OLD John 9:1-41: I Was Blind But Now I See

Scripture Reading

Intro

Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God who opens blind eyes and gives us eternal life.

Signs

Now, before we get into this passage, to see all that John wants us to see in the healing of the man born blind and what it tells us about Jesus Christ, we have to understand John’s purpose and theology of Jesus signs, or miracles.

There are several signs given to us throughout the gospel of John:

Jesus turning water into wine…

The healing of the Nobleman’s son…

The healing of the lame man by the pool…

The feeding of the great multitude…

Walking on water…

Our sign today…the healing of the man born blind…

And the raising of Lazarus…

And these signs are not just miracles that John thought might be interesting to put in his gospel…as if he could have just chosen this one or that.

They are all miracles specifically chosen to serve a purpose.

John 20:30–31 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In fact, the very last verse of the Gospel says Jesus did so many signs that if every one of them were written down, the world itself would not be able to contain all the books (John 21:25).

So why did John choose these?

That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

All of John’s signs are chosen to show us something glorious about the person and work of Christ.

That’s why John calls them signs.

They aren’t just miracles…they are theology in action…miracles that like signs that point to something greater than themselves.

They are Living breathing sermons that don’t just show us and amazing, miraculous work, but a theological picture of who Christ is and His power to save so that through the theology that’s behind the sign we would believe in Jesus’ Name and have eternal life.

And so what that means is we must interpret the sign theologically.

We can’t just stop with a man recovering his sight and say, “Well that’s neat. Pretty amazing. Can you imagine Jesus healing a man born blind?

We need to go one step further and ask how does this sign theologically point to Christ?

Yes…its a real miracle…it really happened.

There really was a man born blind that really did receive sight through a miraculous work of Jesus.

But the sign is also a picture of the gospel that must be spiritually discerned.

We must interpret it theologically and ask how does this sign…this living breathing miracle that actually and historically happened…spiritually point to Christ and His power to save.

What is John trying to tell us theologically about who Christ and how is he inviting us to put all of our faith, all of our hope, all of our trust in Him so that we might have eternal life?

Method

So here’s how we are going to do that.

We are going to first work through the miracle.

We are going to look at some interesting points and applications that don’t necessarily support the overall point of the whole story, but I think are important, beneficial, and helpful for the Christian life.

And then we are going to come back and interpret the sign theologically to see the significance of the sign as it relates to person and work of Christ.

What’s the Big Idea that John’s wanting us to see about Christ in the healing of the man born blind so that we might believe in Jesus Christ and by believing have life in His Name?

Lets’s start with John 9 verse 1 which says…

Story

John 9:1–5 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

So the story begins with a man blind from birth sitting outside the Temple.

And as Jesus was leaving the Temple, he saw this man.

And instead of walking on by on His way to do other things, Jesus took notice of Him.

And in His mercy and grace took the initiative to draw near to this man and answer his need.

This is a wonderful picture of the glory and grace of Christ.

His mercy, kindness, and compassion to down and out sinners like you and me.

And the disciples asked why this man was born blind and Jesus answered that the works of God might be displayed in Him.

That’s God’s glory might be shown.

Verse 4…

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When Jesus says we must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day, night is coming, He is talking about His crucifixion.

Jesus was constantly aware the Father had given Him a job to do, and that there was a limited time to do it.

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus knew the hour of His crucifixion was coming, and as the perfectly obedient Son, obeyed the Father and lived for Him with every moment and every breath of His life.

This has application for us.

Are we intensely aware of the Father’s will for life and that we only have a limited time to do it?

Are we striving, like Jesus, to obey the Father and live for His glory with all that we are and all that we do?

Are we earnest for godliness and the praise and glory of God…or are we content just living for ourselves?

We must follow the example of Christ making the best use of the time, Ephesians 5:16, because the days are evil.

So do you strive for godliness?

Are you living for the glory of God in every area of your life or is your life of faith always a life of tomorrow?

Tomorrow I’ll serve God.

Tomorrow get serious about my faith.

Tomorrow I’ll put my sin to death.

Tomorrow I’ll read my Bible, earnestly start following Jesus, and live all of my life for Him.

There is only so much time in the day and only so many days in your life.

Are you using all of them for the glory of God?

Then Jesus said, As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.

This is the sermon the sign of healing the man born blind is preaching.

John 8:12 I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

The healing of the man born blind is the living breathing sermon of this truth right here.

This is the main point…the big idea…we are going to come back to later.

Verse 6…

John 9:6-7 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

We’ll come back to the finer details, but this man wen and washed his eyes and came back seeing.

For the first time in his life…He could see.

Colors…faces…birds flying in the sky…

And for the first time in his life no one had to lead him by the hand.

This was an amazing miracle.

In fact, just a few verses later in John 9:32 the man says Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.

And yet, Jesus comes and does the impossible, what has never been heard from the beginning of the world.

And it was so amazing that people who knew the man could not even believe it.

John 9:8–12 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

Well obviously this caused all kinds of consternation.

Who is this Jesus? Where is He?

How can He open the eyes of the man born blind.

So they bring the man to the Pharisees, the religious leaders, to get their insight on the matter.

Is Jesus a prophet? Is He the Messiah? What are we to make of all this?

