JOHN 9:1-41
INTRODUCTION
In his book, The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel quotes Epicurus, “Either God wants to abolish evil, and
cannot, or he can, but doesn’t want to; or he cannot and does not want to. If
he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, and does not want to, he is
wicked. But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, and then how comes evil
in the world?”
However, in the same book John R. W.
Stott, a Christian theologian sees things differently. He writes, “The fact of suffering undoubtedly
constitutes the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith, and has been
in every generation. Its distribution and degree appear to be entirely random
and therefore unfair. Sensitive spirits ask if it can possibly be reconciled
with God’s justice and love.”
The problem of evil and suffering has
baffled the minds of philosophers and theologians from generation to
generation. You can trace the reason some people have espoused atheism to the
problem of evil and suffering. Maybe they faced a tragedy or calamity in their
life and expected divine intervention and that expectation was shattered.
The Jewish people also had their own
explanation for the problem of evil and suffering. Their own premise was very
simple. A person does not suffer without a cause. Therefore, Job’s friends
concluded that Job was suffering because he had sinned against God. In the
African culture too, nothing happens without a cause. However, in this text
Jesus proves that this premise is flawed. I would like to share with you on the
topic: "The Miracle of Giving Sight to A Blind Man."
I. THE PLIGHT
OF THE BLIND MAN V. 1
The Apostle John is the only Gospel
writer who records this miracle. The text states that as Jesus was passing by
He saw a man blind from birth. This is what is known as congenital blindness.
In fact, this is the only record in the Gospel narratives where a person is
blind from birth. The plight of this man is sad and hopeless, because “since
the world began, it was not heard that any man opened the eyes of the one that
was born blind” (9:32 ). It
was due to this calamity that he had to beg for a living. Begging has become
his way of life. When you go to Africa , India Africa
are Muslims. Begging has become a lucrative business for some people.
There is an interesting discovery in
verse 1. Nobody has told Jesus that the man was blind from birth, but being
omniscient Jesus knew it. This man was blind from birth physically, but do you
know that from birth we are all spiritually blind? The man blind from birth
symbolizes every person. We all need the illumination that Christ alone can
give.
II. THE PROBE OF
THE DISCIPLES V. 2
The sight of the beggar and the
knowledge that he had been born blind prompted the universal question of the
disciples, “Who sinned, this man or his
parents that he would be born blind?” It was widely held that suffering,
and especially such disaster as blindness, was due to sin. Rabbi Ammi laid down
the general principle: “There is no death without sin, and there is no
suffering without iniquity.” The disciples had embraced this rationale but they
were perplexed by this case as to the application of this dogma. There were
grave difficulties in seeing how a man could have sinned before his birth. The
disciples also realized that it was not easy to conclude that the man was
bearing such a terrible punishment for the sin of his parents. There was a
Jewish belief that the merits or demerits of parents would appear in their
children and that the thoughts of a mother might affect the moral state of her
unborn offspring. There are sayings that speak of children having been born
epileptic or leprous on account of the sins of their parents. The disciples did
not want to engage in a theology of suffering and its causality. Therefore, the
disciples put the matter to Jesus. It is always good to know where to turn for
answers to questions that baffle your mind.
III.
THE PERCEPTIVE RESPONSE OF JESUS VV. 3-5
Jesus decisively rejects both alternatives to the
blind man’s predicament. Suffering is not always due to sin, and this blindness
is not the result of sin either in the man or in his parents. On the contrary,
this has happened so that God’s work might be shown in this man. This is what I
want you to see. The disciples asked Jesus about the cause of the man’s blindness, but He answers in terms of its
purpose. I want you to take
notice of this because as humans we always want to dwell on the cause. Jesus’
answer shows us that sometimes there is mystery to suffering. It was the same
thing in the life of Job but his friends wanted to blame him of sin.
Perhaps we are to notice the
significance of the term “work.” What
was to happen to this man is to us a miracle, but to God no more than a normal
“work.” What we consider a miracle, Jesus regards it as “work.” Jesus’
explanation does not mean that God made the man suffer blindness for years so
that the cure might reveal God’s greatness. Rather, God overruled the disaster
of the boy’s blindness so that when the child grew to manhood, he might by
recovering his sight see the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Jesus’ answer was explicit that in
this case neither the man himself nor his parents had sinned. By Jesus’ reply
He is not implying that either the blind man or his parents were absolutely
sinless. All that Jesus is saying is that the affliction of blindness has
visited the man born blind not because of sin. By Jesus’ statement He is saying
that before you jump into a conclusion about a person’s suffering as the consequence
of sin, know that not all sufferings come from sin. This man was born blind
that he might be led to the perception and acceptance of Jesus as the Son of
God, and in turn because of his experience, become a channel of grace to
others. We will not always understand the “why’” of suffering at this side of
eternity, but when Jesus returns in His glory we shall understand His wise and
good reasons for permitted trials.
Therefore, this man’s blindness was
traced back to the divine counsel, and although allowed by God, yet was
overruled by Him, for His own glory and for the sufferer’s highest good (see
John 11:6; Rom. 5:20 ; 8:28 ). Therefore, if the Lord uses
you to heal somebody don’t appear on TV or the Internet to tell people, “see
what I have done.” Every divine healing that Jesus and His disciples performed
in the New Testament was for God’s glory, not man’s fame. Therefore, if any
miracle does not point people to Christ but to self then, it does not come from
God. Use this as the criterion for authentic Christ-centered miracles.
IV.
