John 9:1-41 - Once I Was Blind but Now I See

We need you because none of us can change ourselves, and none of us can stand in your presence without the blood of your Son cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

We ask all of this in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Intro

Anyone ever had to live without one or more of your senses?

Either for your whole life or even just for a little while?

A lot of us probably went without our sense of taste for a bit during COVID.

And many of us lose our hearing and our sight as we get older.

But losing a sense that you once had is very different from never having that sense to begin with.

When you lose a sense that you had before, there’s a longing for it to return because you know how much that sense benefitted your life.

Losing your sense of taste, food doesn’t satisfy like it once did.

Losing your hearing, communication is way more difficult.

Losing your sight, beauty and familiarity in the world is lost or strained.

But if you never had that sense to begin with, then you can’t even imagine what life with that sense might be like.

Ever since sin entered the world, every single one of us has been missing one of our senses.

We have been missing our spiritual sight from birth, and we can’t even imagine what it’s like to have that sense.

But in Jesus Christ we have been given spiritual sight to see and embrace him for who he is, the Light of the World.

The story we have here in John chapter 9 is what I would call a living parable.

The parables Jesus told were made-up stories using things in the real world that revealed spiritual truth to those who God had given the ability to understand.

Jesus explained the purpose of his parables in Mark chapter 4 and Luke chapter 8 as a fulfillment of Isaiah 6:9–10.

The purpose was to reveal spiritual truth to those who had been given eyes to see and ears to hear.

But to everyone who remained willfully blind and deaf to Jesus...

Seeing, they would not perceive, and hearing, they would not understand.

But in our passage, in John chapter 9, instead of telling a story, Jesus uses a real encounter in his present experience.

And this real encounter, like the parables, reveals spiritual truth to those who Jesus has given eyes to see, and it conceals spiritual truth from those who have willfully blinded themselves in rejecting Jesus.

This is a living parable explaining the spiritual truth of what Jesus had just said in the previous chapter, that he is the light of the world.

We are going to walk through this living parable and highlight the spiritual truth Jesus reveals in it.

John starts out conveying this living parable with an amazing miracle in verses 1-12

John 9:1–5 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.”

John 9:6–8 ESV

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. 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?”

John 9:9–12 ESV

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.”

So, this is truly…

An Amazing Miracle (1-12)

As this scene begins, the disciples have a wrong assumption about this man who was blind from birth.

In verse 2 they ask Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

As if there are only two options.

This assumption is that calamities, difficulties, sickness, death, all of these are always the direct result of a particular sin.

Yes, all of these things came about because sin entered the world back in Genesis chapter 3.

But it’s a false assumption that these things are always a direct result of a particular sin committed by the ones experiencing the hardship.

This is what the entire book of Job is about…

Job and his friends thought that all of his troubles were because he had sinned somehow, and God corrected them revealing that he is always righteous and just, but our pain and sorrow are not always consequences for our sin.

When God established Israel as a nation he told them that if they obeyed him they would be blessed, but if they disobeyed, if they sinned, then they would be cursed.

So, the natural assumption is the reverse.

We might assume that if there’s a perceived blessing it’s always a direct result of obeying God, and if there’s a perceived curse it’s always a direct result of disobeying God.

But that’s not the case as Jesus will go on to point out to his disciples.

So, the disciples assume that either this guy sinned, or his parents sinned because being born blind is a hardship that in their minds could only be the result of a curse from God for some specific sin.

But Jesus corrects their assumption in this particular instance.

The real reason this man was born blind was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Jesus is about to perform an amazing miracle, a work of God proving that he is the Christ, but also giving a vivid picture of an important spiritual truth.

Jesus came to the earth to do the works of God, ultimately in going to the cross and dying for the sins of the world...

But we cannot forget that his entire ministry leading up to his death and resurrection was also filled with the works of God.

Fulfilling prophecy from the Old Testament about the Christ...

Raising up his disciples to carry on his work as he established his church through them...

Revealing the truths of the New Covenant he would bring in through his death and resurrection...

All of these are the works of God that Jesus is on the earth to do… while it is day.

And he tells his disciples, and us by extension, that we are to work with him while it is day.

The night is coming when we will rest in eternity, but until that time there is work to do.

And as long as Jesus is in the world he will be doing the works of the Father who sent him to be the light of the world.

Remember, this is all answering the reason this man was born blind.

Jesus is going to demonstrate through this man what it means that he is the light of the world.

So, in detail, John tells us how Jesus gives this man sight after living his entire life without that sense.

Jesus spits on the ground, mixes his saliva and dirt into mud on his fingers, smears the spit-mud onto the man’s eyes, then tells him to go wash it off.

I don’t mean to make light of this amazing miracle… but this seems kind of rude to me.

I mean, the guy can’t see, he hasn’t been able to see for his whole life, and Jesus just walks up without any explanation and wipes some spit-mud on his face.

