Read John 9:1-41.

Introduction⤒🔗

Some time ago a local newspaper carried the story about a couple that followed the sun. They bought a trailer and journeyed across America down to Mexico, because they wanted to experience the thrill of seeing a total eclipse of the sun in the Mexican desert.

What an experience that was for them: one moment they stood on the blazing sand of the desert with the broiling sun beating down on them, the next moment they experienced a refreshing coolness as the moon totally eclipsed the sun and cast its dark shadow upon the desert floor. And then the thrill of seeing the darkness being rolled away as the sun once more illuminated the harsh beauty of the desert landscape.

Accompanying the article was a picture of some of the local children who had also gathered to experience this rare event. All of them were wearing sunglasses and makeshift shields to protect their eyes from the blinding rays of the sun in its eclipse. On the one hand, it was awe-inspiring to see the sun once more enlightening the desert landscape; but on the other hand, those brilliant rays of the sun were blinding to the human eye.

Jesus tells us that, as the Light of the world, the same is also true of Him: “Jesus said, I came into this world for the purpose of judgment, so that those who do not see may see; and those who see may become blind” (Jn. 9:39).

As we study the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John, we are confronted with our need to be enlightened by the Lord Jesus Christ, but we are also reminded of our natural inclination to shut out His brilliant light. Because Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, an encounter with Him can be either an enlightening experience, or a blinding experience. By the grace of God, may it prove to be an enlightening experience for each of us.

As a Potential Disciple, Look to Jesus for Enlightenment←⤒🔗

At the time of the miracle, the poor blind beggar was not yet a disciple of Jesus; at this point he did not know who Jesus really was. At first, he merely speaks about “the man called Jesus” (vs. 11). When he is interviewed by the Pharisees and asked to give his opinion of Jesus, he declares, “He is a prophet” (vs. 17). Still later he correctly draws the conclusion that Jesus must be “a man from God,” or else He could not work such a miracle (vs. 31-33).

Although he still does not know Jesus’ true identity, he is willing to look to Jesus for enlightenment:

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out [of the synagogue], and when he found him, he asked, 'Do you believe in the Son of God?' ³⁶He replied, 'Who is he, Sir? [Tell me], so that I may believe in him.' ³⁷Jesus said to him, 'You have seen him and he is the one who is speaking to you.' Jn. 9:35-37

When this poor blind beggar was enlightened, he responded to the light by putting his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and worshiping Him: “Then [the man] said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshiped him” (vs. 38).

If you find yourself in the position of being a potential disciple, you should imitate this poor blind beggar: look to Jesus for enlightenment, and then respond to Him in faith. Consider the example of Lee Strobel, the Chicago newspaperman mentioned in an earlier study:

When Lee’s wife, Leslie, became a Christian, Lee determined to use his legal and journalistic training to investigate Christianity. I make my living checking things out, he told himself, so that’s what I’ll do with this.

For nearly two years, he read books, and the four Gospels, while asking questions and frequently attending services at Leslie’s church. “I was convinced,” he says, “that if I could look at historical evidence concerning Christ, I would probably be able to find out He was a nice guy and a wonderful, charismatic person, but certainly not God.”

The deeper he delved, the more it took on the characteristics of a mystery to be solved. When he encountered a fact or an historical claim, he applied the legal test for evidence. “I looked at the question of eye-witnesses,” Lee says. “I examined archaeology, early non-Christian historians, and the fulfillment of prophecy. As a journalist, I found it fascinating, and every new bit of evidence was like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. It was the biggest story I’d ever been on, and I’d done some big stories.”

Finally, the jigsaw puzzle began to emerge as a portrait of Jesus Christ. “Based on what I had learned and what I had seen,” Lee states, “I felt I had no other choice but to bow to Him as my Savior, my Lord, and my Friend.”¹

If you find yourself in the position of being a potential disciple, you should imitate Lee and this poor blind beggar: look to Jesus for enlightenment, and then respond to Him in faith.

