The Blind See

I want to read John 9:1-7. It says, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth,” the only time Jesus healed a blind man who was blind from his birth. This was a congenital blindness. “And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle,” I love the King James “spittle,” “and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”

In the book of Job 5:7 it says this, “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” In other words, it’s certain that if you live in this world, you will experience sorrow, suffering, and trouble. Jesus even suffered in this world. If God’s Son suffered, we will also suffer. It’s impossible to pass through life without seeing or experiencing some kind of suffering. There are many, many things that we can draw from this story, but in John 9, the implications are going to go into John 10, where Jesus comes and says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” In this story, Jesus finds one of His sheep that needs His ministry, needs healing, needs hope; and Jesus, the Good Shepherd, comes to him and ministers to him. Jesus comes to heal, to forgive, and to restore.

There was a man who had lived his entire life in darkness and had never seen the beauty of God’s creation or the faces of his loved ones. Try to imagine what it must be like to literally be born blind. Many people lose their sight later on in life, but they saw at a younger age the blue sky, the green grass, and the brightly-colored flowers. This individual has never ever seen these things. He never saw the face of his mother or father, or perhaps his brothers or sisters, friends, or loved ones. He never saw a mountain, a river, or a stream. All the things we take for granted, he never saw visually. He only had the ability to hear as well as feel. We’re going to focus on that tonight when we see Jesus healing this individual.

Just a reminder, in John’s gospel, there are seven miracles that point to one thing: Jesus Christ is God. This is why we’ve themed this series in John, “Behold Your God.” I want to give them to you in rapid fire. The first is the turning of water into wine in John 2. The second is the healing of the nobleman’s son in John 4. The third is the healing of the impotent man in John 5, and the fourth is the feeding of the five thousand. We saw that in John 6 where Jesus was the bread of life that came down from heaven. The fifth is the walking on the water in the storm, John 6. Tonight, we come to the sixth miracle called a sign that points to the deity of Christ, and it’s in John 9, the healing of the blind man. The seventh miracle we get in a few weeks, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Some would add to these miracles the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which is a miracle, and the providing of the catch of fish in John 21 when they threw their nets on the other side and miraculously gathered the fish. I believe these first seven are primarily the structure of the gospel as well as the seven “I AM” statements that Jesus makes and that Jesus is God. The reference to that is John 20:30-31. That’s the key to the book of John. He said, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples…But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” You come to believe because you see the miracle that Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh.

First of all I want to look at what the disciples questioned. Notice it in verses 1-2, what the man heard. Now, remember the man couldn’t see. He’s locked in this world of darkness. All he could do is listen, so he’s going to be listening to this conversation. The disciples ask this question. By the way, you note at the end of John 8, the last phrase there is, “…and so passed by,” and in John 9, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man,” there is really no break between John 8 and 9 with no time gap intended there. There’s no time gap implied there, so it seems that it happened quite rapidly. In John 8, Jesus had been saying the Great I AM, “Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself…going through the midst of them, and so passed by,” and as He’s passing by, leaving the temple, John 9:1, Jesus “…saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

No doubt, you could spend the rest of the time in this study looking at verse 2 answering the question about sin and suffering in this world, but the disciples asked this question, which is the age-old question dealing with the problem of pain and suffering. When they saw this man, they knew that he was born blind. It would seem this blind man was known by everyone. He had been begging, no doubt, for some time, so they had a theological question for Jesus. Their question was basically: Who sinned? Did he sin or did his parents sin which caused his blindness? I’ll get to it more in just a minute, they made the same mistake that a lot of people make today when someone’s sick or suffering or some tragedy comes into a person’s life. They assume that it’s a direct relationship between their sin and their suffering. Sometimes we do that. Our car blows up, “Well, I must have done something bad, and God is punishing me. It’s my Christian karma,” or something like that, you know. Like God’s punishing me for something I’ve done bad, and it’s a direct relationship. That’s not the case, as we’ll look at Jesus’ answer.

