Purpose: To understand the nature of spiritual blindness.
Aim: I want the listener to trust and follow Christ.
INTRODUCTION: Our sight is a wonderful gift from God. We marvel at the fiery colors of a sunset, the rich pastels of spring and the delicate beauty of a flower. How tragic it must be to never see even the light of day.
Yet there is a far greater tragedy than physical blindness. In this passage Jesus meets a man who has been blind from birth. The story about this man also illustrates that those who are blind can see clearly, while those with sight may wind up seeing nothing at all.
As we come to this time in the ministry of Jesus many of His followers had left Him. John 6:65--66 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. (NAS) Then in chapter 7 John tells us that, John 7:32 ... the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. (NAS)
In this story we will see three different reactions to this miracle of new vision that was given by Jesus.
Vs.1-17 I. The Blind Man Receives Physical Sight
Vs.1-2 A. The question "who sinned...?"
Notice that this question is prompted by curiosity, not compassion. It was widely believed that sin was always the cause of blindness. The only question here was whose sin was it? Jesus was only given two choices, but Jesus introduces a third choice.
Jesus' remark that "neither this man nor his parents sinned" does not mean, of course, that they were sinless. He meant that the man's blindness was not the direct result of anyone's specific sin.
Vs.3-5 B. The answer "so that the works of God might be displayed"
[Vs.3-4] Jesus' answer to the disciples' question reveals that God takes full responsibility for the way he has made us. There are no mistakes in God's sovereign plan. God told Moses: Exodus 4:11 "Who has made man=s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" (NAU)
Since God is in control of the hard and hurtful things in life then He can make them go away whenever He desires.
[Vs.5] Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead He said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25--26 NAS)
Here before Jesus gives a blind man sight He says "... I am the Light of the world." (John 9:5 NAS) If you miss the light that Jesus has, there is no second option.
If Jesus is the light of the world, then He can do much more than just give physical sight. 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (NAS) Notice verses 35-38.
Vs.6-7 C. The cure "came back seeing"
Why did Jesus use wet clay to perform this miracle? The Bible doesn't say, but we do know that Jesus healed some blind men by touching their eyes (Matthew 9:29); other blind men He healed by touching them twice (Matthew 8:22-26); and here He put mud in the eyes.
The point is that God often chooses to do His work in different ways at different times. Just because the Lord worked in a certain way in your life, that doesn't mean that is the only way God can work. Vance Havner, a Baptist preacher, said if the groups of people who saw each of these three miracles got together one would form the "One Touch Baptists," one would form the "Two Touch Baptists" and one would be the "Mud in the Eye Baptists."
The important thing is that Jesus has the power to erase our spiritual blindness and flood us with beautiful light. Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (NAU)
We don=t know why Jesus made clay and applied it to his eyes and told him to wash it out. In is interesting that the clay would have highlighted this man's blindness. What was about to be opened Jesus first sealed.
It is also interesting that faith in Christ was not required for this man to receive his sight. Many false teachers say that faith in Christ is required before He will heal you. Jesus did not even promise healing. This man didn't even ask to be healed. Jesus just put some mud in his eye told to wash out the mud.
Vs.8-12 D. The evidence before the neighbors "I received sight"
This miracle was so unusual that some neighbors were afraid to trust their own eyes. It is possible to miss miracles that God does just because they are so unexpected. There are times that God has answered my prayers, but it took me a while for me to recognize it because God answered in a way I hadn't expected.
Vs.13-17 E. The evidence before the Pharisees "He applied clay...I see"
[Vs.13-14] Jesus violated the current religious rules (not the Scripture) about the Sabbath by kneading the clay, which was one of thirty-nine kinds of work that was forbidden in the Mishnah which recorded the Jewish oral traditions that had been added to the Scripture. The Mishnah also forbids any healing on the Sabbath unless someone's life is in danger.
[Vs.15] The verb WERE ASKING is in the present tense which means they were asking repeatedly. In other words, they were grilling him.
[Vs.16-17] In other words, the Pharisees were saying that Jesus couldn't be from God because He didn't keep THEIR rules. The argument got so confusing that they finally turned to the former blind beggar and ask for his opinion, hoping he could settle the argument.
Vs.18-23 II. The Parents Responded with Fear
In 1415 the Roman Catholic Church burned John Hus, a priest, at the stake because he didn't believe that the Pope was appointed by God to rule the church. Huss was promised a fair hearing before the Council of Constance, but when he arrived he was arrested and put in prison for several months. He was then put in chains and hauled before Catholic Church authorities and given a chance to recant his views. When he refused he was burned to death.
