“Jesus, The Sight of The World”
Pastor V. P. Oliver
John 9: 39 (1-41)
“And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”
In the preceding chapter of the Gospel of John Jesus has been giving a discourse on His declaration to be the “Light of the World.” Because He claimed that He is God, the Jews wanted to kill Him. John 8:59 says that Jesus “hid” Himself as He went out of the temple, “going out through the midst of them.” This was done to escape the angry crowd that would have surely killed Him, but His time had not yet come.
In chapter 9 we see the Master moving from teaching that He is the “Light of the World,” to demonstrating this fact with the healing of the man born blind. A parenthetical note: (Every now and then the teacher needs to leave the comfort of the classroom and put theory into practice.) In this sixth miracle Jesus demonstrates not only is He the “Light of the World,” but that He is also the “Sight of the World.” And that’s what I want to talk about today; “Jesus, the Sight of the World.”
You will recall in the Gospel of John, when Jesus turned water into wine, it was by His Word. When Jesus healed the nobleman’s son, it was by faith. And when He healed the impotent man, it was by grace. The last four signs show the results of salvation. The feeding of the 5000 brought satisfaction. Jesus walking on water and stilling the storm brought about peace. And the miracle in our text today, Jesus healing the blind man demonstrates how salvation brings light. Today I want to look at the CONDITION, the CURE, the CONTROVERSY, and the CONFESSION as Jesus gave sight to the man that was born blind.
1. THE CONDITION
First, lets observe the CONDITION. The Bible tells us in the first verse of John 9 that Jesus came upon a man that was blind from birth. That was his CONDITION. He had never seen the light of day. From the onset we need to understand that this miracle was not simply Jesus restoring this man’s eyesight, the fact is, this man had never seen before. His was a congenital condition, meaning he was born blind. Right away we begin to see that there is more to this miracle than meets the eye (no pun intended). In order to heal this man of his blindness, Jesus first had to heal his eyes. Now, the medical doctor will tell you that the eye is an organ of the body containing an optic nerve that sends signals to the brain. It is the brain that takes that information from the optic nerve and translates it into a vision or picture that we see. So it is our brain and not so much our eyes that helps us to see. If you don’t believe me, just ask a doctor how he checks to see if a person is brain-dead, and he will tell you that he first looks into the person’s eyes for movement. When the brain is functioning, the eye automatically reacts to movement or light. As infants when we first started to use our eyes to see, our brains began the process of being trained to automatically translate and relate that information into a vision. It is a natural, involuntary function that our bodies learned at a very early age. So the magnitude of this miracle is fully realized when we recognize that this man’s brain had never before received a message from his optic nerve, because he had eyes that could not see. And when Jesus healed this man of his blindness, He not only healed his eyes but He also instantly healed and trained this man’s brain to receive messages from an optic nerve that had been dormant and nonfunctional his entire life.
Before the blind man could see, his eyes needed to be healed. They had to be conditioned to receive light and sight. There needed to be a receiver as well as a sender of the light. The lack of light does not mean that light is not there. But light reveals the condition of the eye. Eyes that function properly react to light. (Somebody knows where I’m going with this.) Without Christ in our lives we are like this blind man, we are living in spiritual darkness. An unregenerate soul is in darkness. Jesus, Who is the Light of the World, reveals the CONDITION of the soul. Even though you may have eyes, like this man in our text, until you encounter Jesus, you will nevertheless be blind. Jesus was concerned about this man’s CONDITION, because as He passed by this man, the Bible says that He stopped. Its good to know that, no matter what our CONDITION may be, the Savior will never pass us by. The disciples demonstrated their concern for this man’s CONDITION with the question that they asked Jesus about this man who was blind from birth. They wanted to know who was the cause of his CONDITION, the man himself or his parents. Jesus responded by informing them that it was neither, but that this man’s CONDITION represented an opportunity for the works and the plan of God to be demonstrated.
2. THE CURE
Verses 6 and 7 reports the CURE: “When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.” You will notice that two actions led to the CURE: Jesus had to touch the blind man, and the blind man had to obey the Master. Likewise, Christ must touch our spiritual vision in order to bring new life to our dead spiritual optic nerve. If we are responsive to the Master’s touch, our spiritual eyes will be opened. Even though Jesus touched the man, still the blind man could not see. Then Jesus told him to go wash, the blind man obeyed, and he came seeing. I want to show you how this man’s CONDITION reflected the characteristics of a sinner.
