Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
John 9
1 As Jesus left, he saw a man who was blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
B1 The disciples had been taught this belief by their rabbis.
B2 Sin does have consequences.
B3 Sin does deserve a punishment.
B4 But who is punished? Is it the sinner or others?
B5 The sinner will be punished not others. Compare Ezekiel 18:19-20.
B6 Sin does affect others though.
C1 If a person drinks until they are drunk, then have an accident hitting another vehicle.
C2 The drunk will suffer the consequences.
C3 But others may too. Some of these may be passengers, the other vehicle, family members who suffer a loss, etc.
B7 But medical or other issues that happen at birth or a so-called act of God are not a result of someone else’s sin.
B8 The things we suffer may be the result of our foolish decisions, someone else makes a foolish decision, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The last reason is because the universe is cursed because of Adam’s sin. See Romans 5:14 and 1 Corinthians 15:22.
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, on the contrary [it was] that the works of God might be made evident in him.
B1 Jesus does not give a yes or no answer. He instructs them on the truth.
B2 What the disciples believed was due to false interpretation or application of Scriptures.
B3 Being poor, sick, or of little influence was considered to be God’s curse. Being rich, healthy, and of great influence was considered to be God’s blessing. The rabbis may have misinterpreted Deuteronomy 28 and Proverbs 10:22.
B4 While it is true that those things might be blessings, it is false that the former are a curse.
4 “I must be busy doing the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night comes when no one can work.
B1 The word “day” conveys opportunity, while night conveys a barrier or closed doors.
B2 Day spiritually has the idea of God’s way, while night shows those things which are not God’s way. Consider day and light in 1 Thessalonians 5:5, Luke 16:8, Psalm 18:28, and John 12:46. Then also see night and darkness in 1 John 1:5, Colossians 1:13, and Ephesians 5:11.
5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
B1 Now we have the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. (John 1:9 and Hebrews 6:4).
B2 Christians are also to be light. See Matthew 5:14-16.
6 After he said this, he spit on the ground and made clay from the spit, then he spread the clay on the eyes of the blind man and told him,
7 “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam,” which translated means “Sent.” So, he left, washed, and came seeing.
B1 Take note how God deals with each person individually. God does not use one method repeatedly as in a ritual or casting a spell. This same understanding is true in how God presents the Gospel dealing with every individual differently.
B2 God knows each person perfectly.
8 Then the neighbors and those who had previously seen him that was blind said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?”
9 Some said that this is the one but others that he is similar to him. He emphatically said, “I am [that man].”
10 So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered and said, “A man named Jesus made clay, coated my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash,’ so I went, washed, and received sight.”
B1 He no doubt knew the hatred the Jewish leaders had for Jesus.
B2 He was bold in telling the truth—reality.
12 Then they said to him, “Where is he?” “I do not know,” he said.
Jewish Leaders Question the Healed Man
13 They brought him, who used to be blind, to the Pharisees.
14 Now, it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
B1 Jesus did several miracles on the Sabbath. I believe He did 7 that are recorded in the Gospels. See Luke 4:31-37, Luke 4:38, Luke 6:6-11, John 5:1-18, Luke 13:10-17, Luke 14:1-6, and here in John 9.
B2 The Jews taught that healing on the Sabbath was evil. The Scriptures did not teach that; it was their wrong interpretation and application.
B3 Jesus was the light to correct their faulty interpretation.
B4 See Luke 14:1-6 for the great error of these Jewish leaders.
15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had received his sight. “He put clay on my eyes, I washed, and I see,” he said to them.
16 Then some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not comply with the Sabbath Day.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such miracles?” So, there was a division among them.
B1 So be it. But one must have a standard to judge by. What standard did these Jewish leaders have? It was their interpretation, not the Scriptures.
B2 This misinterpretation was used in all sorts of evil ways. Consider Matthew 15:1-9 and Matthew 23:16-18.
17 So once more they ask the blind man, “What do you say about him who opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 Now the Jews did not believe [the things] about him who had been blind and received sight until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.
B1 This was a widespread problem. The one who was born blind and is now healed tells the truth, but these leaders have a different definition of truth—their teaching, themselves.
B2 They had seen others healed. See Luke 5:17, etc.
