John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39

I Was Blind— But Now I See!

¹As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. ⁴As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.

¹⁷Finally they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

³⁴To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Have you ever been blind?  At first glance that seems like a rather silly question, doesn’t it!  It’s obvious that no one here today is blind!  But, personally I can say that my eyesight is so poor that if I were to take off my glasses or if God forbid eyeglasses had never been invented, it would be extremely difficult if not impossible for me to much of anything!  I certainly would not be able to work or to drive a car.  I would barely be able to read!  Some might even say that I would be “as blind as a bat”!

Have you ever been blind?  While I may not be physically blind there are things concerning which I am indeed “blind.”  For example, I once mentioned to a member how wonderful it would be if we could develop a transporter or a warp drive— like they have on Star Trek!  He instantly launched into a long detailed dissertation on how the laws of physics make that impossible.  I didn’t understand what he was saying.  I just couldn’t “see” it.  Likewise, I once had a member who was a professor at Kettering University in Flint.  Since I knew that Kettering was developing a hydrogen fuel cell for cars, I asked him how it worked.  Even after he explained it to me in great detail I just didn’t get it.  I couldn’t “see” it.

As we continue our sermon series entitled Lent Reveals Our Greatest Needs it’s not difficult to see what the Holy Spirit is emphasizing here in our text for today.  With hearts that are filled with thankfulness and faith let’s study these inspired words of our God under the theme:  I Was Blind— But Now I See!

John sets the stage for us when he says in the opening portion of our text, “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’  ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.’”

The question that Jesus’ disciples asked reflected the popular opinion of that day.  That opinion was that since God would not afflict an innocent person with suffering, that means that suffering was the result of some sin that a person had committed against God.  And since this man was “blind from birth” the disciples wondered if perhaps this man’s parents had committed such a grievous sin against God that God punished them by having their son born blind.

Before we come down too hard on Jesus’ disciples let’s note that all too often we do something very similar.  All too often we try to ascribe a “cause and effect” relationship between suffering and sin.  All too often we wonder if this tragedy or if that hardship is the result of some past sin that was committed.  All too often we might ask God why something happened to us, since we haven’t done anything to “deserve” the suffering we are enduring.  And when we see someone else enduring suffering in their life we all too often might shake our head and say to ourselves, “I wonder what they did to deserve this?”

Jesus answers His disciples’ question and Jesus answers our own questions in a very straightforward say.  He says, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”  Can you “see” what Jesus is teaching us here?  Sometimes we are so “blinded” by our own preconceived notions that we fail to look at something like suffering from God’s perspective!  God always has a plan!  God always has a reason for allowing something to happen to us or to someone we love.  The purpose of God’s plan is always “so that the work of God might be displayed”— either in our life or in the life of someone else.  We would do well to remember that truth whenever we come face-to-face with something that leads us to ask, “Why?”

Now look at verses six and seven of our text.  Jesus miraculously healed this man’s physical blindness in a rather unexpected way.  John tells us, “He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the pool of Siloam’ (this word means Sent).  So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”

Here is a good time to ask the question, Why?  Why did Jesus use His spit to make some mud and place it on this man’s eyes?  Why did Jesus have this man go and wash in the pool of Siloam?  Why didn’t Jesus simply use His divine power and heal this man by saying, “Be healed!”— like He did with the man who begged Jesus to cleanse him of leprosy (Luke 5:12ff), or like the centurion whose servant was “sick and about to die”?  (Luke 7:1ff)?

The answer as to why Jesus chose to heal this blind man by spitting on the ground, making some mud and telling him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” is found in what happened to this man after he was healed!  Look at verses thirteen to seventeen of our text.  Because Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath day, some of his neighbors felt compelled to bring him before the Pharisees.  The Pharisees now wanted to “see” for themselves what had happened, so they grilled him with questions.  While it’s not a part of our text you may recall how the Pharisee’s questions became more and more intense.  They even summoned his parents and grilled them with questions!

As this man stood in front of these Pharisees we see one way in which Jesus’ words, “This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” were fulfilled.  The man went from simply explaining how he received his sight, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see,” to proclaiming, “He is a prophet,” to asking the Pharisees, “Do you want to become his disciples too?,” to openly confessing, “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”  The “work of God” was certainly put on full “display” in this man’s life— in full “sight” of the Pharisees!

