“He Touched My Eyes”
John 9:1-11
David P. Nolte
Some people are unable to see the truth because they are self-deceived. Let me show what I mean: A group of senior citizens in a retirement home were having coffee and discussing their ailments.
“My arms are so weak, I can hardly lift this coffee cup,” said one.
“Yes I know. My cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee cup,” replied another.
“I can’t even turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck,” said a third, to which many others nodded weakly in agreement.
“My blood pressure pills make me dizzy,” another went on.
“I guess that’s the price we pay for getting old,” winced an elderly gentleman as he shook his head.
There was a long silence. Then one woman piped up cheerfully, “Well it’s not all bad, at least we all can still drive!”
How blind can you be? They were more blind than the man we meet in the Scripture.
“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, ‘Is not this he who sat and begged?’ Some said, ‘This is he.’ Others said, ‘He is like him.’ He said, ‘I am he.’ Therefore they said to him, ‘How were your eyes opened?’ He answered and said, ‘A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.’ Then they said to him, ‘Where is He?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’” John 9:1-12 (NKJV).
Just a thought or two before we advance: the question of the disciples only makes sense if we know that some Jews, and others, had two misconceptions about the unborn.
• First, they believed in reincarnation and karma. Thus, if people sinned in an earlier life, they would suffer the consequences in the next.
• Second, they believed that it was somehow possible for a fetus to sin in the womb, citing Jacob and Esau grappling in the womb, maintaining that Jacob, the grasper, coveted his brother’s first-born status.
• Now this concept was denied by Jesus, saying the blindness was not a sin-consequence and, punctuated the way it is, it sounds like this man was born blind so that God’s works could be shown in healing him.
• But in original Greek, there was no punctuation, so the scholars would have to study the text and decide where to put the punctuation.
• So, what if the scholars had put a period after the word sinned? Notice the subtle change:
• Then it would not read, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is still day.”
• It would read, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But that the works of God should be revealed in him I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is still day.”
Either way he came out the winner. Let’s notice and apply some truths we see in this event.
First we notice
I. THE MAN’S MALADY:
A. “His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”
1. In a sermon on this topic, Chuck Gohn said, “Don’t get caught up in what is the cause behind it. Just see this need as an opportunity to do the work of God in this person’s life.”
2. This man’s situation was a springboard for Jesus to do God’s work. The man was born blind and Jesus in bestowing sight would reveal the work of God in him.
B. He was blind and experienced the problem of
1. Being a beggar and living on the caprice of others to give or to not give.
2. Being dependant on others for getting from place to place in a culture where seeing-eye-dogs were non-existent.
3. Being denied the sight of a sunset, or colored flowers, or the smile of a friend others took for granted.
4. Being ignorant of red and yellow and blue.
C. There are more than one kind of blindness. Moral, mental, social, and spiritual blindness to note a few.:
1. The blindness of prejudice.
2. The blindness of ignorance.
3. The blindness of judgementalism.
4. The blindness of hypocrisy.
5. The blindness of ignorance.
6. The blandness of fear.
7. The blindness of unbelief.
8. The blindness of apathy.
D. We all have blind-spots; that is, areas of life in which we don’t see ourselves as others see us, or as we really are.
1. On the one hand
a. We may see ourselves as frugal when we are really stingy.
b. We may see ourselves as plain-spoken when we are really offensively blunt.
c. We may see ourselves as confident when we are really conceited.
d. We may see ourselves as Biblically accurate when we are really legalistic.
e. We may see ourselves as strong minded when we are really stubborn, mulish and unreasonable.
2. On the other hand
a. We may see ourselves as useless when in fact we are gifted for some special service.
b. We may see ourselves as hopelessly sinful, when in reality God has not given up on us.
c. We may see ourselves as unlikeable, while in reality Jesus loves us beyond our wildest imagination’s boundaries.
E. The most frequent kind of blindness is illustrated by Larry, Moe and Curly Joe – the 3 Stooges.
They are together in a hotel room when Larry said, “Hey! There’s a horse trough in here!” Moe looks and said, “That’s not a horse trough, that’s a bathtub! Take a bath!” Larry answered, “It’s not Spring yet!”
Moe replied, “Yes, it is! See the grass?” Just as Larry looked down at the floor, Moe kicked him in the seat, sending him headlong into the bathroom wall, jamming his hat down over his eyes. “Help! It’s dark in here,” Larry lamented.
The other two pull his hat off, and he exclaimed, “I can’t see! I can’t see!” Curly Joe asked, “Why Not” What’s the matter?”
Larry quipped, “I have my eyes closed.” And Moe poked him in both eyes, ending the scenario.
When many people say, “I can’t see God, or miracles, or answered prayer, or a real heaven and hell!” it’s because their eyes are closed! Open your eyes and see the wonders of creation, of the many prayers to which God said, “Yes!” and how He worked even when He lovingly said, “No, my child!”
None so blind as he who, with tightly closed eyes, will not see! And no greater malady than to be blind to the things of God.
