The Formerly Blind Man - John 9

©April 11th, 2021 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: John

We talk about miracles all the time, but most of the time when we say something is a miracle, we mean that it is an amazing event, not that it is truly miraculous. Miracles are instances when natural laws are suspended and God intervenes to do something different. Miracles still happen today, but they are (by definition) rare occurrences. If you or someone you know has experienced a genuine miracle from God, I suspect you’ve found it changed you. I also suspect when you tell people about it they are more than a little skeptical. In our text this morning we see both of those things happen to a man who was healed by Jesus.

Jesus performed many miracles during his earthly ministry. The gospels record a handful of them. The miracle we look at this morning is exceptional because of all the information we get surrounding its aftermath. The primary focus of this story isn’t really the miracle, but everything else that went on. The responses of the man who was healed, the disciples, and the religious leaders are all instructive to us. So we’re going to work our way through John chapter 9 today, and see the contrast between a man who was born blind and gained the ability to see, and the people who were born seeing, but chose to be blind.

The Disciples’ Question

Our story starts with Jesus and the disciples walking together, likely just outside the temple, when they encounter a man who was born blind.

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” 3 “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. 4 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. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:1-5, NLT)

The disciples saw this man and immediately asked Jesus a theological question that plagues many people: why? Why was this man afflicted with blindness? In their minds, a significant physical disability such as this must have been a judgment for sin. They wanted to know whether the man was punished because of his own sin or because of the sin of his parents.

Before we judge the disciples too harshly, we need to realize we often view the world in similar categories. When hard times come upon us (or others), sometimes we assume they are a punishment from God. But this is often not the case at all. I think there are three different reasons God allows suffering and trials in the life of the believer.

· Correction is when God uses difficult circumstances to get us back on track. Jonah being swallowed by a great fish is a good example of this. Jonah ran away from God, so God used the fish to bring him back. Correction isn’t punishment, it’s intended to put us back on the right path.

· Perfection is when God allows trials to test our faith. When our faith is tested, we are forced to ask ourselves whether we really trust God or not. When we trust Him, our faith grows, and we become stronger and closer to Him.

· God’s glory is the third reason God allows trials. Some situations, like the story of Job, God allows simply to demonstrate his own power and glory. Sometimes through our suffering, God’s power, grace, or perfect plan are made clear. Sometimes God allows suffering to put his glory on full display.

Jesus tells his disciples that this man was born blind was not because of his sin or the sin of his parents, but rather so God would be glorified in him. In other words, this man had been blind since birth so Jesus could heal him now. In some ways that answer is troubling, because we don’t like the idea of this man (and by extension, us) suffering just for God’s power to be revealed. To us, that’s not a fair trade. But I think this highlights a major problem: we have a tendency to think everything is about us. God’s plan is bigger than just us, and many things are more important than our comfort. It’s a hard truth to admit, but if our suffering brings glory to God, then it is worth it. Jesus said that’s why this man was born blind.

He continued by saying we each have a job to do from the Lord, and since the time for us to do our jobs is limited, we need to do it while there is still time. Jesus’ job was to serve as a light to the world—which is why He proceeded to heal the man.

Nowhere in the story do we hear the man ask for healing. We don’t even hear him speak until after he was healed. I often wonder how much of this conversation happened right in front of the man (because we sometimes treat blind people like they’re deaf, and deaf people like they’re blind), but we don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus spits in the dirt, makes some clay mud and puts it on the man’s eyes, then tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.

This is where we begin to see this man’s faith, because he did what Jesus said. That’s a big deal. The man could have protested that what Jesus did was gross and wiped his face clean. He could have asked questions or claimed what Jesus said was stupid. He could have done a lot of things other than doing what Jesus said, but something within him believed Jesus had the ability to heal him, so he went and did what Jesus said. It didn’t make sense to him, but he was going to obey His command regardless. That’s a pretty good picture of faith!

When the man washed his eyes in the pool of Siloam, he gained the ability to see! I cannot even imagine what that would be like. He had never seen anything before, not a tree, a sunset, his parents, or even himself. He had no concept of what sight would even be like. I can’t imagine his astonishment and elation. The closest thing I can relate to this is the people who are born colorblind and then are given the glasses that enable them to see color. When they first see the world the way it was meant to be, they break down in tears; tears of joy at the beauty they see around them and tears because they didn’t know what they were missing. I picture something similar happening to this man.