It’s not only a problem for those who believe in God, but even sometimes nonbelievers ask the question, “Well, why would a God of love, if you believe in a God of love, allow a baby to be born blind?” This man was born blind. Before he could do anything, he was born blind. The problem of suffering and, “Why, God,” and “Is it a result of someone’s sin or the parent’s sin that this man was actually born blind?” It is believers who do believe in God and believe in a God of love and a God who is sovereign that really have to wrestle with that. Think about it. If you don’t believe in God and believe that we just evolved accidentally, and there’s no God running the universe or sitting on the throne, then you don’t really have to ask the problem of good or evil. There really isn’t any good or evil. It’s just all happenstance or circumstance or “Whatever happens is going to happen,” or it’s the process of evolution that those that are strong and healthy will win out and those that are weak will die and pass off, so there’s really no issue if there isn’t a God of love. We believe that there is a God, He’s a God of love, that He’s in control of all that happens in this world, so we do as believers wrestle with that problem of pain, suffering, and the problem of all the natural disasters and, “Why would a baby be born blind or stillborn? Why would this happen?”

It’s interesting that the disciples posed this question to Jesus, and we must face this question tonight as well. We need to be careful that we don’t give pat answers to people who ask these questions, “Well, if you believe in God, why would this happen?” The disciples’ question revealed a false assumption that suffering is retribution for committed sin. “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” Lest I forget, the Jews actually had a theory. It wasn’t really biblical, but they had this theory that you could sin in the womb. They believed in prenatal sins. I don’t know what you would do. Maybe you’re punching your mother when you’re in there, you know. I mean, how do you sin in the womb? They also believed your parent’s sin could be handed down to you and affect you in that way. It’s interesting, “…who did sin, this man, or his parents?” How could he have sinned if he was born blind? Like many today, they look at the problem and wrestle with this theological issue of the problem of suffering.

It is true that suffering, sickness, and death came into the world because of Adam’s sin. You’re going to be asked this question. You’re going to be wrestling with this question, so listen carefully. Why is there sorrow? Why is there suffering? Why is there sickness? Why is there Corona virus in the world right now? Because we live in a fallen world. It is true that in an ultimate sense, sin, sickness, and death were all brought by Adam’s disobedience. Sin brought in sickness and death into the world. It’s also true that suffering, sickness, and death can be our own sin individually. There are certain ways that we can live and things that we can do in rebellion to God that will bring sickness or suffering into our own lives, but it’s not a direct result.

Remember the book of Job? Job suffered like no one else. One day he lost everything. The only thing he had was his loving, supporting, encouraging wife who said, “Why don’t you just curse God and die?” “Thank you, sweetheart, I needed that encouragement.” I mean, everything that could go wrong, went wrong; but, guess what? Job was a righteous man. God had been bragging about Job. I sometimes say, “God, please don’t brag about me,” not that He could. He was bragging about Job, “Have you considered My servant, Job, how awesome he is?” Satan said, “Well, he only serves You because You blessed him. If you let me afflict him, then he’ll curse You to Your face.” I’m not here to teach the book of Job tonight, but catch this insight. The subject of the book of Job is not suffering. The subject of the book of Job is: Is God worthy to be worshiped apart from the gifts that He gives? That’s the subject of the book of Job. Job was used to vindicate God, that He is worthy to be worshiped and served apart from the gifts that He gives. If God allows you to suffer and get sick, then God’s still worthy to be worshiped, praised, and served. Amen? He’s a God who is worthy.

God had to give satan license to afflict Job, and he was afflicted. Job still said, “Naked I came into the world, naked shall I return from whence I came,” he said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” “Even if the Lord takes everything away, I came in naked, I’m going out naked. Praise the Lord! God is good.” Job’s life vindicated him. Then, the three friends came on the scene. Everyone needs friends like that. Everyone needs a wife like that or a husband like that and they say, “Come on, Job. Fess up. Admit, Job, that you did something wrong.” Again, this idea that, “You can’t be innocent here. You must’ve done something wrong. There must be some sin in your life or God wouldn’t have let this happen to you.” Job basically argued, “There is no sin. God knows my heart. I haven’t done anything wrong.” God had to come on the scene and rebuke the three friends and correct Job as well that God was in control and that they really didn’t know what they were talking about. We must be careful not to ever directly relate sickness to someone’s personal and individual sin. You can be very godly and very righteous and living for the Lord and still suffer, sickness, and have these problems in your life. There’s not a direct relation.

