Is life simply a large accident, a giant game of chance? The question as to why events happen in our lives has been posed repeatedly.
It has been the theme of classic movies and literature, and it is asked daily by real people, especially in moments of tragedy and loss. Jesus offered a unique way of addressing the question of “Why?” in our study today.
In our study we find one of the best attested miracles or Scripture. Not only do we read the test-
money of the one upon whom the miracle was performed, but that of his parents and friends, as well as the reluctant Pharisees.
The evidence was examined from every possible angle and the proof was unquestionable. If it were not so tragic, this chapter would be comical.
Here is a man blind from birth healed by the Nazarene and the Pharisees, rather than accept the evident fact that Jesus healed him, chose to question the man’s former blindness!
Next, his parents, out of cowardice, “pass the buck” and will not take sides with their son. And in verses 24-34, this common-sense man makes the learned Pharisees look ridiculous! He becomes the questioner instead of the questioned.
The healing of this blind man is an illustration of the progress of the conflict between Jesus and His opponents, and is an outstanding example of the development of belief and unbelief:
– the belief is exemplified in the man
– the unbelief is exemplified in the reaction of the Pharisees, who examined and finally excommunicated the man
This episode was:
– sign demonstrating Jesus’ power
– an interview which afforded another instance of His dealing with men
– a crisis which brought fresh response, positive and negative, to His ministry
* THE CASE
It is my understanding that a person goes blind in the United States every 20 minutes. This man was born blind! but the greatest miracle will not be the fact that his eyes were opened…the great event was his heart opening to Jesus
It cost him everything to confess Jesus as the Son of God, but he was willing to do it.
The action was opened by the contact which Jesus made with a beggar who was sitting by the roadside in Jerusalem. Beggars were common in the Orient and Jesus healed many cases (Mark 8:23. 10:46).
He also mentions this fact as one of the marks of the Messiah in the message He sends back to John the Baptist in Matthew 11:1-6: “After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. {2} When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples {3} to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” {4} Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: {5} The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. {6} Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.””
Let’s note the different way the blind man was viewed by those around him.
– To the disciples, he was a theological analysis:
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. {2} His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” {3} “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. {4} As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. {5} While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.””
The question recognized his miserable plight, and it’s very clear that the disciples felt certain that someone had sinned to bring it about.
The book of Job shows that this is not always the case and Jesus showed it also in Luke 13:1-5: “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. {2} Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? {3} I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. {4} Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? {5} I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.””
It’s very clear that they were more interested in solving the abstract problem than in ministering to the individual who had aroused it. They regarded him as a sinner who was less important than their debate!
Affliction, sorrow, pain, disappointment, and loss are always opportunities to display God’s grace. It enables the suffer to show God in action. When trouble and disaster fall upon a man who does not know God, that may’ might collapse from the burden. But when they fall on a man who walks with God they bring out the strength and the beauty, and the endurance and the nobility, which are within a man’s heart when God is there.
It is told that when an old saint was dying in an agony of pain, he sent for his family, saying: “Come and see how a Christian can die.” It is when life hits us a terrible blow that we can show the world how a Christian can live and, if need be, die.
The man born blind from birth was in darkness, but Christ came to provide light. How it must have cheered the heart of the blind man to hear these words! God gave men the day for work and the night for rest: we must all do God’s work while there is time to do it.
– To the neighbors, he was a beggar.
“His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg'” (9) Some claimed that he was. Others said. “No, he only looks like him. ” But he himself insisted, “I am the man. “
He had likely been dependent upon their generation for his support, and while they probably held no hard feelings toward him, they regarded him more or less of a nuisance He was unproductive, contributing nothing to the life of the community, and was “one more mouth to feed.” They were not necessarily unkind…but they were indifferent
– To the Pharisees, he was a tool to trap Jesus.
“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. {14} Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. {15} Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.””
They had no interest in the man, but were eager to employ him as a witness, if possible. Since the healing was performed on the Sabbath, he would be useful to them in incriminating Jesus.
Later, when they found he was not useful for this purpose, they cast him off and excommunicated him.
– To Jesus: He viewed him as a man
To Jesus, he was a man who needed help! He felt that the man’s condition called for action rather than debate or discussion.
“Having said this, he spit on the ground made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. (7) “Go, ” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”
This is the only miracle recorded we have by Jesus on one defective from birth. And verse 3 (“but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life’?) ought to give comfort to all afflicted today: God’s purposes on this earth can be fulfilled through the most difficult of circumstances.
THE CURE
The motive for the cure was compassion. Jesus had little to gain by performing the miracle, since He needed to offer no further proof to the multitude of what He could do.
He must have realized that healing this man on the Sabbath would cause an even more violent protest from the rulers than had the healing of the man at the pool earlier in His ministry. Nevertheless, He did it because of His concern for the individual.
