The Blind Shall See

Chapter 9

The man who was born blind is restored to sight

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.8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. 10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? 11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. 12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

He is brought to the Pharisees

13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. 14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. 15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. 16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. 17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? 20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: 21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. 22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him. 24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. 25  He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. 26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? 27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? 28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. 29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. 30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. 31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. 34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

but he is received by Christ

35 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? 36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

Those whom Christ enlightens

39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? 41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

John 9:1-41 (KJV)

text gathering and research

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Which is good, because that's the assignment.

I just love this guy. He loves to state his thoughts in clear, simple terms. He's ready to argue. He's not afraid of confrontation. And when he comes to faith in the Lord, he has absolutely no problem telling people about it. Kind of sounds like me, when you think about it!

I suppose the first thing I could comment on in these verses, is "Who sinned, this man or his parents?" The obvious conclusion is that if one has misfortune or illness, it is the result of sin. Well, the Lord quickly deals with that. "No sin." Let's move on.

Obviously, we have a few facts here. The man was blind, and now he sees. His parents ducked out of it. "Yup. That's our son. Who healed him? He's an adult - you ask him." In other words, "We've got a membership in the synagogue, and we've got a place in the community. We don't want to jeopardize that!"

I'd like to contrast that with the Blind man. "I only know, I was blind, and now I see. This man came to me, put clay on my eyes, told me to wash. And I see!"

The Pharisees had a different take on it. "We can't let them think the Galilean healed him! They might believe he's the Messiah, and then where will WE be?"

The former blind man isn't going to buy that. Not at all. "Wow. Really? You don't know where he's from, and yet He has opened my eyes."

That right there is one of my favorite verses in the Book of John. "You don't know where He's from, but He opened my eyes."

The Pharisees - I used to be one - could see. But they were blind. The blind man was blind. But he could see.

And indeed, if you look at verse 40-41, that is the point the Lord Himself raised up -

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? 41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. John 9:39-41 (KJV)

So the Pharisees tried the cover up. Tactic number one when you're losing a debate. "We know this man is a sinner." The blind man turns to Jesus Christ and calls Him, "Lord." He knew that Jesus had to be the Messiah. The Lord explained He was more than the Messiah.

It's interesting to contrast the Rich young ruler with the blind man. The Rich Young Ruler in Luke 18 tried to justify himself. The Lord spoke to that man, and targeted his sin issue - his wealth. But in the case of the blind man, sin wasn't discussed. He was just ready to believe! And so the Lord told him, "I that speak to you am He!"

There's a difference between the two. The Rich Young Ruler is interested in ,"what one thing must I do?" Oh, it's a little thing. I have to fast every third Tuesday or something like that, and I'll earn my way into heaven.

The blind man is just, "Hey, I can see! He was a prophet or something!" And so he told the Pharisees just what he thought.

Apparently the Pharisees didn't agree. They resorted to tactic number two in a debate, repeating a point you've already answered, hoping to wear you down. "you've already disproved this, but I'll repeat it as if you never defeated it!"

"How were you healed?"

The Blind man is not falling for it.

I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?" John 9:27 (KJV)

That's a great response. "If I answer you and prove it, will you believe?"

The Pharisees had issue with that, and wanted to insult the man. "Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?" John 9:34 (KJV)

This is often the way when you're trying to share your faith with someone who doesn't want to hear it, but want's to argue instead. They want to insult you when they're losing the argument. those who cannot see, will if they believe. But those who can see will not believe!

Witness is telling what you know by experience. —Bible Reader's Companion

Our point here is simple, just like our blind man. Share your faith. Tell the blind who will not see about the Lord. Don't be ashamed of it, but be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)