The Aftermath

John records for us what happened immediately after the man was healed,

8 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?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” 10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” 11 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!” 12 “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied. (John 9:8-12, NLT)

The people who knew him were flummoxed. This man was probably a regular fixture near the temple because he couldn’t work and thus was dependent upon the generosity of others. They knew him as the blind beggar. When people saw him up walking around, clearly no longer blind they started asking questions. They debated whether this was the same guy, and he confirmed that he was indeed and that the man they called Jesus had healed him. He didn’t know much else at this point, but he was excited to tell the story (as you might imagine!)

The people responded by saying they needed to take this man to see the Pharisees, because Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath. The Pharisees had strict rules about how you were supposed to keep the Sabbath, and Jesus had violated their rules. To be clear, Jesus had not violated God’s commandment about the Sabbath, which simply said that you should not work on the Sabbath day. But the Pharisees felt the need to clarify God’s laws and had created an elaborate system of rules to determine what constituted work and what did not.

Jesus violated their rules on at least two fronts. First, He had spit on the ground to create mud. Spitting on the ground to make mud was considered work, so according to the Pharisees, Jesus had broken the Sabbath. Secondly, their laws said you could not heal someone on the Sabbath unless it was a matter of life and death. So, if you had a toothache, you couldn’t treat it, but if you had an injury that might kill you, then you could treat the injury. This man had lived with his blindness his whole life, so clearly it was not a life or death situation. Thus, Jesus had violated their laws twice.

The people feared the Pharisees and knew they were out to get Jesus, so they decided to take this man to them. The Pharisees questioned the man, who repeated the story. When they heard what had happened, their prejudice against Jesus began to show. On the one hand, they said that a man who broke the Sabbath laws could not be from God. But they also reasoned that if Jesus had healed this man so miraculously, then it would show He was from God. They were conflicted. So, they asked the man what he thought. He said he believed Jesus must be a prophet.

This was not an acceptable answer to the Pharisees, so they decided to search for a different solution. Maybe, they reasoned, this was an elaborate hoax by Jesus to drum up support for himself. Maybe this man wasn’t actually the man who had been born blind. So they called in his parents to question them. His parents confirmed that this man was indeed their son, and that he had indeed been born blind and now was able to see. But John says they were afraid of the Pharisees, so when asked how he had been healed, the parents said they didn’t know and to ask their son instead.

A Changed Life

The Pharisees weren’t having much luck in their questioning, so they decided they would question the man again, but this time would take a much more forceful approach.

24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” 25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” 26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” 27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” 28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.” 30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.” 34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue. (John 9:24-34, NLT)

This time they told him what they expected him to say—namely that Jesus was a sinner. The man was becoming a bit bolder as he started to see the game they were playing. He said that he didn’t know whether Jesus was a sinner, but he did know this: he was blind but now he could see!

They kept pushing, asking him a second time what Jesus did. The man now really pushed the envelope, saying, “I’ve already told you the story once, are you looking to become his disciples too?” This, of course, was not at all what they wanted, but it shows this man’s perspective of Jesus was changing. He initially just viewed Jesus as a man, then a prophet, and now identifies himself as Jesus’ disciple. Later, we see he recognizes Jesus as the Messiah.

The Pharisees, however, did not want to be Jesus’ disciples, and they chastised the man, saying they were disciples of Moses, not this man Jesus who they didn’t even know anything about. The man, in a sudden fit of wisdom and boldness pushed back. He argued that no one else had ever been able to heal a man born blind, but since Jesus did it, God must be working through Him. He was defending Jesus, no matter what the religious leaders might say! His statement was right, but the Pharisees didn’t care. They were offended and angry that this man wasn’t doing what they wanted. They incredulously asked if he thought he could teach them something (revealing that they thought they had all the answers). They couldn’t refute his argument, so they banished him from the synagogue, using the only power they had to try to save face.

This is a common tactic people use when they know they are beaten but don’t want to admit it. Instead of making their case (which they know is futile), they attack. They punish the person, call them names, and try to discredit them. They can’t defeat their arguments, so they attack the person instead. People still make the same kind of attacks on Jesus and his followers today.

