Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-41

Key verse 9:4

“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work.”

In today’s passage Jesus healed a man born blind.  He freed this man from darkness and revealed the glory of God in his life.  In the process, Jesus also helped his disciples to overcome their fatalistic view of the world.  He called them, instead, to join with him in doing the work of God—for the glory of God!      

Part I “… That The Work of God Might Be Displayed in His Life”

Look at verse 1. “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.” Just before this, Jesus had narrowly avoided being stoned by the Jewish religious leaders.  You would think that he would need time to recover.  But Jesus didn’t waste even a moment on himself.  When he saw a man born blind, his heart went out to him.  Here we can see that Jesus was full God’s love and compassion.  He was not overcome by the rebellious actions of the religious leaders, but was overcome by a broken shepherd’s heart for one lost soul.  It was thanks to Jesus’ broken shepherd’s heart that work of God could begin in this man’s life.  

Let’s take some time to think about this man.  He was born blind.  He had never seen the light of day.  He had never seen a sunrise, or a sunset. He could not see his mother’s smiling face, or play a game catch with his father.  When the other children his age went off to school, he must have wanted to go too, but he could not.  There were no schools for the blind and this was before the development of brail.  He had no opportunity to learn to read or write.  He could not attend a college or trade school.  The only career option he had was to become a beggar.  And even if he really, really wanted to get married, he couldn’t.    

At one time I used to work in the optical field, selling eyeglasses.  Although I never worked with a patient that was born blind, I worked with a number that were losing their vision due to decease.  There was one woman in particular.  She was very old and had lost most of her eyesight as a result of macular degeneration, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy; I don’t remember the details now.  But I cannot forget what she said to me.  She took my arm and said, “All I want is to be able to read the Bible—that’s all I want!”  Probably, this woman had read the Bible, but no longer was able to.  But this man never had the chance to read the Bible, because he was blind from birth.  Indeed, this man’s life was dark and meaningless in many ways.  But Jesus saw this man with eyes of compassion.

  

Then, what about Jesus’ disciples?  They must have noticed how Jesus’ eyes shifted in the direction of the blind man.  They asked Jesus, “Rabi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  I don’t know how they knew that this man was born blind.  But they were unable to share Jesus’ compassionate heart for this man, so they reverted to their theology.  

Their theology was based primarily on the law of Moses.  Moses’ law strictly enforced direct retribution for sins, such as, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (Lev 24:20).  So when the disciples saw a man who was born blind, they assumed that this man was cursed by God, as punishment for sin.  But whose sin?!  The prophet Ezekiel taught that God punishes each person for his own sin (Eze 18:19,20).  But what sin could have this man committed before he was born?  Could have he committed any sin bad enough to warrant immediate blindness?  One the other hand, Moses taught that God punishes children for the sin of their parents (Ex 20:5; 34:7).  Maybe it wasn’t this man’s own sin after all, but his parent’s sin that caused him to be born blind.  Now he was suffering for their sin, and where were they?  This didn’t seem fair that he should be punished for their sin which they committed even before he was ever born.  Obviously, the disciples were faced with a serious theological dilemma.  But one thing is clear: They were very fatalistic about the power of sin.    

Fatalism has always been a problem for mankind. To Hindu people, in nations such as India, tragedies are regarded as punishment for evils that were done–either in this lifetime or a previous one. Since suffering is punishment, it should not be interrupted. Therefore, to help a suffering person is to thwart justice, while letting other people suffer is a kind of virtue. Christians, too, can fall into fatalism. When William Carey stood up and said he wanted to go to Asia as a missionary, a church elder said, “Sit down young man. If God wants to save those heathens he will do it by himself, without help from you.” Sometimes we confront people who think like this. They tell us to stop fishing on the campus because only God can draw people to himself.  Also, we can sometimes become fatalistic regarding the work of making disciples.  Those of us who have tried numerous times and failed might be prone to giving up and trying something else, such as focusing on a career or taking a different position in the ministry.  We think, maybe I’m just not cut out for this—maybe disciple making is not for me.  Sometimes, we can also become fatalistic about the sin problems of our Bible student.  If the problem is really serious we might lose hope that they can be changed.  These are just a few way in which we can be influence by a fatalistic way of thinking like the disciples.      

