OBEY GOD'S WORD

John 9:1 - 7

1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 

2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 

3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 

4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 

5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 

6  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 

7  And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 

This Gospel according to John, was

written by John, the brother of James and

the son of Zebedee. At one point he was

identified as “the disciple whom Jesus

loved” (John 21:20).

Along with his brother James, they were

known as the “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17)

This Gospel of John was written to

believers and unbelievers in the region of

Ephesus. He writes to assure believers of

the truth of the Gospel and to call

unbelievers to faith in Jesus (20:30-31).

John gives a portrait of Jesus as the

divine Son who came to earth to reveal

the Father and to bring eternal life to all

who believe in him. The message of this

Gospel can be summed up in John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (Ref. The Essential Bible Companion - Zondervan)

In today’s text Jesus heals a man that was born blind.

OBEY GOD’S WORD

1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (9:1)

As Jesus went along in the city of

Jerusalem, He saw a man with

congenital blindness. Jesus’ choice of

this individual is significant. The fact

that this man was blind from birth

pointed out his seemingly hopeless

situation. This illustrates man’s spiritual

blindness from birth (9:39–41; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:1–3).

2 Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. *

2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 

3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 

The disciples asked Jesus who sinned,

this man or his parents, that he was born

blind? That is, was it for his own sins, or

the sins of his parents? They suppose (as

many of the Jews did) that he might have

sinned in a pre - existent state, before he

came into the world. *

Or was it because they read Exodus 20:5 (KJV 1900)

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (9:2–3)

The disciples faced a theological

problem. Believing that sin directly

caused all suffering, how could a person

be born with a handicap? Therefore

either this man … sinned in his mother’s

womb (Ezek. 18:4) or his parents sinned

(Ex. 20:5). Jesus therefore answered,

neither this man nor his parents sinned.

These words do not contradict the

universal sinfulness of man (cf. Rom.

3: 23) For all have sinned, and come short

of the glory of God; .

Instead Jesus meant that this man’s

blindness was not caused by some

specific sin. Instead the problem existed

so that … God could display His glory in

the midst of seeming tragedy. *

Some situations come on you just so

God can show up and show out. God will

prove to you that he is God and besides

Him there is no other. *

4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 

5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 

Here Jesus speaks of God who is the one

that sent him. God himself spoke of

Jesus coming in Genesis 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

By using the word day Jesus is speaking

of the allotted time he has on earth to

do God’s will. This is true of all of us.

Psalms 90:10 (TLB) Seventy years are given us! And some may even live to eighty. But even the best of these years are often empty and filled with pain; soon they disappear, and we are gone. *

Ecclesiastes 3:2  A time to be born, and a time to die;

And the word night here stands for death.

When the breath of life has departed

from our bodies there is no time left

to work out you own soul salvation.

Isaiah 38:18  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. *

5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 

As long as Jesus was here on earth in the

form of a man, he was the one to show

the world the way to salvation. But after

his death his disciples would be the light

of the world. You and I are to let our light

shine so that men would see our good

works and glorify our Father in Heaven. *

6  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 

7  And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 

Jesus uses his spit here as he did in Mark

8:23 but in a different way. He didn’t spit

on the man but on the ground and made

clay (mud). *

He anointed the eyes of the blind man

with the clay. This might have made some

men blind. But this mixture of spit and

dirt had no medicine in it but what it did

have was the touch of the healing power

of God.

This clay was a point of contact to help

develop the man’s faith. Similar to how

we use the oil today when we anoint

someone to pray for them.

Then Jesus tells him to go, wash in the

pool of Siloam. Perhaps our Lord

intended to make the people notice this

miracle. For a crowd of people would

naturally gather round him to observe the

event of so strange a prescription, and it

is exceeding probable, that the guide who

must have led him in walking through a

great part of the city, would mention the

mission he was going on. From the

fountain of Siloam, which was outside the

walls of Jerusalem, a little stream flowed

into the city, and was received in a basin,

near the temple. Jesus sends the man to

wash. God sent Jesus to wash us of our

sins and to remove the scales off of our

eyes so that we might see the glorious

light of salvation.

So the man went and he washed, and got

his sight. He believed, he obeyed, and got

his blessing. Had he been wise in his own

eyes, and reasoned, on the impossibility

of the means, he would have been left in

darkness.

I pray to God, may our proud hearts

be subdued to the methods of his

recovering grace! May we choose to

accept God’s way of salvation and healing.

I pray that we would obey the Word.

That is the Word of God.

(Tell how God told King Saul to destroy all

the Amalekites and all that they own in 1

Samuel 15.) * But Saul spared King Agag

and the best of the animals. And in

1 Samuel 15:11 NIV "I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions."

Saul did not obey God even though God

choose him to be king. When Saul was

small in his own eyes then is he was

humble, he obeyed God. But when he

thought more of himself than he should

he disobeyed God.

1 Samuel 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 

OBEY GOD'S WORD *