"I See" Said the Blind Man
In John 8:12 Jesus made the rather startling proclamation that He is the light of the world. More than a claim of illumination, Jesus’ self-identification takes up the Old Testament theme that the Lord is the light of His people. As usual, the Pharisees take offense and attempt to correct Jesus. The end result of their conversation is that they want Jesus killed. Evading their grasp, Jesus simply hides himself and leaves the Temple. As we enter John 9, even though the immediate standoff had ended, the antagonism remained.
Jesus and his disciples encounter a man blind from birth, which gives Jesus the opportunity to demonstrate that He is indeed the light of the world. Jesus makes mud, puts it on the man’s eyes and sends him to the Pool of Siloam to wash. The man obeys and is healed. When he returns, Jesus is nowhere to be found. His neighbors can’t believe what has happened and some even suggest that the man is some kind of imposter or look-a-like. Finally, to resolve their dispute they bring him to the Pharisees.
It turns out Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath day. When the Pharisees learn this they begin an inquisition to try and find some incriminating evidence against Jesus. The Pharisees have a hard time believing anyone could heal a man blind from birth so they call for the man’s parents to try and verify the story. The man’s parents are afraid to say very much because they don’t want to be excommunicated, so they turn the conversation back to their son, telling the Pharisees they needed to ask him.
The Pharisees go over the story yet again with the man. They suggest that the man is lying about being born blind but the man affirms the legitimacy of the miracle. Again they state their belief that Jesus is a sinner. The blind man contends that if Jesus were a sinner God would not use him to heal people as he had been healed. He my not have been theologically trained like the Pharisees but he lays out some logical problems with the Pharisees’ position. By this time they have had enough of him and they excommunicate him.
It’s at this point Jesus, Jesus finds the man. He asks him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (John 9:35) The Son of Man is language borrowed from the Old Testament, identifying the Messiah. The man responds to Jesus by asking: “Who is He Lord, that I may believe in Him?” (John 9:36). Jesus reveals to the man that He is the Son of Man. The man responds with faith and worship: “And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped Him (John 9:38). If Jesus is who he said he is, worship in faith is the only appropriate response.
This conversation took place in public because Jesus now speaks to the Pharisees who seem to have overheard this exchange. Jesus explains that he came to give sight to the blind and to show that those who think they see really do not see (i.e. the Pharisees). The hardheartedness of the religious community of Jesus’ day is truly amazing. They witnessed miraculous healings and heard Jesus’ powerful teaching and looked the Messiah right in the eye and concluded that he was a sinner. They lack spiritual understanding. The worst kind of blindness is spiritual blindness. The blind man becomes an example to us of faith. He realized his need and simply trusted in Jesus. Similar to this man, all of us enter life spiritually blind. As long as we insist we can see on our own we cannot be saved from our sins. It is when we realize our need for Jesus that our eyes our opened and salvation comes to us.
As we get closer and closer to Christmas, let’s pray together for God to open eyes in this season. Let’s pray for our friends and family members who do not know Jesus that this year would be the year where they come to Christ and experience salvation.
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