NOW I SEE!

Text: John 9:1-38
Readings: John 5:24-30, Isaiah 42:1-9
Theme: Jesus heals the sight and soul of the man born blind.
Purpose: To explain the development of faith in the healed man and direct you to faith in Jesus. 

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The Christian Blind Mission is an organisation that seeks to help people in need throughout the world by providing medical assistance and by telling them about Jesus. It is a word and deed ministry. Their eye-doctors perform many cataract operations - operations that cost only $32. Doctor Kiru told of one patient, Daniel, who had this surgery. The next day Daniel's bandages were removed. When he saw Dr Kiru he thought he was Jesus. The doctor replied; "No, I'm not Jesus, but this is a miracle, done in the name of Jesus."

Today we want to look at a miracle of healing on a blind man done by the Lord Jesus himself. John is the only gospel writer who records this miracle. It is a significant account because it illustrates how faith in Jesus originates and develops. 

As we think about this blind man we will consider:
1. His blindness from God
2. His healing by God's Son
3. His response to God's Son.

1.	HIS BLINDNESS FROM GOD

Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Chapters 7-8 record long debates between Jesus and the Jewish leaders about who he was and his claims about himself. After his claim to be "I AM" they even tried to stone him in the temple grounds, but he escaped. 

Soon after this he and his disciples passed a man who was begging who had been born blind. The disciples asked Jesus; "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" 
Their questions seems to be motivated more by theological curiosity rather than any compassion for the man. 

Their question arose out of a widely held view in Judaism that sickness was directly connected with particular sins. 
The rabbis claimed that a person could sin while in his mother's womb and sickness could be a punishment for this. 
Job's friends expressed a similar view when they accused him of serious sins - anyone who was suffering that much must have sinned very badly!
The Jews also taught that people could be punished for the sins of their parents. 

But Jesus spoke against these ideas: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned", he said. 
Sickness in our lives does come from sin in a general sense in that all evil in the world comes from the fall of Adam and Eve. 
And sometimes there is a direct connection between sin and disease. For instance, immorality will often lead to sexually transmitted diseases; alcoholics will probably suffer from liver disease, and smokers from lung disease; and homosexuality is the prime contributor to AIDS. 
But in most cases we can't make direct connections like these. We don't know and we can't say why a person gets sick or has an accident or develops cancer.

Yet Jesus, with his divine knowledge as the Son of God, did know why this man was born blind: "This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (vs 3). 
It is unusual in the gospels to read an explanation as to why a miracle happened. Yet here we get a commentary and we need to pay attention to that. 
It was part of God's plan for this man to be born blind, for Jesus to walk past him, see him, heal him and for this man then to come to believe in Jesus. 

God does not cause sin but he allows it for a purpose. JC Ryle wrote that sin provides God "a platform for showing his mercy, grace and compassion." 
An old saint was dying in agony of pain and he sent for his family saying, "Come and see how a Christian can die." Any suffering in our lives is an opportunity for God to display his work. 
Many of you have experienced that; many of you have and are displaying the work of God through your suffering. 

This does not mean we can understand or explain all suffering and sickness. Many times we do not understand what God is doing in our lives or in the lives of others. Matthew Henry wrote; "The sentences in the book of providence are very long and you must read a great way before you understand the meaning."
But this blind man was about to "understand the meaning" of his condition. 

2. HIS HEALING BY GOD'S SON

Jesus spit on the ground and made some mud, or clay, with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes (v 6). That seems a bit repulsive and unhygienic to us. But in the ancient world people thought saliva had healing qualities, especially if it came from an important person. The Roman writer, Pliny, has a whole chapter on the use of spit. What Jesus did was in keeping with the thinking and practice of the ancient world. 

Then Jesus told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. This was the same command that Elisha gave to Naaman the Syrian; "Go and wash." 

It seems likely that the blind man had overheard the conversation between Jesus and his disciples. When someone is blind their hearing is often acute. But he did not know what to expect. Jesus had not promised him healing; he had only told him to go and wash. He wondered what this would do, but went in obedience and hope. 

He made his way to the Pool of Siloam in the south end of Jerusalem, to a landmark in the city, and what was an engineering marvel in the ancient world. 700 years earlier King Hezekiah had improved the water supply in the city by having men cut a tunnel 500 meters through solid rock to supply water to this Pool. 

We read in verse 7b: "So the man went and washed and came home seeing." That is short and simple. Here is the miracle in a few brief words. 

This miracle is important for what it tells us about Jesus as the Son of God. This was why John wrote this gospel ((20:31).

In opening the eyes of the blind Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. We read the passage in Isaiah where the prophet spoke of the Servant of the Lord who would cause the blind to see. 

This miracle also showed the power of Jesus. He performed many miracles of healing, including many where he gave sight to the blind. Here he gave sight to a man blind from birth. He could do this because he was God's Son; he had the power of God because he was God!

This miracle also illustrated that Jesus is the light of the world, as he said in verse 5. He had already said this in chapter 8:12 in one of his famous "I am" statements; "I am the light of the world." This miracle is a living picture of Jesus as the light. 

