I had the privilege of teaching from John chapter 9 this week and thought I’d share some of the blessings I found. The full chapter appears at the end of this post.
I’m one of those guys who just loves to dig into the “nit picky” portions of Scripture: the ways Greek words are used, the great theological truths, the nuances of doctrine, but John chapter 9 doesn’t give much of that. What it does give is a study in the human condition.
There are really five parties in this passage. First is the man born blind who was given his sight by Jesus making mud and smearing it on my eyes and telling him to wash in the pool of Siloam. Second are the neighbors who argue about who this fellow really is. Third are the Pharisees, the arrogant, cold-hearted Pharisees. Fourthly are the man’s parents. And last, but certainly not least, is Jesus Himself. I think we can learn a lot about how we should and shouldn’t act from each.
I’ll keep the blind man himself for later. Let’s look at the neighbors. Some of them knew this was the man who sat at the temple begging. They had probably been regular or semi-regular givers. Then there were those who weren’t sure: maybe he is maybe he isn’t the man. No doubt these folks were less familiar with him. They most likely had seen him in passing but failed to really notice him.
How often can we do this with people we see every day, with people at the market, in the neighborhood, and even at church. We don’t know if they’re hurting or how we might help, how we might pray for them. We’ve just become so self-involved that others suffer alone with their troubles. Let’s not do that.
Next come the Pharisees. Boy how we can slip in the legalism these boys display so often in Scripture. Here they are much more interested in someone may have broken their rules by working miracles on the Sabbath than the fact God had healed this man. Interestingly the man’s sight wasn’t restored, but was created. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary puts it this way: “Since the blindness was congenital, the healing would be creative rather than remedial.” Yet, the Pharisees didn’t throw a party for this fellow to celebrate his new power of sight, they threw him out of the synagogue instead, excommunicated him because they couldn’t deal with a fact that stood against their central belief: No work could be done on the Sabbath.
I had a friend who refused to join in a community evangelism effort because he had differences with some of the churches. They were charismatic. This is a form of legalism. How about Christians who won’t sit next to a homeless person or a known person of loose morals? Jesus dined with these shorts of folks, He sought them out just as He did with this man who received his sight. Do we think we’re so much better than anyone else? Are our sins “cleaner?” Let’s get off our high horse and reach out to those Jesus reached out to.
Next are the parents. These two are an interesting set. They feared being excommunicated so much they would not say who healed their son or how He did it. “He’s of age. Ask him” was their response passing the buck. Do we love our church or our pastor more than we love our Lord? Are we afraid to question things that might be said from the pulpit that just don’t sound right to us so as not to anger anyone? Let’s get a little backbone. We should know our Bible well enough to spot error.
A pastor where I attended for years denied the Trinity indirectly twice from the pulpit saying Jesus ceased to exist for the three days He was in the tomb. This would mean, at least for three days, God was no longer triune, He had changed in His nature. This goes directly against a central doctrine of the Bible. I spoke with him after the first time and pointed out my problem with what he said. He apologized and said he was wrong. A few weeks later, though, he did it again. I then went to the board of elders with the issue. The problem was dealt with in a loving manner. The point is, we should never be afraid to bring up things we disagree with. Someone will have their theology “sharpened” whether the pastor or the congregant.
Lastly, I’d like to point to the man who was born blind. What an amazing guy. His day started with the usual begging at the temple. Then the most wonderful thing happened: he met Jesus Who gave him sight. Now he could see color, see his family, see the beauty of creation, maybe get a job, a girlfriend, get married and raise a family. This was an awe inspiring event in his life. He wanted to praise God, thank Jesus, tell everyone of the wonderful thing that had happened. Instead he was questioned about how this was done. Then comes my favorite part of the story:
John 9:30-34 (ESV) The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
The man born blind gives the Pharisees a theology lesson, and they kick him out. He started the day as an outcast but, at least, he was a Jew. Now he’s been excommunicated, a worse outcast. But then there was Jesus, the seeker of outcasts who sought him out and gave him new life. He did this for me nearly 50 years ago, and if you know Him, He’s done this for you as well. Let us live like another who was healed in Jesus’ name “walking and leaping and praising God.” (Acts. 3:8)
Why is this important?
We spend so much of our lives worried about ourselves and not about the people we pass every day. We reject those who disagree with us, we cling to man rather than God. In the noise raised around us against what we know to be true, we can momentarily lose our memory of Him who healed us, the one who gave us sight where there was no sight, the one who loves us so much He has carved our names into the palms of His hands. (Isa. 49:16) His love for us is boundless, and He loves us all. To paraphrase Anthony Campolo, “God has a wallet with everyone’s picture in it.”
John 9 (ESV)
9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 