Verse 13…

John 9:13–17 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

What ends up taking place is a trial of sorts.

The Pharisees have been opposing Jesus all throughout the Gospel of John, and particularly over what Jesus was doing on the Sabbath.

In another sign where Jesus healed a man who had been lame for 38 years John explained And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath (John 5:16).

And this led to an even greater conflict because Jesus’ answer was, “Well, My Father is working until now and I am working”….

And so the Jews began seeking to kill him because not only was he “breaking” the Sabbath as they understood it, but He was even calling God his own Father, making Himself equal with God (John 5:17-18).

Now of course Jesus was not breaking the Sabbath.

He was sinless…He perfectly obeyed everyone of God’s commands offering God a life of perfect obedience and righteousness on our behalf.

What Jesus broke was the Pharisees’ man-made laws surrounding the Sabbath.

Their religion.

And this is important because the Pharisees rejected Christ trusting in their own self-righteousness…their works of the Law…rather than the righteousness of God that only comes through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:3).

They looked at God’s Law and said, “We can do that.”

They trusted in their good works instead of looking at the Law and saying, “God, we need a Savior.”

And ironically, it was their own self-righteousness that made them blind to Jesus Christ.

The one who was blind now sees while those who see are actually blind.

And one of the things that made the Pharisees so mad about Jesus healing on the Sabbath was that every time Jesus did it was like He was saying, “You’re righteousness is not enough.”

Its not the righteousness that God is looking for.

That’s me. The only way to be righteous and accepted before God is through faith in me!

But nevertheless there was a man who was blind from birth now standing in front of them seeing.

And this caused a division among them.

Some said This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.

While others said, But how can He do this if He’s a sinner and not from God?

So the Pharisees asked the man what do you say about Him?

And the man said, “He is a prophet.”

Prophet

This is an important theme for the Gospel of John.

As the eternal Son of God sent from the Father Jesus alone is in a unique position to reveal God and proclaim to the words of eternal life.

Who else can give us a sure and true word of salvation from God Himself in heaven other than the eternal Son of God who came down from heaven sent from the Father incarnate in human flesh?

He is the image of the invisible God and the exact imprint of his nature (Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3).

As the One True Prophet, Jesus is the only way to know the Father and the only One who can tell us how to be forgiven of all our sins.

He and He alone has the words of eternal life.

Well the Pharisees don’t like that so they try to disprove this man entirely.

Maybe He was never blind…Maybe it was all a trick…a conspiracy to deceive people into thinking Jesus was the Messiah.

John 9:18…

John 9:18–23 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

Verse 24…

John 9:24-25 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

The idea here is God sees you!…Tell the truth!

And the man answered…

He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

He holds fast to his confession…Jesus is the One who healed him.

So verse 26…

John 9:26–29 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

Here again you see the proud, hard-hearted unbelief and self-righteousness of the Pharisees.

They have set their hope on Moses…on works of the Law.

But again, ironically, if they had truly listened to Moses they would have believed in Christ.

In John 5:46 Jesus said If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

And John 1:17 The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Law always pointed to something greater than itself…Jesus.

He is the fulfillment of the Law on our behalf.

The Law was never meant to be a Ladder to heaven…an instruction manual so we could do enough works to earn salvation.

Paul says the Law was our tutor to reveal our sin in order that we might be justified… forgiven…declared righteous…by faith in Christ (Galatians 3:24).

John 9:30–34 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

The man’s argument is simple.

God doesn’t listen to sinners.

So if Jesus was a sinner like the Pharisees said there was no way God would use Him to open the blind man’s eyes.

But if someone is a worshiper of God…honors God…does his will and pleases Him…that’s who God listens to.

So since Jesus did something no one had ever even heard of from the beginning of the world, He must be from God!

And therefore must be heard and listened to.

Believed in and embraced.

Trusted in alone for salvation.

After all, if he were not from God he could do nothing.

In response the Pharisees answered him and said…

They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.”

The man suffered the fate His parents were so afraid of for following Jesus.

Cast out of the synagogue…cut off from the social and religious life of the people of God…excommunicated.

Firm Against Apostasy

And here’s why I think John puts so much of this back and forth and the trial this man endures at the hands of the Pharisees.

John was writing in a context that was dealing with rampant apostasy from the persecution of the Jews.

Remember he wrote 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

John uses this man as an example of standing firm for Christ in midst of persecution.

Of fearing God more than man and holding fast to Jesus.

The same encouragement we need today.

Obey God and not man…do not be conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2).

In the man born blind we see an important truth: To be a follower of Christ is to be excommunicated form the world.

Hated by the word. Disowned by the world.

And our job is never give in to the pressure of the world…to never compromise our faith in the Word of God but holdfast to Jesus Christ.

As James says to be friends with the world is to be at enmity with God (James 4:4).

No matter how much the world might hate us, Jesus promises to never leave us or forsake us.

Verse 35…

John 9:35–38 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”

What sweet words to a man who until Jesus showed up had never seen anything.

And so the man said…

He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”

He trusted in Christ and received eternal life.

And the story concludes in verses 39-41…

John 9:39–41 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

Theology

From John 4:43-54

I. Person of Christ

II. Work of Christ

III. Salvation and Saving Faith

Conclusion

Let’s Pray