Jesus did these signs to encourage people to believe in him, but for some people they had the opposite effect. Some people became even more hostile to him. 

In verse 4 Jesus predicted; "Night is coming." Dark clouds were gathering. Opposition to Jesus was growing. The religious leaders plotted against him. Jesus lived and worked under the shadow of the cross. 

We see this in the response of the Pharisees. We read in verse 13 that the man's neighbours took him to the pharisees. We presume they wanted some explanation of this amazing event. 
Then in verse 14 we read that Jesus had healed the man on a Sabbath. That rings an alarm bell in our minds because we remember the reaction of the pharisees when Jesus had healed others on the Sabbath. (cf. John 5) 
On the basis of their misunderstanding of God's law they came to the conclusion; "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." (vs 16). 

Not all of them agreed with that. Others asked; "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs." (16b). That sounds a lot like Nicodemus who came to Jesus at night and said; "Rabbi...no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." (3:2) So the pharisees were divided.

But most maintained that Jesus was a sinner and refused to believe in him. They were hard and set in their unbelief. 
3. Contrast their attitude to THE RESPONSE OF THE BLIND MAN TO GOD'S SON. In verse 38 we read that he believed in Jesus and worshipped him. How did he come to this position? How did his faith develop? Let's have a look at this. 

He came to faith through his healing. This is how it began. He identified a man they called Jesus (verse 11) and gave a straightforward account of his healing. This was all he knew about him and because he was blind he had never seen him. This was his first contact with Jesus. 

Secondly, he came to faith through the Scriptures. When the Pharisees questioned him they asked him; What do you have to say about him?" The man replied, "He is a prophet." (vs 17).

This was often the first assessment the Jews made of Jesus. In the Scriptures God had promised them a prophet like Moses to whom they must listen (Deut 18:15). They knew that some of the prophets had performed miracles, like Moses, and Elijah, and Elisha. So when the Jews heard and saw Jesus they concluded that he was a prophet sent by God. 

Thirdly, he came to faith through his experience. 

When the Pharisees questioned him they declared that Jesus was a sinner. The man replied; Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see." (vs 25). 
He doubted that Jesus was a sinner; but he did know that something remarkable had happened to him. He did not understand the miracle or how it had happened, but he knew he had been healed and that Jesus had done it. Jesus had touched and changed his life. He knew this by his own experience. 

To be a Christian you must know Jesus in your own life. Feelings and experiences are not everything for the believer, and many put too much emphasis on them, and they will vary for every person, but every Christian must have a conviction about Jesus in his own heart and life - a personal acquaintance with Christ. 

The words of a hymn express this clearly:
I serve a risen Saviour, he's in the world today; 
I know that he is living, whatever men may say.
I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of cheer,
And just the time I need him he's always near.
He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart.
You ask me how I know he lives? 
He lives within my heart. (A.H. Ackley)

Can you say those words? Does Jesus live in your heart? Do you know that for sure? Do you know that he is near? Do you walk and talk with him?

If that was the only way you knew Jesus lived, that would be an inadequate knowledge. But every Christian must have a genuine experiential knowledge of Jesus. 

This man came to faith through his healing, through the Scriptures, through his experience of Jesus, and fourthly, through his reasoning about Jesus.

The Pharisees claimed that they did not know where Jesus came from. The man responded to that in verses 30-33. He was losing his patience with them and he became sarcastic. He also reasoned with them; verse 31 - "We know that God does not listen to sinners." This man knew the Scriptures, for was a repeated theme in the Old Testament. 
Take Proverbs 15:29, "The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous." On the basis of this the man reasoned (vs 31f); God "listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God he could do nothing." 

It was impossible to argue with that logic and the Pharisees had nothing to say! And so, as often happens when someone has lost an argument, they became abusive and they insulted him; "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out. (vs 34).

You have to admire this man. He stuck to his guns. He did not allow himself to be intimidated or bullied. He maintained what he knew and had experienced. He defended Jesus as a man who had come from God. In all this he is a striking contrast to the paralysed man whom Jesus had healed in John 5. That man sided with the Jews, not with Jesus, and gave no evidence of gratitude or faith. 

But this man who had been blind came to believe in Jesus. This happened, finally, through meeting him. 

Jesus went looking for him and asked him; "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" The blind man responded; "Lord, I believe", and he worshipped him. 

His faith had been developing through his growing knowledge of Jesus; and now he had met him - Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God - and he believed. 
Jesus had not only healed his sight but had also healed his soul. He had given him the light of life. 

John wrote this remarkable story for all his readers, then and now. For we are all born spiritually blind. Without the work of the Holy Spirit you are living in darkness and cannot see the light of Jesus Christ. 
Only Jesus can make you see.
Only Jesus can give you spiritual sight.
Only through Jesus can you walk and live in the light. 

Have you developed in faith to the point where you believe in Jesus as the Son of God?
Do you know this from the Scriptures?
Have you experienced this in your heart?
Do you have a living personal relationship with Jesus as Lord?
Are you living in the light?
Are you blind, or can you see?

Amen.