Maybe he was used to being treated rudely like that, or maybe Jesus did explain what he was doing and John just didn’t record it.

Regardless, Jesus sent the man to the pool of Siloam to wash.

The name Siloam means “sent” in Aramaic.

I think John includes that information for us because it’s important to remember that Jesus was sent to do the works of his Father and in doing so, he sends us to participate in these works as well.

When Jesus gives us spiritual sight he sends us to obey his commands.

Well, the man obeys and washes his face in the pool and he comes back seeing.

Do not miss the gravity of this miracle.

Remember, this man has never seen anything before in his whole life.

This is a brand new experience.

He’s never known the bright beauty of a sunrise, the flickering flames of a bonfire, the twinkling stars...

He’s never seen color; he doesn’t even know yet which is red or blue or green...

He’s never known what his own parents who raised him look like...

He’s never known what he looks like...

Until he washes in that pool and sees his reflection for the first time in his life.

He looks into the water and sees the myriad of colors reflected on its surface.

He looks around and sees the bustling crowds of the city full of life.

And he runs back to where he used to sit and beg, knowing the way by feel rather than sight, so that he can see who it was who gave him this amazing miracle of sight.

But before he can find the man who did this for him, he’s accosted by his neighbors.

The people who knew him as a blind beggar recognized him, but some didn’t believe that he was the same guy.

Receiving his sight transformed this man so much that the people who saw him day after day were not even sure if he was the same beggar.

But he kept on insisting that he is the very same person they had known.

And they asked him two questions.

The first question was, “How?”

How is this possible… how did you receive sight when you have been blind your whole life?

So, he tells them exactly what happened from his perspective.

The man called Jesus put mud on his eyes and had him wash in the pool of Siloam, so he obeyed and received his sight.

The second question was, “Where?”

Where is this man called Jesus?

We don’t get to know why they wanted to know where Jesus was.

Maybe they wanted to see more amazing miracles, or maybe they wanted to turn Jesus in to the religious leaders who were seeking to kill him.

We don’t really know, but it was probably the latter because they bring the man to the Pharisees where they were likely going to bring Jesus as well if they could get their hands on him.

This is truly an amazing miracle, but the Pharisees will go on to drag this man and his parents through an awful trial in verses 13-34.

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.”

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.”

John 9:24–28 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.

John 9:29–34 ESV

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.

So, this is really…

An Awful Trial (13-34)

The Pharisees question the man because this miracle happened on the Sabbath.

They want all the details so they can add this to Jesus’ rap sheet.

Jesus is proving to be a serial Sabbath breaker, and they intend to see that he is properly punished for his crimes.

So, they ask the man how he received his sight, just like his neighbors did.

And he tells the Pharisees the same thing he told his neighbors.

Mud, rinse, sight.

Well, the Pharisees are a bit divided on what to make of Jesus and this miracle.

On the one hand, performing a miracle like this on the Sabbath is a clear violation of the Sabbath rules, and no one who is really from God would break the Sabbath like this.

On the other hand, the miracle itself could only be done by the power of God, so he has to be from God.

This is a bit of a pickle, but it’s one of their own making.

God’s Word never even hints that performing miracles on the Sabbath is a violation.

That was a man-made addition that’s not biblical.

Well, to untangle the mess they’ve found themselves in, they ask the man’s opinion about the guy who gave him his sight.

And he clearly sides with the truth.

Jesus is a prophet, but not just any prophet, he’s THE prophet, the one Moses wrote about, the Christ, the Son of God.

The Pharisees refuse to believe that, so they doubt that the man was even blind in the first place and they drag his parents in to verify that he was indeed born blind.

The parents recognize their son, and here in this court room before the cold scrutiny of the Pharisees, for the first time ever the man looks on his parents who lovingly raised him in such difficult circumstances.

But the glory of this beautiful moment is tainted with the harsh questions of the Pharisees.

Is this your son?

Was he, in fact, born blind?

How can he now see if he was born blind?

I imagine they are weeping for joy that their boy can finally see, and they are longing to embrace him and take him to see all the wonderful things he missed out on as a blind child.

But they’re forced to answer these cold questions as if their son is a criminal.

Their joy is overshadowed by terror.

They are terrified that they will be thrown out of the Synagogue because of this.

They knew what was at stake.

If their testimony about their son corroborated the claim that Jesus is the Christ, then they would be accused of confessing Jesus as the Christ.

And everyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ was thrown out of the Synagogue, cast out, ostracized, shunned.

So, they answer as brief and cryptically as possible.

Yes, that’s our son, and he was definitely born blind, but we don’t know how he can see now, and we definitely don’t know who opened his eyes.

He is of age, ask him.

So, the Pharisees bring the man back onto the witness stand for a second round of questions, but this time the man sees what’s happening and ends up showing the Pharisees their own blindness.