As the man left the synagogue, he encountered Jesus again (though he didn’t know it, since he’d never seen Jesus before!) Jesus asked the man if he believed in the Son of Man. The man said he wanted to but didn’t know who he was. Jesus reveals that He is the Son of Man and the man immediately believes and worships Jesus. The man had come full circle, not only gaining the ability to see physically, but also the ability to see spiritually!

Jesus makes one more statement to the man and those within earshot.

39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” 41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. (John 9:39-41, NLT)

Jesus says he came to give sight to the blind (like he’d done for this man) and to show those who think they see that they are blind (like he was now doing for the Pharisees.) His message was not lost on the Pharisees, who asked (likely with disdain and disgust), “Are you saying we’re blind?” They were confident that if anyone didn’t see clearly it was Jesus. Jesus said they weren’t just blind; they were blind people who claimed they could see! They persisted in their blindness because they didn’t want to see the world differently. Their world was fine the way it was.

We can make this same mistake. Sometimes we are too comfortable with the way things are to be open to seeing where we might be wrong. We claim to love the truth, but we are apt to suppress it if it goes against our sensibilities. We see this in the media all the time, each media source interprets events according to their own biases. Anything that doesn’t fit their narrative gets overlooked or reinterpreted. I believe a huge cause of the division in our culture is that we do the same thing. We only reinforce what we already believe, rather than allowing our beliefs to be challenged. We aren’t interested in what others have to say—we only listen to those who agree with us.

We can even do this with our faith. We may come across something in the Bible that challenges our preconceived notions, and simply gloss over it or reinterpret it because we don’t want to change. This is what the Pharisees were doing. It’s choosing to stay blind and convincing ourselves we see. It’s a dangerous place to be, so we should be on guard against this kind of attitude. Part of the benefit of the Church is that we don’t all agree on everything. If we’re open, we can learn from each other. If not, we’ll stay blind like the Pharisees.

Conclusions

This passage has many facets, but there are several truths we learn about what happens when we truly encounter Jesus.

First, we will want to tell others about Him. This man, after seeing Jesus for who he really was, was emboldened to tell others about Him. If we’ve experienced the difference Jesus makes, we will want to share Him with others! Many are hesitant to share their faith because they don’t feel they know enough. This man shows us that you don’t have to have all the answers to tell people about Jesus. His message was simple: “I was blind, but now I see.” Share what you know and God will use you to bring others to Him. You don’t have to have all the answers.

Second, we will follow Him. After encountering Jesus, this man wanted to become His disciple. If Jesus was who he thought he was, then he was worth following. That should be our response as well. If we believe in Jesus as our savior, we will also follow Him as our Lord. We’ll orient our lives based on what He says and follow Him.

Third, we will be attacked for Him. The message of Jesus is not popular, because it changes everything. It forces us to change how we look at ourselves and the world around us. People don’t like having their beliefs challenged. Even when you are as kind, loving, and respectful as you can be (and that should be our default approach), people are still not going to like what you have to say when you talk about Jesus. And just like the Pharisees, they may reach a point where they cannot make any more arguments, so they will simply attack you. We’ve seen this throughout history—some of you have experienced it firsthand. When it happens, don’t be surprised or discouraged. It’s part of being a follower of Jesus—but it’s worth whatever we must endure to hold out the truth to those around us.

Finally, we must look for our own blindness. We think we know lots of things…but we are all blind in some areas. Sometimes we are blind to our own sin, to a misconception we have about God, or about how we view the church, the world, or other people. We should be open to the ways God challenges us through His Word. When we come across something that challenges our beliefs, we should change our beliefs instead of trying to reinterpret what the Bible says. Changing our beliefs is hard, but it’s better than persisting in blindness. Be open to the places where God shows you that you aren’t seeing as clearly as you think.

This story has something for every one of us. If you don’t know Jesus, I challenge you to seek Him out. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. If you do know Him, then I challenge you to share Him with others, because they need to know Him as well. And no matter where you are, remember that God has a way of healing us of our blindness—we just have to be willing to let Him.

©April 11th, 2021 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: John