When the disciples asked, “Who sinned..?” what was Jesus answer?  Look at verse 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.’” Jesus did not regard all human misfortune as a result of sin. At the same time, Jesus knew that this man had suffered a lot. But it was not because of sin. It was preparation to receive a great blessing. Now God was going to display his glory through this man. There is no fatalism in Jesus. In everything Jesus saw the opportunity to glorify God. It was because Jesus’ life purpose was to reveal God to the world. We can overcome fatalistic thinking when we have a clear life purpose to glorify God. God made us to live for the glory of God alone. We are truly happy when the work of God is displayed through us, no matter what our human condition or outward situation might be.  We must examine ourselves. Are we living for the glory of God?

In order to live for the glory of God, we must meet the holy God personally and be changed in our inner person.  For example, Isaiah was once a despaired prophet. He wanted to serve God, but when he looked at his nation he saw only the drinking problem of young men and the foxy behavior of young women. The land looked dark and hopeless. Then he met the holy God in the temple. He heard the cherubim singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.” He realized that God’s glory was shining all around him. But he had not seen it because of his sin of despair. He cried out, “Woe is me. I am ruined.” But God had mercy on him. God sent an angel who touched his lips with a live coal and burned away his sin of despair. Then Isaiah could see clearly that God reigns over Israel and all the nations of the world. Isaiah could see the whole earth was full of God’s glory. Then he wrote the most exquisite Messianic prophecies in the Bible.  When we live for the glory of God, we can do the work of God without a hint of fatalistic thinking.

Look at verse 4. “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” Here Jesus used the word “we.” Jesus’ disciples must work with him. We have no time to indulge in fatalistic speculation. We must do the work of God while we have life. This involves making practical choices. We must choose to prepare Bible study material instead of watching television. We must choose to go fishing on the campus instead of shopping at the mall. We must decide to speak up about Jesus, instead of remaining in our own comfort zone in our family, at school or at our work place.  

Time must be used wisely according to God’s purpose. The fleeting things of the world perish. Those who indulge in them become worthless. But the man who does the will of God lives forever. He has true joy and absolute meaning of life. 

Personal testimony: 

 

Personally, through this passage, I learned that I did not use my time wisely for the glory of God.  God wanted to reveal his glory through helping me to finish my Masters degree.  But it is has been over a year, and I still don’t have a license to practice or a job.  In fact I took the test only once and failed.  I might have looked like I was studying hard, but really, I wasted a lot of time eating, watching movies, playing a game on my smart phone and other empty and meaningless things.  The day of my lifetimes was already well past noon, but I had not sense of urgency.  And, I was full of fatalistic thinking about myself and about my ministry.  

But still God was merciful to shine his light through me so that three Bible students I serve were born again this year alone.  Imagine what God could do I were really faithful and used ever flying minute to reveal his glory.  How much more could God use me?  I could take and pass the test for the glory of God, I could be on time with messages and deliver them powerfully and how many more might come to know God and be saved?   

May God help each of us to use our time wisely by investing it in the work of God.

Look at verse 5. “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” This was now the second time Jesus proclaimed, “I am the light of the world.”  The first time he proclaimed it to the people in general.  This time it was more specifically for his disciples.  Jesus wanted his disciples to know his heart for the world. Jesus knew that the darkness of sin was widespread.  He was burning with desire to reveal God to the entire world.  But Jesus did not rent out a stadium to preach in, or use the world-wide-web to get his message across (not that those things are bad—and maybe Jesus didn’t have such resources anyway).  But the point is, Jesus served world mission beginning in one corner of one nation and with one soul.  Jesus served the blind man with world mission in mind.  Jesus saw the opportunity to reveal God to the whole world through this one man.  Jesus wanted his disciples to learn his heart.  While Jesus was in the world, he was the light of the world.  But soon, Jesus would return to the Father.  Who would be the light of the world after Jesus was gone?  Jesus wanted the disciples to know his heart and be God’s light to all nations.  Later, the disciples did, in fact, reveal God to the entire world of their day.  They followed Jesus example, shining God’s light brightly, beginning in Jerusalem and to Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  And they did so, one person at a time, like a jailer in Jerusalem, an Ethiopian unique or Lydia in the territory of Macedonian and many others.  

