“One Thing I Know”

 “One Thing I Know”

Jarrod M. Jacobs

     After Jesus healed the man born blind (Jn. 9:1-14), it caused “no small stir” among the Pharisees and others who had known this man was blind. (Jn. 9:8-14). This act upset the Pharisees rather than bringing them joy. They did not deny Jesus performed a miracle, but objected to His action because He did it on the Sabbath (Jn. 9:14, 16). They were so upset over this turn of events that they questioned the former blind man about it (v. 17), and his parents (v. 18-20). His parents feared being cast out of the synagogue (v. 22), so they said very little; thus, the Pharisees and others went back and questioned the former blind man again (v. 24).

            These people conjectured whether Jesus was a sinner (Jn. 9:16, 24), a prophet (v. 17), or what. The answer of that former blind man gets my attention. He said, “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (v. 25).

            That was the evidence that could not be denied! With the man’s statement in John 9:25, he came to the correct conclusion that “if this man were not of God, he could do nothing” (v. 33).

            Why can we not be satisfied with the “one thing”? A common problem is seen when people read a portion of the Bible and then jump to conclusions based on conjecture or speculation. We see this in those who assume Saul/Paul fell off a donkey when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-8, 22:6-16). I have read this text many times in my life and never found anything as big as a donkey on the page! I understand folks rode animals in those days. They also walked, rode in wagons, etc. However, what does the text say? I might not know all of the events surrounding the conversion of Saul, but “one thing I know” is that he fell to the ground, and there is no mention of any animals in the text (Acts 9:4, 22:7)! Let us not assume there were any!

            Others conjecture and speculate about the number of wise men who visited Jesus. First, some assume they visited Jesus the night He was born, and second, it is believed there were only three wise men who worshipped Him (Matt. 2:11-12).

            A careful reading of Matthew 2:1-12 and Luke 2:1-20 shows us that these men came to see Jesus sometime after His birth. We do not read about a specific number of wise men who were there. We read only the plural word “men” (Matt. 2:1). I am sure many people have done more study on this text than I, but “one thing I know” is that God did not give us the exact number of wise men who visited Jesus, nor was their visit on the night of His birth, but sometime later when He was in “the house” (Matt. 2:12) rather than out with the animals (Lk. 2:7, 12).

            Another common mistake is misquoting Scripture. Have we ever heard things like: “Money is the root of all evil”? Or, “God won’t put more on you than you can bear”? These statements are not found in the Bible. Yet, perhaps we heard a family member, friend, or acquaintance say these things. Maybe someone else misquoted these (or other passages)?

            There are a lot of things I don’t know, but “one thing I know” is that we are always going to benefit when we go back to the source, and not merely rely on someone to tell us what the Lord has said (Jn. 8:32; Acts 17:11). In our two examples above, when we read I Timothy 6:10 and I Corinthians 10:13 for ourselves, we will know the truth, and these Scriptures do not say what many think they say! Relying on hearsay can lead to misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the Scriptures, which can have profound spiritual consequences, including being lost in Hell.

Conclusion

            Let us leave the conjecture and speculation out of our teaching and preaching. Let us leave it out of our personal Bible study. Let us be satisfied that the “one thing I know” is the word of God in its pure form. When we do this, we will have the spiritual nourishment and knowledge necessary to get from earth to Heaven (II Pet. 2:2; Heb. 5:12-14)!