The Six Stages Of Spiritual Sight

The last time we were in our study in John, we looked at 9:1-7 and saw Jesus give sight to the blind man. This blind man had been delivered from darkness and given sight by the compassion of Jesus. In tonight’s study, this formerly blind man is confronted by his neighbors, he’s confronted by the Pharisees, and by Jesus as well.

Tonight’s scene flows rapidly. This man’s growing knowledge of Jesus is easily seen. We are not going to look at every aspect of this passage tonight. Instead, we are going to concentrate on Jesus as seen by this man, that is, on the six stages of spiritual sight.

READ 8-12. In the first stage of spiritual sight we see that it is seeing Jesus as a man. Verse 11 points this out. All the healed man knew was that “a man they call Jesus” had commanded him to do certain things, and he did them and he received his sight. Here’s the outline of how it happened.

1. He was confronted by Jesus.

2. He was commanded to do some things.

3. He obeyed the commands of Jesus.

4. He was delivered from darkness and given sight.

Even though the blind man had an inadequate understanding of Jesus, He was blessed. But the crucial point in all this is that the man’s heart was right toward Jesus. It was tender and willing to do what Jesus said.

The first stage in any person’s spiritual journey is to learn about Jesus. You have to learn ABOUT Jesus before you can ever learn OF Jesus, that is, before you can ever come to know Him personally. But once you learn ABOUT Jesus, then it’s so important that you move on and come to know Him personally. The blind man could have stopped at any stage and failed in his spiritual journey.

There are many people like this blind man. They know ABOUT Jesus, but they don’t KNOW Jesus, not personally. They know His name, but little else. They don’t really understand His teachings and claims, His love and care, His power and His promises.

READ 13-15. The second stage of spiritual sight is seeing Jesus as a Helper or a Healer. This man was brought before the Pharisees because the Sabbath law had been broken. This was a serious offense to the Jews.

The man told the Pharisees, “This man Jesus put mud on my eyes and I washed and now I see.” He still saw Jesus only as a man, but as a man who had done a great thing by helping him and healing him. He saw Jesus as a great Helper and a great Healer. This is what we call confession; the man was giving an answer to some questioners. He was confessing Jesus to be the great Helper and Healer.

People today confess Jesus just as the man confessed him. They confess that he is a great man, a great teacher, healer, preacher, helper, law giver, or example. But the critical point is that this concept still comes far short of the truth. The delivered man did not yet know Jesus personally. He hadn’t reached the stage of belief, or true salvation and worship.

READ 16-17. The third stage of spiritual sight is seeing Jesus as a prophet. The man really progressed in his view of Jesus at this point. The people saw a prophet as the highest office a man could hold, the most authoritative voice among the people.

You see, a prophet was a man chosen by God to walk close to God, to represent God among the people, to proclaim the message of God, and to demonstrate the power of God.

But again Jesus was still seen only as a man, a godly man, yes, but only a man. So his concept of Jesus was still short. The blind man’s concept was still inadequate. He had not yet reached the stage of worship and belief.

READ 18-27. The 4th stage of spiritual sight is seeing Jesus as the Savior. We see that in verse 25. The man confessed, “One thing I know, I was blind but now I see.”

This man was undergoing the most severe questioning and attack imaginable. He should have been gripped with fear and shaking in his shoes, but instead he was giving one of the strongest confessions possible—his personal experience with Jesus. He was blind, but now he could see. He saw the hand of God in his own life, in the touch of Jesus, in the feeling within his heart and in the beauty of nature. This man was seeing things for the very first time in his life.

Note that he was confessing his personal experience. He couldn’t answer the theological question: Is Jesus a mere man as all other men, or is He of God? But he could answer one thing: his own personal experience.