One thing is for certain: the cure was undeniable! Nobody who knew this man challenged its reality.
All acknowledged:
– that he had been born blind
– that the man who was professedly cured was identical with the blind beggar and that he could actually see
There are some questions we might attempt to answer before discussing the results of this healing:
- Why did Christ anoint the man’s eyes with mud made from spittle? The Jews believed there were medicinal qualities in spittle, especially if it was from a distinguished person.
And there were definite traditions observed by the Pharisees which prohibited the application of medications on the Sabbath; the law read: “as to fasting spittle, it is not lawful to put it so much as upon the eyelids.”
Perhaps Jesus wanted to challenge their binding of traditions as “matters of life and death.” It could also have been because He wanted to give the blind man some symbolic or expressive action in order that he might know the power to heal his blindness came from Jesus.
One thing is for certain: Jesus took the methods and customs of his time and used them to gain the confidence of his patient. Touch and hearing would be this man’s chief avenues of contact with the outside world. He had already heard the conversation between Jesus and the disciples, and would have thought it not too reassuring.
The man could have been healed without the clay and spittle, but the Lord deals with individuals differently. He works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Christ said “go” and the man went…obedience to the plan of God brought happiness.
- Why did Jesus send him to the pool of Siloam?
The pool of Siloam was one of the landmarks of Jerusalem, and was the result of one of the great engineering feats of the ancient world.
The water supply of Jerusalem had always been precarious in the event of a siege. It came mainly from the Virgin’s Fountain or the Spring Gihon, which was situated in the Kidron Valley. A staircase of 33 rock-cut steps led down to it; and there, from a stone basin, people drew the water.
It was just inside the southeast portion of the city wall and quite a distance from the temple. There were certainly other facilities much handier where the man might wash.
There are two likely reasons:
- He sent the man there to test his faith. Faith must be tested and expressed. Neither the mud nor the water had any medicinal qualities except as Jesus used them miraculously.
- This pool probably had some symbolic, typical, or spiritual Messianic significance to the Jews.
THE CONFESSION
As we look closely at this blind man’s confession
of faith, we will notice, initially, that it was positive and that his different statements are filled with facts in simple and direct language.
And notice the use of the words “I” and “me.” The miracle was part of this man’s firsthand knowledge, and his witness could not be set aside.
“”How then were your eyes opened?” they demanded. {11} He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” {12} “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.”
Since the Pharisees were the custodians of the faith, it was right that the healed man be brought to them for investigation. The fact that they studied this miracle in such detail is only further proof that Jesus did indeed heal the man!
Notice the testimony:
– he had been born blind
– a man named Jesus anointed his eyes and commanded him to wash in Siloam
– he washed
– he returned seeing
Three groups of people questioned the blind man, and it’s important that we note the different levels of faith displayed by the healed man:
– The neighbors, motivated by curiosity.
They just wanted to know what had happened. The blind man responded with the facts.
– The Pharisees, whose motive was controversy
The fact of the Sabbath Day was a more important matter than whether or how the thing was done. Jesus must be a sinner, since He’d broken a law by healing on the Sabbath, they supposed.
The healed man’s response: he is a prophet! Moses, Elijah, and Elisha did perform miracles. The Jewish people would look upon their prophets as men of God who could do wonderful things by the power of God.
But the Pharisees did not want to see Jesus given that kind of high designation.
“Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided. {17} Finally they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.””
We must admire the courage of this man to stand up to this group of rebellious people. It is not always easy to be a Christian witness…it takes courage to stand against sin and against the world that delights in sin.
Verses 18-34 give us the reaction to the statement in verse 17; stage by stage the objections of unbelief are beaten back.
– The man’s parents
“The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. {19} “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” {20} “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. {21} But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” {22} His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. {23} That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.””
The parents were afraid to say much, but they did identify him as their son and they affirmed that he had been born blind. Without a doubt, this was not a case of mistaken identity.
They appealed to their son’s age and maturity for any future answers…and would claim nothing more.
– The healed man
The Pharisees wanted someone (anyone!?) to admit that Jesus was a sinner…but the man simply restates the facts and concludes that no sinner could heal a blind man.
“A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God, ” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” {25} He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” {26} Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” {27} 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?””
Anxious to settle the case, the Pharisees did call the man in; and this time, they put him under oath. “Give God the praise” is a form of Jewish “swearing in” at court.
His response is both wonderful and simple: I was blind, now I see! He did not debate the character of Jesus, because that was beyond his knowledge and experience. But he could see!
We admire the boldness of the man in asking those irate leaders if they wanted to follow Jesus!
THE CONSEQUENCES
This miracle illustrated clearly the consequences of belief and unbelief. Persistent faith brought healing and progressive enlightenment.
