Featured, Sunday School

Basic Bible: Healing a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-17

The human author of this gospel witnessed the works of the Son from the beginning of His ministry to the end. John was moved by the Holy Spirit to record the Lord’s teachings and miracles such “. . . that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). In the text before us, we see both the power and wisdom of God displayed such that men might believe.

Upon seeing a man who had been blind from birth, the disciples asked Jesus who sinned? — the man or his parents. This question was based upon the supposition that the man’s physical blindness was the consequence of sin. The only issue in the minds of the disciples was the identity of the sinner.

Jesus stated that the man was born blind such that the works of God should be made manifest in him. While it can be argued that Jesus’ healing powers are the works of God, there is much more to the works of God than physical miracles. When we look upon the Son, we see the Father. When we look upon Jesus, we see more than men made free of physical liabilities and illnesses. We see men made free from the hold of demons. We see men made free from Satan’s hold. We see changed lives. We see Zacchaeus restoring four-fold that which he wrongfully took (Lk. 19:8). We see the Son giving Himself as a ransom for many (Hos. 13:14). We see much more than miracles of healing. When we look upon Jesus, we see love beyond measure.

The disciples wrongly presumed the man’s blindness to be the result of God’s judgment. Jesus stated that the works of God should be made manifest in him (the blind man) and, then, immediately added that He (Jesus) must do the works of Him (the Father) who sent Him (the Son) while it is day because the night will come when no man can work. There is a time limit upon working hours. Jesus’ earthly ministry was limited to three and a half years. Jesus was sent by the Father to bring light to the world. In the Sermon Upon the Mount, Jesus declared to all who had the ears to hear: “Ye are the light of the world.” Believers are empowered to deliver His light to the world by the Holy Spirit. The only light that we possess is that which we have received. All believers are called to display the light of Jesus. We are to let His light shine in the darkness that ever cloaks the world.

The manner in which Jesus gave sight to the blind man is the subject of much speculation. Why did Jesus heal the man in the way He did? Why did He apply mud to his eyes and send him to the pool of Siloam? Why did Jesus not heal the man on the spot? The manner of healing determined the aftermath. All that Jesus did was done in accordance to the Father’s will. The picture that unfolds following this miracle is a picture that God would have us see and reflect upon.

Because the blind man received sight in the manner in which he received it, some who had known him doubted that he was the same man who was blind from birth (v. 9). They doubted because they had not witnessed the miracle as it occurred. The formerly blind man confirmed with his own lips that it was he who had formerly begged. They, then, asked him how he was now able to see.

He answered, “A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said unto me ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash’: and I went and washed, and I received sight” (v. 11).

The name Jesus is cause for believers to rejoice. We know that there is no other name under heaven by which men may be saved (Acts 4:12, Rom. 10:13). The name Jesus did not bring joy to them who questioned the blind man. It was cause for alarm. It was cause for them to take the man before the Pharisees (v. 13). Jesus had healed the man upon the sabbath day (v. 14).

The Pharisees had issues with Jesus and the power by which He performed miracles. They had confronted Him with His healings upon the sabbath on an earlier occasion (see John 5).

Those who brought the man given sight to the Pharisees, perceived that what had happened was not by the power of any man. They held the Pharisees in high regard and trusted them to explain this happening. The Pharisees questioned the formerly blind man and were unable to come to a consensus. Some thought the worker of this miracle to be a sinner and others thought him to be of God (v. 16). By bringing sight to the blind man in the manner in which He did, Jesus exposed the blindness of the Pharisees to the people who trusted in them. The formerly blind man testified that his healer was of God, a prophet.

We note that the blind man was not given instant sight; he had to go to the pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. Consequently, the man did not know Jesus by sight. The blind man knew the name of the one by whom he was healed but he had to wait until Jesus returned to see Him face to face (v. 35-37). Is not this true of every believer? We wait for the day in which we shall meet Him face to face.

The man knew that Jesus was sent by God because Jesus did only that which God could do. The man knew Jesus, not as a lawbreaker, but, as the one who had given him a new life. Believers know Jesus in like manner. We were born dead, not knowing God. We were stillborn but now alive because the Son has given us life.

The physical healing of the blind from birth that John recorded is a picture of the spiritual. All men are born spiritually blind. Those who know the Son are given sight by Him and await the day when we shall behold Him face to face.

Please follow and like us: