Gaining Spiritual Sight

Gaining Spiritual Sight

John 9

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 10 So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11 He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight." 12 They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." 25 He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 26 They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27 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?" 28 And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 30 The man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34 They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" 37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you." 38 He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshipped him. 39 Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." (John 9:1-41 ESV)

In the early nineteenth century, the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) was trying to make sense of a world that had been shaken by the Enlightenment and the turbulent French Revolution. Old certainties were collapsing. Political systems, religious assumptions, and traditional ways of understanding reality were being challenged.

Hegel observed that human understanding often grows through a pattern of conflict and resolution. He said we begin with a thesis—a settled way of seeing the world. Then comes an antithesis, a challenge that exposes the limitations or problems of our assumptions. Finally, through the struggle between the two, we arrive at a synthesis, a deeper understanding that could not have been reached without the tension.

It’s debated if Hegel himself used those exact terms, but the pattern is clearly part of his dialectic philosophy and is one of the most influential ways of describing how people learn and grow. We typically do not discover deeper truth until something disrupts what we thought we already knew.

John 9 unfolds in a remarkably similar way. The chapter begins with the disciples holding a thesis, a settled theological assumption, that is then challenged by an antithesis, and in the end, there is a synthesis—but the synthesis is far greater than a philosophical conclusion.

We do not simply need man-made intellectual categories to understand life, but rather we need a revelation from God. The deepest and most satisfying truths and understanding of the world are not found in ideas and philosophers, but in a person.

Jesus is the Light of the World, and when we come to trust in him we find peace for a turbulent world. And coming to understand him as the light of the world gives a testimony to share with a turbulent world.

Thesis

This passage begins with the disciples passing by a man who was born blind. The disciples have the day's common view that if someone is blind it is the result of sin. It’s not a question of if his blindness is the result of disobedience to God; it’s just a matter of who sinned—him or his parents.

Jesus says his blindness is not the result of sin, but so that the works of God may be displayed, that God’s works may be revealed. God may bring you through hard things so that you can know him more and reveal who he is. He will give you a testimony!

There is a clear thesis by which the disciples are living and operating, and it will get challenged. But let me also point out some other theses.

The blind man's thesis is probably that he is blind and will never see again. It is also likely that he is blind because of his or his parents' sin. He is a mistake and not worthy of being redeemed. And if those are true, why should he hope for anything to change?

There is also the thesis of the Pharisees. They believe they are “God’s faithful people” and don’t need to bother with the lowly people. Taking the contemporary view, it's easy to assume they think this man is sick because he is a sinner, and therefore they are well because they are righteous.

• They also know what God can and cannot do, and they know firmly God would never heal a man on the Sabbath.

• Jesus is a problem, and they have already determined if anyone confesses Jesus, they will be thrown out of the synagogue.

How about the man’s parents or others crippled near the man? All of this is swirling and God is about to throw a grenade to reshuffle the deck. He is doing a thousand things at any given moment.

Antithesis

Everyone’s thesis seems correct until this man blind from birth comes back talking about the color of the flowers. In a moment, God blew up everyone's way of seeing the world.

Once healed, the problem of blindness becomes a full-blown crisis. Sometimes when God works, it gets worse before it gets better.

The man healed is rejoicing at a miracle, but people are going to be people. God’s work for one person is often opposed by those who don't work for God.

The neighbors are shocked. The Pharisees are mad. The man is pressured. The parents are afraid.

The Pharisees should be leading people to know God, but instead of celebrating the miracle, they quibble about the law. "Can’t heal a man on the Sabbath." What!? He couldn’t do anything if God were not with him.

Like a recent story of a lifeguard who saw a man drowning, swam out to get him, brought him to shore, administered CPR, and saved his life. However, he was fired. The drowning man was in a “swim at your own risk” zone, and so the lifeguard company fired the lifeguard for not following proper protocol. Way to reward a person!

How can he heal on the Sabbath? Sabbath is a day of rest—no work. Anointing eyes was forbidden on the Sabbath, not in God's word but in their own rules. So was kneading dough, and Jesus just kneaded saliva and dirt.

They are questioning the blind man. Bring on the full-court press. It is an intense situation. Challenging the man who was healed: "we know who this Jesus is, he is a sinner, give glory to God and bash Jesus." Pressure!

Even the man’s parents don't want anything to do with this. It's a mess when your parents don't want to help you out!

Sight being restored is one of the signs of the dawn of the messianic age (Isaiah 29:18, 35:5, 42:7).

The crisis reveals the real problem. It is spiritual blindness. It is present in all people, from blind to seeing, to religious nones, to religious leaders.

These Pharisees have no interest in God. They ask the man what he thinks, but they only want the man to say what they want him to. They are not interested in the truth. They intimidate the parents so much they shrink back from saying anything at all!

What began as a debate about the cause of suffering becomes a revelation of the identity of Christ.

It is not the problem of physical blindness and eyes that don’t work, but of spiritual blindness and hearts that don't listen.

Synthesis

Sometimes peace comes through things settling down, or fizzling out. A shaken Coke bottle sometimes resolves by sitting, but sometimes resolves by bursting the container. Coke that erupts and then settles—that is more what happens here.

