theological questions and he wouldn’t have been able to answer any of them more than likely!

He didn’t know everything, but he refused to share nothing. He focused on the undeniable truth of what Jesus did for him.

 Truth: The Pharisees could debate his simple words, but they could not deny his changed life.

There is no greater proof of the power of the gospel than a changed life.

Changed lives speak louder than clever words.

People can debate your opinions; they cannot deny your transformation.

Church, when Jesus changes your life, you can’t help but want to share it with others.

VEGAN/CROSS-FITTER ILLUSTRATION: It’s kind of like when you come across a vegan or a cross-fitter. You don’t have to twist their arm for them to talk to you for 15 minutes about what they eat, what time they wake up in the morning, how they feel now vs. how they used to feel… They are so excited to tell you about their experience and you bet they are going to try and get you in on it as well!! NO SHADE IF YOU ARE VEGAN OR A CROSS-FITTER! WE SHOULD HAVE THIS SAME MINDSET AND MOTIVATION TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THE LIFE CHANGING JESUS!

Transition: I want you to see what happens to this man as he keeps sharing his story. While his physical eyes are clear, His spiritual eyes are getting clearer. He’s beginning to see with the eyes of his mind and heart.

     V16-17: “Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

This man was healed of physical blindness instantaneously.

But he is being healed of his spiritual blindness progressively.

The more he shares his story, the more you see his faith and understanding increase. Up to this point, his body has been healed, but his soul hasn’t been saved. That’s coming in a moment. But the more he shares his story the more his faith grows. Here’s I want you to remember:

Ø Light OBEYED becomes light INCREASED.

     Walk in the light of what you know, and God will provide you more light. Your testimony doesn’t just benefit others; it benefits you. When you tell your testimony, it doesn’t just enlighten others; it strengthens you.

     When your testimony is tested…tell the truth. Secondly, when your testimony is tested:

2. TAKE THE HEAT.

     We’re going to look at this man’s parents now and they are going to do the very opposite.    

V18-23: “They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.””

Imagine the parents point of view here:

Their son has received his sight for the first time in his life!

He can now work, worship, marry, provide grandchildren for them, and live like never before.

He can now have the life they always wished he could.

BUT INSTEAD of throwing a hallelujah party, they cower in fear.

When being questioned about their son, they confirm the facts but dodge the faith.

Why? John says they feared being “put out of the synagogue.”    

Being put out of the synagogue was to be excommunicated from the Jewish community, their place of worship, all social status, and even from their work most of the time.

The synagogue was centrally important to the Jewish life.

Bottom line is

They don’t praise God and celebrate the miracle of their son’s sight because of the fear of people.

Sometimes we miss God’s work because we’re more concerned about what people will think than about what God has done.

Listen to me church: the fear of man will paralyze your testimony.

Proverbs 29:25: “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”

Fear is a trap. Faith sets you free.

You’ll never be bold for Christ while you’re worried about the applause or the approval of people.

Does the fear of man keep you from sharing the gospel when you see an opportunity?

Which of these do you spend more time thinking about? Does this please man or does this please man?

Do you find yourself more concerned about fitting in than standing up?

Illustration: I heard of a man named Charlie Moore who joined the company softball team in a new town. He was terrible. He couldn’t hit a beach ball with a telephone pole. But every time he came to bat someone in the crowd yelled, “Come on, Mr. Moore! You’ve got this, Mr. Moore!” On the way home he told his family, “Somebody in the stands sure cheered for me tonight. I don’t know who it was.” His teenage son said, “Dad, that was me.” Charlie asked, “Why’d you call me Mr. Moore instead of dad?” The boy said, “I didn’t want folks to know I was related to you.”

How many of us cheer Jesus anonymously from the stands, but don’t want to draw too much attention or scrutiny to what we believe or who we follow?

It’s not possible to tiptoe through life trying to make everybody happy and still be faithful to Christ.

The Pharisees don’t get much from the parents, so they go back to the man who was healed.

     V24-27: “A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?””

     What courage! What clarity! This man didn’t have all the answers, but he had one answer that nobody could refute: “One thing I know: I was blind, now I see.”

     That is the power of a testimony. You don’t have to know all the theology. You don’t have to win every argument. Just tell the story of what Jesus did for you. You may not be able to out-argue them, but they can’t out-live you. They can’t deny or debate a changed life.

    NOTICE growing boldness: ‘Do you want to become his disciples too?’ This guy isn’t even saved quite yet, and he’s already recruiting people! This is meant to be some holy sarcasm. He knows they want nothing to do with Jesus, but he’s pushing them to face the obvious. I love this guy! How do they respond to his holy jab? Look at verse 28:

     V28-34a: “Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!”

     When they couldn’t deny the miracle, they tried to discredit the man. The parents confirmed he indeed was blind at birth. He can now see. No disputing the facts. They hurled insults, belittled his birth, and finally threw him out. That’s what the world does when it runs out of arguments. It resorts to anger and violence. They are finally done with this guy and do what they threatened to do.

     V34b: “And they threw him out.” Listen, some of us are trying to fit in with the world rather than stand out for Christ. Let me tell you something to remember:

Ø It is better to be EXCLUDED for the truth than to be INCLUDED with a lie.

     Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33: “Everyone who acknowledges Me publicly here on earth, I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven. But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will deny before My Father in heaven.” 

When you stand for Christ, you should expect exclusion, insults, and opposition.

