Blindness (John 9}
10:30 PM
By Lisa Thayer
“If I glorify
myself, my glory means nothing. My
Father, who you claim as your God, is the one who glorified me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like
you, but I do know him and obey his word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it
and was glad.” John 8: 54-56
“As he went along,
he saw a blind man from birth.” John 9:1
I am beginning
today’s post this way so we are all on the same page as we begin.
Jesus’ healing is
unique. He put clay on this man’s eyes
and told him to go wash. Once Jesus
healed two blind men by merely touching their eyes (Matthew 9:27-31) and He
healed another blind man by putting spit on his eyes (Mark 8:22-26). Though the healing power was the same, Jesus
varied His methods so people would not focus on the manner of healing and miss the message
in the healing.
This man did not
see and believe. He heard and believed! Not only
did he trust Jesus, but he worshiped Him.
It cost this man everything to confess Jesus as the Son of God, but he
was willing to do so.
John the Baptist
affirmed that Jesus is the Son of God (John 1:34) and so did Nathaniel
(1:49). Jesus stated that He is the Son
of God (John 5:25, 9:35). And Peter also
affirmed it in John 6:69. Now this former
blind beggar has joined the group of witnesses.
The Pharisees were
always present wherever Jesus went so they could catch Him in something He said
or did. Jesus chose to preach a brief but
powerful sermon on spiritual blindness.
John 9:39 does not contradict John 3:16-17. The reason for His coming was salvation. But the result was condemnation of those who
would not believe. The same sun that
brings beauty out of the seeds, also exposes the pests hiding under the rocks.
“No one is so blind as he who will not see, the one
who thinks he has ‘all truths’ and there is nothing more for him to
learn.” (John 9:28, 34) (Warren Wiersbe)
“Leave them, they
are blind guides. If the blind lead the
blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Matthew 15:14
These religious
leaders were blinded by their pride; their self-righteousness; their tradition
and their false interpretation of the Word of God.
Blindness would at
least be an excuse for not knowing what was going on. But they did know what was going on. Jesus had performed many miracles and the
religious leaders ignored the evidence to make the right decision.
Jesus is the Light
of the World (John 8:12; 9:5). The only people who cannot see the light are
blind people and those who refuse to look, those who make themselves
blind. The beggar was physically and
spiritually blind, yet both his eyes and his heart were opened. Why?
Because he listened to the Word and believed it. He obeyed.
And he experienced the grace of God.
“Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find
out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” John 7:17
“yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” John 5:40
“Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in
the way of evildoers.” Proverbs 4:18
“It just seems incredible to the healed man that the
Pharisees would not know this Man who had opened his eyes! How many people were going around Jerusalem
opening the eyes of blind people? Instead
of investigating the miracle, these religious leaders should have been
investigating the One who did the miracle and learning from Him. These “experts” were rejecting the Stone that
was sent to them.” (Warren Wiersbe)
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