John: The Son of Man

Exegetical & Homiletic Point: Jesus is the Son of Man who opens blind eyes!

Intro

What would it be like to be blind? What if I needed to get home but I had no eyes?

Could I drive a car?

Could I walk home?

We use our eyes to see soooooo much! We take our eyes for granted!

It’s a lot harder to live without sight. We run into things, trip over things, we can’t see danger like cars coming when you cross the road. You wouldn’t even know how to get home unless you learned the path off by heart.

You know, Jesus healed a man who was born blind. He never saw anything. But, Jesus opened his eyes! He was able to see for the first time! Now he would be able to see the world around him, see it’s beauty, see how to get around and what his family looked like. He could see!

Once he was in constant darkness, then he saw, and saw the light!

You know, Jesus gave that man his physical sight, but he can give us something even better than eyesight - he can open our spiritual eyes.

When our spiritual eyes are blind, we fumble about in the darkness, unable to see where we’re going. We can’t see the truth about God. We can’t find God.

But,

When Jesus opens our eyes we can see the truth. We can see Jesus Christ as our Saviour! We can see the way to God and all of the dangers of wandering off the path! The way to eternal life is hard, and full of suffering, but when we have our spiritual eyes opened, we can follow Jesus as he leads us to everlasting joy.

Recap

After the Feast of Tabernacles - Jesus is the Light of the world, and the Living Water.

Apostle John is unfolding for us reason after reason why we must and should believe that Jesus is the messiah. Including the bombshell in the previous passage that Jesus is the eternally existent God :the I AM.

This passage flows on from there. While its a different occasion, it very naturally fits right next to this amazing revelation because there is a prophecy fulfilled here!

In this passage about a man recovering his sight, there are three big things for us to see.

Three big things for us to see.

The first is...

See Works of God (v1-12)

After Jesus’ huge revelations in and around the temple at the feats of Tabernacles he has slipped away to escape the murderous crowd.

Now the story pick up on some other occasion, probably on a different day, where Jesus & his disciples are traveling along. Lets see what happens:

John 9:1–2 NIV

As he went 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?”

The blind man was known well enough that it was known he had a lifelong disability. He probably hung out on busy roadsides to beg for donations. Many people would have seen him every day.

Seeing this man sparks a theological discussion. It raises a question about the world and the way God works. Seeing as this man is blind, there must be some cause, what is it? If God is in control, why is this man born blind? Who sinned against God to cause this punishment?

This was a question that many people were wrestling through in Jesus day, they thought perhaps that disabilities like this were either passed on to children from parents who had done something wrong, or, maybe the man had sinned in his mother’s womb, and so God punished him with blindness.

This may sound wild to you, but this was a very serious question!

We know that sin entered the natural world though the Rebellion of Adam and Eve. We know that God cursed them in judgment for their actions. We know that God does punish sin. So it’s not such a strange question to ask.

Jesus responds to their question:

John 9:3–5 NIV

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

This affliction was not caused by sin, neither was it a mere accident. This happened for God’s Glory - so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

In God’s providential plan, he had this man in mind, both to suffer for many years with this disability, and to be a wonderful example to the world of God’s marvelous work in Jesus Christ!

This does not make it easy! As one commentator said:

John Afflicted to Be Healed

Why me?” Imagine the frustration, the torment. Year after year he dealt with this affliction. He had no idea that one day the Son of God would come to him and heal him. But that was the plan of God for his life from all eternity.

Friends, I really want you to grab hold of this concept, because it will save you so much grief in life. You really need to know this:

God is Sovereign.

He is sovereign over you, and your body and your life.

Our God is in the heavens and he does as he pleases.

We may know what caused the troubles and suffering that we experience in life, like we can find out the genetic defects that cause disabilities, or we can know the person who caused us pain. We can investigate the cause of our suffering on a scientific level, but it is much harder to find out the reason for it in our life.

Why is this happening to me?

What is God doing in this situation?

Did I bring this on myself? Is God punishing me?

These answers are hard to come by.

God doesn’t tell us the specifics of why we go though what we go though. We want to know, but we don’t have a “right” to that information. Even Job, that great suffering man was not told why he suffered so greatly and lost so much.

Part of our current trouble is that many of us have believed the lie of the world that “you deserve happiness” or that you have a right to be happy. You don’t.

God gives us much happiness, and you get more when you live in line with God’s commands and design. But, you don’t have a right to it. You can’t demand it.

But you know who does have rights?

The King of the Universe!

But God has every right to use us for his glory. We don’t get a say.

Whether you’re Balaam with his mixed motives,

Jonah the Reluctant prophet,

Paul the murdering persecutor,

Job the suffering servant,

Lot’s Wife,

Pharaoh of Egypt,

Or a blind man in Israel,

God will take us and use us to Glorify His holy name!

Some of us will be vessels of mercy, those outside Jesus will be vessels of wrath.

He chose this blind man to be a vessel of God’s glory. And he can do the same with you. We pray and hope and trust that all of you here today will similarly be vessels like this man.

And, having said that the blind man was born blind to display God’s work, Jesus announces then and there that the time for those works of GOd was right now! Jesus was there to do ther work of God, to bring the light of the world to the blind man.

So, he set about healing him!

John 9:6–7 NIV

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

The moment had arrived, God did his marvelous work in this man’s life! He was sent to the Sent pool, to receive his eyesight.

Jesus likes to mix up his method of healing (probably so we don’t try to copy him…)

This meant that the man had his sight, but he didn’t see Jesus! He had gained his sight be he hadn’t seen his savior!

