A Spiritual Eye Exam

Our text for today is a large passage, the entire chapter of John 9. As we look our scripture today, I encourage you to keep your Bible open and follow along as we study this scripture. As we begin, however, I would like us to read just the beginning of this story.

John 9:1–7 ESV

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. 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.” 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.

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Years ago, only two or three years into my pastoral ministry, I received a call from Richard Payne to hold a revival at his church in Macon, MO.

Richard Payne, if you did not ever meet him, was one of the “greats” in the Church of God (Holiness). He was a powerful evangelist, known for his incredible humor, loved and respected by many.

One day during that week of revival services, Bro. Payne wanted to go on a road trip. We set off in his car; I think he asked me to drive.

I don’t remember the highway we were on, but if I remember right, it was a four lane highway, two lanes in each direction separated by a wide median of grass.

Bro. Payne was quite elderly at that time. At one point, he talked about his failing eyesight. The highway we were traveling on had many large patches of asphalt where the road had been fixed.

He told me, “See those patches of asphalt. To me, they look like vehicles.”

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Like I said, I think he asked me to drive.

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If not, I hope I was driving!

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I’ve always had good eyesight. I can see far and distinguish minute details from a great distance. However, over the past year or so, I have noticed some issues with my eyesight. Especially in low light and up close, I can have trouble reading text.

As we get older, our eyesight is one thing many people tend to lose. We recognize that our eyesight tends to fail us as we get older. When this happens, we often go in for an eye exam.

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Sadly, some people have trouble with their eyes from a very young age. Some, like the man in our text, are actually born blind.

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While the blindness of this man was tragic, there is an even greater blindness that we find in our text.

In our scripture, we see several groups of people who apparently all had perfectly good physical sight, but they were incredibly blind to the things of God!

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They were in need of a spiritual eye exam.

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As we look at this scripture, even more concerning is the fact that the spiritual blindness that afflicted these people plagues many people today.

If we are not careful, even we ourselves may be affected by this malady. As we study this scripture, let us look for problems a spiritual eye exam can uncover.

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In the previous chapter of John’s gospel, we observed Jesus at the Temple as the Feast of Tabernacles concluded. Jesus had proclaimed at the end of that feast, "I am the light of the world" and then in discussion with some who initially believed in him, "I AM."

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At this, the crowd picked up stones to throw at them, but Jesus escaped. Now, John 9 says, "As he passed by."

How closely the events of the two chapters were is uncertain, however, our text locates Jesus in or near the Temple, as he told the man to wash in the pool of Siloam.

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So…as Jesus passed by, he came upon a man who had been born blind. The disciples asked Jesus why. J. Vernon McGee says…

In their day there were probably four answers they would have given. The pagans of that day, as many of today also, believed in reincarnation and held that congenital disease could be the result of sins committed during a former existance.

The Jews never did accept this explanation. Then there is the argument of heredity, that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generations (see Exod. 20:5).

We know that this is possible and blindness in some cases can be the result of the sin of the parent. Then, there was the explanation that the sin of Adam was passed to each member of the human family so that all are subject to death and disease.

And finally, the Jewish rabbis believed that a child in the womb could sin.

McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (John 1-10) (electronic ed., Vol. 38, p. 149). Thomas Nelson.

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Jesus dismissed the question entirely. Instead of trying to assign blame for the man’s suffering, Jesus said such suffering was an opportunity for God to glorify himself. Then, Jesus made mud with dirt and his saliva and sent the man to the pool to wash.

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In the gospels, of course, we find Jesus healing blind people in a variety of ways. Why did Jesus spit in the dirt, make mud, put it on the man’s eyes, and tell him to go wash?

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Different reasons have been suggested, but consider this…

Jesus, by making clay, reenacted God’s creation of mankind. (In several Old Testament passages it is said that the human being is formed from “clay”: Job 10:9; 33:6; Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 18:6.)

Since the man had been born blind, he had never possessed useful eyes. Jesus, rather than healing his eyes, in effect created eyes for him.

In yet another way, then, the majesty of Jesus shone forth, as His oneness with the Father—the Creator—was demonstrated.

Dongell, J. (1997). John: a Bible commentary in the Wesleyan tradition (p. 125). Wesleyan Publishing House.

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Can you imagine the desperate straits of this man who had been born blind? This was not a man who had slowly lost his sight over time. This was not a person who was mostly blind.

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This was a person who had never seen the light of day!

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From his earliest moments, this person had never seen light, never seen the sun or moon, green grass or the beautiful blue waters of the sea.

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He must have always been left behind as a child as his sighted friends raced ahead of him or ran around playing games that required sight.

Then, as an adult - probably even a very young adult - he must have been introduced to begging, seeking a few coins from passerby to keep him from starvation.

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A fascinating detail in our story is that the name of the pool, Siloam, meant “Sent.” There seems to be a double entendre as Jesus, the Son of God, sent the man to the pool to be healed, but also that Jesus had been sent by God on a mission of healing.

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As we read in our text, this man who had been born blind went to the pool, washed his eyes, and came back seeing.