THE HEALING OF THE MAN VV. 6-12
Jesus went ahead and healed the man. He took the
initiative in healing the man because nobody asked Him to heal this man. In
chapter 5, Jesus asked the man who was bed-ridden for 38 years whether he
wanted to be healed. Here in this text, Jesus saw the man and proceeded to cure
him. Jesus chose to do this by making clay of His spittle, putting it on the
man’s eyes and telling him to go and wash it off in Siloam. One thing that is
evident in this healing is that Jesus was not predictable in His methods of healing.
Questions arise like “Why clay?” “Why spittle?” “Why wash in Siloam?” It is
well known that in the ancient world saliva was held to have curative powers.
The Gospel of Mark states that Jesus used spittle in healing (Mark 7:33 ; 8:23 ). Jesus performed His healings with sovereign hands,
and cannot be limited by rules or procedure. He healed how He willed.
What is noteworthy is that physicians
of that time have applied such means of post-natal blindness, but congenital
blindness had always been regarded as incurable. Even today, there are some
forms of cancer that medical doctors regard as incurable, but to Jesus no
illness or disease is incurable because He is the sovereign Lord and the Great
Physician.
How surprised the man might have been
when Jesus began to cure him of the blindness, because he had heard little
about Jesus. Jesus tells him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. This is a
large pool, one that is big enough to swim in. This pool is mentioned only here
in the New Testament. As soon as the man did what Jesus told him to do, he came
back seeing. Obedience has its rewards. Unlike Naaman the Syrian General, who
wanted to argue with Elisha, this man did not argue with Jesus. He obeyed Jesus
and God rewarded his obedience. The question you need to answer for yourself is
whether you are obedient to Christ.
The first result John records is the
effect of the miracle on the neighbors of the formerly blind man. They were so
amazed at such a cure that some of them refused to believe that this was the
man who had been blind. When the Lord performs a miracle there are those who
believe and there are those who refuse to believe. Even when revival comes
there are some Christians who believe and others who do not. Those who believe
join the wave of God and are revived, but the others who refuse to believe, God
passes them by. There are two groups also in this passage: those who are his
neighbors and others who know him as a beggar. There are people who know your
past and they always remind you of your past.
Some were saying, “Surely this is he.”
Others were saying, “He resembles him.” The truth is that you do not light a
lamp to look at a familiar face. A person with experience is not at the mercy
of those who have an argument. While these people were arguing among themselves
as to the identity of the man, the man himself put an end to speculation by
saying emphatically, “I am the man.” The man’s answer was simple: “I washed and
came back seeing.” His answer brings the eager or anticipated question. There are
many questions in this text. Here the question is, “How then were your eyes
opened?” The man answers with a succinct account of the miracle. Notice that
the man has a vague idea of who Jesus is at this point. He says, “The man they
call Jesus healed me.” He has little understanding of who Jesus is. When you
are sharing Jesus with a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, or an acquaintance,
have patience with those who have little knowledge of Jesus, because revelation
sometimes is progressive or gradual. The healed man’s answer elicits the
people’s second question, “Where is He?” These interrogators want to know the
whereabouts of Him who had done such a miracle. But the healed man does not
know where Jesus is. I like the straightforwardness and the simplicity of this
man. He tells them the truth because as a festive occasion in Jerusalem
V. THE
DISSENSION AMONG THE PHARISEES VV. 13-34
This miracle no more than any of the others serves to
induce faith in Jesus’ bitter opponents. Rather, it stimulates them into more
vigorous opposition. John wants us to see that the activity of Jesus as the
Light of the world inevitably results in judgment on those whose natural
habitat is darkness. They oppose the light and bring down condemnation on
themselves accordingly.
The healed man’s neighbors and
acquaintances brought him to the Pharisees. The man’s problem is that Jesus has
healed him on the Sabbath. When they brought him to the Pharisees, they also
asked him the means of his healing. The Pharisees were persistent in their
interrogation. The man who has received his sight told them how he was healed:
“He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed and I see.” His statement brought
division among the Pharisees. Some of the Pharisees were outraged because Jesus
has healed this man on the Sabbath. They were using the Sabbath as a cover up.
The real truth is that they were jealous of Jesus’ popularity and His influence
on the people. Some of the Pharisees said if this man was a sinner how could he
perform such signs? That was a fair question, because they had not seen anyone
do the things that Jesus did. So there was dissension among the Pharisees. Here
you see some of the Pharisees were open-minded while others were close-minded.
We have similar problems today when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ. The
Pharisees who were open-minded pointed out that the miracles were “signs,” and
that statement is true because the “signs” were pointing people to God. Such
miracles could not proceed from a deceiver.
When the Pharisees could not reach an
agreement, they turned to the man who had been healed, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” “And he said He
is a prophet.” I told you to take note of the questions in this passage. I
like the simplicity of the healed man’s answer: He is a prophet. There is a
progression in the healed man’s coming to faith in Jesus Christ. First, he
said, the one they called Jesus healed me. Now he says the one who healed me is
a prophet. He has not arrived at a point of salvation, but gradually he is on
the right path. When he made that statement the Pharisees denied that he was
really blind. What is the problem of these Pharisees? Their problem is that
they do not want to accept the truth and come to faith in Jesus Christ. There
are people today who defiantly reject the truth. However, the fact that you
reject the truth does not change anything. Truth is truth whether you accept it
or reject it. Your denial of the truth does not make it a lie, it is still the
truth. The Pharisees could not handle the truth so they turned to the healed
man’s parents. They wanted to entrap the parents so they could excommunicate
them from the Temple and the Synagogue. However, the parents were wise.
Therefore, they said to the Pharisees, our son is of age go ask him yourselves.
Some of you are spiritually blind but you refuse to come to Jesus so that He
would give you spiritual sight. Come to Him for spiritual vision and
transformation of life.
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