Overall, sickness came into the world because of sin and led ultimately to man’s death, so it is true that sin is here and brought sickness into this world. For God to get rid of suffering in the world, let’s look at that for just a moment, God would either have to do two things: He would have to take man’s free will away from him and make you a little robot or He would actually have to eliminate all human beings off the earth because a lot of suffering, a lot of sickness, is brought on by us. I had someone once say, “Why doesn’t God stop the fighting? Why doesn’t He stop the war?” I think, He didn’t start the war. “What do you want Him to do, intervene in everything that goes on in the world? God wants to stop everything, fix everything and straighten everything up?” “Well, why doesn’t God stop the war?” He didn’t start the war, and many times things that happen in the world are brought on because of our own sinful nature. The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. You don’t get rid of sin and suffering by merely shutting your eyes to the reality that there is sin, and sickness and death were brought into the world because of man’s sin.

Here’s the thing. God has a remedy for sin, and Jesus Christ will come back. He will judge sin, and He will right all wrongs and set everything straight. In order to do that, here’s another point when people say, “How can a God of love let people suffer?” God, in the person of Christ, came to earth, took on full humanity—literal humanity without sin—and suffered and died. If it weren’t for the cross of Jesus Christ, we would have a hard time understanding a word of suffering with a God of love. The cross reminds us that God loves us. God became a Man in the Person of Christ coming into the world and suffered and died on a cruel cross, was crucified and rejected, but He died and rose again from the dead so that He could conquer sin, death, the grave. Amen? And there’s coming a day when there will be no more sickness in this world because of what Christ has done.

The great Augustine said, “God chose to bring good out of evil rather than let no evil exist.” God, who is sovereign, allowed evil to serve a greater purpose—to bring good out of evil rather than not to allow any evil at all to exist. In our world of suffering, let’s not forget the cross of Jesus Christ. Write down Romans 8:28, we know it so well, where Paul says, “…all things work together for good to them that love God…who are the called according to his purpose.” We know that God is in control of our lives, so it’s all for our good and for His glory.

I want you to notice that this man heard the question. What do you think was going through his mind? He’s blind. He was born blind, and he hears the disciples asking Jesus, “Who sinned, him or his parents, that he was born blind?” How do you think that made him feel? I mean, the dude’s blind. He’s suffering, and they’re having a theological discussion and debate about who brought this on. I want you to note that Jesus answers them in verses 3-5. “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents,” now if I may take the liberty, I believe that verse should stop at that point or at least there should be a little gap there. I believe that the verse stops there. Jesus said, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents.” So, here’s their question: Who sinned, him or his parents, that he was born blind? Here’s the answer. The first thing Jesus said, “Neither one.” “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents.” Now, that doesn’t mean that they weren’t born in Adamic sin. All humans are born with Adamic natures. What it means is that they didn’t commit some specific sin that led and resulted in this man’s blindness.

I think verse 4 should start in the middle of verse 3. He says, “but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.” Jesus gives a twofold answer, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents,” then He gives an explanation: In order that God might be glorified, I, right now, need to do the works of Him that sent Me while it is day. He’s not saying, as many would translate or interpret this, that he was born blind (verse 3) so that I could work the works of Him who sent Me. He’s not saying that. He’s not saying that the man was born blind for this moment so I could heal him of his blindness. That isn’t how God works. What He is saying is now that he is blind, and I am here, I was sent by the Father—I have a job to do, I have a purpose for why I came into the world—I must, I want you to circle that word “must” in verse 4, “I must work the works of him that sent me.”

I believe that holds true of every one of us. I believe that God has called us, given us the purpose to be used by God for His glory and for the good of others. Let’s not sit around and debate this theological discussion, let’s do what God has called us to do and bring hope and healing and the gospel to people in need. Amen? Jesus is basically saying, “That’s not the issue.” He kind of dismisses their theological question and says, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” Jesus doesn’t want to waste time with their philosophical theological debate. He wants to get right down to healing this man and ministering to this individual.