I imagine that this part of the proceedings was more shouted than spoken.

The Pharisees tell the man to “Give glory to God.”

This phrase seems straightforward enough, but it carries the connotation of admitting guilt before the Lord.

It’s like they are saying, “We know that Jesus is a sinner who can’t open anyone’s eyes! Just admit that you have been lying!”

When they accuse Jesus of being a sinner, the man calmly replies that he’s not in a place to judge whether Jesus is a sinner or not.

And then he gives the simplest, most beautiful confession of how Jesus has changed his life forever.

“One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

All of us who have had our lives forever changed by Jesus can say the same thing.

I’m not sure about all of the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism,

or how many dispensations or covenants there are,

or even when exactly the rapture is going to happen...

But one thing I do know...

And it’s the one thing that truly matters...

Once I was blind, but because of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, and what he has done for me on the cross, now I see.

Well, this was not the confession they were looking for, so they press the man further for more details about how Jesus had opened his eyes.

And the man has really had enough of this witch hunt.

So, he answers them in a very snarky way.

“I already told you and you wouldn’t listen… remember… mud, rinse, sight… it’s not complicated.”

“Why do you want to hear it again? Oh, I know… you must want to become one of his disciples!”

Well, that response definitely got the Pharisees more riled up than they had been.

Now they revile the man and reveal their own blindness.

They accuse the man of being one of Jesus’ disciples, and they assert that they are disciples of Moses.

Then they argue that they know that God has spoken through Moses, but they don’t know where this Jesus guy comes from.

Moses is a famous prophet of God, but Jesus is a nobody from nowhere.

The man immediately picks up on their blindness and calls them out on it, and not gently.

The Pharisees don’t know where Jesus comes from, but Jesus opened this man’s eyes.

Scripture is clear that God doesn’t listen to the wicked, but he does listen to those who do his will.

Psalm 66:18 “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

Psalm 34:15 “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.”

Clearly, if anyone were to open the eyes of a man born blind, that power would have to come from God since it’s never happened before in all of history.

So, connect all the dots… yep, Jesus has to be from God… that’s where he’s from otherwise he couldn’t have done anything to open this man’s eyes.

The Pharisees don’t take snark very well, even if the guy’s point is solid and founded on Scripture.

So, in their pride, they rage against this man accusing him of being born in utter sin.

This is the same assumption the disciples had at the beginning of the chapter.

But here the Pharisees use it as a crutch for their own hurt pride.

They can’t abide being taught Scripture from a beggar who’s assumed to have been born blind because of some heinous sin.

So, they cast him out.

This is the very thing his parents were afraid of.

He’s now shunned by the religious community.

An amazing miracle has taken place, but the Pharisees are so blind to the glory of God in their midst that they dragged this man and his family through an awful trial, and now Jesus is going to render an appropriate judgment in verses 35-41.

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.

So, here we see Jesus pass…

An Appropriate Judgment (35-41)

In this judgment he reveals himself to the man and he conceals himself from the Pharisees.

First, Jesus reveals himself to the man.

Jesus wasn’t at the awful trial.

But he heard that the man was cast out of the synagogue for standing up for him before the Pharisees.

So he finds the man and unlike the cold questions from the Pharisees, he asks him one simple and compassionate question.

“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

That’s the most important question, period.

And that is the question I am posing to you as well.

Do YOU believe in the Son of Man?

Do YOU believe in the Christ, God’s anointed one?

The answer you give will mean either life or death, liberty or bondage, light or darkness.

Do you believe?

The man answered Jesus with a legitimate question of his own.

“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”

What a simple, honest question.

You cannot believe in him unless you know who he is!

I wish all of my evangelistic conversations went like this!

But don’t miss the beauty of this moment.

This man knows that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God because he knows that it was Jesus who opened his eyes.

What he doesn’t know is what Jesus looks like.

He’s never laid eyes on Jesus before.

He got whisked away to the trial before he could find Jesus after he was given his sight.

And Jesus says, “You have seen him.”

You have seen him.

The one person you have longed to look upon for the entire time you have been able to see...

You have seen him.

And you have heard him because he’s speaking to you right now.

Can you imagine the recognition in this man’s eyes when he realizes that the man he is speaking to is the one who opened his eyes, the Christ, the Son of God.

And he responds the same way as all who have had their spiritual eyes opened.

He says, “Lord, I believe!”

And he worships him.

Well, after revealing himself to the man, Jesus conceals himself from the Pharisees.

Here, Jesus very succinctly explains what has occurred in this living parable.

He came into the world for judgment that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.

Notice, he did not say that he came TO JUDGE, but he came for judgment.

He had already confronted the religious leaders with their empty reliance upon their wrong interpretation of the Scriptures.

Back in John 5:45 Jesus said, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.”

Jesus isn’t judging them.

