The Way - Day 190 (John 9)

Pastor Tom's Journal on Today's Reading:
JOHN 9:1-41
As Jesus supernaturally fled from the crowd of angry Jews (8:58-59), He happened to pass by a man who had been without sight since birth (9:1). The disciples were curious about the cause of this man's blindness, so they inquired of Jesus about whose sin had resulted in the loss this man's of sight - his own sin or the sin of his parents (9:2). Jesus instructs them that not all disability is punishment for specific sins. In this case, Jesus tells his disciples that this man was born blind so "that the works of God should be revealed in Him" (9:3). Ultimately, all sickness and disease is the result of sin, but sometimes God has higher purposes in allowing an individual to be disabled, as happens in this situation. In a move that probably shocked His disciples, Jesus spits on the ground, makes clay out of His spit, and anoints the eyes of this blind man with the clay (9:6). This is probably one of Jesus' most unusual healings recorded in the New Testament. Some believe that Jesus formed new eyes from the clay but whatever the method, He commands this man to wash in the pool of Siloam and when he returns, he has regained his sight (9:7).

When the man's friends heard that his sight had been restored, they became curious about the circumstances surrounding his miraculous transformation (9:8-10). The former blind man 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" (9:11).

His friends demanded to know the whereabouts of this Healer, but the blind man did not know so they took him to the Pharisees (9:12-13). The Pharisees were not happy about this man being healed because it was the Sabbath (9:14). John has already written about an earlier confrontation with the Pharisees when Jesus healed on the Sabbath (see John 5:1-16). The Pharisees loved their man-made rules and traditions more than they loved God or people. In their frustration, the Pharisees made the healed man describe the story of how he had been made to see and concluded that any man who healed on the Sabbath could not be from God (9:15-16a). Division arose among the people. Some said that a sinner could not perform this type of miracle, while others refused to believe in Jesus as the Son of God (9:16b). In the midst of the division, the Pharisees turned to the blind man again and asked, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?" (9:17a) and the former blind man responded, "He is a prophet" (9:17b).

The Pharisees rejected the man's claims and even questioned if he had really been blind, so they found his parents and asked, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" (9:18-19). The parents feared acknowledging Jesus or His work.
"We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 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" (9:20-23).

When the religious leaders did not receive the answers they were looking for, they wanted the former blind man to acknowledge that this healing took place by God and not by this Man, Jesus, whom they called a sinner (9:24). Frustrated by the relentless questioning, the blind man says, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see" (9:25). The Pharisees continued troubling this man and even began accusing him.

"You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from" (9:26-29).

Again, the man responded in frustration to their accusations.

"Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing" (9:30-33).

The religious leaders did not know how to react to the former blind man's words, so they simply withdrew and had no further communication with him (9:34).

Jesus heard about this man's encounter with the Pharisees, so He found the man and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" (9:35) and the man answered saying, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" (9:36) The man was still not sure if Jesus was only a prophet or the Son of God, but Jesus revealed His true identity to this man by declaring, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you" (9:37). The man who had been healed of his blindness immediately responded to knowing Jesus' true identity by saying, "Lord, I believe!" and then he worshiped Him (9:38). This is a wonderful account of one man's simple faith bringing Him into a relationship with Jesus Christ!

After the man had proclaimed his faith in Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus revealed why He had come into the world.

"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" (9:39).

Some think this statement contradicts Jesus' words in John 3:17 where He says that He has not come to "condemn the world." But those who have rejected the truth have brought judgment upon themselves, being blinded by their own unbelief. When Jesus spoke to the man about this judgment, some of the Pharisees were nearby and asked if they were blind also (9:40). Jesus responded to them saying, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains" (9:41). In other words, the truth had been revealed to the Pharisees, but they chose to remain blind to their sin and trusted their righteous works to bring salvation. Because of their misguided faith, they would remain in their sins and eventually face God's judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). Forgiveness of sin is given through faith in Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross, not through the righteous works of individuals (Ephesians 2:8-8; Titus 3:5). Which do you trust?

Dear God, I cannot do enough good things to earn Your favor, so I believe in Your Son, Jesus Christ, who was sent to provide the forgiveness I desperately need.