  

The daily battles that we fight on our campuses or in our workplace; or our struggle to feed one sheep are not small.  These battles are a part of a worldwide campaign to shine Jesus’ light on all people. The world desperately needs the light of God to shine through us and dispel all the darkness of sin.  

Part II. “Wash in The Pool of Siloam’

Look at verse 6.  “Having said this, he spit on the ground and made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.” Jesus not only taught theory to his disciples, but he also put into practice his teaching. Jesus demonstrated to them how to be a good shepherd in this situation. Jesus could have healed the blind man in many ways. But he chose to spit on the ground and make some mud with the saliva and put it on the man’s eyes. One reason he did this was to teach his disciples faith. He wanted them to learn “spit and mud faith.” He wanted them to display their shepherd heart, creativity and wisdom in an impossible situation until they overcame it by faith. 

Sometimes we feel that we don’t have the resources necessary to do the work of God effectively.  When I first heard God’s calling as a Bible teacher, I didn’t know how to type and didn’t even own my own computer.  So I wrote down Genesis Bible notes entirely by hand.  In those days, I couldn’t really catch the main points, so I just wrote down everything. One time, as I was writing into the early morning hours, I felt a sharp pain in my hand.  But I kept on writing.  I didn’t stop though the pain became really intense.  You wouldn’t think that writer’s cramp could be so painful.  But then suddenly God sent heavenly fire into my hand and in an instant it was completely healed.  I was so overjoyed to experience the power of God.  At the same time, God used my spit and mud Bible notes and sent many sheep for me to feed.  

I know some co-workers among us still struggle to visit the campus after a long days work.  One person in particular has been doing this faithfully for at least 20 years, probably many more.  And she never thinks that she is too old to go fishing.  In fact, it seems that she doesn’t age at all, or is even getting younger.  She has spit and mud faith to visit the campus with the limited time she has, using every minute to serve God.  May God bless each of us to learn spit and mud faith to do the work of God difficult circumstances.            

Look at verse 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.” Let’s think again about the blind man. He had been listening to the conversation. When the disciples spoke, he felt bad, like he was some kind of science experiment or theological test study, not a real human being. But when Jesus spoke he heard the voice of his good shepherd. Jesus did not condemn him or his parents as sinners. Jesus had hope for him. He trusted Jesus’ shepherd heart. When Jesus put mud on his eyes, he was not upset by it. Jesus really loved him and wanted to help him. When Jesus told him to go and wash in the pool, he simply went in obedience to Jesus’ words. It was because he trusted Jesus. When he trusted and obeyed, he was healed.

Then the man who had been blind was suddenly able to see. Sunlight flooded into his eyes and into his inner person as well. He had been touched personally by the Messiah and received the love of God in his soul. His life problem had been healed. He had a new life and a new future. He must have been dancing and singing and praising God as he made his way home. His neighbors began to ask, “Isn’t this the blind beggar?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” He had endured much shame and contempt as a blind beggar. It might have been a temptation to say, “No, I am not the man,” or to be quiet. But he insisted, “I am the man.” He knew that Jesus had healed him for the glory of God. He wanted to live up to his life purpose to glorify God.

There was a new spirit and courage in the man that his neighbors had never felt before. He began to sound like somebody. His neighbors did not like it. They demanded to know how his eyes were opened. Look at verse 11. “He replied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” The man simply told the facts. When he obeyed Jesus’ word, he was healed. Jesus had given sight to a blind man. We must also testify about what Jesus has done for us.

In this passage we learn that we must have a clear purpose of life to glorify God. Then we can overcome fatalistic thinking and find the way to please God in any situation. We must make daily choices to live up to our life purpose. And we must practice spit and mud faith. 

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