But rejoice! Why? Because that’s when JESUS MEETS YOU WHERE YOU ARE!! We’ll see in a moment, when the religious people threw him out, Jesus found him and pulled him in.

Let me just stop here and give you four ways to stand firm when the heat is on.

How Do I Stand Firm When the Heat Is On?

#1: Pre-decide your ALLEGIANCE.

     Don’t wait for the furnace; settle it before the fire. Decide before the pressure.

Daniel decided his allegiance way before the lions den.

Joshua 24:15: “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve…But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

     If you wait to decide in the moment, you’ll bend with the wind.     

#2: Use a soft ANSWER with a steel SPINE.

Proverbs 15:1: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

1 Peter 3:15b-16a: “And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.”

     Tone and attitude matter. It’s your testimony, not your temper, that you want them to remember. Be kind but be courageous.

#3: Repeat what GRACE has done.

     Psalm 107:2: “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story…”.

     Stick with and stand on your testimony. Make sure you are not the hero of your story. Emphasize what God has done for you through Christ as a free gift of grace.

IF TIME: Sometimes I think we get the point of our testimonies wrong. We spend 90% of it telling all the bad stuff we did but don’t spend any time talking about redemption, restoration, or how God has healed wounds. It’s amazing that you were so lost and now you are found. But don’t glorify the sin, glorify the Savior! Spend time in your testimony sharing God’s grace on your life and the life you walk in now. Not just that now you are at church 3 times a week, in 4 Bible studies, and serve every week. Those things are great, but people might miss the good news because they just think, I will never be able to do all of that… Keep it simple and focused on Jesus who opened your spiritual eyes.

#4: Expect EXCLUSION and meet JESUS there.

     Luke 6:22: “What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man.”

     If you belong to Jesus, don’t be a closet Christian. Don’t whisper His name in the dark and deny Him in the daylight. Your faith is personal, but it was never meant to be private. Transition: If the world puts you out, take heart, Jesus will take you in. In fact, that’s what we see as we close this chapter.

  When your testimony gets tested: tell the truth, take the heat, and lastly…

3. TRUST THE SAVIOR.

     V35a: “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and WHEN HE FOUND HIM…”

     I love that line. Jesus hears about the exclusion and goes looking for the one who paid a price for faithfulness.

The synagogue threw him out, but Jesus sought him out.

The Pharisees rejected him, but the Lord received him.

He lost religion, but he found redemption.

Jesus didn’t expect the man to find Him; He went and found the man.

THIS NEXT PART IS AWESOME AND I NOTICED SOMETHING I’VE NEVER NOTICED BEFORE!!

     V35b-36: “…and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

When Jesus speaks to him again, notice He doesn’t ask how his eyes are doing, or how he likes seeing.

Truth: Jesus healed his eyes so that He could save his soul.

Jesus STRAIGHT TO THE POINT asking the all-important question: ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’

Just because you’ve been blessed by Jesus doesn’t mean you’ve been saved by Jesus.

Salvation offered requires a response.

ALWAYS GLOSSED OVER THE MANS ANSWER… The man says, ‘Tell me who the Son of Man is. I want to believe in Him.’

REMEMBER, THE MAN HASN’T SEE THE FACE OF JESUS YET!!! Jesus put mud on his eyes and sent him off to wash it off. He’s been away telling his story to many, but he had yet to see Jesus.

     V37-38: Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”

Jesus tells him, He is the Lord. The man instantly responds and believes.

When Jesus opens your eyes, worship opens your mouth.

Worship should be the natural reflex of every believer.

Christianity is not merely explaining an event; it is adoring a Person. He found me; so I worship Him.

I told you earlier that the man’s physical eyes were opened immediately, but his spiritual eyes were opened progressively. Sometimes salvation happens in a moment. But sometimes salvation takes a little time to sink in and become clear.

In verse 27, the man said, “Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”” He considered himself part of the team already! He hasn’t yet believed. But he is moving that way.

Notice the progression of spiritual sight through this passage:

· Confirmation: V11: “The man they call Jesus…” Points clearly to Jesus who turned the lights on for me.

· Conviction: V17: “He is a prophet.” More than just a man… not the Messiah but more than man.

· Conclusion: V33: “…from God” He has been sent by God.

· Conversion: V38: “Lord, I believe” Believes Jesus that He is the Savior.

Ø You are not saved by the PLAN of salvation but by the MAN of salvation…Jesus Christ!

You are saved by a person

Not just a recited prayer. Must encounter and respond to Jesus

CLOSING:

     In the last few verses, we see one thing that keeps most people from trusting in Jesus and having Him open their spiritual eyes: Pride. To have your soul saved, eyes opened, and eternity changed, you must come to Jesus with a humble heart.

     V39-41: “Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.””

     The issue is not their IQ; it’s their attitude. Jesus says: If you’ll admit your blindness, I’ll give you sight. But if you insist you already see, you’ll continue stumble in the dark. Let me close by speaking directly to two groups of people.

1. If you’ve never trusted Christ, won’t you decide today is the day? Come out of the shadows. Step out of fear. Say with your mouth and heart like this man who was rescued by Jesus, “Lord, I believe.” Jesus took the ultimate heat for you. He bore the wrath of God, the shame of the cross, the insults of men publicly, for all to see. Will you be ashamed of Him, or will you confess Him today?

2. If you are a Christian who’s been hiding your faith, today is the day to come clean. Confess it to the Lord and He will forgive you. Pray for one opportunity this week to share it with gentleness and courage. When you share it, leave the results to God.