Eyes To See Series

If you have your Bibles with you please open up to the gospel of John 9:26. You may recall we have been in the gospel of John since about February. Most recently, we have been looking at the miracle story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind. You may recall that Jesus was walking along the road with his disciples. They came across this man who had been blind since birth. While Jesus saw him as a man of need, the disciples saw him as an object to be discussed. They decided they were going to ask Jesus somewhat of a theological question. They said “Jesus, who sinned, this man or his parents, that this man was born blind?” Jesus said neither sinned. This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in this particular man’s life. Then what he did was he spit on the ground. Made a little bit of a mud paddy and pressed it into the man’s eyes. Then he told the man “Go, and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” So the man went and washed, and he could see. He was given sight. The man was excited so he went back home to his neighbors and his neighbors couldn’t believe it was him. Some would say is this the same blind beggar that used to beg over by the temple there. And others would say it can’t be him. It must be somebody different. The man said no it is me. It really is me. So they said how were your eyes open? All he knew were the basic facts. He knew this man Jesus spit on the ground and made some mud and put it on my eyes and he told me to wash. I washed it and now I see. That is basically the story. They said where is this man? He said I don’t know where he went. They weren’t satisfied with his answers so they brought him to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the people that were very inquisitive. They asked him the same sorts of questions. How did this happen? He repeated the story. He said Jesus put some mud on my eyes and told me to go wash in the pool and I washed and now I see. This wasn’t good enough for the Jews because they were trying to find a reason to accuse Jesus of something. This healing had taken place on the Sabbath just like it had when Jesus had healed the man who was paralyzed for 38 years. You might remember that story. They said this man must be a sinner. Somebody else said if he was a sinner then how could he perform such miraculous signs. So a debate started between them. Finally they went to the man and said it was your eyes that were open. What do you say? He says I think he was a prophet. A prophet is seen as a truth teller. Somebody who can speak truth into a situation but also someone who is believed to be the very mouthpiece of God. Someone who would speak for God.

Basically, there was a little bit of confusion going on there. The Pharisees started thinking maybe we need to call in the man’s parents. Maybe it wasn’t an actual healing. Maybe he really wasn’t born blind. So they called the parents in. They sit the parents down and say we have three questions for you. First of all, is this your son? Second of all, was he born blind? Third, how did it happen that he was able to gain his sight? They answered the first two questions. They said yes he is our son. Yes he was born blind. The third one we don’t want to answer. As Chris mentioned last week, the reason they didn’t want to answer was because if they were to imply that he was the messiah, he could get kicked out of the synagogue out of the community there. They said you need to go back and ask the man because he is of age. So they go back and ask this man. They say give glory to God. We know this man is a sinner. This is where the man voices that famous line that says “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” This is where we pick up the story. We will actually pick it up in verse 26. Reading from the New International Version. If you want to follow along in the red pew Bibles it is about page 1062 or so. Reading from John 9:26. (Scripture read here.)

We see here the Pharisees are not satisfied with his answer so they drill him again. How could this happen? How could your eyes be open? The formerly blind man is getting frustrated about this. He says I have told you before. Why do you want to know? Is it because you want to be his disciples also? In other words, do you want to sit at his feet as students? They didn’t like that at all. That is when they started hurling the insults at him. They said we are disciples of no one but the prophet Moses and we know God spoke through Moses but as far as this fellow, we don’t even know where he came from. That is when the formerly blind man takes the position of the future. This is an uneducated, blind beggar is now about to turn the tables and teach the Pharisees. First of all, he says “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he listens to men who do the will of God.” He is reminding them of something probably they have told him before. Maybe something that came out of the book of Psalms when King David said “If I had cherished sin in my heart, you would not listen to me.” So he is kind of reminding the teachers of what they taught him. Then he goes on to say that he only listens to a godly man who does his will. Then he goes on to say “Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” This would have really upset them. What is amazing here is you have an uneducated, formerly blind man, a beggar who is instructing these men on the very thing that Jesus had been trying to tell them for the past nine chapters. He is sent from God and he could do nothing apart from God. This man was giving them a theology lesson. A thing that had been revealed to this man by Jesus. By God directly had revealed to him that this man, Jesus, who healed his eyes, was from God or else he could do nothing.