As he was being tied to a stake he prayed, "Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies." He was heard reciting the Psalms as the flames engulfed him.
John Hus was willing to lose his life for Christ, rather than deny Him. Jesus promised that, whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25 NAS)
On the other hand, in our text we see that the parents of this blind man let their fear of losing their social standing and the ability to make money keep them from publicly confessing Christ as their Messiah.
What is your reaction to the fact that Jesus can change your life and forgive your sins? Do you love Jesus enough to risk losing friends or even money in order to follow Him?
Vs.24-38 III. The Blind Man Receives Spiritual Sight
Vs.24-27 A. He confronts the Pharisees "want to become His disciples...?"
[Vs.24] The Pharisees were demanding that the man NOT give any glory to Jesus, but just to God. Notice that they gave NO evidence that Jesus was a sinner. Arrogant leaders don't feel like they have to prove what they are saying. It's like they were saying, "We're your leaders, just take our word for it."
[Vs.25-26] The man was arguing that if Jesus did heal a person born blind then He would be worth following. The Pharisees gave up trying to deny the miracle had happened (like they were doing in verse 18), now they were just trying to find something wrong with HOW the miracle happened.
[Vs.27] Since the Pharisees were admitting that a marvelous miracle had occurred the formerly blind man was challenging them to respond logically to that truth. Shouldn't they consider following someone who could do such a great miracle?
I'm sure if we had been there and asked the formerly blind man what he thought of the person who healed him he would have said, "I have given this a lot of thought and if I could just find out who this Jesus is I would follow Him."
Vs.28-29 B. He endures ridicule "reviled him"
It's interesting that the religious leaders didn't want to follow Jesus because they didn't know "where He was from" and yet two chapters earlier they didn't want to follow Jesus because they DID know where He was from (John 7:27). This proves how dishonest they were.
They were playing the authority card saying that because they SAID they were following Moses so they must be right.
Vs.30-33 C. He defends Jesus "If this man were not from God,
He could do nothing"
The force of the man's words is even more evident in the original language. It could be translated, "Here is the really amazing thing,--you of all people should know who Jesus is!"
Vs.34 D. He is humiliated publicly "You were born entirely in sins...
they put him out"
The Jewish leaders showed their frustration and hatred by attacking this man's character and then excommunicating him. This meant that not only could he not worship in the synagogue he could not engage in any trade (e.g. if he made chairs no one would buy them from him).
Vs.35-38 E. He worships Christ "'Lord, I believe.' And he worshiped Him"
After this man was persecuted because of Jesus, Jesus came and found him. God does not abandon those who are willing to forsake all the follow Christ. Jesus said, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last; and the last, first. (Matthew 19:29--30 NAS)
The blind man grew in his understanding of who Jesus was.
Vs.11 "The man"
Vs.17 "a prophet"
Vs.27 "His disciple" i.e. Jesus deserved allegiance
Vs.33 "from God"
Vs.38 "Lord"
Vs.39-41 IV. The Religious Leaders Rejected Jesus
The religious leaders were more interested in their rules about the Sabbath than acknowledging that Jesus was supernatural. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. Why do I say that? Notice:
Vs.39-40 A. They refused to see their need for change "We are not blind"
Matthew 9:12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. (NAU)
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NAU)
Vs.41 B. Their pride kept them blind "your sin remains"
Are you willing to admit your spiritual blindness and follow Christ? Helen Keller, who lost her eyesight as a small child, was once asked what the greatest tragedy in life was and she answered, "To have eyes and not really see life."
When a person turns by faith to Christ he receives an abundance of God's grace. Ephesians 1:3-4 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.... (NAU)
CONCLUSION: For 51 years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn't see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. And then, he could see. A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so...yellow," he exclaimed. "I don=t have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can=t believe red. I can see the shape of the moon--and I like nothing better than seeing a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail. And of course, sunrises and sunsets. And at night I look at the stars in the sky and the flashing light. You could never know how wonderful everything is." [1]
Oh, may we never lose the wonder of being able to "see" Christ now and the knowledge that one day we will SEE Christ!
A sight of God's glory humbles. The stars vanish when the sun appears. Thomas Watson [2]
Has the Son of God shone His light on your heart?
[1]God Came Near, Max Lucado, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 13. Multiple, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations, 2000, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
[2]I.D.E. Thomas, The Golden Treasury of Puritan Quotations, 1997, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.
