SEEING THE LIGHT: The man was blind but saw by believing and obeying Jesus.
- John 9:1-7.
a. We’ll get more into the confusion in a moment, but the disciples echo the prevailing theology of the time and presume that someone must have sinned for him to be blind.
- vv. 1-2.
- It was a theology that everyone suffering deserved to be suffering. It was direct punishment for someone’s sin. In this case, either the man had someone sinned in utero or his parents’ sin had been passed on to him in utero.
- So in a small sense here, the disciples were “blind” to the truth.
b. Jesus is the light.
- v. 5.
- This clearly sets a dramatic contrast. The man has been living in physical darkness his whole life. Jesus comes to bring physical light into his life.
- This sets the stage for the remainder of the passage, where the contrast will be between living in spiritual darkness and spiritual light.
c. The man sees by believing and obeying Jesus.
- vv. 6-7.
- The blind man believes in Jesus and therefore obeys what Jesus tells him to do.
- The result of believing and obeying Jesus is being able to see! This is true physically for the man and spiritually for everyone.
- Why does Jesus do this miracle in such a peculiar way? We aren’t told specifically, but a couple thoughts. One broad statement is that throughout the gospels Jesus heals in a variety of ways. I think He does that in part so that we would not come to believe that there was a “magical formula” to get a healing from God. God works differently in different situations. There is no standard formula. Secondly, I think Jesus is provoking a confrontation with the Pharisees. Jesus having the man go to the Pool of Siloam and to wash on the Sabbath and for the healing to happen on the Sabbath are both “poking the bull.” Jesus knew He was going to get a reaction.
IT DOESN'T ADD UP: God’s work bumped into their theological dogma.
- John 9:8-16.
a. The first few verses tell us that there was a lot of confusion over this healing.
- vv. 8-12.
- Was this the man born blind? How could he see now? Who had done the miracle? Where is the healer now? There are more questions than answers.
b. The Pharisees, though, are dogmatic over the healing.
- vv. 13-16.
- While many are confused and asking questions, the Pharisees have answers, at least in their own mind.
- There is no doubt to them that the circumstances surrounding the healing made it clear that Jesus was not doing God’s work. It was simple: Jesus did not keep the Sabbath. They had complicated and convoluted rules for what was permissible to do on the Sabbath and Jesus had violated their rules. Therefore, He was not doing God’s work.
- Now, their rules were not the same as God’s laws, but they had lost that distinction long ago. Their motivation was admirable – they added the rules in an effort to better obey God. Unfortunately, it ended up with the opposite effect. It caused them to focus on their rules and lose sight of God.
- This happens today all the time. Churches get into legalism where the focus is on what is acceptable and what’s not according to their rules. Christians consider certain sins to be really bad and others to be excusable based on their own sin tendencies.
- What’s striking here is how God’s work bumps into their theological dogma. God is going to do what He wants to do, regardless of our rules. God will move where He wants to move.
- They have certain lanes that they’re ok with God moving in. He’s not allowed to do things that violate their rules.
- Here is a hard truth that we all struggle with at different points: when a move of God bumps against our theological dogma, it’s our theological dogma that we need to reevaluate. Usually, we have made up our theology in ways that don’t match the revelation of the Scripture. (It is worth noting that sometimes the issue is that the “move of God” really isn’t. We need to consider that possibility.)
- This is hard for us to do. We get comfortable in our ruts. We get defensive when things don’t fit into our predetermined categories. We try to manipulate the facts to get them to fit.
- Usually, though, the first step needs to be a humble conversation with God about whether we’ve created theological dogma that doesn’t match the heart of God.
PLAYING CHICKEN: Many bystanders respond with fear of stepping out.
- John 9:17-23.
a. The blind man reaffirms his commitment to Jesus.
- v. 17.
b. The blind man’s parents are not eager to stand up for Jesus.
- vv. 18-23.
- The Jewish leaders don’t believe the man was born blind. They are ready to kick anyone out of the synagogue who stands up for Jesus. It takes a level of commitment to stand up for Jesus here.
- You might think the parents of the man born blind would be so grateful for their son’s healing that they would stand tall for Him. But that’s not the case.
- They are typical of many people who are caught somewhere in between when it comes to the type of dispute we talked about a moment ago.
- They’re not sure which way to go, so they just try to duck and cover.
- Lots of people are in this category. They’re not committed to Jesus, but they’re not sure the religious leaders have it right either. Instead, they just try to stay out of the way.
- Perhaps this isn’t as bad as those who are actively opposing Jesus (like the Pharisees), but it is reminiscent of the lukewarm Christians of Laodicea.
THEY CAN'T SEE: It’s hard to get past your predetermined categories.
- John 9:24-29.
a. They can’t see past their predetermined categories.
- They knew their rules were solid, at least to their satisfaction. So when they get into an argument with the healed man they are indignant at what he has to say to them.
- Many have pondered down through the centuries how the Pharisees could have been so blind. Jesus was healing people! Jesus was doing miracles! How could you not believe in His claims?
- Well, they didn’t. One big reason why was that they just couldn’t see outside their predetermined categories. It couldn’t be that Jesus was doing miracles via God’s power because He was violating their rules. Their predetermined rules made that option an impossibility.
- We do it sometimes too. We fail to see what God is up to in the world because it doesn’t fit in the categories we’ve made up.
SEEING CLEARLY: God’s power flows through God’s will.
- John 9:30-33.
a. The healed man’s response is simple but powerful.
- He doesn’t have advanced theological training. All he knows is what he has experienced. And yet with his simple faith and rudimentary knowledge he puts the teachers in their place.
- It really is pretty simple when you lay aside all your predetermined categories: Jesus did something that no one has ever heard of before. Opening the eyes of a man born blind!
- God’s power flows through God’s will.
- v. 31.
- The man who does God’s will is going to see God’s power flowing through his life.
- We have to seek to do God’s will. This pursuit as Christians causes us to follow the Spirit where He leads. He is likely to lead us in directions that make us uncomfortable. He is likely to lead us in directions that take us away from what is familiar. He is likely to lead us in directions that challenge our established boundary lines.
- We are called to do God’s will. To live it out by our actions and with our lives.
- God’s will is not meant to be hidden. We should see God working. And God’s power flows from God’s will. (I acknowledge that there are, of course, times when God’s power is hidden temporarily because of other factors going on. But the general rule is what I’m sharing.)
OUR RESPONSE: Do we want to see even if it hurts a little?
- John 9:34-41.
a. The Pharisees stay locked down.
- vv. 34, 40-41.
- They don’t even for a second entertain the argument that the healed man shares. No, they double down and go back to one of their predetermined categories: all tragedy is the result of someone’s sin. So they summarily dismiss the healed man because he was obviously a sinner to have been born blind. (Even though that idea makes little sense in this situation.)
- And then the chapter ends with them talking back to Jesus. How dare you call us blind!
b. The healed man is open.
- vv. 35-41.
- He is open to Jesus leading into a faith commitment.
- This commitment is obviously going to cost the healed man something. Going back to his parents’ reluctance, we can anticipate the Pharisees will kick him out of the synagogue. That’s ok with him, though – he has Jesus.
