Signs - Part 4

In this series, we’ve been looking at five out of the seven signs that John records in his gospel account. Each of those signs reveals something important about Jesus and John includes them in his gospel account to convince his audience that Jesus is the Son of God so that they would put their faith in Him and receive eternal life.

Today we are talking about Jesus healing the blind man. Here is the central idea of today’s miracle story:

This sixth sign shows that Jesus is the light of the world who came to give spiritual sight to all who trust in Him.

So regardless of where you are in your walk with Jesus today, I know that today’s teaching will speak to you.

Cultural Background

The events that are recorded in John’s gospel account from chapter 7 through the first part of chapter 10 all take place in Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths, which is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. During the Feast of Tabernacles festival Israel gathered built booths in which to live for the span of the festival. These acts were meant to remind them of the time spent wandering in the desert. The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the seven feasts described in the Pentateuch, starting four days after the Day of Atonement.

That feast included a number of practices that served as a background for Jesus’ teaching during that time. One of those practices provides important context for the sign that we’ll study today. Each night during this eight-day feast, there was a ceremony called the “illumination of the Temple” which involved the ritual lighting of four 75 foot tall golden oil-filled lamps in the Court of Women (the court of women was a location where women would be heard because they were traditionally excluded from political and legal proceedings). These lamps were to remind the people of the pillar of fire that had guided Israel in their wilderness journey. They were so bright they would light up the entire city of Jerusalem.

It is against that backdrop that Jesus had earlier declared Himself to be the “light of the world”, which would have brought to mind this Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah:

Isaiah 9:2 NLT “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.”

Before we dive into this text this morning, let’s pray.

Prayer

John 9:1–7 NLT “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!”

Central Idea

Here’s the central idea of this morning…

This sixth sign shows that Jesus is the light of the world who came to give spiritual sight to all who trust in Him

In his gospel account, John makes frequent references to darkness and light, going all the way back to the opening words of the book:

John 1:4–5 NLT “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

We are going to be looking at the responses of four different people or groups of people to the sign. And as we do that we’re going to see that quite ironically, the blind man is the only one who ends up seeing spiritually while those who can see physically end up being blind spiritually.

So let’s dig right in to those four responses:

FOUR RESPONSES TO THIS SIGN:

Neighbors (vv.8-13) - blinded by distraction

John 9:8–13“His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied. Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees,”

The neighbors couldn’t even agree if this was the man who had previously been a blind beggar, even though he kept insisting he was that man. But their bigger problem is that their focus was in the wrong place. They were more concerned about understanding the mechanics of how Jesus healed this man than they are about knowing Jesus. They are mostly interested in how Jesus healed than what that healing revealed about who He is.

I’m convinced one of the reasons that Jesus never seems to heal the same way twice is because He doesn’t want us to get caught up in the methods rather than looking to the person of Jesus. There are several accounts of Jesus healing a blind person in the gospel and He does it differently every time. One time he touches the person, another time He merely speaks and heals him. Here he spits on the ground and makes mud with His saliva. I don’t imagine that any of us would choose to be healed that way.

And I’m pretty sure Jesus intentionally chooses that method to provoke another confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders. Some of the superstitious Gentiles believed saliva was a cure for eye disease. But the Jews found that practice to be so disgusting that they had made their own laws that prohibited healing anyone with spit. Although, as I’ll discuss more in a moment, the Jews are primarily blinded for another reason, they too are focused on the how and not the who.

Jesus really cares about the who (that there would be repentance + spiritual formation) and not the how (which is often legalism)

How do I deal with the person who is blinded by distraction?

Turn the conversation back to Jesus

That’s what the blind man does here. He doesn’t get caught up in arguing about whether Jesus violated some Jewish law or whether He was a sinner. He just kept telling everyone who would listen what Jesus had done for him.

Pharisees (vv.14-17, 24-34) - blinded by religion

John 9:14–17 NLT “because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them. Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?” The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”

When I’m using the word “religion” here, I’m referring to a man-made system of trying to approach God. Religion almost always includes a set of rules for people to follow as well as required rituals and traditions. And what the Pharisees had developed certainly fit that description. These Pharisees were more devoted to the Law than they were to the God who had created and communicated that Law through His servant Moses. So when Jesus acted in a way that didn’t fit their religious system, they wrongly concluded that He couldn’t possibly even be from God, alone be God in the flesh.

So just like we saw with the healing of the official’s son, when Jesus miraculously heals this man, instead of rejoicing that he has been healed, these religious leaders are more concerned that Jesus is breaking their man-made laws concerning the Sabbath. And once again, they miss out on the fact that the God they profess to worship is standing right before them in the flesh.

So many people are so caught up in some kind of religious system that they fail to ever enter into a personal relationship with Jesus by trusting in Him alone as the way to God. Jesus invites all of us into relationship.

