I was blind, now can see. Pt. II

Think about this for a minute, at this time, the blind man had been healed. He had not seen Jesus, did not know how the sight was restored to him, just that it was done.

Has God done things in your life that you did not see, did not understand, but know God did it?

We have seen the question to Jesus (Jn9:1-2)

John 9:1–2 NASB95

1 As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

We see Jesus answer, which was not really a direct answer (Jn9:3-5)

John 9:3–4 NASB95

3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

John 9:5 NASB95

5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

We saw, the blind man did not, see Jesus miracle (Jn9:6-7)

John 9:6–7 NASB95

6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.

The Passage

Let’s lean in together to study God’s word and see what we can learn.

John 9:8 NASB95

8 Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?”

John 9:9–10 NASB95

9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.” 10 So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”

John 9:11 NASB95

11 He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”

John 9:12–13 NASB95

12 They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind.

John 9:14–15 NASB95

14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

John 9:16 NASB95

16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

What sticks out to you in this passage, what did you notice?

Why is the therefore, therefore in (v.8)?

It links the next part of the story of the miracle, the unseen one (what was said before), to the teaching (what is about to be said).

Who are the players, the people in this passage?

The neighbors (those seeing the miracle) (v.8)

The previously blind beggar (v.8)

The Pharisees (v.13)

Jesus, but only inferred (vv. 11, 15-16)

Was there unity or division between the people (v.9)?

What was Jesus part, what was the man’s part in this (v.11)?

How did the Pharisees get involved? And why do you think they were (vv.13-14)?

What were the Pharisees asking the man (v.15)?

Was there unity or division among the Pharisees (v.16)?

The questions, the reaction.

As coming to expect to hear from God, we need to look, read and stay in context. I think it is important to look back (9:2) before looking at the verses (9:8-12)

John 9:2 NASB95

2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

What was the question (9:2)?

John 9:8–9 NKJV

8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” 9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.”

John 9:10 NKJV

10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”

What is the question (9:8:10)?

The disciples asked why was the man blind. the neighbors asked how his eyes were opened. Both had the wrong questions, they should be asking who performed the miracle.

As for the who, the man had the name only. He did not know He was from Nazareth (fulfilling scripture); did not know he was the Messiah (fulfilling scripture) or even the claim that He was God (again fulfilling scripture). Or wait, how about did not know He was the Light of the world. Or lastly even where Jesus was. The blind man had not seen Jesus, the man who healed .

The man did not see, yet the man obeyed, is that something we can learn from?

Think about this too, when you look at the passage, the blind man obeyed and did not know why to obey, what was going to be the result of him obeying. Go ahead look again at (vv.6-7).

When we know who Jesus is, when we accept what Jesus offers, and we obey to what Jesus says, do we fully understand what we are going to get beyond eternal life?

We too like the man who did not see the miracle for he was walking in darkness, we were too. We don’t know the exact way it happened, we were blind, but now we see. But we were blind, walking in darkness of this world, but now see the light of the world and walk in the light of the world now.

Man brought in

Have you ever seen people accept while others reject the work of God? Here we see that, as well as legalism, and the division because of it.

OK, time to look back at the scripture again.

John 9:13 NASB95

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind.

Who is the “they” in (v.13)? You will have to look back for the correct answer.

Why did they bring the man who was formally blind to the Pharisees (vv.13-14)?

It was on the Sabbath. Maybe note that Jesus sought out the man, the man did not seek out Jesus (v.6). - - - Jesus took the initiative.

The man was a beggar, did that everyday to survive, so Jesus could have healed him any day, but Jesus, who took the initiative chose to do it on the Sabbath.

Could it be that Jesus chose to do it on the Sabbath to challenge the religious leaders who put their traditions to the elevation of scripture? Traded the word of God for the traditions of man?

BJ Clarke said this.

“Works of necessity and mercy never could be forbidden on that day by him whose name is mercy, and whose nature is love, for the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; were it otherwise, the Sabbath would be rather a curse than a blessing.”

What was the division that happened (v.16)? What were they divided about?

We should not be surprised by division, Jesus brought it (Lk12:51-53)

Luke 12:51–52 NASB95

51 “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; 52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.

Luke 12:53 NASB95

53 “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

I would like you to make an assumption (use Lk12:51-53) why do you think Jesus brought division?

He brought it for there is no fence sitting, you have to chose Him and to follow Him. His way, for there is no other way. Traditions of man cannot save you, the law cannot justify you, a prayer is nice but it is in faith, in belief, in confession, in baptism you are saved.

The division in our passage (Jn9:16) is those who believed and accepted Jesus as a man from God and put their trust in Him, and, well, those who did not.

In (v.16) there are two prepositions

Man is not from God

How can a sinner perform such a miracle?

It would seem that John is high-lighting the second one over the first. It was the second one that brought the division. And it can still bring division today, can’t it? Do you believe, or not? Can Jesus heal you of sin problem or not. Can you save yourself, or do you need Jesus to do it?

Morris said:

“The group speaking tentatively in favor of Jesus must have been a small one. We do not hear from them again after this verse, and throughout the rest of the chapter the narrative proceeds as thou the other group were the only one to be considered.”

So, to summarize what we have seen in Jn9 so far before we close

The man, the question, the response (9:1-5)

The obedience that brought the miracle (9:6-7)

The controversy about the miracle (9:8-12)

The taking and the division (9:13-16).

Stay tuned as we continue next week in this teaching, much more to come as we pick up at (v.17).