John 9: 1 – 41
Oh, Now I See
1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. 8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” 9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.” 10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” 12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” 25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
Have you ever watched the television show The Twilight Zone? One program that I stopped and watched as I was channel surfing involved this grandfather who died and the interesting position was that he didn’t know it. Each day the grandfather would come down to breakfast and join the family. He was starting to decompose and his family would try to convince him that he was dead. Finally, he looked in the mirror and saw that he was showing all the signs of a dead person and went back up to his bedroom and gave up the ghost.
Well, in today’s study we will see almost the same kind of confusion. It will discuss blindness and sight. You see there is spiritual sight and there is physical sight. Some people who can see with their eyes are blind spiritually. And there are some people who are blind physically see spiritually quite well. So, let us take a look at this important spiritual insight.
1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
Let us try to look at this situation from the blind man’s position. He was born blind. Whether he staggered to his favorite spot or someone helped him it is not given. Possibly he just lived there all the time. His position was in the daily traffic flow of people. Here as he heard them walk by, he would call out for them to have compassion and give him some of their change.
If you ever live in a city then you can relate that you see these types of individuals daily as they stake out certain areas to beg. Sadly, many people get hardened to the cries of these needy folks and ignore them as they go to their various destinations.
On this particular day the blind man heard a lot of footsteps. Then to his hope the group stopped. His anticipation of a possible generous benefactor might come his way.
This man was evidently well known as we will see from the groups discussion, but please note Who was the One Who stopped the procession for the purpose of focusing on the blind man. It was our Lord Jesus Christ - 1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
The people in the group knew a lot about the blind man. They knew that he was born blind at birth. They had some mental reasoning going on that blindness was a result of the parents sins or that a baby could be cursed in the womb so they asked the Lord what was the reason for the blind man’s condition - 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
I am sure this man had heard over his lifetime these types of insults. But, now he hears a kind answer from someone, 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Our Lord Jesus gave a nice reply. The man heard that it wasn’t his fault that he could not see. Then this man spoke about something this man had no idea. He spoke about light and that this kind man said that He was the Light of the World.
Then he heard a noise that he was familiar with. It was the sound of someone spitting. Cruel, ignorant people have spit on this man before. I can just imagine the man raising his hands to deflect the spit that was projected his way. It missed. The man heard footsteps near to him. Someone had bent close to him. Possibly so one would have mercy and drop a coin in his cup. He didn’t hear any coin drop, what was going on – ‘6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.’
He was taken by surprise as someone put mud on his eyes. Then the kind voice that he heard gave him some instructions, 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.’
The blind man was obedient to the voice that had said kind words about him. He staggered to the pool. If you have ever known some blind people you are aware that they acclimate themselves to their surroundings. Having bumped into things many time they have an inner directional guide that helps them in many occasions avoid the road blocks.
The man has never ever asked to be able to see. He was just obedient to this Man’s directions. He could have remained where he was and just wiped the mud from his eyes. He didn’t however. And then, the miracle occurred. The man could see.
Picture the man who never expected to see, now viewing everything and everyone for the first time. No wonder the local citizens didn’t recognize him when he came back into town.
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” 9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.”
In all truth you would probably not recognize this man either. Here he was for all his life sitting down at the road side probably with his head down from the weight of his burden in begging for funds, now released to a new life. You see this man with the same clothes as the beggar, but now eyes shinning and a grin from ear to ear. He had to proclaim, ‘Hey, everybody it is really me!’
How could this have happened? Was he faking all these years? How could he now see?
10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”
‘Okay, so where is this supposed person who performed a miracle?’ – was the answer the people wanted from the man. Having been so joyous, he didn’t think about where the man went who healed him.
12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
Have you ever watched The Wizard of Oz? When confronted with a issue that they could not understand, the famous line was that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz would know what to do. So, now that the people were totally amazed they came up with the conclusion that the Wonderful Pharisees of Cause would understand exactly what happened.
13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.
So, how did these great religious leaders respond to this miracle – they got upset. They didn’t care about the man who was born blind receiving his sight. They were all bent out of joint because this miracle violated their rules.
14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
Please note that their line of questioning wasn’t to hear about the miracle. Their inquisition was to find out the details of the crime for violating one of their man made laws.
15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
According to the many laws a person could do something for another person on the Sabbath if it was an emergency. Healing a blind person did not fall under the emergency category.
Have you ever in the summer time made a mud compress for someone who got stung by an insect? To do this in those days was a crime which was considered work. I wonder if the Pharisees and Sadducees were the first official union to be organized against doing work?
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
Can you see the significance here? There has been a trade. The man who was born blind can now see. The Pharisees who think they can see are really blind. There is no one as blind as a person who refuses to see the truth right before his eyes. So, instead of praising The Ancient of Days, our Great Holy Father, they take on an attitude of disbelief. They thought that they could bully the parents to give a conflicting response to this man’s claim that he was born blind and was healed by Jesus.
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
To you and me if someone tried to threaten us that we would be thrown out of the church or excommunicated if we didn’t go along with some religious leaders decisions, we would think, ‘so what’. However, if you lived during this time in existence, you would be quite scarred. If you were barred from the ‘Temple’ then no one would have anything to do with you. They would not hire you to do work. They wouldn’t buy or sell anything to you. You would be ‘in left field without a glove’ or ‘up a river without a paddle’. You would be intimidated.
The parents could not lie. They told the truth in that the man the Pharisees were confronting was their son and that he was born blind. They did not know anything else, so the Pharisees needed to run all their questions with their son and to a large degree leave them alone.
24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” 25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”
Again the interrogators tried to get the man to give conflicting testimony. There comes a point when enough is enough. So, now instead of being pushed around by these religious phonies he took a stand. If they might be interested in becoming a disciple of Jesus they should go and join Him. Now, you know that kind of response doesn’t go over very well, so they lashed out verbally against Him. They admitted they did not know where Jesus was or where He came from. They were disciples of Moses. So, now the man goes on the offensive. He lets them know that he never heard of Moses ever giving someone born blind his sight.
30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
Have you ever heard of a greater testimony and defender of the faith as this man’s logic. He let the Pharisees know the difference between right and wrong – between truth and lies.
So, in their appreciation of this man’s defense of our Lord Jesus Christ, they excommunicated him from the Synagogue. Do you think this man really cared about this act? Are you kidding me? He can now see. What a great gift. He didn’t care if he had to leave the country. He could now see where he was going. It would ultimately lead to a new kingdom and a new beginning. God Is the God of second chances.
34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.
Our Lord Jesus heard about what had happened and sought out His new follower.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
It wasn’t hard to pick out the man who was healed. Again, he was the man grinning from ear to ear. Our Lord Jesus went up to the former blind man. He asked him if he would like to believe and give his life to the Son of God. The man might have now recognized the smiling man whose voice was the One Who told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Please notice the man’s response. He said, ‘yes Sir, I would’. Our Lord said that He was the One Who Is talking to him. What did the man do now? He fell on his knees and worshiped our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the man’s new response, - ‘Lord, I believe!’
Now back to our disgruntled religious people who listened in on the Lord’s comments about how He was going to make those who could see – blind and those who were blind – see, so they were concerned about themselves. Surely, Jesus You can’t be talking about us, we have our Doctorates in Theology from the best colleges.
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
Our Lord was never intimidated by man, so He answered them in truth.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this study that there are two types of vision, physical and spiritual. In all truth, it is nice to have physical vision but what is of the utmost need is spiritual vision. May our Precious Holy Master touch you and give you both.
