I Can See Clearly Now

We are in the 5th week of our series on the Gospel According to John. Last week, pastor Dan shared with us the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and of Jesus walking on water.

Today we are going to take a look at another of Jesus’ miracles found in John chapter 9, in which Jesus and his disciples have an encounter with a blind man.

The first question I like to ask when approaching a passage of scripture is, “Why is this passage here? Why is it important that we have this story in the Bible? What did God want us to read here that is important?”

In week 1 of our series, pastor Dan read from John chapter 20, and I’d like us to look at that passage again today, as I believe it helps us answer this question as to why this story is included here in John chapter 9. Let’s read John 20:30-31:

John 20:30–31 NRSV

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

So, from this, we know that John is writing his gospel as a record of Jesus’ life, to tell us the amazing signs and wonders that Jesus performed so that we will KNOW that Jesus is who he says He is, that He is, in fact, the Son of God.

Jesus, himself, does something similar in Luke chapter 4. This takes place just after Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness, where he is tempted by Satan. He goes to the synagogue in Nazareth on the sabbath and he reads from Isaiah, this is Luke 4:18:

Luke 4:18–19 NRSV

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. As he finishes this reading and hands the scroll back to the attendant, he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah. This would have created an amazing stir in the synagogue - Jesus is claiming to be the one sent by God to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to let the oppressed go free! That is a mic drop!

Why am I telling you what Jesus said in Luke chapter 4 if our message today is from John chapter 9? Let’s take a look and see.

John 9:1–12 NRSV

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed 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.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

This is the Word of the Lord, thanks be to God!

The beginning of our story here is rather ambiguous. We don’t know exactly where or when this takes place. Last week, when we were looking at John chapter 6, we knew that it was the time of the Passover. In chapter 7, we hear that it is the time of the Festival of Tabernacles, also known as the Festival of Booths, which is about 6 months after Passover. In chapter 10, the Festival of Dedication takes place. So we know that we are between the Festival of Booths and the Festival of Dedication.

We also aren’t sure exactly where this takes place except that it is in the city of Jerusalem. What we do know is that Jesus sends the man to the pool of Siloam to wash. The pool of Siloam is in the southeast corner of the city.

This is a map of Jerusalem in the first century

This next map focuses in on what the boundaries of the city were during the time of Jesus’ ministry.

And here we zoom in on the southeast corner of the city and we see the Pool of Siloam. We don’t know exactly where Jesus and his disciples encounter the blind man, but this is where Jesus sends the man to wash the mud from his eyes.

Why was this man born blind?

Blindness in the first century was very common and often led to a life of begging, with little opportunity to earn a living. And we have to understand that we are not just talking about blindness as we understand it - but even poor eyesight could be considered blindness. There were no optometrists in the first century world, no glasses, no contacts. How many of us would be effectively blind if we removed our glasses or contacts?

As they approach this blind man, the disciples have questions. John tells us that the man was BORN blind. We don’t know how this was discovered, but it is known by Jesus and the disciples, as we see in the question that they pose to Jesus. They ask, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Disciples are stuck in old ways of thinking This is what they had been taught, probably by their parents, in school, and in the synagogue; if you see someone with a disability, that is a result of their sin. It is God’s punishment. In many ways the disabled in the first-century Judaism were considered sub-human and it was often debated if they were even created in God’s image?

Jesus is changing the way the disciples understand the world. Jesus tells his disciples that the man was born blind so that the power of God could be revealed. We do have to tread lightly here as we talk about this man being born blind in order that God’s power can be revealed. We know that not everyone is healed. God can bring glory to himself through healing, as we here in this story, or through not healing, as we learn from the struggles of the apostle Paul and his ‘thorn in the flesh.’

I’m going to skim over Jesus’ next statement here. He talks about being about the work of the father while it is still day. Night is coming, but while Jesus is here, he is the light of the world. There’s a whole other sermon just in those statements there. For today we’re going to focus on the miracle of the healing of the blind man. Jesus finishes his statements by claiming to be the Light of the World - and then he proves it.

Jesus heals the man born blind

Healing the blind is Jesus’ most common miracle. John includes this here again to further emphasize his purpose in writing this gospel, that you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus himself, in Luke quoted Isaiah as we read earlier as proof that he was the one sent from God, and, as he just stated - he is the light of the world.

Why does he make mud to put on the man’s eyes? There are multiple reasons why Jesus may have used mud in this scenario to heal the man’s blindness, but I would like to focus on two of those reasons. The first reason has to do with the Pharisees.

This particular healing happened on the sabbath. The act of spitting on the ground and mixing it with the dirt to make mud would violate the Pharisees strict rules of the Sabbath. Jesus knew that this would create conflict and would be an opportunity for him to show them the foolishness of their laws and rules. It would be an opportunity to expose their spiritual blindness.

The second reason has to do with the blind man himself.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised Spit; Spittle

As in many cultures, in ancient Israel spitting on a person expressed extreme contempt or disapproval (cf. Nu. 12:14). Job complained that he had fallen into such disrepute that he had become the object of spitting (Job 17:6; 30:10). Isa. 50:6 foretold that those who scorned the Servant of the Lord would beat him, pull out his beard, and spit in his face. The Gospels record that people at Jesus’ trial and crucifixion spat on Him (Mt. 26:67; 27:30; Mk. 14:65; 15:19; cf. 10:34; Lk. 18:32). Hebrew law stipulated that if a man refused to marry his brother’s widow (see HUSBAND’S BROTHER), she was to spit in his face in the presence of the elders as an expression of the community’s strong disapproval (Dt. 25:9).

