Who’s REALLY Blind?
John 9
CHCC: March 6, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
Today we’re going to look at one of the most entertaining stories in all the New Testament. It’s full of so much detail that you feel like you were there … and like you actually know this remarkable man who started out blind and ended up seeing. The story in John 9 has a big cast – and by the time you get to the end of the story, you realize that the man born blind was NOT the only one who was blind. As we read through this story, we’ll see that several people had blind spots. First we look at the Disciples: As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:1-2
What the disciples asked about this blind man showed that they themselves were blinded – by a judgmental attitude.
1. Blinded by a Judgmental Attitude - The Disciples
It was a common belief back then that any physical defect was a punishment for someone’s sin. The question they asked wasn’t unusual, but it showed that they were blind to God’s reality. Here’s how Jesus opened their eyes to the truth. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. John 9:3
When the disciples looked at the blind man, they saw someone to analyze and talk about. When Jesus looked at the blind man, he saw someone who could display the glory of God. Most people today don’t believe that a sickness or deformity is a punishment for someone’s sin. But when we look at people with problems, many of us are blinded by a judgmental attitude.
About 40 years ago, Susan’s father was diagnosed with Bi-polar disorder. People didn’t know as much about mood disorders as we know today. Cecil was a wonderful, godly man, but there were some who claimed that being mentally ill proved he didn’t have enough faith in God. One counselor he talked to even suggested he might be demon possessed. Another counselor claimed his depressions had to come from parental abuse that he was refusing to admit. Everyone seemed to have an opinion about the problem. Most of the opinions were well-intentioned but wrong.
We still don’t have the answer to why a good man had to suffer for so long. But I can say that Cecil’s life displayed the glory of God. He was never healed, but by God’s grace he continued to live a godly life and set a wonderful example for everyone he came in contact with. In fact, I see his faithful endurance as a bigger miracle than if God had healed the sickness.
How do you see the people around you? When you see people who are flawed and struggling --- someone who’s sick or disabled --- an alcoholic or drug addict --- a homeless person --- are you blinded by a judgmental attitude that sees them as a lost cause? Ask Jesus to open your eyes to the potential for God to transform the lives around you … the way He transformed the life of this blind man.
Jesus spit on the ground, put mud on the man’s eyes, and told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. When the blind man came back, he could see! But we immediately find out that his friends and neighbors are the blind ones. They’re blinded by cynicism.
2. Blinded by Cynicism – the Crowds
Instead of being amazed and excited, some of the folks started arguing. Some of them said, “Hey, the blind man can see now.” Other’s said, “No, that guy just looks like him.” Meanwhile the man told them “Hey, I AM the man!”
Can you imagine? This guy can SEE for the first time in his life! But he get’s put on the defensive. He has to try to convince these skeptics of who he really is. He tells the story of what happened over and over, but some people are too cynical to admit even the possibility that his story could be true.
Do we ever miss the amazing miracles of God because we’re too cynical to believe? If you hear about a criminal who has a jailhouse conversion, do you immediately write it off as fake? If someone claims that God healed them from a sickness, do you figure they probably weren’t all that sick in the first place? Sure there are times when people make false claims, but if we become cynical, we run the risk of missing the transforming miracles that happen right before our eyes. I’d rather be fooled now and then than to fail to see what God is doing in the lives of people around me!
And now, we get to the Pharisees. When they heard that a blind man could see, all they could SEE was that this healing happened on the Sabbath. They were blinded by traditionalism.
3. Blinded by Traditionalism – The Pharisees
Right before their eyes, they saw an amazing miracle. But all they could SEE was that Jesus was breaking tradition. The Pharisees were proud of their traditions. Their power and reputation … and their very identity … came from knowing and enforcing their religious traditions.
You may recall that the Broadway Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, begins with the song “Tradition” The point of the song is that traditions are the foundation of life in the Jewish community. But Tevia, the milk man, and father of 5 daughters, has his traditional world shaken when his 3 marriageable daughters each depart from the marriage traditions. In the end, Tevia’s blind devotion to tradition tears apart the very fabric of his family.
Sometimes churches suffer this same kind of blindness. The problem comes when we "can’t get past our past". I once visited a church with a glorious past that eclipsed anything they were doing presently. The former minister had completed a 55 year ministry in a church that became a mega church at a time before there were such things as mega churches. Unfortunately, the congregation couldn't get over it. The glory days back in the 1920-1950 time period hung like an albatross around the church's neck. Even though they were running around 1,200 in attendance, all they could talk about was back when they were running over 3,000 in the good old days. Their glorious past had doomed their future.
It’s possible to be blind to what God is doing NOW because we can’t let go of the past. We can’t get past our past! I don’t want to miss what God is doing NOW because I’m focused on how we always used to do things. God has NEW grace to give in NEW ways … if we’re not blinded by comfortable traditions.
The Pharisees were determined to deny the undeniable miracle, so they called the blind man’s parents in for questioning. “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” John 9:19 The parent’s answer shows that they, too, had a blind spot. They were blinded by fear.
4. Blinded by Fear – the Parents
“We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 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.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” John 9:20-23
These parents had good reason to be afraid. Just before this happened, Jesus had a very public confrontation with the Pharisees. Jesus claimed to be the light of the world. His claims made the Religious Leaders so mad that they actually tried to stone him. The last thing these parents wanted was to get in the middle between Jesus and the Pharisees.
If they spoke up for Jesus, they knew they would be excommunicated … and that was a big deal in the Jewish world of that day. This fearful couple knew that excommunication would make them strangers to their family and friends. It would be impossible to live and conduct business in their community. They were afraid to become outcasts, so they pointed to their own son, and … in a manner of speaking …threw him under the bus by saying, “He is of age, ask him!”
Now we get to the really fun part of the story because … ironically … the blind man was the only one without blind spots. There’s no way I can improve on the way John told what happened, so let’s read it:
A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
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!” (I love this guy’s attitude!)
Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
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?”
(This guy may have been blind, but he wasn’t stupid! He knew he was about to get the consequence his parents feared, but he obviously didn’t care.)
Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. John 9:24-34
So what his parent’s feared is exactly what happened to this man. But Jesus was about to do an even GREATER miracle for this brave man.
When Jesus heard they had thrown him out, he went and found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. John 9:35-38
Jesus opened this man’s spiritual eyes so this blind man saw the truth that everyone else had missed. Jesus went on to explain: “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. John 9:39-41
CONCLUSION:
You’ve probably heard the statement, “There is none so blind, as he who will not see.” In this story today, we saw a big pile of willful blindness. From the disciples, to the crowds, to the Pharisees, to the parents of the blind man ... every one of them was blinded in one way or another.
Our grandkids came to visit our church one Sunday, and I asked our grandson, Caleb, how he liked Sunday School. He said he didn’t like it at all!
I asked him why and he explained that the teacher made them close their eyes for a long time and wouldn’t let them open their eyes.
I looked at his Sunday School paper and saw they were teaching this same story we talked about today about healing the man born blind. So I explained that the teacher just wanted him to see what it would be like to be blind.
Caleb wasn’t impressed. He shouted, “But I don’t LIKE to be blind!” (Of course, at that age, he actually said, “I don’t WIKE to be Bwind!”
There are a lot of people walking around today who seem to “wike to be bwind!” They walk around with their eyes tightly shut against seeing God’s power and love for them.
Will YOU let Jesus reveal your spiritual blind spots and open your eyes to His truth today?