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One would think this miracle would be a cause for celebration. Instead, his healing became a huge issue to those around him for, while the people around him may have had perfect physical sight, they were trapped in a blindness that was darker than what this man had experienced all his life.

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Read with me…

John 9:8–12 ESV

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.”

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This man had been born blind. He had lived in this area all his life. He was a beggar, and most likely, sat every day in the same spot, calling out for pity.

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Now that he had been healed, the neighbors weren't sure if this man was the blind beggar they had passed by, lived close to, heard and ignored day after day after day!

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This man was born blind, but they were blind to the plight of their fellow man!

Jesus was, in effect, conducting a spiritual eye exam. Here is the first test, the first question:

1. Can we clearly see the passion of God, vv. 8-9?

Throughout scripture, we read of God’s love, God’s passion, for the poor, the needy, the helpless, and the hurting. For example, consider these scriptures:

Psalm 113:7 ESV

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

Psalm 72:12–13 ESV

For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.

James 1:27 ESV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Yet these people, God’s people, were totally blind to the passion of God. Every day they walked by this man, but when he was healed, they did not even recognize him.

Let’s bring this closer to home. How well do we see the hurting, the hopeless, the discouraged and distressed in our world, even in our own community, today?

Do we truly feel for those in need? Does the plight of the sinner distress us? As we observe our world, do we see opportunities to share God’s love or problems we would rather not deal with?

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As we observe this spiritual eye exam, the second question we must ask is:

2. Can we clearly see the purpose of God, vv. 15-16?

John 9:13–17 ESV

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.”

Like a master storyteller, John leaves out until this moment a key detail, a hugely important fact, of this story.

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It was the Sabbath!

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How in the world could Jesus, if he were truly sent from God, perform miracles on the Sabbath day?!

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Even God rested on the seventh day!

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These people’s forefathers had often broken the Sabbath day to the point that God caused them to be deported so that the land could enjoy its Sabbath rest. But in Jesus’ day, the religious leaders had gone to the opposite extreme of Sabbath observance.

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We have heard from time to time of the legalistic rules developed by the Jews in their observance of the Sabbath. For example…

In one particular section of the Talmud, a commentary of both oral and written Jewish laws, there are 24 chapters of Sabbath laws! Note some of those man-made Sabbath burdens:

No one can carry a load heavier than a dried fig.

Nothing larger than an olive can be eaten.

Throwing an object into the air with one hand and catching it with the other is prohibited.

If the Sabbath overtook you as you reached for some food, the food was to be dropped.

No baths, for one might spill water on the floor and inadvertently wash it.

Chairs cannot be moved since they might make a rut in the ground, thus plowing.

Women cannot look in a mirror lest they be tempted to pluck a gray hair.

If ill on the Sabbath, only enough treatment could be given to keep the ill person alive.

No sewing, plowing, reaping, grinding, baking, threshing, binding sheaves, winnowing, sifting, dying, shearing, spinning, kneading, separating or weaving two threads, tying or untying a knot, and sewing two stitches.

One can only travel 3,000 feet from their home. But if the previous day they had placed food within 3,000 feet of the home, they could go there to eat it. And since the food was an extension of the house, they could then go another 3,000 feet beyond the food.

Source: https://www.harvestbiblechurch.net/blog/sabbath-legalisms

Tragically, in their rabid attempts to keep the Sabbath day holy, the people had totally misunderstand the purpose of God.

God’s desire is not to burden us with rules and regulations. Instead, God gave us the Law in order that we might know how to live life to the fullest.

Yes, some of the Old Testament laws seem silly and arcane to us today. We are not necessarily bound to follow all the social and ceremonial laws.

But even those laws can teach us principles for how to live in a way that we demonstrate love for God and love for others.

Legalism tries to restrict people. God’s purpose is to love, to heal, to forgive, to recreate. And so Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath. In all actuality, Jesus’ healing of the man was the best way to honor the Father on the Sabbath!

Do we truly see and understand God’s purpose - to bring healing, hope, and restoration to a broken world? Or, are we more concerned about people following our rules and expectations about how we believe we should live?

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A third question of our spiritual eye exam is:

3. Can we clearly see the priorities of God, v. 22?

John 9:18–23 ESV

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.”

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Can’t you picture this man’s parents? By this time, they were at least middle age, but probably a bit older.

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Surely, these were the respectable people on the block. Their lawn must have always been perfectly manicured. Their house was always kept spick and span. If any uninvited, unexpected guest dropped by, they would always find a perfectly clean and ordered house.

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They belonged to various community groups. They volunteered for numerous charities. They were respected and even envied.

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Can you imagine the stress these parents felt? They knew their son had been miraculously healed. Surely, after feeling shame and disappointment for years due to their son’s disability, this couple must have wanted to embrace their “new” boy.

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But his healing had put them in an untenable situation. They knew the religious leaders hated Jesus. They knew that anyone who defended Jesus or allied oneself to closely to this rebel rabbi would be put out of the synagogue - the religious and community center for the town.

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For years, they had sought to be the perfect family, even though they could never been seen as perfect with a boy who had been born blind. To ask them now to willingly give up their social and political status was too much.

