So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”  He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”  They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”  He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”  Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.   We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.   If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”  They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out. 

John 9:24-34

John fills an entire chapter with a long, detailed account of Jesus giving sight to a man born blind and religious leaders investigating the healing.  The account reveals several different responses to God’s revelation of glory, which makes me wonder, what is my response to God’s glory.  Do I see it?  How often do I miss it?  When I see evidence of it, do I attribute God’s glory to some other cause?

God’s glory surrounds us, evident through the beautiful sunrise, the sweet dew-filled morning air, birds signing their morning song, the Sun’s warmth, the fact that we are here, experiencing the moment.  He reveals His glory when He unveils our eyes to see Him through Scripture and answered prayer.  But do we miss it?  Do we take it for granted?  Is our vision so cloudy from life lived in this dark world that we are unable to see it?

As Jesus walked with the disciples, they encountered a man who had been blind since birth and regularly sat begging.  The disciples presumed the man’s condition was punishment for sin, and they were puzzled.  They wondered whose sin caused the punishment.  They could not imagine the man sinning before birth, so was he being punished for his parents’ sin?  When viewed through a common understanding of divine justice whereby God always punishes sinners and always rewards the righteous, their question seems reasonable.  However, their understanding of divine justice was flawed. Scripture presents righteous people suffering.  Job was declared righteous by God, yet he suffered horrifically.  Paul suffered throughout his ministry.  Moses and the prophets suffered.  Jesus suffered. And God revealed His glory through it all.

Jesus corroborates this saying,

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  John 9:3-5

The man was born blind for God’s glory to be revealed through him.  Viewed through our human lens desiring pleasure, rejecting pain, recognizing our time on earth is short, this is unfair.  None of us would want to lose our sight.  While the man’s condition was the result of the fallenness of our realm, God allowed it and He revealed His glory through it, and that led the man to God through Christ Jesus with its eternal reward.  Paul writes,

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.  Romans 8:18

Undoubtedly many came to know Jesus as Lord through the man’s testimony, and many more through subsequent retelling of it.  Jesus does God’s work on earth.  He is the light of the world and He calls us to join Him doing the work of the Father, and our work involves shining His light, revealing His glory to the world.

Jesus healed the man.  He made muddy paste from dirt and saliva, applied it to the man’s eyes, and told him to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam.  As he washed, he could suddenly see.  People saw the man and they talked about him.  Some saw that the man who used to sit begging was suddenly able to see, and they saw the result of a miracle.  Others were unable to see that a miracle had occurred, believing he was a different man who looked like the beggar.  The man told everyone “I am he” but second group thought he was lying (see John 9:8-12).

Some in the crowd took the man to religious leaders who asked the man to describe what happened.  The man said, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see” (John 9:15).  The religious leaders were confused.  They heard the man’s testimony, but it was the Sabbath.  If Jesus was a man of God, He would have respected the Sabbath, but by healing on the Sabbath, He violated Sabbath custom.  They concluded Jesus was a sinner, and they were certain God would not work through sinners, so they were unable to explain the healing.  The only possible explanation was the man was lying.  Had he really been blind?

They called the man’s parents, who appeared and confirmed that the man was their son and he had been born blind, but they did not know how he suddenly was able to see.  The religious leaders called the man again.  They said,

“Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”  He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”  John 9:24-25

Religious leaders urged the man to give glory to God, yet they were presented with evidence of God’s glory revealed through the man and they failed to see it.  They failed to do the very thing they commanded the man to do, and they had no idea.  They had no idea they were blind to the truth.  They believed they saw clearly.  They believed they were the righteous ones who knew God better than everyone else, but they were spiritually blind.

The man’s testimony is beautiful.  “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).  He simply described his condition before meeting Jesus, and his condition after Jesus transformed him.  What was your life like before you knew Jesus?  How has Jesus transformed you?  When someone asks you to share your testimony, that is a good recipe.  When talking to people you know, your simple testimony will have more influence than libraries of theology, so please share it liberally.

After the religious leaders questioned the man, “they drove him out” (John 9:34).  Jesus sought the man, found him and said,

“Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir?  Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”  Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”  He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.  Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”  Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”  Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.  John 9:35-41

The man worshiped Jesus and Jesus received His worship.  Jesus knows that only God is worthy of worship.  This is the first commandment (see Exodus 20:2).  When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 saying, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Luke 4:8).  When people tried to worship Paul and Peter, they refused to receive their worship and directed the people to worship God (see Acts 10:25, Acts 14:15).  Jesus knows that worship is restricted to God, yet He receives it because Jesus is God.

The account ends with Jesus discussing spiritual blindness.  Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind” (John 9:39).  Jesus healed the blind man’s body giving him physical sight.  Jesus also opened the man’s spiritual eyes.  The man believed, saw Jesus as God, and worshiped Him.  The veil clouding his spiritual vision had been removed and he saw what the religious leaders were unable to see – the Truth of Christ Jesus.

Jesus came into the world for judgment.  Some will see and respond.  Others will not.  Everyone will be judged.

In what specific ways have you and your life been transformed by God’s holy grace through Christ Jesus?  What was your life like before?  What is it like now?  Like the bind man’s testimony, your testimony is important, and it will be used by God to remove the veil from someone’s eyes so that they too will see the Truth of Christ Jesus.  Share it generously.  Amen.