But things got better for the man in the Scripture, because there comes
II. THE MASTER’S MERCY:
A. Jesus didn’t pass him by as did many others.
1. He didn’t cast aspersion on the man’s character, morality or worthiness.
2. He clarified that the man was not reaping the bitter grapes of parental sin, nor was he suffering for his own wrongdoing.
B. Jesus showed the man mercy.
1. Usually we think of grace as getting the good we don’t deserve and mercy as not getting the wrath we do deserve, but in reality it is wider than that.
2. Mercy is deep in meaning:
a. Mercy includes compassion, sympathy and empathy.
b. Mercy includes pity for someone in need and a motivation to do something positive to help.
c. Mercy includes tenderness toward the broken, the fallen, the failure.
C. Jesus is the embodiment of mercy. The 103rd Psalm is a great description of His heart toward us in our miseries: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, ...” Psalm 103:8-17 (NASB).
D. Mercy
1. May not always remove our afflictions; may not restore our lost health; may not bring back a broken relationship; may not make life one big Caribbean Cruise.
2. Will always be with us, beside us, in front and back of us, inside us and all around us. As David said, so may we: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4 (NASB).
3. Will always be abundant.
a. Hooker said, “My brethren, howsoever you have had many miseries, yet the Lord has many mercies for you. God deals with His servants, as a father does with his son, after he has sent him on a journey to do some business; and the weather falls foul, and the way proves dangerous, and many a storm, and great difficulties are to be gone through. Oh, how the heart of that father pities his son! .... You must find in your way many troubles and griefs (and we ought to find them), but be not discouraged. The more misery, the greater mercy.” The World’s Greatest Sermons, Volume II:
b. “Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:1-4 (NLT2).
E. And Jesus still meets our misery with His mercy! Audrey Mieir wrote this poem that proclaims it:
“Be not troubled with thoughts of the morrow,
Of duties you surely must do.
On the Lord cast your burden of sorrow;
It matters to Him about you!
Be not weary when trials are given,
But trust Him to carry you through.
He will make all a pathway to heaven;
It matters to Him about you!
Then be patient until His appearing,
‘Tis dawn almost now on your view;
For the mists of this dark age are clearing.
It matters to Him about you!”
The blind man mattered to Jesus, so when His Mercy met the man’s malady you can guess what happened:
III. THE MARVELOUS MIRACLE:
A. “He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”
1. Why the mud?
a. A tangible aid to faith?
b. So he’d need to go wash his face?
c. So the disciples could start selling “The Master’s Miracle mud?”
d. To coin the phrase, “Here’s mud in your eye?”
2. The important factor was not the mud but the Master.
B. I feel sorry for those by whom a miracle is dismissed as a coincidence, or good luck, or a simple turn of events.
C. The greatest miracle was not the bestowal of sight to eyes that had never seen. The greatest miracle was the change in the man’s heart and mind.
1. No more begging and living off the scraps folk gave him.
2. No more stumbling, no more bumbling, no more walking in darkness.
3. No more being denied the sights that bring awe to the beholder.
D. I don’t know why God heals and withholds healing; delivers and refrains from delivering; performs an undeniable miracle and does not do so. Isaiah recorded an answer, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:7-9 (NLT2).
E. Sometimes the greatest miracles are the quiet, non-earthquaking kind. Most of the time, God’s miracles come that way; not in some powerful force of nature, or in some explosive, fantastic manner; just in a quiet surprise: just what we need, just when we need it most. Corrie Ten Boom illustrates this truth: She and Betsy were in prison at Ravensbruck. She wrote, “We stood beneath the spigots as long as the flow of icy water lasted, feeling it soften our lice-eaten skin. Then we clustered dripping wet around the heap of prison dresses, holding them up, passing them about, looking for approximate fits. I found a loose, long-sleeved dress for Betsie that would cover the blue sweater when she would have a chance to put it on. I squirmed into another dress for myself, then reached behind the benches and shoved the little bundle quickly inside the neck. It made a bulge you could have seen across the Grote Market. I flattened it out as best I could, pushing it down, tugging the sweater around my waist, but there was no real concealing it beneath the thin cotton dress. And all the while I had the incredible feeling that it didn’t matter, that this was not my business, but God’s. That all I had to do was walk straight ahead.”
As the women trooped back out through the shower room door, the S.S. men ran their hands over every prisoner. The woman ahead of Corrie was searched three times. Behind her, Betsie was searched. No hand touched Corrie. At the exit door to the building was a second ordeal, a line of women guards examining each prisoner again. Corrie slowed down as but the guard in charge shoved her roughly. “Move along! You’re holding up the line!” And so Corrie and Betsie arrived at Barracks 8 in the small hours of that morning, bringing not only the Bible, but a new knowledge of the power of Him Whose book it was.
Miracles usually come as a quiet surprise.
Jesus wants to give you the miraculous gift of sight. He wants you to see your need and His provision; your sin and His salvation; y our malady and His mercy.
He wants you to step out of darkness and to come to the light.
