The Blind Man

In John 8, Jesus announces that He is the light of the world and the answer to spiritual darkness. His declaration sparks a confrontation with the religious leaders that ends with Jesus calling the Pharisees children of Satan. John 9 is a physical encounter that illustrates the spiritual principles from John 8. 

 

Here's Mud In Your Eye! · Mini Manna Moments

 

 

The Encounter

The story of the blind man reads like a play. 

 

Scene 1– John 9:1-5. The disciples and Jesus walk by a blind man. The disciples ask Jesus who is responsible for the man’s blindness. There was a rabbinic saying, “There is no death without sin, and there is no suffering without iniquity.” Jews believed all suffering was a punishment for sin. The disciples assume that this man or his parents sinned for him to be blind. Jesus’ response was shocking to His followers. His blindness was not tied to sin; he was born blind so the power of God could be revealed through his life. Then Jesus declares again that He is the light of the world. Jesus’ purpose is to bring light into darkness. Jesus brings physical sight to a blind man as a metaphor of His purpose to bring spiritual sight to people who are spiritually blind. The entire chapter is the spiritual message of darkness and light wrapped in a physical story of a blind man. 

Scene 2– 9:6-12. Jesus spit on the ground, made mud, and put it on the man’s eyes. Jesus told him to go wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. The man who was a blind beggar that morning came home that afternoon with full vision. No one rejoiced with him; instead, he quickly became an object of a debate in his neighborhood. Is this really the blind man that can now see or just someone who looks like him? Because the miracle was outside their cultural paradigm, the people could not accept it. The man finds himself totally healed but at the center of a societal debate. 

Scene 3– 9:13-17. The neighbors bring the man before the Pharisees. They are divided and began to argue the two sides of the debate. Jesus can’t be a prophet because He performed the miracle on the Sabbath, but a sinner could not perform a miracle. Once again, the blind man is an object of a debate. No one cares about him or rejoices with him. The Pharisees ask his opinion but reject his answer. He knows Jesus’ identity.

Scene 4– 9:18-23. The Pharisees summon the parents. They are afraid of being cast out of the synagogue, so they won’t even stand up for their own son. We cannot even imagine the societal pressure that was put on families to be accepted into their local synagogue. Imagine how much that must have hurt the man who can now see. The greatest day of his life has turned into a nightmare. He is even sold out by his parents. 

Scene 5– 9:24-34. The Pharisees have a second conversation with the healed man. He stands up for his faith and Jesus, at great personal cost. The Pharisees demand he call Jesus a sinner and renounce Jesus’ ministry. The man refuses. He stands firm and challenges the wisdom of the Pharisees. Verse 27 is the pivotal verse in their discourse. “Do you want to be his disciple too?” Notice the tie between Jesus and Moses in this story. God calls himself “I AM” to Moses. Jesus uses that same title in healing the blind man. The Pharisees claim Moses but deny the great “I AM” that called Moses in the wilderness. Ironic! The man speaks with such wisdom and logic that the Pharisees do not have an answer for him. They accuse him of being steeped in sin from birth and ban him from the synagogue. They are blinded by the paradigm of their own wisdom. “A blind man has nothing worth hearing because of his sin.” 

Scene 6– 9:35-41. The physical encounter is followed by a spiritual truth. The truth is that the blind man is the only person on this day that could see. Those who could physically see were blinded by their presuppositions and narrow paradigms. This is a metaphor for life in the Kingdom of God. 

 

Principles Form the Story 

Jesus brings light into the darkness of intellectual prejudice. At face value, this is a story of the miraculous power of Jesus Christ over disease and the physical realm. However, on a deeper level this story addresses the intellectual blindness of biased people.  

  1. The disciples assumed the man was a sinner because he was blind. They couldn’t see past the blindness of flawed rabbinic teaching. 
  2. The blind man’s parents could not see past the oppressive legalism of the Pharisees and their stranglehold on the philosophies of their culture. 
  3. The Pharisees could not see past their own intellectual pride to acknowledge a healing that occurred right in front of their faces.
  4. The blind man was the only person in the story who saw past the blindness of his own paradigm to see the truth and power of Jesus Christ. The truth set him free that day. His eyes were opened physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Think about how this principle applies to our culture today? Take a moment and thing about some of the philosophies of our culture that blind us to the work of God? 

Jesus brings light into the darkness of sin. The greatest healing on that day was the transformation of the blind man’s soul. He gave his life to Christ, and his sins were forgiven. Spiritual blindness is the most tragic blindness of all, and the miracle of spiritual transformation, apart from the resurrection of Jesus, is the most powerful miracle of all.

Have you recently asked Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes to any area that you may still be blind to the working and will of God in your life?

Satan knows that if you do what God has told you to do, there will be a ripple effect from your obedience that will change the lives of others. Therefore, he will do everything in his power to prevent you from fulfilling your God-assignment.

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are a good Father. You never change, grow weary of me, or tired of helping me. Your Word says You care; therefore I choose to trust in that care. I place every burden I carry in Your hands today. [Name them one by one as they come to mind.]

I entrust my very soul into Your care. I will not worry for one moment. I refuse fear, for You care for me and You are aware of every issue I am facing today. I stand in faith and will not be moved as I know You walk with me and hold Your promises true.

Luke 1:45; (CSB)

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what He has spoken to her!”

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

Pastor Peter Henneberry

Peter Henneberry,

EMIC Groups Pastor
 Office: 817-252-2925
 
E-mail/ Group questions

phenneberry@emic.org