Now this was so wild that some neighbors didn’t recognize him! But soon it was confirmed - this was the blind beggar.

Jesus, the light of the World had brought light to this man! And in doing so, Jesus fulfilled a prophecy from Isaiah:

Isaiah 35:3–6 NIV

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Jesus was God, who had come to his people. He Came to save. He came and opened the eyes of the blind. He was the Living Water who brings life in the desolation.

Jesus is the light of the World who drives back the darkness.

The next big thing we see in this passage is...

See the Unbelieving Heart (v13-34)

Turns out Jesus healed on a Sabbath (again). As word got around of the healing, so did the circumstances.

A local religious council, probably acting as a sub-committee of the Sanhedrin got together to sus out the circumstances. They start interviewing witnesses....

We won’t go through this interaction blow by blow, but here’s the short version:

Pharisees interview the previously blind man to get the story.

They get into an argument among themselves - how can Jesus be from God if he breaks their sabbath rules? But others argued that only someone from God could do something this great!

Then they interview the ex-blind man’s parents, because they couldn’t believe the he was healed.

The parents verify the identity of their son, but, it turns out they are scared, because the Pharisees have already decide they will kick anyone who believed Jesus was the messiah out of their church.

John 9:22 NIV

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.

So the parents deflected back to the ex-blind son “He’s a legal adult, ask him”

So then they get the ex-blind man back, and quiz him some more!

He’s starting to grow weary of the whole afaair, and starts to make some striking remarks that cut to thr truth:

John 9:27–29 NIV

He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

There’s the truth of it “they did not listen”. They had figuratively deaf ears!

At the mere suggestion that they should listen, they are incensed.

They try to distance themselves from Jesus by once again claiming their heritage and tradition as a redeeming quality.

So the ex-blind man drops another truth bomb. So simple, yet so powerful:

John 9:30–33 NIV

The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

These religious leaders should be the guys in the know when it comes to this stuff, but they are outsiders. God is not beholden to human institutions.

The fellow follows some simple logic: God doesn’t answer the prayers of people who are spareated from Him (unrighteous/sinners), He does however listen to obedient godly people, this man Jesus did a mighty work (unheard of!), therefore he must be on God's team, he must be working for God.

Although this logic is sound, the hard-hearted religious elites don’t want to hear it. The “simple” uneducated beggar is schooling the powerful and respected leaders. That’s the way of Christianity, it sounds like foolishness to so-called wise people.

SO the Pharisees resort to accusations once more, and excommunicate this man from their synagogue:

John 9:34 NIV

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

It’s a heavy price to pay for speaking the truth! This would have come with community exclusion to some extent.

It reveals the hard heart of the person who rejects Jesus - deflecting, reacting maliciously, and illogically. They are in spiritual blindness.

This man gained his sight, but lost his spiritual community.... or did he? Lets see.

The next big thing we see in this passage is...

See the Son of Man (v35-41)

Jesus hears of the events with the pharisees and searches out the man he healed:

John 9:35–36 NIV

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

Here was Jesus seeking him out to continue to open his eyes, now he is moving beyond the literal eyes, to help this man see the truth.

This man is such a great example - he asks the right question, perhaps not realizing yet that this man in front of him was the one who healed him.

He need to believe in the Son of Man, but the fellow doesn’t know who it is.

Jesus reveals this great truth to him:

John 9:37–38 NIV

Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

This man had the only right response - he saw Jesus, he beheld Him as the Son of Man, the one that the prophet Daniel says

Daniel 7:14 NIV

He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

It was only right that this ex-blind man, now seeing with his eyes, but also seeing who Jesus really was, believed and worshiped. Although a man, Jesus was God, and so he can rightly be worshiped.

Will you worship him too? You can have your eyes opened!

If you will not worship and believe in him - you are blind. Just like the pharisees:

John 9:39–41 NIV

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Jesus, while he was not there to bring the great judgement in his first coming, he does set the stage for it. He divides humanity onto the two camps of with Jesus or against him. Seeing or Blind. Son of God or Son of the Devil. Pardoned or Guilty.

Some Pharisees who were listening in on this conversation starts to get the idea that Jesus might have been making some remarks that allude to themselves!

These prideful folks thought their eyes were open, but they were blind. They claimed to see spiritual things clearly, and yet the reality was they they heaped up condemnation on their own heads and fumbled around in the dark.

But there are many who will never see the truth. They are unable to come to it. Not because God is being mean, they don’t even want to know the truth or be rescued. But Isaiah prophesied of people like this, who on hearing the truth, have their heart hardened.

Isaiah 6:9–10 NIV

He said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

There will be a great many who reject the truth, they cannot see even when it is put in front of them.

Turn to the Son of Man, see him, believe in him, worship him. Turn and be healed.

He went to the cross to die for his people....

So What?

See the works of God - in the life of the blind man, but in your life too. In trial and difficulties, God is at work for his Glory, and the Good of his people.

See the hardness of unbelieving hearts, they are hardened to truth and don’t want to let the light in. It would upset their world. Where Christ has not opened eyes, there is blidness.

See the Son of Man who reveals himself to his people, including his Church.

References:

Carson’s Pillar Commentary on John.

Hutcheson’s commentary on John

Hendrickson’s commentary on John

Sermons by Richard D. Philips,

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005.

Phillips, Richard D. John. Edited by Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani. 1st ed. Vol. 1 & 2 of Reformed Expository Commentary. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014.