They have judged and condemned themselves because they refuse to believe what is right in front of their faces.

The light of the world has shone on both the blind and the seeing, and he’s reversed them.

Those who are blind know their need, and the light of the world gives them light to see the truth of his love.

Those who see are self-reliant and ironically do not see their need, and the light of the world blinds them with his offensive brilliance.

Well, some of the Pharisees heard Jesus make this statement about the blind and the seeing, and they ask Jesus if they are also blind.

They rightly understood that in Jesus’ statement, everyone is either formerly blind or forever blind.

Blindness was not a good thing.

They ask this tongue-in-cheek, but Jesus answers them by explaining his statement.

If you were blind, then you would have no guilt, you would have no sin because you would rely on Jesus for your righteousness.

But since you say “we see” your guilt, your sin, remains.

Your self-righteousness prevents you from seeing your need and it prevents you from believing in Jesus.

And refusing to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins leaves you in your sin, your guilt remains.

Conclusion

Everyone who sees the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ either revels in the truth of God’s love in Christ, or reviles it in blindness.

Do not rely on your own righteousness while reviling Jesus.

Instead, run to him in faith, relying on his righteousness and reveling in the glory of his great love for you.

Jesus is the light of the world, and he came into the world to pay the penalty for your sin.

He took your sin on the cross and gave you his righteousness, so that you can be reconciled to God, and he rose from the dead three days later so that now you can live with him forever.

In doing this, he also gave you spiritual sight to see and embrace his great love for you.

Can you see it?

Can you see him?

Can you see his amazing love for you?

He loves you so much that he gave up his life so that you could live.

God loves you so much that he gave his best, he gave his Son, so that he could spend eternity with you as part of his family.

Let that love fill you up to overflowing and share it with everyone.

Once I was blind, but now I see!

Because Jesus, the light of the world, has opened my eyes!

Pray:

Father, thank you for opening our eyes through the power of your Spirit and the light of your Son, Jesus.

I pray that everyone in this room would understand our need for forgiveness.

And I pray that anyone who is still relying on their own righteousness would realize their need and run to Jesus and rely on his righteousness.

We cannot stand before you on our own merit.

We need your perfect Son to cleanse us and to be our righteousness, so that we can even approach you.

And you have given us exactly what we need because you want to be with us forever.

Thank you for showing us how much you love us.

Thank you for giving us your best when we were at our worst.

Thank you for opening our eyes to see the beauty of your Son, the beauty of your glory, the beauty of your love forever.

We thank you and praise you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Communion

Well, let’s turn to communion now.

If you’re visiting with us, and you are a baptized believer in good standing with your home church, then you are welcome to join us.

As the elements are passed around, I want to look briefly at the institution of the Lord’s Supper in the gospel of Mark.

Mark 14:22–25 ESV

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus and his disciples were celebrating the Passover.

A celebration remembering how God had set them free from slavery in Egypt and spared them from death by sacrificing a lamb in their place.

Hmm… set free from slavery and spared from death… where have we heard that before?

Last week we saw how followers of Jesus are also set free from slavery to sin and spared from eternal death because Jesus is the light of the world.

And we just saw a living parable depicting those same truths.

That’s what God is all about… spiritually opening our eyes to see the truth of his love for us in Christ saving us from sin and death.

The Exodus, the story that the Passover celebrates, is a perfect picture of how God loves and rescues his people.

And Jesus picks up the significance of the Passover and basically says that God is still in the business of loving and rescuing his people.

But this time it’s not just freedom from physical slavery and salvation from physical death…

This time it’s freedom from spiritual slavery and salvation from eternal death.

And Jesus is the perfect Passover lamb sacrificed to bring in the new covenant and to absorb God’s wrath against our sin.

The Lord’s Supper is like the Passover cranked to 11.

But in verse 25 of Mark chapter 14, Jesus says something curious.

He says, “I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

The Passover celebration was all about what God had done for his people in the past.

And the Lord’s Supper, similar to the Passover, also looks back to the past at what Jesus did on the cross to save us from sin and death.

But it also looks forward to Jesus’ second coming, the day when we will all celebrate our freedom and salvation new in the kingdom of God.

We’re going to have a massive party where we all joyfully dance, and sing, and eat, and drink, and praise God in unrestrained worship because of his incredible love and grace.

Jesus is looking forward to that day… are you?

Pray

Father, thank you for this New Covenant.

Thank you that we get to be adopted into your family and have a seat at your table to celebrate all that you have accomplished in your Son, Jesus.

Thank you for the sacrifice you made, giving us your Son, even when we were your enemies.

We don’t deserve this, but that’s what makes it so awesome.

We haven’t earned anything but your wrath, and you have given us mercy instead of punishment, life instead of death.

I pray that you would bless us as we remember the New Covenant in your Son’s blood together.

We ask this in his name. Amen.

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