As a Disciple, Look to Jesus for Ever Greater Enlightenment←⤒🔗

As Jesus and His disciples left the temple, Jesus took notice of a poor blind beggar, sitting in the street, begging for alms. Apparently, he was a well-known figure, for some of the disciples are able to identify him as a man who was born blind (vs. 2).

When Jesus takes notice of this poor beggar, the disciples take the opportunity to ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?” The disciples seek to attribute the cause of this man’s physical malady to someone’s personal act of sin: either the beggar’s own sin or an act of sin committed by his parents.

In some cases, physical suffering is the consequence of some specific act of sin or an habitual practice of sin. Upon healing the man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years, Jesus warned him: “Look, you are healed; stop sinning, or something worse will happen to you” (Jn. 5:14). But such was not the case with this blind beggar.

Jesus replies to His disciples’ question by stating, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; [he was born blind] so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (vs. 3). That is to say, God ordained that this man should be born blind so that at this particular time “the works (plural) of God” might be displayed in his life. This man becomes the recipient of physical sight as Christ graciously ministers healing to his eyes. This man also becomes a living parable of our need to receive spiritual sight and enlightenment from the LORD.

By means of ministering physical healing to this blind man, and doing so in a most unusual way, the Lord Jesus enlightens His disciples and the crowd to an essential spiritual truth: The man was born blind; he has been blind from birth (vs. 1-2). This man’s physical condition of blindness serves to illustrate our spiritual condition: by nature we are in a condition of spiritual blindness and darkness, we need to be delivered from the power of darkness. In commissioning Paul to be His apostle, the Lord Jesus declares that He is sending Paul to preach the gospel in order to “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18).

In performing this miracle of granting sight, Jesus smears the man’s eyes with mud and instructs him to wash in the pool of Siloam in order that he may receive his sight (vs. 6-7). Thus, this man had to grope his way through the crowd, testifying, “I am blind. My eyes are unclean. I must wash so that I may see!” The manner in which Jesus administers the healing is meant to graphically portray our spiritual condition: we are spiritually blind and in darkness because of the uncleanness of our hearts; our spiritual blindness and our dwelling in spiritual darkness has a moral cause, namely, our sinfulness and rebellion against God. The Apostle Paul describes mankind’s spiritual condition as that of “being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart” (Eph. 4:18).

Jesus performs this miracle on the Sabbath day (vs. 14) in order to dramatically convey the message that the observance of religious practices is inadequate to remove spiritual blindness and produce spiritual wholeness; what is required is the cleansing, enlightening, and saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus instructs those who trust in their religious observances that what is needed is the cleansing of the inside of the man, the cleansing of the heart:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You wash the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee, first wash the inside of the cup and of the dish, and then the outside will be clean also. Matt. 23:25-26

The “inside of the cup” is a metaphor for the inside of the man, his inner being, his heart.

...out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimony, slander. ^20aThese are the things that defile the man. Matt. 15:19-20a

Through the prophet Ezekiel, the LORD, employing the imagery of physical bathing, gave the promise that He would perform His work of saving grace in the hearts and lives of His people, a work that is accomplished by the application of the atoning work of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5):

I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit in you and cause you to walk in my statutes; and you shall keep mine ordinances and do them. Ezek. 36:25-27

...he saved us, not by works that we ourselves performed in righteousness, but by his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5

Just as the disciples received enlightenment and deeper understanding from the Lord Jesus with regard to the reason and purpose for the poor beggar’s malady, so, too, we as disciples can look to Jesus for further enlightenment. Consider the case of the Apostle Paul, who received understanding from the LORD with regard to the suffering he encountered in his life:

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given to me a thorn [or, stake] in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the LORD to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Cor. 12:7-9

Why did this godly man, the Apostle Paul, have to suffer such torments from the devil? It was ordained by God for his own good, as a means of counterbalancing the glorious revelations he received, and thereby preventing him from developing a spiritual pride that would have been detrimental to his soul and render him useless in his work for the LORD (2 Cor. 12:7). Why did Christ not immediately remove this torment when His faithful servant so earnestly pleaded with Him to do so? Christ permitted the trial to continue so that Paul would be compelled to depend entirely upon Christ’s grace and power, a grace and power that operates most perfectly in circumstances of human weakness (2 Cor. 12:9a).

