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Monday, April 17, 2017

Blindness (John 9}



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)