The tension makes the man press into the truth. He doesn't know much, but he knows enough. He cannot settle for the false theses of the Pharisees. He doesn't know who Jesus is, but he knows the Pharisees' answers don't work.

The Pharisees pressure him to give glory to God, and he does just that. He ignores their intimidation and speaks the truth. He tells what Jesus has done for him.

25 He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."

This man who was an outcast is healed, and more than being healed, he becomes a worshipper of Jesus. In the end, his tension is resolved through trust and worship. This shows his devotion. He is willing to lose all for what he has in Jesus. He is oppressed and kicked out by his people, but he worships. He bows down to Jesus in admiration and exaltation.

Through this crisis, the eyes of his heart have been opened.

Regeneration: God revitalizing a person by implanting a new desire, purpose, and moral ability that leads to a positive response to the gospel and relationship with God. It was dead and God makes it alive, alive to him.

He came to see Jesus as the one to hope in. The one to trust. The one to look to in all things. The one who would fix all the problems in the world.

Process: man, prophet, Lord.

• He is what makes sense of life. He is what heals your sickness, lights the darkness, and restores what is lost.

• He promises to one day heal all our physical problems, to change our circumstances; he is able to bring hope to our hopelessness, joy to our depression. Nothing else can do this. These are effects of sin and the fall.

Medication, education, and expert consultation cannot provide these for you.

A great irony. Supposed spiritual teachers are spiritually blind. Their hearts are unchanged. The Pharisees attempt to resolve their tension by doubling down on their hard-heartedness, calling Jesus a sinner, and casting out the man who challenged their beliefs and customs. You will go through life with spiritually blind people all around you.

Are you more willing to push God and his people aside, or are you willing to embrace his truth and his calling on your life?

To be strong, you must have something greater than other people to trust in. You can't remove them all. You have to stand stronger than them.

The synthesis is not "the answer" but "the revelation—of Christ." His revelation resolves all tensions.

The ultimate synthesis is in the Lord’s hands. It is he who can judge false religion and he who can raise up true worshippers who have been put down.

The man truly gives glory to God. He testifies. He worships. God is now honored through what was deemed to be his ruin. Jesus takes the outcasts, the ruined, and restores them for his glory.

This man can’t articulate the doctrine of the trinity, but he can tell what Jesus has done for him. He was blind but now he sees. It’s simple but profound. It is true, simple, raw, and profound.

And if you asked him 20 years later what happened, he would say, "I was blind but now I see."

Jesus just might use the things that seem ruined in your life to bring glory to himself. In heaven, we will hear how every hardship is redeemed. Until then, we see glimpses of it, and it just may be that in this life…

• What was supposed to be his ruin became God's platform for revelation.

Your mess will often become your ministry.

• The thing everyone thought disqualified him became the very thing God used to glorify Himself. His testimony is powerful because it is true, it is authentic, and it is bold. One thing he knows: "I was blind but now I see." It is powerful.

What is your story?

What has Jesus done in your life? What is the story of how he opened your blind eyes? You were probably living with a thesis, a way of life, an understanding of life, that led to a crisis, where you had to rework your thesis, which then led to a synthesis with Jesus Christ at the center. That is what it means to be a Christian. It means life doesn't make sense without Jesus. He is the key that everything revolves around and that makes sense of all of life.

I came to Christ when I was 18. I grew up nominally Catholic, went to Christmas and Easter every few years. Was not a good Catholic. All I knew was that it was OK to drink. I had a number of issues in life that I didn't know how to deal with—a complicated family—and I turned to alcohol and drugs and did my best to live for the world. It left me completely empty and almost ruined my life. I was angry at God and confused about life.

Does anybody know your story? Will you give him glory? Some of us have believed in Jesus because of the testimony of this man, or perhaps because of the testimony of another person in our lives.

We want to share the light of Jesus. This is a way we can do that. Some may not want to. It's understandable because the darkness is getting darker. But if we do not speak up, then the darkness wins. We may not be able to change the world, but we can make the light shine where we go.

Jesus has worked in my life and I want others to know that. He saved me. He can save anybody.

How has God intervened in your crisis to give you a testimony? Can you share how God has worked in your life? Don’t you want this to be a place that is talking about how God is moving and working in our lives?

Life Verse: I was blind but now I see. I was lost but now I'm found.

Short. Pointed. Powerful.

Maybe you have a saying like that. If not, let me give you one.

Ten-second testimony.

There was a time in my life when I was _____ and ____ But I trusted in Jesus and now I am _____ and ____.

There was a time in my life when I was proud and arrogant, But Jesus humbled me, And I found grace and kindness.

There was a time in my life I was angry and confused, But I trusted in Jesus as my Lord, And I found joy and peace.

There are people all around that need to hear that the Christian faith is not just a book, but a living God who has moved in your life. We live in a time not unlike Hegel where old certainties are collapsing, political systems and religious assumptions are questioned, and traditional ways of understanding are being challenged. The darkness is growing, and we have an opportunity to speak of something else. Speak light into the dark and talk about how we have found healing and salvation in Jesus. Don't just complain about society; seek to do something about it. Share Christ. Declare what he has done in your life.