Josiah the Blind
Suddenly, there was mud on his eyelids.
Josiah, at least, had a good high-traffic spot near the healing pool.
Blind from birth, Josiah didn't complain about his lot. Could be worse. At least he didn't have leprosy.
One day, Josiah overheard some strangers talking nearby, one saying he proposed to use Josiah. Suddenly, there was mud on his eyelids. "WTF?" thought Josiah, "That's spit!"
He got up, stumbled down the steps to the pool, washed off the mud, and discovered he could, for the first time in his life, see!
He didn't even know what to do, so, at first, he went back to his usual begging spot, but folks pretty quickly took note that the old blind guy could see.
Word got around. The authorities heard about it. They dragged him into court. They interrogated his parents. They accused him of fraud. Even though they all knew, at heart, that the blind had been made to see.
Josiah gave great testimony.
He simply told the facts. "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see."
Then he told the truth. "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing."
They couldn't handle the truth.
Jesus picked a pretty good messenger.
They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
When Josiah learned that he had been cast out of the synagogue, he was at first greatly downcast, but he was much encouraged when Jesus directed that he should immediately prepare to go with them to the camp at Pella. This simple-minded man of Jerusalem had indeed been cast out of a Jewish synagogue, but behold the Creator of a universe leading him forth to become associated with the spiritual nobility of that day and generation.
And now Jesus left Jerusalem, not again to return until near the time when he prepared to leave this world. With the two apostles and Josiah the Master went back to Pella. And Josiah proved to be one of the recipients of the Master’s miraculous ministry who turned out fruitfully, for he became a lifelong preacher of the gospel of the kingdom.