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They ducked the question.

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“Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

What is the “deal breaker” for us?

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Are we more concerned about living a comfortable life than we are identifying with Christ?

Is our desire to be well liked in the community, to have followers and friends and likes on social media, to be part of the “in” crowd?

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John wrote this gospel somewhere around the end of the first century A.D. At that time, the Church endured much opposition and persecution.

As Jesus foretold, children betrayed their parents and parents betrayed their children. No doubt, many of the original readers had family members who had turned on them, afraid of the authorities, afraid of what people would think if they knew they were Christians.

We are not facing anything like that today, but we do face the question of how closely we will identify with Jesus in a world gone mad for success, comfort, popularity, and wealth.

Will we serve Jesus faithfully even when the world scorns our decision to go the less traveled way?

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John 9:24–34 ESV

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.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 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.” 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.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

A fourth question in our spiritual eye exam is this:

4. Can we clearly see our predicament before God, vv. 38-41?

The sarcasm of this formerly blind man in these verses is quite rich. His caustic words highlight the sad plight of these spiritually blind people.

Even though this blind man was still largely ignorant about who Jesus is, he recognized that Jesus must be from God because he had given him sight.

But these people claimed to be Moses’ disciples, even though Jesus’ actions clearly demonstrated he was from God.

So these religious people cast the formerly blind man out of the synagogue and went on living in spiritual blindness.

This is a terrible predicament for one to be in - living day to day in spiritual darkness, … but the predicament of the spiritually blind is worse.

John 9:35–41 ESV

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

Jesus revealed in these verses that his coming to the world brought judgment. For those who acknowldged their spiritual need, they would receive healing - spiritual sight. But for those who claimed to spiritually okay, they would become ever more blind to the things of God.

Verse 40 seems to indicate a group of Pharisees that may not have been the same exact group that cross-examined the formerly blind man.

They were offended that Jesus might suggest they were spiritually blind. To them, Jesus lowered the boom - “if you would acknowledge your blindness, you could receive forgiveness and healing, but since you refuse, your guilt remains.”

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As we look at this scripture, we might think at first we have little in common with the man who was born blind.

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In reality, we are all born with a sinful nature that inclines us to commit sin - and we have all committed willful transgressions of known laws of God.

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We have all sinned. We were all blind spiritually. If we protest that we are not blind - that we are not sinful and in need of a Savior - we will remain blind to the things of God.

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But… if we acknowledge our blindess and our sinfulness, we can receive sight.

In contrast to those who remained spiritually blind, notice how the physically blind man received sight - physically and spiritually.

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In John 9:8-12, the people quizzed the formerly blind man about who had healed him.

In John 9:12, we see…

1. He didn't know who healed him, but he recognized that he was blind.

The first step we must take in order to receive spiritual sight is to recognize our blindness.

As the Pharisees questioned the man about Jesus in John 9:13-17, we see…

2. He called the man who healed him a prophet and obeyed his command.

It is not enough to recognize our spiritual need. When Jesus calls us to trust in him, we must obey.

As the Pharisees continued to grill the man about Jesus in John 9:18-34…

3. He recognized this man must be from God, and acknowledged that God had healed him.

We are saved by faith in Jesus as the Son of God and healed of our spiritual blindness as we recognize that Jesus is Lord.

Then, as Jesus revealed himself to the man in John 9:35-41, it was only natural that…

4. He acknowledged Jesus to be his Lord, by worshipping him.

Interestingly, this is the first occasion in John’s gospel in which Jesus is worshipped as the Son of God.

We are all born spiritually blind, but there is a cure. His name is Jesus!

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Big Idea: The Light of the world is our cure for spiritual blindness.

Our scripture today is especially applicable for those willingly refuse to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and become increasingly blinded to spiritual light.

Yet our scripture also speaks to the spiritual person, even the Christian, who once had great light, but for various reasons has begun confusing God’s light with the world’s light.

So, it is important that we take a spiritual eye exam from time to time.

Can we clearly see the passion of God? Are we still moved by what moves God? Are we filled with God’s love for the lost, the hurting, and the dying?

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Can we clearly see the purpose of God? Do we understand why God has given us principles and precepts to follow? Is our focus onn folllowing rules or enjoying a relationship with God?

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Can we clearly see the priorities of God? What matters most to us? Are we concerned about what others think of us? Are we afraid of making a political statement that some won’t accept if we truly follow Jesus?

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Can we clearly see our predicament before God? Have we become so religious, so cultured, so entitled that we feel like God owes us salvation or that spiritual life is just part of who we are?

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Or do we recognize that we were all born with a sinful nature, we sinned, and thus, apart from the grace of God, stand guilty in his sight, worthy of death?

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Big Idea: The Light of the world is our cure for spiritual blindness.

Jesus offers us healing - the cure for blindness. If we will trust him and accept him as Savior and Lord, we will truly be able to see.

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How’s your eyesight today?

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Let us ask God to give us clear spiritual sight so that we might truly live and be able to guide others who are blinded by sin to faith in Jesus!