The Gospel According to John: 9:39-41

Series Introduction:

The theme verse for our series is John 20:31

John 20:31 – “…these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

The “these” John is referring to are the seven recorded SIGNS/miracles and the seven recoded “I Am” STATEMENTS of Jesus. John focused on those 14 key SIGNS and STATEMENTS in order to show us that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the World because He’s God’s only begotten Son. God had John write these things so that we would believe and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ so that by the grace of God we would be FREED from the penalty of our sin and given life to the FULL here on earth and life FOREVER in heaven.

Recap: John 1 - 8:11

John 1 - We are introduced to Jesus as the Word made flesh and told His purpose for coming to earth. We are also given John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” and Jesus calls His first disciples.

John 2 - Here we have the first recorded sign (the water turned into wine) and Jesus demonstrating His authority in the turning over the tables at the temple during Passover.

John 3 - The amazing discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus and John the Baptist’s second testimony about Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 4 - Jesus and the woman at the well, living water, Samaritans come to Jesus and then the chapter ends with the second sign/miracle, Jesus healing the nobleman’s son.

John 5 - The third sign/miracle, Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath Day

John 6 - We have the fourth recorded sign/miracle, the feeding of the five thousand. Then we have the first “I Am” statement, “I am the Bread that came down from Heaven” and the chapter ends with people starting to divide over Jesus.

John 7 - We see specifically how people are dividing over Jesus, some were divided because of unbelief, others because of uneasiness about the danger of following Jesus and others because of uncertainty about the claims of Jesus.

John 8 - The chapter begins with the religious leaders bringing the woman caught in adultery to Jesus wanting to trap him and stone her. The chapter ends with the religious leaders getting caught in their own trap and wanting to stone Jesus.

John 9 - A man blind from birth, healed, questioned, put out of the synagogue and found again by Jesus...

Picking up there…

Read Text:

John 9:39–41 (NASB)

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” 40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see,

See the Lord as He is.

John 9:35–38 (NASB)

35 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.

Luke 9:20 (ESV)

20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

John 20:31 – “…these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Matthew 16:15 (NIV)

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

See life as it is.

Personal

The blind man knew his condition and how Jesus changed it.

John 9:15 (NASB)

15 Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

John 9:17 (NASB)

17 So they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.”

People

The disciples didn’t see people they way they truly are...

John 9:1–2 (NASB)

1 As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

The Pharisees didn’t see people the way they truly are…

John 9:34 (NASB)

34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.

Jesus helps us see the purpose of God in things…

John 9:3 (NASB)

3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

John 9:33 (NASB)

33 “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

Romans 8:28 (NASB)

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

Blind to our perspectives.

41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

John 9:28–29 (NASB)

28 They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”

John 9:34 (NASB)

34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.

Isaiah 5:21 (NASB)

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!

Blind to other perspectives.

(v. 39) ...those who see may become blind.”

1 Corinthians 3:19–20 (NASB)

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”

1 Corinthians 1:20–25 (ESV)

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 (ESV)

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

2 Corinthians 1:12 (ESV)

12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God...

Wisdom is seeing things the way God sees them… So we have to become blind to other ways of seeing things…

James 1:5 (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Memory Verse of the Week:

John 15:17 NASB

17 “This I command you, that you love one another.

Discussion Questions: (John 9:39-41)

When Jesus says He came into the world for “judgement”, what comes to your mind? (v. 39)

What kinds of sight and blindness is Jesus talking about here and why do they matter? (v. 39)

In what ways has Jesus helped you “see”? (v. 39)

How does your sight still need to improve?

In what ways has Jesus helped you become “blind”? (v. 39)

In what ways do you need to become more blind?

Why couldn’t the Pharisees see that they were actually blind? (v. 40)

What do you think Jesus meant when He said, “If you were blind, you would have no sin”? (v. 41)

Why did the Pharisees believing they could see cause their sin to remain? (v. 41)

What else does this passage tell us about God?

What did you learn about yourself from this text?

Did anything else in these verses stick out to you?

How do you believe God is leading you to respond to His word?