Was Blind, but Now I See!
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Boy Can't See Glory at Art Gallery
I remember taking my youngest son to one of the national art galleries in Washington, D.C. As we made our approach, I was so excited about what we were going to see. He was decidedly unexcited. But I just knew that, once inside, he would have his mind blown and would thank me for what I had done for him that day. As it turned out, his mind wasn't blown; it wasn't even activated. I saw things of such stunning beauty that brought me to the edge of tears. He yawned, moaned, and complained his way through gallery after gallery. With every new gallery, I was enthralled, but each time we walked into a new art space, he begged me to leave. He was surrounded by glory but saw none of it. He stood in the middle of wonders but was bored out of his mind. His eyes worked well, but his heart was stone blind. He saw everything, but he saw nothing.
Source:
Paul David Tripp, Awe: Why it Matters for Everything we Think, Say, and Do (Crossway, 2015), pp. 65-66
There are miracles and wonders taking place all around us daily. But few are touched or impressed by God’s wonders. Human hearts are becoming duller and duller, and even the entertainment industry struggles to produce content that will captivate people. By studying John 9, we will glean important lessons about the greatest miracle that someone can witness.
1 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.
4 We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes.
7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?”
9 Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one.”
10 So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”
[Summarize John 9:1-41]
There are several important applications to the spiritual life that can be gleaned from this story.
[Read John 9:1-3, CSB]
The man was born blind. Jesus made it clear that the circumstances of his birth were not a result of his personal sin, nor was his blindness a result of his parent’s sins. Ultimately, his birth defects resulted from Eve and Adam’s sin. Application #1 is sin has broken every one of us, and this brokenness has rendered us all totally depraved. The blindness of the man symbolizes total depravity. Blind people are unable to see how they appear. Likewise, we all suffer from total depravity and brokenness and cannot see ourselves as we really are. The world teaches that there is goodness in everyone. The Bible does not support this theory. Jer 17:9 says,
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
The phrase “desperately wicked” can be also translated as “incurably sick.”
In fact, Jesus himself says, Matt 15:19
19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.
Jesus did not say wickedness comes from some people’s hearts or the hearts of wicked people. No, he used the definite article “the heart.” In other words, every heart. Yes, even yours. Every heart. It’s hard to believe, it’s difficult to accept, but this is what the Bible teaches, and God’s word is true.
Our condition of total depravity has led to another grave spiritual issue that afflicts every human being.
[Read John 9:1-6]
Is there any indication in the story that the blind man sought the aid of Jesus? In contrast to the story of Blind Bartimaeus recorded in Mark 10:41-46, this blind man did not ask Jesus for anything. He was a blind beggar and focused on begging. Was he aware that Jesus was in his vicinity? Probably not. Nevertheless, it is significant that Jesus sought after the blind man, not vice versa. As we learned in last week’s Sabbath School lesson, it was God who pursued Adam, and not Adam who pursued God. This detail in the story of the blind man suggests the second major issue that all humanity is afflicted with–total inability. Application #2 is that the blind man was incapable of seeking after Jesus; likewise, we are incapable of seeking after God. Rom 3:10-18 says…
10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips.
14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,
17 and the path of peace they have not known.
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Thus, God had to take the initiative and seek after Adam, likewise, God takes the initiative and seeks after us.
[Read John 9:6, 7]
A third spiritual application is gleaned from the eye salve of spit and dirt applied to the eyes of the blind man, what Jesus tells the man to do after the treatment is administered. Jesus told the blind man to wash in the Siloam pool. The meaning of Siloam is noteworthy. If you are reading a modern translation, you may see in the parenthesis that the word means sent. Jesus healed the man to send him out on mission. Once he gains the ability to see, he is sent out. Sent out to do what? Tell people what the Lord had done for him.
A dramatic change has taken place in the man’s life, and people can’t help but notice that he, who was blind, is now able to see. They wanted to know what happened to the man. Likewise, when a wonderful change takes place in the lives of those who were previously spiritually blind, others will take notice. The blind man had no prospects for improvement. Because of his condition, he was destined to be a beggar until his dying day. But the blind man met Jesus, and everything changed. The blind beggar was touched by the healing hand of Jesus, and everything changed. Also, when we meet Jesus, when we are touched by the healing hand of Jesus, everything changes.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
The people asked, John 9:8-9
8 His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?”
9 Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one.”
10 So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”
People will say, “Are you not that the guy who… Are you not that woman who… and you will be able to respond, I was blind, but thanks to Jesus, now I see!
Now for the fourth and final application.
[Read John 9:39-41]
The phrase that indicates Jesus came into the world for judgment is not a contradiction of John 3:17
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Judgment is not condemnation; instead, it is a result of Jesus, the world’s light, illuminating humanity’s darkness. Judgment results in salvation and vindication for those who recognize their need for a saviour and accept his free gift of salvation. However, condemnation comes because of rejecting the light of the world. Jesus says,
19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.
Again he says in John 12:35
John 12:35 (CSB)
35 […], “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going.
The Jewish leaders told the formerly blind man,
34 “You were born entirely in sin,” they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.
In other words, they rejected the truth of the Bible, which should have led them to accept their own sinful nature and need for a saviour. When they asked Jesus, “We aren’t blind too, are we?” The SDA Bible Commentary states,
The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 5 40. Are We Blind Also
The Greek construction anticipates a negative answer. The emphasis is upon the “we.” Surely we, the religious leaders, are not blind! This was not a humble, anxious inquiry. The Pharisees doubtless saw the implication of the Lord’s statement, and their words were uttered in scorn.
41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
The Jewish leaders did not see their need for a saviour; thus, they were blind and in danger of being plunged into deeper darkness and losing all spiritual sensibility. It is better to be physically blind than spiritually blind!
A great work was done, as Jesus said,
John 9:3 (CSB)
3 […] This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.
But, because of the self-sufficiency of the Pharisees. Because of their hatred for Jesus, they missed out on the mighty work of God.
We are in good shape if we recognize our need for Jesus. It’s better to know that you are blind than to deceive yourself into thinking you can see and walk into fast-moving traffic. If we think we are OK or better than others, we are just like the Pharisees, blind, and as Jesus warned, “Your sin remains,” will apply.
The greatest miracle is that of the new birth. People are being reborn into the kingdom daily. Let’s not allow our spiritual senses to get dull and begin to consider the new birth as a mundane occurrence that happens in the church to boost numbers. No, we need to recognize God working and restoring the sight of the spiritually blind, who can triumphantly sing,
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
Another song says, “If we ever needed the Lord before, we sure do need him now.” Friend, we need him in the morning, we need him in the noonday, and we need him in the night. If you need Jesus, if you recognize how deficient and defective you are, just raise you hand.
Benediction
Benediction
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.