John 9:1-34 A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”
Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
He answered and 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.”
Then they said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know.”
The Pharisees Excommunicate the Healed Man
They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
His parents answered them and said, “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.” His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
Then they reviled him and said, “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.”
The man answered and said to them, “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.”
They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.”
Poor Ibrahim! That morning, he was sitting there begging as he had done for most of his life when Jesus walked by. The disciples were eager to assign spiritual blame; surely, this man or his parents must have committed horrible sins that he had been born blind. But Jesus wasn’t interested in such rubbish. Spitting on a little clay and anointing the man with the mud, Jesus ordered Ibrahim to go wash in the pool of Siloam. As the water from the pool touched Ibrahim’s eyes, suddenly he could see perfectly! But when Ibrahim rushed back to Jesus to thank him, the religious authorities pounced on him, dragging him to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were enraged! How dare this ignorant so and so dare to heal on the Sabbath, breaking the rules about working on the Sabbath?
Ibrahim’s parents were terrified when the Pharisees interrogated them. The last time Ibrahim’s parents had seen him, he was still blind. If Ibrahim’s parents were put out of the synagogue, his father’s business might fail, leaving the family to starve. So Ibrahim’s parents referred the Pharisees back to Ibrahim. Ibrahim could only testify to the truth: once he was blind but now he could see. Incensed, the Pharisees threw Ibrahim out of the synagogue, leaving him seeing but cut off from his religious community.
Did Jesus realize that when he healed Ibrahim, Ibrahim might suffer? Certainly. But Jesus knew that Ibrahim desired to see above everything else, and Jesus also knew that once he touched Ibrahim, Ibrahim would never be the same but would follow God whole-heartedly for the rest of his life. Even as the Pharisees were throwing Ibrahim out of the temple, common people outside the temple were already thrilling to the story and milling around, waiting to see this blind man who had been healed. As Ibrahim stumbled down the temple steps, people began cheering and congratulating him. The Pharisees were glaring at this sight! How dare these people refuse to realize that this was the Sabbath and nothing was supposed to happen on the Sabbath?
We read this story and marvel at the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees. We grimace at the idea that this poor man who had suffered his entire life was excommunicated through no fault of his own. Those Pharisees were really blind, but how blind are we?
The big mistake the Pharisees made was treasuring their prejudices above God’s Word. Throughout the Mosaic Law, God emphasized mercy and compassion; however, the Pharisees were neither merciful nor compassionate. Blinded by dedication to man-made laws, these self-styled disciples of Moses knew nothing of the spirit that moved Moses to write that Law. I like to think that when Ibrahim made it into heaven, Moses and Jesus were both waiting to embrace him and welcome him.
God is always doing new things and working in new ways. If we are to work the works of God, we must listen to Him and not to our preconceived ideas. We need to rely on God for our guidance and not to those around us who might have their own agendas. May God help us so that we will listen to Him and to nobody else!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are blind in many areas, much worse than the blind man You healed. Lord, heal our minds and our hearts so that we will follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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