Image by Tamal Mukherjee from Pixabay
A Blind Man’s Story
He was blind. There was no doubt about it. His parents even testified that he was their son and was blind.
Life was different back then. There were no social programs to help those with disabilities. If you were blind, then there was a good chance you were going to beg for your livelihood.
That’s how it was for him. He sat and begged others for help.
Sitting in His Blindness
We don’t know his name, but it doesn’t matter. He was born blind and knew no other life. And this is how he was found, blind and oblivious to the life waiting for him, just like the rest of us.
Jesus Christ found him, sitting in his blindness as he went about his life. The difference between him and us is that he knew he was blind. And in typical, Jesus’ fashion, He had compassion and healed this man who had been born blind.
After Jesus left, no one believed he had been blind. His neighbors and those who had seen him begging debated whether he had been the blind beggar or just looked like him.
He kept telling them, “I am the one.” John 9:9
Two Groups
Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath and this is the reason why. He was separating those who believe or will believe in Him from those who resolutely refuse to believe in Him.
Because of this man’s healing, the leaders debated among themselves.
Some said, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” John 9:16 They were saying that Jesus Christ could not be from God because He was breaking the law by healing on the Sabbath which was a day of rest. A pitiful excuse to deny the miracle before you.
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” John 9:16 They saw the miracle of healing and believed.
Now which of the two groups were truly blind?
The Truth About That Life
The blind man who was healed spent the afternoon being grilled by the rulers. The rulers refused to believe the man had been blind, repeatedly asking him how he had been healed.
His answer? “I was blind but now I see!” John 9:25 NIV
After lecturing the rulers then being kicked out by them, Jesus found the man, revealing His true nature to the man He had healed.
The man worshipped Him, revealing his faith in the One who had healed him. He realized that he had been blind physically and spiritually, but had now found the One who had opened both sets of eyes.
Jesus said to him, “For judgment I came into the world, that those who do not see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” John 9:39 What Jesus is saying is that those who realize they have been blind about eternal life will be able to see it, but those who trust in themselves will become blind to the truth about that life.
You Will Find Rest
Friends, Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
If Jesus Christ were standing before you today, He would tell you, I am the One who gives you life that lasts through eternity. He wants you to know that, “God our Savior, desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:3-4 partial
And finally, Jesus Christ says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
The question before you today is, do you see?
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A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the 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 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”
9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know.”
The Pharisees Excommunicate the Healed Man
13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”
30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.
True Vision and True Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains. John 9:1-41