So...

How do I deal with the person who is blinded by religion?

Turn the conversation to God’s grace

That’s what the healed man does here. He doesn’t argue about the Law or the oral law of the Pharisees. As he is questioned over and over by the Pharisees, he just keeps pointing them back to what Jesus has done in his life. And he makes it clear that he has done nothing to earn or deserve the healing he has received. He understands that this is an undeserved gift from God.

Parents (vv. 18-23) - blinded by fear of others

John 9:18–23 NLT “The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?” His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.””

To me, the response of the parents is the most baffling of all here. Let me ask any of you who are parents how you would respond if your child who had been born blind suddenly could see? I don’t really think I’d care what anyone else thought. I’d be celebrating with all that I had and I’d sure want to meet the man who had healed him so I could thank him. But this man’s parents are so afraid of the Pharisees and the possibility that they could be put out of the synagogue that they basically tell the religious leaders, “We know nothing. Go ask our son. He’s old enough to speak for himself.”W

Today, there are a lot of people who fail to put their faith in Jesus because they are blinded by their fear of others. I know this to be true. When I first became a Christian I found myself living a life that was committed to Christ and the other half of life bound to the expectations of others. This space of being torn between Christ and world did not last long, because eventually I developed a healthier fear of God. As a apprentice of Jesus, you can’t live like that.

I’ve come to learn that this is a legitimate fear because often when we commit our lives to Jesus, it’s very possible that family members and friends will reject us. And others may not reject us completely, but certainly the nature of our relationship with them will change. I know for me, once I became a disciple of Jesus, my relationship with some of my good friends from my teen years became a lot more distant because I chose to live a life fully devoted life to Christ.

So...

How do I deal with the person who is blinded by the fear of others?

Express empathy and offer support

For some of you, you may be that person that says - here are the the facts and then tell this person to just “suck it up”. But as we’ve just discussed, this is a legitimate fear for a lot of people. Many of them have something important or significant they will lose if they commit their lives to Jesus.

What they don’t need is a lecture or for us to just tell them to forget those other people or to tell them everything will be OK. They need someone to come alongside them and let them know that we understand their feelings and promise that we’ll be there for them no matter how others respond to their decision.

Formerly blind man (vv. 35-38) - sees by faith

John 9:35–38 NLT “When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.” “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!” “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.”

Everyone who had physical sight missed out on seeing who Jesus is. The only one that saw that clearly was the blind man.

It is easy to read this account and miss out on all the obstacles this man had to overcome in order to see Jesus. The first test was how was he going to react to the strange and even gross method that Jesus used to heal him. Would he object or pull away or would he accept Jesus’ methods even when they weren’t what he expected?

Then think about what he must have been thinking when Jesus told him to walk to the pool of Siloam and wash. Remember that he is blind and it couldn’t have been easy to get to the pool on his own and there is no evidence here that he had someone to help him. But because he believes Jesus and acts on that belief, he is able to see, not just physically, but also spiritually. When Jesus asks him if he believes in the Son of Man, he not only voiced his belief in Jesus, but he backed that up by worshiping Him as well.

This sign shows that Jesus is the light of the world who came to give spiritual sight to all who trust in Him

John 8:12 “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Regardless of where you are in your walk with Jesus, there is something that all of us can take away from this message today.

Prayer Response

1. Those of you who have already received spiritual sight and committed your life to Jesus.

Just like this man was physically blind, all of us were spiritually blind at one time. And just like Jesus sought this man out even when he wasn’t seeking Jesus, Jesus sought us out when we weren’t seeking Him. And He brought spiritual sight to us when there was nothing we could do to receive that on our own.

So the first thing I want to encourage you to do is to pause right now and spend just a couple minutes in prayer right where you are thanking Jesus for being the light of the world and bringing spiritual sight to you.

Lord, reveal to us where we still have spiritual blinders?

[Prayer]

2. Let me talk to those of you who have never received that gift from Jesus.

I am convinced that the very fact that you’ve joined us today is evidence that Jesus is seeking you to give you spiritual sight even if you aren’t seeking Him. But He won’t force you to receive that gift. Like the blind man in this account, you must believe and obey Jesus even though you might not totally understand His methods.

The truth is really the only way we could ever be made right with a holy God and receive our spiritual sight. Jesus, as the perfect, sinless man, is the only one who could have taken on Himself the penalty that we deserved for our sin and paid that penalty on the cross. And then He rose from the dead to prove His power over sin and death.

Although I have shared with you this morning how you can receive your spiritual sight, there is actually nothing I can do to convince you to make that decision today. Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can do that. so as we close, let me pray for you.

[Prayer]

Without the work of Jesus in our lives, every single one of us would spiritually be just as blind. But Jesus, the light of the world, will overcome that darkness if you’ll let Him.