Both in the case of the Apostle Paul, and that of the blind beggar and his parents, we are made to see that the LORD does not always spare His people from trial; He ordains trials to be used for our spiritual benefit and for His glory. When we encounter trial in our lives, we may ask the LORD to explain the purpose of the trial; we must, in reliance on His grace, accept His will and endure the trial; and having done so, we shall eventually receive an abundant reward from the LORD, because the LORD is our righteous and faithful God. Job found this to be true in his life: “the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10b). Note: The blessing of more children (Job 42:13) could not compensate for the loss of his children who had been taken from him (Job 1:18-19), but the resurrection can, and will, all the more compensate for that temporary loss. At the resurrection, Job and his children will be united with one another in Christ in glory, and shall eternally enjoy the reward of grace the LORD will bestow upon His faithful servants.

As a disciple, you can look to the Lord Jesus for further enlightenment, bearing in mind with confidence that the full measure of enlightenment will be revealed when Christ shines forth in all of His glory at the time of His final revelation in glory: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know partially; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).

But in the present, the LORD will provide whatever degree of enlightenment is necessary for our spiritual welfare and service. The LORD makes to us this promise: “Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jer. 33:3). The Lord Jesus has bestowed upon us the Holy Spirit, the One who is “the Spirit of truth,” the One who “shall guide you into all the truth” (Jn. 16:13).

As a Sinner, Resist the Temptation to Shut Your Eyes to Jesus←⤒🔗

Whereas the disciples and the blind beggar were enlightened by the Lord Jesus, there were others who intentionally shut their eyes to His light; they insisted upon remaining in the dark.

After some initial confusion on the part of the crowd, the blind beggar is brought to the Pharisees. There appears to be a concern that this incident of healing, which took place on the Sabbath, should be reported to the religious authorities (vs. 14).

As they interview this poor beggar, the Pharisees do not initially question the fact that he has miraculously received his sight, they are interested in learning how his sight was restored (vs. 15­ 18). It is only after the beggar identifies Jesus as a prophet, that the Pharisees question and seek to deny the fact that a miracle of healing has, indeed, taken place: “They turned again to the blind man and asked, What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes? [The man] replied, He is a prophet. ¹⁸Therefore, the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight” (vs. 17-18). The Pharisees only question the fact of the miracle when the conclusion to be drawn from the miracle, (namely, that Jesus is at the very least a prophet), becomes displeasing and unacceptable to them.

The Pharisees now insist upon interviewing the poor beggar’s parents (vs. 18-23). The parents dare not deny the basic facts: this is their son, he was born blind, he has received his sight. But they become very reluctant to commit themselves beyond this point, choosing to defer to their son and have him supply the answers to the Pharisees’ questions: “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind. ²¹But we do not know how he is now able to see; nor do we know who opened his eyes. He is an adult, ask him; he can speak for himself” (vs. 20-21). The reason for their hesitancy was their fear of the religious leaders: “His parents said this because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already decided that if anyone should confess [Jesus] to be the Christ, he should be expelled from the synagogue. ²³Therefore, his parents said, He is an adult, ask him” (vs. 22-23). Here is prejudice against Jesus: the religious leaders have already agreed that they will not allow Jesus to be identified as the Messiah. Here is pressure being brought to bear in an effort to silence anyone from professing Jesus to be the Messiah.

The Pharisees now proceed to hold a second interview with the beggar himself (vs. 24-34). They seek to intimidate the beggar into recanting his earlier assessment of Jesus, namely, that Jesus is a prophet (vs. 24). First, they seek to do so by means of a thinly veiled threat. They say to the man, “Give glory to God.” Their words were intended to bring to mind Joshua’s interrogation of Achan when that man stood guilty of criminal activity and consequently stood in jeopardy of judgment: “Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give him the praise. Tell me what you have done, do not hide it from me’” (Josh. 7:19). Second, they seek to intimidate the poor beggar into recanting by professing to have authoritative knowledge: the Pharisees declare, “We know that this man, Jesus, is a sinner!”