As the blind man acted on the simple imperative of Jesus, he progressed from one step of faith to another, until Jesus’ voluntary revelation of Himself brought the man to its highest attainment and reward.
The poor beggar is not awed by the presence of the Pharisees. He is a man with a good and honest heart upon which the truth has fallen and is slowly bringing forth fruit.
It’s fair to say that this man is more amazed at the willful blindness of the Pharisees than anything else. He is sincere, honest and logical…and it gets him into trouble.
“Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! {29} We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” {30} The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. {31} We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. {32} Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. {33} If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” {34} To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.”
The unbelief of the Pharisees began with a misunderstanding of the law and of Jesus. The law was for them a tradition to be kept, a dead letter, not a living voice. It resulted in a prejudice that blinded them to anything but their on pre-conceived opmlons.
Pride (vs. 29) and bigotry (vs. 34) caused them to drive away the very man from whom they might have taken lessons offaith.
The only way they could think to maintain their self-begotten prestige was to attack the character of the beggar and excommunicate him.
This is the normal procedure for the rulers of the Jews–if they could not disprove the miracles attesting to Christ’s message, they would threaten the messengers or do them bodily harm (Acts 4: 16-21).
Two forms of discipline were possible:
(1) the temporary exclusion, which cut off a man from fellowship until his penitence warranted restoration; it lasted only 30 days; (2) the permanent ban, which pronounced a curse on him and put him out forever. It might even be determined that this one could even be denied the privilege of dealing with local merchants.
Nothing could be more humiliating for a Jew than being excommunicated from the synagogue!
The first one is likely here, since a vote of the Sanhedrin was necessary for the second. When Jesus heard of the unfortunate results, he was moved with pity and sought out the man. His question was simple and to the point: (35) “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said. ‘”Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The man was unwilling to commit himself without knowing why and more: (36)”Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Upon getting Jesus’ answer, he immediately responded, which represents the final stage of belief: “Jesus said. “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you. ” (38) Then the man said, “Lord, I believe, ” and he worshiped him. (39) Jesus said “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
The story ends with a rhetorical question posed by some Phahsees: (40) “Some pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind, too? (41) Jesus said, “lf you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
They expected Jesus to esempt them from the condemnation of His previous statement (vs. 39). His reply was devastating: if they really were blind, and admitted the fact, their confession would lead to the removal of their sin.
Their inability to discern their own failure as evidenced by their complacent assumption of spritual sight aggravated the situation and made their sin all the more lasting!
While the blind man gained physical and spiritual light through faith, the Pharisees lost the light they had and lapsed into complete spiritual darkness.
Closing Thought
When I think about those who have “displayed the works of God” in suffering, several people come to mind.
One is a young man who has limited mental ability. I am sure that his mother and father must have asked themselves and God a million times why their son was born this way. I will always remember the night of their son’s baptism, when he responded to the invitation at the conclusion of a sermon. There was not a dry eye in the assembly when he confessed his faith in Jesus and said with beautiful simplicity “I just want to do what God wants me to do.” In that moment the work of God was displayed in that young man’s life.
I also think of a preacher I once heard soon after he was told that he had a potentially terminal disease. He told the church that his prayer to God was that he might get well; but if he could not get well, his prayer would be that God would help him show the church how to die. A few months later he did just that; in his dying the work of God was displayed!
Another example of one who displayed the work of God in suffering is a Christian woman who struggled for years with cancer and recently went on to be with the Lord. Many times I heard people ask “Why?” In looking back on her years of illness, I am convinced that she demonstrated the work of God through her illness in a way that few people ever do in their good health.
The ultimate example of living with purpose, of course, is Jesus on the cross. It was unfair, and it was cruel. It was, in many ways, a tragedy; yet Jesus hung on the cross so that the “works of God might be displayed” in His life and death.
No one I have ever met can explain why Jesus had to suffer on the cross. I do not believe we will understand that completely until we reach heaven. Even a small child, however, can appreciate the fact that the work of God was displayed in a marvelous way because Jesus went to the cross. He lived and died for the purposes of God.
All of us face something that could cause us to believe that God has turned His back on us and that we could not possibly be used for the glory of God. Some may say, “But I am divorced”: “I struggle in my marriage”; “I have problems with my children”; “I am ill”; or “I am too old /young. ” Jesus walks into our world and says, in essence, “I will not tell you why you face the difficulties you are now facing, but I will tell you this: The work of God can be displayed in your life in spite of your problems–perhaps even because of your problems!”
An example of this is Paul, who was tormented by his familiar “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). Three times he asked the Lord to remove it.