- He was blind – the sinner can never see or understand spiritual things.
- He was begging – the sinner is poor in God’s sight.
- He was helpless – the sinner cannot cure or help himself.
How this man was healed is a picture of how Christ saves the sinner.
- Jesus came to the man in grace – He could have passed him by.
- He irritated the man – a speck of dirt irritates the eye, imagine how the cakes of clay mast have felt. The preaching of God’s Word is often an irritant. It causes the sinner to want to do something about it.
- He cured the man by His power – Christ did not give the man glasses, or send him to the eye doctor, He healed him. Sinners always look to something or someone else, when only Christ can deliver you from darkness.
- The cure glorified God – all conversions are for God’s glory alone.
- The cure was noticed by others – the man’s parents and neighbors saw the change in his life. So it is with a born-again believer.
3. THE CONTROVERSY
So this man’s CONDITION was that he was born blind. His CURE was that Jesus performed a miracle on his eyes and his mind. Then there was a CONTROVERSY as a result of the miracle. Verses 8 and 9 says, “The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?” He looked like the man that they had always seen, but the problem was, he was no longer blind. Just like this man could not hide the fact that he was no longer blind, when Christ comes into your life people will notice the change. And don’t be surprised when it causes a CONTROVERSY.
In verse 22 the religious leaders had let it be known that anyone who confessed Christ would be kicked out of the synagogue. This meant losing friends, family and all the benefits of the Jewish religion. Now we can begin to understand the reluctance of the man’s parents to speak up for their son in verses 20 and 21. But it was the son’s simple confession in verse 11 that caused the CONTROVERSY. The Pharisees attacked Jesus by saying that He was not of God and calling Him a sinner. But the healed man responds to the CONTROVERSY with a bold response about someone whom he really did not yet know. Verse 25 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible: “He answered and said, Whether He be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” It would have been easier for this man to do like his parents did and “beat around the bush,” in order to avoid a CONTROVERSY; but without fear he stood his ground. He spoke of the difference that Christ had made in his life. “Whereas I was blind, now I see.” Regardless of the CONTROVERSY or problems it may cause, everyone who has met Christ should openly proclaim to the world the difference He has made in your life.
4. THE CONFESSION
We have looked at this man’s CONDITION, his CURE, and the CONTROVERSY it caused. Now let me say a final word about his CONFESSION. As a result of this man’s profession of the difference that Jesus had made in his life, the Jews insulted him and disowned him. But what the man did not realize was that the safest place for him was outside of the Jewish faith. The Jews kicked him out, but Jesus took him in. He lost his religion, but found salvation! I like the progression of this man’s knowledge of Jesus that took place.
- In verse 11 he called Him “A man called Jesus.”
- In verse 17 he called the Master a “prophet.”
- In verse 31 he called Jesus a “man of God.”
- But in verse 38 in his final confession of faith, he believes Jesus to be the “Son of God.”
The turning point of this man’s life was in verse 38 when the healed man confessed, “Lord, I believe.” Although Jesus had healed the blind man’s physical eyes, he was yet spiritually blind until he pronounced his CONFESSION of belief in the deity of Jesus Christ. We began with a blind man who was healed so that He saw, both physically and spiritually. We end with religious rulers who were spiritually blind, yet who thought they could see. In the presence of the “Light of the World,” the religious rulers’ CONFESSION was that they had no sin.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings different reactions to different kinds of hearts:
- The poor, blind sinner receives the Gospel and sees.
- The self-righteous religious person rejects the Gospel and becomes spiritually blind.
It is a dangerous thing to reject the Light. Jesus is the “Light of the World!” But He is also the “Sight of the World.” Jesus is the One Who will open your spiritual eyes and allow the Light of God shine into your life. A Christian is a person who has Light in his heart. He then becomes a light in the world. Why? Because he walks in the Light and produces the fruit of the Light, which is, according to Ephesians 5: 9, “goodness and righteousness and truth.”
Are you living in the Light, or are you living in darkness? There three kinds of darkness:
- Mental darkness – the Light of the World is there but men cannot see it.
- Moral darkness – men not only live in the dark, but they love it.
- Eternal darkness – men who have totally rejected Christ; eternal damnation; living in hell.
Are you living in the Light, or are you living in darkness?