Now the religious leaders insist upon having the facts of the case reviewed again; no doubt hoping to find some flaw or inconsistency that would allow them to dismiss this whole disturbing incident and discredit the beggar’s witness concerning Jesus (vs. 26). Finding themselves unable to refute the facts, the Pharisees now resort to reviling the witness: “You are his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God spoke to Moses; but we do not know from where this man comes” (vs. 28­ 29) They subject the beggar to verbal abuse by calling him a disciple of Jesus, while they claim for themselves the distinction of being disciples of Moses.

They find themselves unable to refute the beggar’s argument when he asserts: “This is remarkable! You do not know from where he comes and [yet] he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone worships God and does his will, [God] listens to him. ³²Since the world began no one has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (vs. 30-33). To summarize, the beggar argues: Scripture tells us God only hears the righteous. What happened to me was clearly an act of God. Therefore, this man, Jesus, must be of God. Unable to answer his reasoning, they seek to discredit the beggar’s credentials as a witness: “You were totally born in sins, and would you teach us? And they threw him out” (vs. 34). In their minds the fact that he was born blind identifies him as being an extraordinary sinner; therefore, they do not have to deal with what he has to say; as a sinner, he is disqualified from giving reputable testimony. They then take the action of excommunicating him from the synagogue.

The Pharisees exhibit a resistance to Christ and rejection of Him. Here was an intentional shutting of the eyes to the Light.

Verse thirty-nine records our Lord’s own divine commentary on His ministry. He begins by declaring, “I came into this world for the purpose of judgment.” Christ’s coming into the world, shining forth as the Light of the world, has the inevitable effect of bringing about a judgment; that is to say, a verdict, a decision. When becoming exposed to the Light, one must either be for Him or against Him, one must either accept Him or reject Him, one must either live in the light or flee from the light.

Jesus now elaborates, the reason for His illuminating presence is “so that those who do not see may see.” The man born blind is delivered from his state of physical and spiritual blindness into a state of conversion and discipleship: he sees the Light and believes in the Light:

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he asked, 'Do you believe in the Son of God?' ³⁶He replied, 'Who is he, Sir? [Tell me], so that I may believe in him.' ³⁷Jesus said to him, 'You have seen him and he is the one who is speaking to you.' ³⁸Then [the man] said, 'Lord, I believe.' And he worshiped him. Jn. 9:35-38

But Jesus also explains another consequence of His illuminating presence, another aspect of the judgment, (the distinguishing and the separating that results when men are exposed to the light of His holy presence): “that those who see may become blind.” The Pharisees are removed from their state of spiritual perception, (as disciples of Moses and students of the Scriptures they possessed some degree of spiritual understanding), into a state of spiritual blindness, becoming both unwilling and, consequently, unable to recognize Jesus as being the Messiah of whom Moses spoke and to whom the Scriptures witness. Their “shutting their eyes” is another way of expressing the fact that they have “hardened their hearts;” and by so doing, they have shut themselves off from the only source of salvation, the Messiah sent by God.

Vs. 41 (Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now you say that you see; [therefore], your sin remains.) must be interpreted in light of vs. 35-38, since the Pharisees compare themselves with the man born blind: Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, We are not blind, too, are we? If they were blind, (i.e. if spiritually they were in the same condition as was physically true of the man born blind,) they would not be culpable for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. The man born blind had to be enlightened (vs. 35-36), but once he was enlightened, he believed in the Messiah (vs. 37-38). But such is not the case with the Pharisees: they acknowledge that they have spiritual sight, they have witnessed the Messiah’s authenticating works, yet they have rejected Him (cp. Jn. 10:30-33).

As a sinner, resist the temptation to shut your eyes to the light of the Lord Jesus Christ; allow Him to enlighten you and increasingly bring you into the glorious light of His life.

