The Man Who Was Born Blind (John 9)
– Bradley Cobb
An entire chapter in the book of John is
dedicated to relaying the time when a man was healed of his infirmity. While that might not seem like such a notable
thing to point out, it is notable that though the entire chapter (forty-one
verses) deals with this man, we are never told his name. He is called “the blind man” (John
9:6),
“him who formerly was blind” (John
9:13),
and “the man who was blind” (John
9:24). Though we don’t
know this man’s name, we know that he was a man of great courage.
When
you think of people in the Bible (or anywhere else, for that matter) who
exhibited great courage, you generally think of people who have accomplished
great things in the face of adversity and overwhelming odds. You might think of Gideon and his small band
of 300 soldiers taking on an enormous Midianite army. You might think of little teenage David who
ran out to meet a nine-foot tall armored soldier named Goliath in one-on-one
combat. Events like these are what cause
people to be viewed as heroic. But I
want you to stop and consider the amazing amount of courage exhibited by a
blind man who was healed by Jesus Christ.
Blind from Birth
The story of this courageous blind man
begins with him almost being seen as an afterthought. “Now as Jesus
passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth” (John
9:1). However, this was no chance meeting. There was a reason that Jesus saw this man,
and a reason that He took notice of him, and a reason that He healed him.
The disciples were like the typical Jews
of that day – and much like many people today as
well. They assumed that if something bad
had happened to someone, it had to be the result of that person’s
sinfulness. The disciples asked Jesus
whose sin was to blame for this man being born blind, “this man or his
parents?” (John 9:2). Stop to
consider how deeply ingrained this belief was in the disciples. They actually asked Jesus if this man sinned in
the womb, causing himself to be born blind.
This event which is recorded for us by the apostle John serves to put this
false belief to rest, because Jesus said, “Neither this man
nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him” (John
9:3).
What was the purpose of this man being
blind from birth? It wasn’t because of sinfulness on his part nor his parents’, but
it was so that the power of God and His Christ could be revealed! It is very important to remember that this
man was indeed born blind. Had Jesus healed a man who developed
blindness later in life, it might have been touted as a medical marvel,
reversing something that had happened.
But the impressiveness of this miracle of Jesus is seen later when it is
said, “Since the world began it has been
unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind” (John
9:32).
Healed by Works
This man was healed through an obedient
faith. Jesus spit on the ground and made
a clay, which He then put on the man’s
eyes. But that didn’t heal the man. Jesus told the man to go wash in the Pool of
Siloam. This blind man walked to the
Pool and did as he was commanded (John 9:6-7). Before you simply gloss over this fact, try
blindfolding yourself and see how easy it is for you to walk very far without
being able to see.
If this man had simply stayed put and
said, “Sir, I have faith that you can heal
me,” he would have remained blind until the day he died. Jesus required works from this man in order
to achieve the healing that was being offered.
This doesn’t mean at all that somehow the blind man earned his sight, but he
did that which was required to receive it. In the same way, Jesus requires us to put
forth effort in order to receive the spiritual healing that He offers. It is not by faith only. Instead, Jesus commanded that we “arise
and be baptized, and wash away your sins”
(Acts
22:16). It isn’t
that we somehow earn our salvation,
but we still have to do what is required to receive it.
It was only after the blind man went to
the Pool of Siloam and washed that he “came back seeing” (John
9:7). He was healed through faithful obedience.
The Courage of the Man Who was Born
Blind
Many lessons can be learned from John
chapter 9, but the one on which we will be focusing here is his great
courage. He showed great courage by
taking an unpopular stand. He showed
great courage in not being like his parents.
He showed great courage in correcting religious error.
He showed courage by taking an unpopular
stand. It was most likely earlier that same day that
the religious leaders took up stones to kill Jesus with (John 8:59). It was before these same people that the
formerly blind man was brought to answer questions about Jesus (John 8:13,
9:13). They had already shown
willingness to try to kill Jesus, so standing up for Christ wasn’t exactly a popular thing to do.
While
the Pharisees argued amongst themselves about Jesus, some saying “This man is not
from God because He does not keep the Sabbath”
and others saying “How
can a man who is a sinner do such signs?”,
the blind man responded with “He is a prophet” (John
9:16-17). This proclamation did not sit well with the
Pharisees. In fact, they began to accuse
this man of lying about having ever been blind in the first place (John 9:18).
