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Thursday night, somebody’s living room, eight people and a bowl of chips. The leader reads a passage out loud, looks up, and asks what everyone makes of it — and for one long second you are certain the question is pointed at you.
You know your honest answer. Your honest answer is that you have no idea. There is a chapter in John that is this exact scene, except the panel is professional, the questioning is hostile, and the man in the chair has known Jesus for about an afternoon. He walks out with his answer intact — not by knowing more than the experts, but by saying I know not out loud, twice, and refusing to budge off the one thing he had.
The least-informed man in the building
John 9 opens with a man blind from birth. Jesus made clay, put it on his eyes, and sent him to a pool to wash. Notice how the man describes it afterwards: “A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes” (John 9:11, KJV). A man that is called Jesus. He was still blind when it happened, so he had never laid eyes on the man he was being asked to explain. His whole reply to the first question is three words: “Where is he? He said, I know not” (John 9:12, KJV).
Then they question him round after round — verse 15, verse 17, then back again at verse 24, the same question in different wrapping until he slips. He never produces a fact he does not have.
The one sentence worth memorizing
Here is his answer in round two, and it is the line to keep for a room full of people who know more than you: “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25, KJV).
Two halves. I know not. And one thing I know. He hands back the question he cannot settle, and holds the ground he can stand on.
Now set that beside what the trained men say four verses later: “We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is” (John 9:29, KJV). Same two halves, opposite order. They were certain about the thing that happened centuries ago and blank about the person in front of them. He was blank about the theology and certain about the person in front of him. Nobody had the complete set — the only difference is which half each led with. The experts could not even agree with each other: “there was a division among them” (John 9:16, KJV). Even his parents, who had the full background, said “we know not” twice and handed the question back — because they feared being “put out of the synagogue” (John 9:21-22, KJV). Silence in a room like that is rarely depth.
His answer grew without one new fact
This is the part I did not expect. Check it yourself with the chapter open:
- Verse 15 — the bare facts: “He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.”
- Verse 17 — “He is a prophet.”
- Verse 25 — “one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
- Verse 33 — “If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.”
- Verse 38 — “Lord, I believe.”
Nobody taught him anything between verse 15 and verse 33. It is one experience, retold under pressure, going deeper each time he is made to say it again. Being asked questions he could not answer is what grew his answer. And belief lands last: after they cast him out, Jesus went and found him, and the man was still asking “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” (John 9:36, KJV). He defended Jesus to a tribunal before he could have told you who Jesus was.
What to actually say on Thursday night
Three sentences, all straight out of John 9, all available with zero preparation:
- “I don’t know.” It cost him nothing in verse 12 or verse 25. Say it early and the pressure leaves the room — including for the two other people hoping not to be asked.
- “Here is what it says.” Retell the passage in your own plain words, like verse 15. If you can retell it, you read it.
- “Here is the one thing I know.” Not a conclusion about the text — the piece that landed on you: what you noticed, what bothered you, what you want to do about it.
And ask your question in the room, not in the car afterwards — that is the whole method in John 9. Do that for a month and the hour stops being a weekly exam and becomes the one place in your week where you can be honestly curious out loud.
If a group still feels far off, there is a gentler on-ramp in what to do as a new Christian without a church. If the words are the obstacle, start with how to start reading the Bible when you don’t understand it. And if you think you need to catch up first, the expert in Luke 10 already had the right answer and was told the same thing you are.
Walk in with something to retell
The reason that man had anything to say was simple: something had happened to him and he could retell it. That is the only qualification the chapter asks for. Which is why 30 Days Walking with Jesus exists — a beginner-friendly plan through the Gospels, the life of Jesus one day at a time, so you are never opening to a random page the night before. Each day comes in a few shapes:
- 30 short devotional videos, each under 60 seconds
- 30 full-chapter audio readings, for the car, a walk, or while the coffee brews
- A complete PDF study guide with journal prompts, for the question you want to bring with you
- 5 quick-reference scripture guides to keep nearby
A week of that and you walk in with four or five scenes you can retell in your own words — not answers, scenes, and a real question about one of them. It is completely free: no payment, no card, no upsell. The words of Jesus should not sit behind a paywall, so there is nothing to buy and nothing that expires. Instant access on any device, yours forever, under 10 minutes a day.
Questions People Are Asking
Q: Should a new believer join a Bible study group, or wait until they know more?
A: There is no knowledge threshold to clear first. John 9 follows a man questioned round after round by trained religious experts when all he had was one thing that had happened to him that afternoon, and he answered better than they did — partly because he said “I know not” where it was true (John 9:25, KJV). Going early works in your favour: his understanding grows each time someone makes him say it out loud again.
Q: What do I say in a Bible study group when I don’t know the answer?
A: Say that you don’t know, then say the part you do have. That is the shape of the best-known line in John 9: “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25, KJV). In practice it is three sentences: “I don’t know,” the passage retold in your own plain words, and the one thing that stood out to you. None of the three need preparation.
Q: What if people in a Bible study group look down on me for being new?
A: Sometimes a room does that, and the Bible does not pretend otherwise — in John 9:34 the panel tells the man, “Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out” (KJV). What happens next is the part to hold on to: “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him” he spoke to him directly (John 9:35, KJV). If a group shames you for not knowing, that is information about the group, and worth finding a different one.
Q: Is there a free Bible study for new believers that follows the life of Jesus?
A: Yes. 30 Days Walking with Jesus is a free, beginner-friendly plan that walks through the life of Jesus one day at a time in the Gospels. It includes 30 short devotional videos of under 60 seconds each, 30 full-chapter audio readings, a complete PDF study guide with journal prompts, and 5 quick-reference scripture guides. It takes under 10 minutes a day, needs no payment and no card, and you can start Day 1 of 30 Days Walking with Jesus here.