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. Whom do Jesus and His disciples encounter along the way (cf. Jn. 9:1)? What do the disciples conclude (cf. Jn. 9:2)? Is every malady directly related to a specific act of sin, was that true in this particular instance? See Jn. 9:3a. What is the relationship between the maladies of this life and man’s sin? Note Gen. 3:17b, 19; Job 5:6-7; Rom. 6:23a,

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. ²His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? ³Jesus answered, Neither this man nor his parents sinned; [he was born blind] so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jn. 9:1­-3

And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, the one of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it; cursed is the ground on account of you; by toil shall you eat the produce of it all the days of your life. Gen. 3:17

Hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground; ⁷on the contrary, man gives birth to trouble, just as surely as sparks fly upward. Job 5:6-7

...the wages of sin is death... Rom. 6:23a

2. What does Jesus inform His disciples was the purpose of this man’s blindness? See Jn. 9:3b. What “works [pl.] of God” would be displayed in this man? See Jn. 9:7c; Jn. 9:35b-38. Has God used some type of malady to bring you to Christ? As a Christian, has God ever used a malady to restore you to Christ, or to cause you to grow deeper in your dependence on Christ and your relationship with Christ? Of what does the Apostle Paul assure the Christian? See Rom. 8:28,

Jesus answered, Neither this man nor his parents sinned; [he was born blind] so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jn. 9:3

[Jesus] said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which means, Sent). So he went and washed, and came [home] with his sight.Jn. 9:7

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he asked, Do you believe in the Son of God? ³⁶He replied, Who is he, Sir? [Tell me], so that I may believe in him. ³⁷Jesus said to him, You have seen him and he is the one who is speaking to you. ³⁸Then [the man] said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. Jn. 9:35-38

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. Rom. 8:28

3. How long has this man been blind? See Jn. 9:1. Describe the process by which the Lord Jesus bestows sight upon this man. See Jn. 9:6b-7. What is the spiritual truth Jesus is teaching by the very way He ministers sight to this particular man? What does the Lord Jesus commission Paul to do? See Acts 26:18. The preaching of the gospel dispels our spiritual blindness, (accompanied by and attributed to moral uncleanness), and enlightens us to the only Savior (cf. 1 Pet. 3:18); does your pastor faithfully proclaim the gospel?

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth.Jn. 9:1

[Jesus] spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva; then he anointed [the blind man’s] eyes with the mud ⁷and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which means, Sent). So he went and washed, and came [home] with his sight. Jn. 9:6-7

The man has been born in the state of blindness; the man’s eyes are covered with mud; it is by means of cleansing that he is enabled to see.

The Apostle Paul was commissioned;

to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in [Christ Jesus]. Acts 26:18

Christ indeed died for sins once for all, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones, so that he might bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive [again] by the Spirit.1 Pet. 3:18

4. When the Jews interrogate the man’s parents concerning their son and his miraculous reception of sight, how do they respond (cf. Jn. 9:20-21); why do they avoid giving the Jewish leaders a full account (cf. Jn. 9:22-23)? Here are religious leaders who seek to prevent their “congregation” from coming to Christ—if your pastor turns your attention away from Christ and the gospel, what should you do? Is such a man a true servant of Christ? What strong language does the Apostle Paul use to describe such preachers and teachers? See Gal. 1:8. Why is such language necessary? See Acts 4:12,

His parents answered, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind. ²¹But we do not know how he is now able to see; nor do we know who opened his eyes. He is an adult, ask him; he can speak for himself. ²²His parents said this because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already decided that if anyone should confess [Jesus] to be the Christ, he should be expelled from the synagogue. ²³Therefore, his parents said, He is an adult, ask him. Jn. 9:20-23

But even if we or an angel from heaven were to preach a gospel other than the gospel we preached to you, let him be accursed! Gal. 1:8

Referring to the name of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter declares,

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

5. How does Jesus define His mission in John 9:39? What does this mean? How do you respond to the Light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ?

Jesus said, I came into this world for the purpose of judgment, so that those who do not see may see; and those who see may become blind. Jn. 9:39

When you encounter the Light, you are either enlightened as to your sin, and receive Christ as your Savior; or, you are exposed in your sin and, consequently, shut out the Light, rather than acknowledge your sin and ask for Christ’s mercy.