19 They asked them, saying, “Is this your son, whom you claim was born blind? How then can he now see?”
20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind,
21 “But how he now sees, we don’t know or who opened his eyes, we don’t know either. Ask him, he is an adult and can speak for himself.”
22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed that he was Christ, then he should be expelled from the synagogue.
23 That is why his parents said, “He is an adult; ask him.”
B1 Sounds like John was an eyewitness or received a report from an eyewitness.
B2 The fear of man brings us many problems. See Proverbs 29:25, John 7:13, and John 12:42.
24 Then again they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner.”
B1 According to which standard? It cannot be the 10 commandments or any of the 613 commandments of the Old Testament. The standard used is the Jewish leader’s commandments.
B2 Such judgment Jesus warned people not to use. Matthew 7:1-2 NLT Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
25 He answered and said, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. I do know that I was blind, and now I see.”
26 So again they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I have already told you, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to be his disciples, too?”
B1 A little sarcasm here, but necessary in light of their evil. God can use sarcasm. See Judges 10:10-14.
B2 The important part is our attitude. We want to love them, present the truth, and pray that they will believe the Gospel.
28 Then they lashed out at him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples.
29 “We know God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where he comes from.”
B1 If this is so, why didn’t they use the same standard on the life and teaching of the Lord Jesus?
B2 This is also a lie. See Luke 2, Matthew 2:4, and John 7:40-42. They could have checked the genealogical records.
30 The man answered and said to them, “This is really strange that you don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes!
31 “Now we know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him.
32 “Since the world began, no one has heard that anyone has opened the eyes of one born blind.
33 “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
B1 A wonderful message from the man.
B2 The arrogance of these leaders prevented them from even examining the facts. Let us not imitate them.
B3 See John 3:2. Compare Acts 4:19 with Psalm 78:8 and Psalm 78:37.
34 They answered him and said to him, “You were wholly born in sins, and you teach us?” Then they threw him out.
The Healed Man Believes and Worships Jesus
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out and finding him said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
B1 As God likes to do, He searches for people to help them.
B2 Note how Jesus deals with man regarding belief in Jesus (responding to the Gospel).
B3 Being thrown out of the congregation had severe consequences for Jews. One of the reasons the Jews could justify their actions is the teaching that people must obey their rulers. We must obey God first. It is our loyalty and oath we gave by believing Jesus’s message of salvation.
36 He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I can believe in him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and he is the one talking with you.”
38 He spoke out, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
B1 Believing, as this man, did is reality. He placed his faith and trust into Jesus.
B2 Worship shows the response of acknowledging who Jesus is and Jesus being THE Messiah.
B3 Belief often comes with a cost, rejection by others for example.
B4 Bridgeway Bible Dictionary (2004) defines worship as:
This is the underlying idea in the human being's worship of God. People humble themselves before their Creator as those who serve, honour, fear and adore him. They worship as those who appreciate God's infinite worth (Gen 24:26-27; Exo 4:31; 12:27; Psa 95:6; Mat 2:2; 28:9; Rev 4:10; 5:14; 11:16). Yet worship is not something grim, dull or cheerless. It is something joyful, for it is the enjoyment of God himself (Psa 89:15-16; 98:4-6; Luk 1:46-47; 1Pe 1:8).
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
B1 Jesus teaches the truth. This is the true understanding (correct interpretation and application) of the Old Testament or new revelation which is authenticated by Jesus’s life.
B2 Judgment happens when truth is spoken of. People either accept or reject. People, after God initiates salvation, can resist or not resist, believe or not believe, serve or not serve.
B3 Jesus’s teaching is a divider. See Matthew 10:34-39.
40 Those Pharisees, who were with him, heard this and said to him, “We aren’t blind, too, are we?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have had no sin, but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore, your sin remains.”
B1 We learn that spiritual blindness is a punishment. Rejecting truth leads to hardening, hardening leads to destruction.
B2 See 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, Ephesians 4:18, Zechariah 12:4, and Romans 1:18-21 NLT But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
We learn
- Jesus is Messiah
- Jesus can heal
- Spiritual healing is greater than physical healing
- People do reject the obvious
- Loyalty to God is of greater importance than loyalty to teachers
- Jesus does seek and help us. (The Holy Spirit is our comfort in this age).
- The more we study the truth (the Bible), the more we are able to see the right ways to live and believe. See 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
- Let us be faithful to God just as the blind man was, even when threaten with excommunication.