But, the most glorious way in which the “work of God” was “displayed” in this man’s life is found in verses 35-38 of our text.  John writes, “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’  ‘Who is he, sir?’ the man asked.  ‘Tell me so that I may believe in him.’  Jesus said, ‘You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.’  Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.”

While the gift of physical sight was most certainly a wonderful “work of God” that fulfilled a tremendous need in this man’s life, the gift of spiritual sight, the ability to see Jesus for who He is— the long-awaited Promised Messiah— and the subsequent desire to “worship” Jesus was a miraculous “work of God” that fulfilled this man’s greatest need— the need to “see” that Jesus is his only Lord and Savior!

Jesus then gives us one application of this text when He says in the closing verse of our text, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”  It’s very easy for us to see how these words applied to this man who was “born blind.”  Through the simple act of applying mud on this man’s eyes Jesu gave him the gift of physical sight.  By allowing the Pharisees to pepper this man and his parents with questions about Jesus, the Lord led this man to “see” Jesus was not only a “prophet,” but that Jesus is a “godly man” who came “from God.”  By consciously going out and finding this man and asking him the question, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?,” by clearly proclaiming to this man, “You have now seen him; he is the one speaking with you,” Jesus fulfilled one of His reasons for coming into this world, namely, “So that the blind will see.”

The opposite effect of Jesus’ coming into this world can be seen in the Pharisees as well as in everyone today who follows in the spiritual footsteps of the Pharisees.  These are the people who are convinced that they can already “see.”  They are convinced that they can “see” the path to heaven.  They are convinced that this path is paved with their own works.  In the end they will “see” just how wrong they were when they hear God’s “judgment”— they were “blind guides” leading other spiritually “blind” people into the “pit” of everlasting destruction.  (See Matthew 15:14)

There is, however, another equally important application of this text.  It is the application that enables us to “see” ourselves in this man.  While we were not “born blind” in a physical sense, we— like all people— were “born blind” in a spiritual sense.  By nature we could read the words of the Bible, but we could not understand them.  The apostle Paul tells us that by nature we — like all people— considered the “message of the cross” to be “foolishness.” (See 1 Corinthians 1:18)

Then the “work of God” was “displayed” in our lives!  While Jesus did not spit on the ground, make some mud and tell us, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” He did come to us in the waters of Holy Baptism.  Through the “washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5) He “opened” our eyes!  He gave us the ability to “see” that through faith in Jesus we have become the dearly beloved adopted children of God!  Now when we read the Bible we are able to “see” it for what it truly is— “the word of God, which is at work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).  Now when we lift up our eyes to the cross (Pointing to the cross) instead of “seeing” it as a “message of foolishness” we are able to “see” it as the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).  Now we are able to “see” that Jesus is Someone who deserves our worship and praise!  Now instead of being a “blind guide” who is only able to lead other spiritually “blind” people into the “pit” of everlasting destruction, we have been given everything we need to help other people “see” the Truth!  Using God’s powerful holy Law we can help them “see” their sin.  Using the glorious message of the Gospel we can help them “see” their Savior!

While we rejoice in the privilege we have been given to help other people “see” the Truth, we also need to go back and remember Jesus’ words, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.  Night is coming when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  The amount of time that we have to help someone “see” that Jesus and Jesus alone is the “light of the world” is limited.  How is it limited?  It is limited by the fact that we don’t know how much time they have left in their life here on this earth.  It is limited by the fact that we don’t know how much time is left before Jesus returns to this earth as the Judge of the living and the dead.  Since we don’t know how much time is left we need to use every opportunity we have to point others to Jesus so that He can take away the blindness of their sin and help them “see” Him as the ”light of the world”!

Have you ever been blind?  While at first glance that might seem like a rather silly question, when you look at it from a spiritual perspective we all need to confess that by nature we were completely “blind from birth.”  Just as God’s power and God’s grace is what enables us to say from the heart I was blind— but now I see! so also it is God’s power and God’s grace that enables us to proclaim in our lives:

To God be the glory!

Amen