"he Touched My Eyes"

“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.