How does this make the man who was born
blind courageous? Imagine yourself in
front of a group of people who just tried to kill someone. How easy would it be to stand up for the
person they wanted to kill? It would
have been much easier to do what some others did and claim ignorance, or to
say, “I don’t know.” So many people today, when faced with
questions about Jesus, simply say, “I don’t know” or they look for other ways
out of giving an answer because they fear what the other person will say or do. It takes real courage to stand up for Jesus
and state the truth about Him. Even when
it is unpopular, we still need to stand for Jesus.
He showed courage by not being like his
parents. This man’s
parents were called to speak before the Pharisees, and it was insinuated that
they were liars as well. The Pharisees
said “Is
this your son, who you say was born blind?” (John
9:19). The parents did indeed state the truth that
they knew he was their son and that he was born blind, but because they were
afraid, they refused to say how he was healed (John 9:20-22).
They were afraid of being cast out of the
synagogue for speaking up for Jesus, so they faked ignorance. They were more interested in social standing
and the approval of people than they were in standing up for the truth. This is seen even more clearly when you
realize that they were more interested in this approval than they were in their
own son. When they were asked, they
pushed all questions off on him (John 9:21). They knew that if he stood up for Jesus, he
would be kicked out of the synagogue (which is what happened – John
9:34),
but they seemed okay with that so long as it didn’t
happen to them. This is much like King
Hezekiah who was told that his descendants would be taken captive and many of
them killed. His response was “at least there
will be peace and truth in my days”
(Isaiah
39:7-8).
Because he spoke the truth, the man was
kicked out of the synagogue. As such,
his parents would not speak to him, lest they be labeled as “Jesus sympathizers” too.
But this man showed great courage, even though it likely cost him his
relationship with his parents. He was
more interested in following God than pleasing people.
He showed courage in correcting religious
error. The Pharisees began again to chastise the
man. In their demands upon him, they
implied that he was giving glory to a sinner instead of God (John 9:24). They then re-questioned him on how he was
made to see, and he was fearless in his response: “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?” (John
9:27).
In their anger, the Pharisees reviled him,
and treated him like he was worthless.
They mockingly said to 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” (John 9:28-29). The constant accusations which are implied
against this man are incredible. They
had accused him of lying about having been born blind, they accused him of
giving glory to a sinner instead of God, and now they are accusing him of
rejecting the Law of Moses.
In the face of accusations like this, many
people would back down and simply be quiet, or perhaps say the things necessary
to appease the accusers (like Peter did in John 18:15-18, 25-27). Instead, this man who was unable to see until
that very day stood firm and pointed out their hypocrisy and
contradictions. He said very plainly, “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” (John 9:30-33).
Courage is seen in someone standing up for
what is right in the face of those who are against it. These Pharisees were supposed to be the
religious experts and leaders. But this
man – who had been able to see for only
a few hours – could see that they were wrong.
And he did not hesitate to tell them so to their faces. As a result, he was accused of being a sinner
from birth (something that Jesus said wasn’t true – John 9:3), and kicked out
of the synagogue (John 9:34).
These Pharisees didn’t care for
the truth. They cared only for their own
prestige and power. But even with being
kicked out of the synagogue, the man whose name was never given to us proudly
proclaimed to Jesus, “Lord
I believe!” and worshiped Him (John 9:36).
Are You Courageous?
It is easy to imagine ourselves doing what
is right when we have lots of people watching us as we face overwhelming
odds. We know what the right
thing to do would be in those circumstances.
The true test of courage is this: will you show courage in the normal,
day-to-day aspects of your life? When
someone says something against Jesus, will you stand up for your Savior or will
you remain silent? When a crowd of
people makes fun of Christianity, how will you respond? If you own parents give you an example of
trying to appease others, will you still stand up for the truth? Even if it means social rejection and being
called a liar, will you stand up for Jesus Christ?
It takes courage to do what is right. Follow the example of the un-named man who
was born blind and proudly proclaim your belief in Jesus Christ and follow His
command to go to the water where your spiritual ailment (your sins) will be washed
away!
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