I want you to notice the instruction in Jesus’ words (verse 4-5), the necessity of doing the Father’s work while we are in this world. “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” When He talks about “day” and “night,” and the necessity of doing the work the Father sent Him to do, He’s not talking about a 24-hour day period or the nighttime. He’s talking about His life, the period of time that God gave Him on this earth, of ministry to do what the Father called Him to do. It’s kind of a metaphor in a sense of this is the day, right now, for us as it was for Jesus. The “night” speaks of—listen carefully—when we die and go to heaven, there’s no longer any opportunity to minister to people, to serve the Lord, or to glorify Him. That’s the “night when no man can work.” So, He’s not talking about literally “day” and “night.” He’s talking about our lives and the opportunities and time periods that God had given to Him. Jesus only had a short little window of three years there to do the work that the Father sent Him to do. We have our lives here on earth, but none of us knows when that night will come when we can no longer share the gospel, do a good deed in the name of the Lord, pray, study God’s Word, minister to people, help people because it’s coming a night.

The night can also be the rapture of the church. That was one of my subjects over at the Prophecy Conference. I preached on the rapture. Do you know that when the rapture happens we can’t witness anymore? We can’t evangelize anymore. We can’t feed, help, clothe, and reach out to people—your family, your friends, your neighbor’s—you will be gone. If they’re not believers, you’ll be gone and they’ll be left behind. Now is the daytime. Now is the opportunity. So often we procrastinate, “Well, you know, maybe when the kids are raised,” or “Maybe when I retire,” or “Maybe when I have different circumstances I’ll get busy and serve the Lord. I’ll get involved in ministry.” The night comes where no man can work. It is day right now. If you’re here, you’re alive, what is your purpose? What has God called you to do? What has God called you to be? You say, “Well, right now, I’m busy raising my kids. We’ve got a whole house full of kids,” and that might be your purpose, that’s a great purpose, by the way. We older folks that have grandkids realize how quickly they grow up.

This time spent with my son in Hawaii, I realized. He was our youngest, and he’s been gone for quite a while. You don’t realize. Hey, you know, they’re running around exhausting you, enjoy them. They won’t be there for very long. They grow up so quick. If you’re a parent, it’s daytime and you have a purpose: To raise those children in the way of the Lord because the night comes when no one can work. If you’re alive right now, God’s given you a heart to serve and the ministry to serve, be busy. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off. There’s the work of God to do while it’s day, there’s the need of man, and there’s the love of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5, that constrains us; so we must be busy of doing the Father’s work.

Also notice, at the end of verses 4-5, the shortness of time, “…the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world,” and we are to be the light of the world as well. This is the second “I AM” in verse 5, and we covered it in John 8:12. Here again, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” again, the necessity of seizing our opportunities while it is day and the importance of the shortness of time. That’s another thing that being older gives you perspective of—the brevity of life. Whenever I conduct a funeral service, I always mention two things: the certainty of death and the brevity of life. The Bible says, “What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?” and “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” The Bible also says that life is like a vapor or smoke that appears for a time and then just vanishes away. It’s like the shadows that pass so quickly. It’s like a flower that springs up fresh in the morning and withers with the noon heat. Life is very, very short. Opportunities are only here right now, and God has given us this time to seize the moment and to serve Him. We need to realize the shortness of time because “…the night cometh, when no man can work.”

There’s a night for every nation. There’s a night for every church. There’s a night for every individual. The older I get, the more I see, sense, and feel the importance of time. It’s kind of a freaky thing when you realize, “I have less time ahead of me than I have more time behind.” How much more time do I have to preach, teach, pray, share the good news, or reach out to people. Let’s take this to heart what Jesus said, “…the night cometh, when no man can work,” and “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day.”

The man heard the question the disciples asked. He heard the answer that Jesus gave, but I want you to note, thirdly, he felt the clay on his eyes. This is where the story gets pretty fascinating (verse 6), “When he had thus spoken,” so all the debate, all the discussion is over and Jesus says, “It’s time to get down to business because I must work the works of Him that sent Me.” “When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay…and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.” I’ve often said, “It’s a good thing he was blind and didn’t know what Jesus was doing,” right? “Oooo, Lord, it feels kind of gooey,” you know, “what is this?” “Don’t ask questions, just go wash it off.”

