In John 9, Jesus heals a man born blind — and then something quietly wonderful happens: the man starts to grow. Watch how he talks about Jesus as the pressure mounts. At first he's just "the man called Jesus" (9:11). Pushed by the Pharisees, he says, "He is a prophet" (9:17). Cornered and cross-examined, he reasons his way higher: "If this man were not from God, he could do nothing" (9:33). And when Jesus comes and finds him after he's been thrown out of the synagogue, he falls down: "Lord, I believe" (9:38). He doesn't have the training his interrogators have. When they try to trap him, he simply says, "One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" (9:25). His understanding of Jesus gets bigger every time he opens his mouth — and the religious experts get blinder every time they open theirs. This week's reading follows that staircase: a man with almost no answers and one undeniable experience, climbing all the way up to worship.