Some scholars have said that beggars, most of whom were disabled in some way, would have been spit on from time to time as an act of contempt or disapproval. Just as Jesus’ disciples assumed that this man’s blindness was caused by sin, most Jews at that time would do the same. As a sign of disapproval, they may choose to spit on this man as he begged at the street corner, or the steps to the temple. As he hears Jesus get ready to spit, what thoughts cross his mind? Does he think that Jesus will spit on him? Is he feeling less than human? But as Jesus has the habit of doing, he turns everything upside down. The spit that so many times has been used to indicate contempt or disapproval is now being used to bring healing.

Jesus spits on the ground, mixes it with the dirt to make mud and spreads the mud on the man’s eyes. Then he sends the man to the pool of Siloam to wash, and John tells us that “he went and washed and came back able to see.”

THIS is the fulfillment of Jesus statement in Luke 4:18, about the prophecy of Isaiah. THIS is the the proof that Jesus is the Light of the World. THIS is why John is telling us this story.

We are blind

Embarrassing story about windshield wipers About 2 years ago, I had a silver GMC Terrain. This car started giving me all kinds of electrical troubles. The radio would randomly turn off while I was driving down the road, sometimes the key fob would not unlock the doors like it was supposed to, and one time I got in the car and I couldn’t turn the key in the ignition. I couldn’t figure out what was going on; I had recently replaced the battery, and I had done it myself, so I remembered tightening the bolts on the terminals. It was a mystery. One day, Jen and I were at WalMart purchasing replacement windshield wiper blades. As we were walking out to the car, I pulled out my key fob and hit the Unlock button. I noticed that the lights on the car didn’t flash like they were supposed to when I unlocked the car. When I got to the car, I put the key in the door, and the key wouldn’t turn to unlock the car door. I wasn’t sure what to do at that point, so I decided to put the new windshield wiper blades on while I thought about what to do next. So, I took the old wiper blades off, and I put the new ones on, and I put the old blades in the package to dispose of when I got home. About that time, Jen looked into the passenger window of the car and saw some camouflage hunting gear on the passenger seat. She looked at me and said, “Um, Randy, I don’t think this is your car!” I looked at the car, then I turned to the left and saw my car sitting there about 50 feet away in the next row. Now, most of you, If your key fob did not unlock the car, would most likely look around and make sure you were at the right car. Probably all of you would do so if you put the key in the door and the key didn’t turn.

I had a blind spot Because I had been having electrical issues with my car, because the radio had been acting up, the key fob had been not working from time to time, and the one time that the key wouldn’t turn in the ignition, I had a blind spot. I couldn’t see the evidence right in front of me that I was putting windshield wiper blades on the wrong car!

The disciples had blind spots The disciples in our story had blind spots as well. These poor guys, we give them a hard time for all the ways that they didn’t understand what was happening around them, but we have the advantage of 20/20 hindsight. We have read the whole story, multiple times; we know how each story ends, and how the whole story ends. But they were operating with the information that they had up to that point. The understanding at that time was that disabilities like blindness and deafness were caused by sin, they were God’s punishment for not following the law. So, when they saw a man that had been born blind, it was natural for them to ask this question to Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” They had a blind spot, they had no idea that the man had been born blind so that God’s works might be revealed. They had no idea what was about to happen.

The neighbors had blind spots The man’s neighbors had blind spots, too!

John 9:8–10 NRSV

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

They had never seen anything like this! A man who was once blind could now see. They had no frame of reference for this. Here he was, standing in front of them, clearly the same man that they had seen begging for years and they didn’t know what to think. What they were seeing with their eyes was impossible.

The Pharisees had blind spots In the section that follows directly our passage from today, the Pharisees question the man that was healed and they also question his parents. The Pharisees were so vehemently opposed to Jesus, that they couldn’t accept the testimony of the man that had been healed. He told them exactly what had happened and they still could not accept it. They had blind spots, too.

Jesus heals us of our blindness

Just as Jesus healed the man born blind two thousand years ago, he wants to heal our blind spots as well. And because we know, through this story in John’s gospel, as well as many other stories recorded in this Good Book, we know that Jesus is who he said he is, he is the Light of the world, the Son of God, the one called to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, freedom to the oppressed and sight to the blind. He is the One - the ONLY one, who can heal us of our blindness.

Maybe your blind spot is that you don’t think you’re good enough for God to use you. Jesus wants to heal you from that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you think that homeless people don’t deserve our help because they should just go get a job already. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you think the road belongs to you and everyone else should just get out of your way. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you think white people are somehow inherently better than black and brown people. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you think the way to keep your family in check is through verbal, emotional or physical violence. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you can’t see any way out of the abusive relationship that you’re in. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you think that you’ve got this whole Christianity thing figured out and you’ve learned everything there is to learn. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you don’t think your smart enough to go back to school and finish your degree. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you think anyone who votes differently than you is your enemy. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you’re so mad at Christians that you can’t bring yourself to follow Jesus. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

Maybe your blind spot is that you think that a problem is too big and there’s nothing you can do to help. Jesus wants to heal you of that.

As you leave here today, go in the knowledge that God wants to open your eyes and cure your blind spots, just like he healed the man born blind two thousand years ago.

Let’s pray.