There’s all kinds of speculation as to why Jesus spit. There’s a couple of other places where Jesus healed by spitting, and I think that Jesus did healing in different ways at different times so that we wouldn’t develop a pattern and try to do it the same way Jesus did it. Can you imagine the spitting evangelist? “Jesus did it, we gotta do it.” By the way, this is a great point to drive home how to interpret Scripture. Just because Jesus did something, doesn’t mean we have to do it. Was it practiced in the book of Acts? Is it taught in the epistles? There are things that happen in the gospels, and even in Acts, that we have to say, “Are we required to do that as the church?” If you’re praying for somebody, you don’t have to (making a spitting noise), you know, spit. “That’s how Jesus did it. He’s the spitting Messiah,” you know. “So I’m gonna spit right now and heal you.”

Some say that the Jews had this concept that there were medicinal purposes in saliva and all that stuff. I don’t know that that could be really substantiated, but my theory is that Jesus couldn’t go turn on a fountain or have a bottle of water to make the mud so, (making spitting sound). You guys know that when you’re camping and you need to make something, you just spit and put it on your mosquito bite or whatever, you know, I mean you just do what you gotta do with what you’ve got. I basically believe that Jesus was giving this man, who couldn’t see, could only hear and feel, a point of contact for his faith. He’s going to tell him to go and wash, and this guy could basically say, “No. You’re crazy.” He didn’t even know who Jesus was, by the way. As we get into it next week, he basically just says, “I don’t know who He was. All I know is His name was Jesus.” By the end of the story, he’s worshiping Him as the Savior. Right now, all he knows is some dude spit in the dirt, put mud in his eyes, told him to wash and he figures, “What do I got to lose? I’m already blind,” you know. “How bad could this be?” Why Jesus spit in the ground and put mud in his eyes, we really do not know. It is interesting that hearing and touch were the man’s two chief avenues of contact with the outside world. Perhaps the clay was used to provide the man with the tangible evidence of Jesus’ intent to heal his eyes. What a glorious thing that is that Jesus put this mud on this man’s eyes.

The fourth thing we see is that he trusted what Jesus told him to do, and he obeyed. By the way, when Jesus made the mud (verse 6) and put it on the man’s eyes, we’re going to see it next week as we follow the discourse and dialogue with the Pharisees, Jesus violated the religious leaders of the Jews manmade laws. Jesus never violated God’s laws, but He did violate their laws. They couldn’t knead dough on the Sabbath day. By the way, if you look at verse 14, this healing happened on the Sabbath day. You’re not supposed to knead dough, but He kneaded the mud and stirred it up. You’re not supposed to heal people on the Sabbath day, and He did that. You’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath day, and He did that. He violated their petty laws and rules.

Notice now (verse 7) that he trusted and obeyed. “And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” John wants us to know something about this pool, “(which is by interpretation, Sent.)” or some render that the pool of the Sent one. I think that’s interesting. So what did the man do (verse 7)? “He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.” I love what Clovis Chappell said, “In obedience to the command of Jesus, he went pegging his way toward the pool. He did not wait to have everything explained. He did not ask concerning the value of the clay or of the spittle or of the pool, he simply did as he was commanded. It required both faith and courage.”

Imagine running into this blind man, tapping his way down the street to the pool of Siloam with two mud balls in his eyes. You’re like, “Dude, what happened to you?” “I’m going to the pool of Siloam to wash the mud out of my eyes.” “How did it get there?” “A man named Jesus put it in my eyes and told me to go wash it out, and when I did, I would receive my sight.” You say, “You’re crazy.” You see a blind man with mud in his eyes, and he thinks he’s going to wash it and be healed? People probably mocked and ridiculed him on the way down to the pool.

