In the controversy about whether the creation took place in literally 24-hour days, I think we need to ask ourselves a more fundamental question:
Did Jesus give sight to the man born blind?
If I say “No”, then I have to ask if Jesus even existed? But even atheists agree that He existed. So how do I understand that there are all these reports from unrelated people about miracles? Are every one of the miracles reported by various writers of the New Testament fake news?
When I the story of the man born blind, the book goes on to say there were a lot of people who did not think a miracle had taken place, and yet, they were unable to explain the fact that a man born blind could see. They couldn’t deny that it happened. They would not believe it, apparently, because they chose not to believe it.
John 9
“8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 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.””
Cannot be a miracle, can it? We read on:
16 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.
How, indeed. Well, what do mom and pop say?
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know.
John says they wouldn’t commit themselves to the miracle or the miracle-doer because they were afraid they might be put out of the synagogue.
Then the ex-blind man uses logic to explain that Jesus is not a sinner, but in fact a godly man:
31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
And later on, those who were bent on denying that Jesus was the Christ, argued:
19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Well, would a demon even try? Jesus said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The devil does not do works of mercy. He is quoted in Matthew, “18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.”
Did Jesus do miracles? If so, why? He said, “Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
Believe the works.
Jesus wants me to believe Him because His works are miracles. Still, some insisted that He should have showered His miracles on everyone, even Himself, as when the soldiers slapped Him and challenged Him to guess who did it. Or when He was on the cross, they said, “He saved others, [but] He cannot save himself.” They wanted miracles on demand. They assumed any man would naturally save himself, no matter what he had to do. Obviously Jesus valued love for us more than His own life.
One last comment on the man born blind:
“35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”“
They are not denying that Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man. They are just wondering why he didn’t keep Lazarus from dying.
But wait! Jesus now says, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out of the tomb.
Is all this fake news? A fabrication? A conspiracy to woo us into behaving ourselves via little made-up stories?
Well, what if we are simply reading facts, reports from various people; what conclusions can we form? What is our “take-away”?
Mine is this:
If anyone can do the impossible, by what logic can you declare what they cannot do?
By what reasoning can you say “He can do this impossible thing, but not that impossible thing.”? Such rationality evades logic.
Of course it is impossible for the world to be created in seven literal 24-hour days. Life itself is impossible to occur by chance if you consider the laws of probability.
Just as it is impossible to undo the wrong things I have done, it is impossible to deserve salvation. I need a miracle-worker who loves me and forgives me when I change my mind and want to live His way.
