From Darkness To Light: An Eye-Opening Experience

In 2000, a 12-year-old boy named Ben Underwood lost both of his eyes to retinal cancer.

Completely blind.

Doctors removed his eyes to save his life.

For years, he lived in darkness.

But Ben did something remarkable — he taught himself echolocation, clicking his tongue and interpreting sound reflections. He could ride a bike. Play basketball. Navigate hallways.

People were amazed.

But here’s the emotional core: In interviews, Ben once said that before his surgery — before the cancer fully took his sight — he memorized his mother’s face. He knew he was going blind. So he studied her.

He traced her features. He looked at her smile. He tried to lock her face into memory. Because he knew once the darkness came, he would never see her again.

Now bring that to John 9.

The man born blind never had that chance.

He never memorized sunrise. Never studied his mother’s face. Never saw the sky.

And then one day, he saw Light. Faces. Color. Depth.

Can you imagine the impact of what or who he first saw?

Scripture doesn’t tell us. But I suspect it was Jesus.

And here is the spiritual weight of it:

Every person without Christ is living in darkness — but many don’t realize it.

They’ve adapted. They’ve learned to navigate. They’ve built systems. But they have never truly seen.

And when Christ opens eyes, the first face that matters is His.

I. Born Blind — Our Spiritual Condition

The man was blind from birth to glorify God.

He was not blind because of a recent accident. Not because of aging. Not because of excessively sinful parents. But from birth.

That is humanity.

We are not spiritually nearsighted. We are not spiritually blurry. We are born blind into a fallen world.

2 Corinthians 4:4 — “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.”

The Dred Scott Decision

In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott decision. The Court ruled that African Americans could not be citizens and had no standing to sue in federal court. This was not fringe opinion. It was a legal authority. It was institutional. It was accepted by many as “settled law.”

Chief Justice Roger Taney believed he was clarifying the Constitution. But history now sees what that decision truly was: Moral blindness dressed in legal robes. The culture had grown accustomed to slavery. Economic dependence dulled conscience. Political compromise clouded judgment.

The law declared blindness to be vision.

The Pharisees had legal authority. They had institutional power. They issued formal judgments.

And yet the healed man said: “If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

Sometimes truth stands outside the system. Sometimes the one who sees clearly is the one once considered blind.

II. Not Punishment — But Purpose

The disciples asked, “Who sinned?”

Jesus said, “That the works of God should be revealed.”

Fanny Crosby was blinded in infancy due to a medical mistake.

Yet she wrote over 8,000 hymns.

Once someone expressed pity over her blindness.

She said, “If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful things about me.”

That’s perspective. God does not waste affliction.

III. Clay on the Eyes — When God’s Method Feels Strange

Jesus spat and made mud. He placed it on blind eyes.

Mud does not improve vision. It makes it worse — temporarily.

In Jewish circles and later in the Talmud, the Firstborn son’s spittle was believed to have healing power. He gave the man the opportunity to obey. Understanding is often the reward of obedience. Psalm 111:10 “A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.”

Illustrative Story: Surgery Before Sight

If you know about cataract surgery, you know something unsettling: they don’t improve vision by polishing the lens. They cut it out.

Sometimes God must disturb before He restores.

Conviction feels like mud. Repentance feels uncomfortable. Correction feels invasive.

But healing often begins with disruption.

IV. Fear Blocks Sight

The parents knew the truth. But they feared excommunication.

They saw enough to believe — but not enough to risk.

Illustrative Story: Social Fear Today [find additional social fears]

A university student once privately told a pastor, “I believe what the Bible says about marriage and truth — but if I say that publicly, I’ll lose my scholarship and friends.”

That is John 9 in modern clothes.

Fear clouds vision. You can know the truth and still refuse to stand in it.

V. Religious Pride Blocks Sight

The Pharisees had Scripture memorized. They analyzed the miracle.

But they never saw.

Illustrative Story: The Experienced Pilot

A seasoned pilot once ignored his instrument panel because he trusted his instincts during heavy fog. His internal sense of direction was wrong. Disoriented, he crashed.