Jesus and a Blind Man

John 9:1–12

Healing is an important thing in our personal lives, and in religion. We have vast hospitals, doctors, medical schools and preparations working in the area of healing,  to try to stop, slow down, or alter the process of decay.

In all of the periods of history of Israel in the Old Testament where God is acting, miracles of healing did not occur, except on extremely rare occasions.

When Jesus showed up in the New Testament, and began  His three year earthly ministry at age thirty, miracles exploded in every direction. This explosion of miracles was to demonstrate that He, the Messiah and the Son of God,  God in human flesh, had arrived in the world.

John 21:25 Says, “All the books could not contain all the miracles that Jesus did.” Isaiah, in 42:7, said that the Messiah would come and heal. Jesus’ miracles were the fulfillment of that Messianic prophecy.

The miracles alone should have substantially changed the Jewish people’s view of Jesus. That should have been enough to affirm His claim to deity. Instead, it only elevated their animosity.

The Problem, Blindness

John 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who  was blind from his birth.

There in the temple was a blind beggar.  Blind from birth, the man went to a place where he thought people might be willing to help him.

The Reason For This Blindness

John 9:2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

The Jewish leaders assumed that whenever there was  suffering or illness, somebody’s sin made it happen. The rabbis taught that all suffering was directly attributed to acts of sin either by the individual or by his/her parents. They had a doctrine of prenatal sin.

Some leaders used Exodus 20:5 as a basis for their belief. It says, “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” Ezekiel corrected this thought in 18:1.

Not every illness or physical or mental challenge is this way, but this man was a prepared vessel—he was a miracle waiting to happen. His blindness was intended so God’s glory could be seen when Jesus Christ healed him.

John 9:4 It is necessary for us to do the deeds of the One who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work!

Jesus is saying “Let’s work together, hand in hand, doing the works of God while we have life to do it.” Paul told the Ephesians the same thing in 5:16, he said:

“Redeeming the time because the days are evil.”

As Christians, we are to stop wasting our time flirting around with the world. There’s no place in this Christian life for the things of the world. We must quit trying to impress the world or own it, and get busy with what God wants to do through us. God wants to do great works through us through the strength  of Jesus Christ. Nothing fulfills us like living for Him, serving, and helping others to know and love Him.

The Power to Heal

John 9:7 and said unto him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.”

There was no healing power in the clay or the water from Siloam. The power was simply the power of Jesus to heal. Sending him to Siloam was symbolic. This spoke of God’s provision, cleansing, and the water of life. It’s a beautiful picture. It was water sent into the city. The waters flow from the temple hill and are regarded, even in the Old Testament, as symbolic of spiritual blessing.

Jesus said in 7:37. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me.”

Sovereign grace confronts a blind and helpless, begging sinner. Sovereign grace comes to him, places His glorious, merciful hand on his sightless soul, and asks only a response of simple faith.

The Perplexity of the Miracle

John 9:10 Therefore they asked him,  ‘How were your eyes opened?’

Someone must have told him that it was Jesus.  They did not understand what had happened. This blind beggar is the picture of every sinner. There is a blind darkness over every person. The account of Jesus healing a blind man  beautifully illustrates the salvation process.

We sit blinded by sin, begging. We cannot see Christ, and have no capacity to recognize the Savior. Then, Christ, in His grace, finds us! That’s salvation. He reaches out to us in our blindness, and He gives us sight. All He asks  is a simple act of faith, which He empowers. He washes us and we forever see.

Our lives should be so different when we commit to Christ that the world will SEE and ask:  What changed them? Can that be the same person? How can I experience life more like him/her?