I am sure that Paul imagined how much more he could accomplish for God if only he were free from his affliction, yet the Lord refused to remove Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
Instead, God left him with this message: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Paul finally accepted God’s decision that he could better demonstrate God’s power through weakness than through strength and good health.
In this Paul gave us a model to follow in dealing with afflictions. First, we ask God to deliver us from our pain. This is our natural human reflex to pain, and it is right to cry out for deliverance. The second step for the Christian, however, is to say to God, “Come what may, You be glorified in my life.” Whatever our situations, we can all be used to display the work of God!
JOHN 9 in review
This chapter presents the sixth of seven special miracles recorded in John’s Gospel as witnesses to Christ’s deity (20:30-31). The first three signs show how a person is saved: through the Word (water to wine), by faith (healing the nobleman’s son), and by grace (healing the impotent man). The last four signs show the results of salvation: satisfaction (feeding the 5,000), peace (stilling the storm), light (healing the blind man), and life (raising Lazarus).
- The Cure (9:1-7)
- The man has the characteristics of the lost sinner.
(1) He was blind (Eph. 4:18; John 3:3; 2 Cor. 4:3-6). The unsaved, though intellectual like Nicodemus, can never see or understand spiritual things. See 1 Cor. 2:14-16.
(2) He was begging. The unsaved are poor in God’s sight, though perhaps rich in the eyes of the world. They are begging for something to satisfy their deepest needs.
(3) He was helpless. He could not cure himself; others could not cure him.
- The cure shows how Christ saves a sinner.
(1) He came to the man in grace. Christ could have passed him by, for it was the Sabbath and He was supposed to rest (v. 14). While the disciples argued about the cause of the blindness, Jesus did something for the man.
(2) He irritated the man. A speck of dirt irritates the eye; imagine how cakes of clay must have felt. But the dirt in his eyes encouraged him to go wash. It is just so with the preaching of the Word: it irritates sinners with conviction so that they want to do something about their sins. (See Acts 2:37.)
(3) He cured the man by His power. The man proved his faith in Christ by being obedient to the Word. “Religion” today wants to give men substitutes for salvation, but only Christ can deliver from the darkness of sin and hell.
(4) The cure glorified God. All true conversions are for God’s glory alone. See Eph. 1:6, 12, 14; 2:8-10.
(5) The cure was noticed by others. His parents and neighbors saw a change in his life. So it is when a person is born again—others see the difference it makes (2 Cor. 5:17).
- The Controversy (9:8-34)
The religious leaders had let it be known that anyone who confessed Christ openly would be cast out of the synagogue (v. 22). This meant, of course, losing friends and family and all the benefits of the Jewish religion. It was this declaration that forced the blind man’s parents and neighbors to “beat around the bush” when asked about his amazing cure.
The son’s simple confession in v. 11 exalted Christ, though at that time he did not fully know who “the man called Jesus” really was.
The Pharisees attacked Christ by saying He was not of God (v. 16) and calling Him a sinner (v. 24). The son told what he knew (v. 25) and showed the Pharisees how foolish their thinking was (vv. 30-33). The simple-hearted believer knows more spiritual truth than unsaved educated theologians. (See Ps. 119:97-104.) The final result: they excommunicated the man from the synagogue.
It would have been easy for the son to hide his confession and thus avoid controversy, but he fearlessly stood his ground. He knew what a difference Christ had made in his life, and he could not deny it. Everyone who has met Christ and trusted Him should make it known openly.
III. His Confession (9:35-41)
The man did not realize it then, but the safest place for him was outside the Jewish religious fold. The Jews cast him out, but Christ took him in! Like Paul (see Phil. 3:1-10), this man “lost his religion” but found salvation and went to heaven.
Note carefully how this man grew in his knowledge of Christ:
(1) “A man called Jesus” (v. 11) was all he knew when Christ healed him.
(2) “A prophet” (v. 17) is what the man called Him when the Pharisees questioned him.
(3) “A man of God” (vv. 31-33) is what he concluded Jesus to be.
(4) “The Son of God” (vv. 35-38) was his final and complete confession of faith. (See 20:30-31.)
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day,” states Prov. 4:18 (NIV), and this man’s growth in “light” proves it.
A Christian is one who has light in his heart (2 Cor. 4:6) and who is a light in the world (Matt. 5:14). He walks in the light (1 John 1) and produces the fruit of light (Eph. 5:8-9). The man’s “Lord, I believe!” was the turning point in his life.
The same light that leads one person can blind another (vv. 39-41). The Pharisees admitted that they could see, and therefore they were guilty because they rejected the evidence and would not receive Christ. The Gospel brings about different reactions from different kinds of hearts: the blind sinner receives the truth and sees; the self-righteous religious person rejects the truth and becomes even more blind spiritually. It is a dangerous thing to reject the light.
Proud to be TJ's man 