Why does John want us to know that the pool means “Sent?” A couple of thoughts. First of all the pool was called Siloam because the water in this pool, the southeast corner of the city of Jerusalem, flowed to it from Gihon Springs through what’s called Hezekiah’s Tunnel. The water came to this pool (and if you were one of those on the recent trip to Israel, you probably went to the Pool of Siloam), and coming out of Hezekiah’s Tunnel is this beautiful water. It came from Gihon Springs, funneled from Gihon Springs into the Pool of Siloam, so it was sent from Gihon Springs. It also has the idea that Jesus is the One sent from the Father to be the light of the world. The water was sent, then the man was sent, and then Jesus was sent. I like that. He was sent from the Father to be the light of the world to bring healing to this individual. He trusted and obeyed, “He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”

The story will go on, and we’ll pick it up next week, but it indicates that the man went running home. Where would you go if you were born blind and had never seen your family? The first thing you’d do was run home, right? You would run home immediately. Maybe he wanted to see his family. Can you imagine having never seen? You’ve seen the videos of people who have never heard and hear for the first time and start to cry, they’re so excited. Or, when people get their sight back and see, can you imagine for the first time seeing a blue sky? You don’t really even know, “Is that the sky? Is that blue? Is that yellow? Is that green?” You had to learn your colors. You had to learn what colors are what and what is what. You look at a flower…all the faces that he would see, taking it all in. What a change and what a difference Jesus makes when He comes into our lives. Amen? What a glorious picture this is of the salvation of the blind sinner.

Let me give you these concepts. First, he was blind. The Bible says, “We, before we know Christ, are blind in our sins.” Unbelievers are spiritually blind. Their eyes are not opened to see the truth of God. He was helpless. It’s interesting, too, that this man probably was begging and couldn’t work, so he was blind and helpless. We, too, as sinners were blind and could not save ourselves, and then Jesus came to him in grace. This is my favorite part of the whole story. This man, there’s no record of this man saying, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me,” as blind Bartimaeus cried out. He didn’t follow after the Lord. He didn’t cry out to the Lord. Jesus came to him. I love it! At the first part of the chapter where it says, “Jesus passed by,” and “he saw a man which was blind.” The disciples saw a theological discussion, He saw a blind man. He didn’t want to debate or discuss it, He just wanted to get busy doing what the Father sent Him to do. I think it’s a picture of grace, how God comes to us and saves us by His grace.

Do you know if you’re a Christian tonight you are a Christian because God came to you in grace and saved you by His grace? Jesus said, “You didn’t chose me, I chose you.” Isn’t that awesome? That He actually chose me…I wouldn’t have chosen me. I would’ve never chosen me, but He chose me; and I’m a picture of how God saves the sinner. Then, Jesus gave him a command. So we’re blind, we’re helpless, He comes to us in grace. He didn’t pray or call out, and then He gave him a command to “Go, wash,” he had to believe and obey.

The Bible says that God commands everywhere that we should repent and believe in Jesus Christ, so he trusted and obeyed. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, so he heard the words of Christ and responded in obedience and faith. Then, he saw. When you come to know Christ, your eyes are opened; then he confessed, down in verse 38 he began to worship Him as his Lord and Savior. Best of all, he had a new life. In verses 8-9, we’ll get it next week, when he gets home they say, “Aren’t you the guy who was born blind? The beggar at Jerusalem?” Some said, “No. It just kind of looks like him. I don’t think that could be him.” I love the guy’s response, “I’m he. It’s me, I’m he.” I love that. What a cool thing when you get saved how people say, “What happened to you? Why are you so happy? What changed? What came into your life?” You say, “A Man named Jesus, died on the cross, forgave my sins, came into my heart, and gave me new life.” People sometimes won’t even recognize you because your life changes so radically! It’s kind of like, “I’m he. I’m the same person, but God has changed me.” What does the Bible say? “Old things pass away and all things become brand new.” You can bet he threw away his white cane and his begging garment, and he’s a new man in Christ. This is a picture of what John Newton wrote in his song “Amazing Grace” How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. Isn’t that awesome how God comes to us, forgives and heals us, and opens our eyes.

What is it you see tonight? The disciples saw a problem to discuss, the Pharisees saw only the laws that were violated, but Jesus saw a blind man who needed to see. God, give us the eyes of Christ. Let us have the heart of Christ, the compassion of Christ, the eyes of Christ to see what He sees, the things that break God’s heart to break our hearts. Amen? And to reach out and heal those who need help. Let’s pray.