SERMON: The Seeing Blind (John 9:35–41)
The Seeing Blind (John 9:35–41)
Series: “John: Life in Christ’s Name” Text: John 9:35–41
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: October
22, 2023
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
I.
Introduction
The eye is an incredible instrument. As one resource notes, “No scientific instrument is as sensitive to the light as a person’s eye. And in the dark, its sensitivity increases 100,000 times; one can detect a faint glow, less than a thousandth as bright as a candle’s flame. He can see light from the stars, and the nearest of all stars is 25 billion miles away!”[1] More could be said to that, but the human eye stands as a testament to the intelligence of its Creator.
Yet, just as sin has created problems with
the eyes of individuals, it also causes people to use them incorrectly. As one story goes, “Augustine was once
accosted by a heathen who showed him his idol and said, ‘Here is my god; where
is thine?’ Augustine replied, ‘I cannot show you my God; not because there is
no God to show but because you have no eyes to see Him.’ ”[2] Folks have eyes, but they are not eyes which
are capable of seeing God.
Today, we are finally completing the account of the blind
man. We've seen Jesus heal this man, a
unique healing in that he had a congenital condition. He was born blind, and there is no recording
of any other person being healed of that specific malady. Yet, what should be a moment of rejoicing for this
man quickly became a moment of sorrow as neighbors and religious leaders pepper
him with questions, deciding they should shun him from their lives.
Even so, this challenge forced him to use his eyes in a
different way, in a way that would look upon Jesus eventually with full belief. In fact, even though he had never been able
to use his eyes before, he uses them more accurately than those who could see
their whole lives. The sad reality is
that many people have eyes, but they never use them correctly.
Jesus is the test of whether someone uses his eyes
correctly. As such, in this passage, we’ll
note a special irony. Today, the blind will
become the seeing, and the seeing will become the blind. Let’s consider this:
II.
First, the Blind Become the Seeing (vv. 35–38)
Jesus heard that
they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of
Man?” He answered, “Who is He, Lord,
that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said
to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with
you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.”
And he worshiped Him.
We considered last time what it means to be put out of the
synagogue. There’s some equivalence with
it to our practice of church discipline.
However, in this case, we see an unforgiving and tyrannical process, one
devoid of true godliness and anti-Christ to the core.
As one commentator notes,
“By this example, we are taught how
trivial and how little to be dreaded are the excommunications of the enemies of
Christ. If we are cast out from that assembly in which Christ reigns, it is a
dreadful judgment which is executed against us, that we are delivered to Satan, (1 Cor. 5:5,)
because we are banished from the kingdom of the Son of God. But so far are we from having any reason to
dread that tyrannical judgment by which wicked men insult the servants of
Christ, that, even though no man should drive us out, we ought of our own accord
to flee from that place in which Christ does not preside by his word and
Spirit.”[3]
Note again that our Lord does not leave this man
comfortless. He finds him, knowing just
what heartache he now experiences. Our
Lord always takes the initiative to find us our low estate. We often talk of people searching for God,
but the good news is that He comes and finds us when we need Him! Moreover, our Lord doesn’t have to search as
we would for a lost person, for He knows exactly where we are.
So, Once Jesus comes to the man, He asks Him that important
question: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
If you have a King James or New King James Version, the
identification is slightly different: “Son of God.” This is due to an error in the manuscript
that has since been corrected; it should be “Son of Man.” This is a messianic title that goes back to
Daniel 7, so this man would understand Jesus as asking if he believes in the
Messiah.
This is, of course, the vital question! And Jesus doesn’t ask this in private; as
we’ll note in a few minutes, others are around to hear the man’s response. So, Jesus is asking this man to make a public
declaration. Remember that this man has
already proved himself concerned about spiritual matters and growing in his
knowledge of Jesus. So, he’s ready for
this question publicly, which the Lord also knows — this question is framed in
such a way to expect a positive response.
Our Lord draws true faith from us.
That this man is ready to believe is evident to the rest of
us in the next verse. He replies to
Jesus, saying, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” That word, “Lord,” can be translated “sir,”
and that may be the best understanding in this case — “Who is He, sir, that I
may believe in Him?” That’s because the
formerly blind man wouldn’t know for certain who Jesus is or that He is the
Messiah without revelation. He was
literally blind when he first encountered Jesus, and he may not be certain yet
if Jesus is a prophet or something more.
Saving faith must have an object. As one study notes, “Jesus, not faith, saves.
Faith is only a channel to the worthy
object, the Lord Jesus Christ.”[4] Moreover, as Romans 10:14 says, “How then
will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have
not heard? And how will they hear
without a preacher?” In this case, this
man is about to the word from the Living Word.
In v. 37, Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He
is the one who is talking with you.”
Jesus says those new eyes have already seen the Messiah, for He’s the
one speaking! He was just as clear with
the woman at the well (John 4:26), and now He reveals Himself to this man.
This would be an amazing revelation to receive! As another study notes, “This poor man was
solicitously enquiring after the Saviour, when at the same time he saw him, and
was talking with him. Note, Jesus Christ
is often nearer the souls that seek him than they themselves are aware of. Doubting Christians are sometimes saying, Where is the Lord? and fearing that they
are cast out from his sight when at the same time it is he that talks with them, and puts strength into them.”[5] The man may have been downcast for being put
out of the synagogue, but he’s now learned the most important religious news
anyone can receive — the Lord Messiah is right there with him!
So, in v. 38, the man responds with those words of faith: “Lord,
I believe.” In this context, “Lord”
would be the proper translation. When
the Lord is at work in someone’s life, they respond with faith.
Note that we can see this man’s faith by his works. First, he’s willing to say he believes in
Jesus in front of all the listening ears, many of which are negative toward
Jesus. Second, he worships the Lord,
literally falling down before Him. Every
time John uses this term, it means worship, and it’s in relation to God. As one commentary notes of this man, “His
worship of Jesus replaced his worship in the synagogue.”[6]
As such, it’s amazing to consider that our Lord allowed
this. In front of spectators and
nay-sayers, Jesus allows Himself to be worshiped. Remember when Cornelius fell down to worship
Peter, Peter told him, “Stand up; I too am just
a man” (Acts 10:25–26). Yet, Jesus
allows this prostration in front of Him, and He allows it again with Thomas,
who also refers to Jesus as “my God” (John 20:28). If Jesus is indeed God as the first chapter
of this Gospel states, then our proper response is to worship Jesus.
So, we now see the completion of this man’s spiritual
development. He identified Jesus as a
man in v. 11, and then a prophet in v. 17, and then as the Messiah, offering
Him his worship. His spiritual eyes
develop, as it were, and he’s ready to publicly state and demonstrate his trust
in Christ.
Jesus spoke about the importance of public
acknowledgement. In Matthew 10:32–33, He
says, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him
before My Father who is in heaven. But
whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in
heaven.” Interestingly, both
representations are there that day: the one who would confess Him before
others, and those who would deny Him.
That’s because the seeing there are actually becoming spiritually blind,
as we note next.
III.
Second, the Seeing Become the Blind (vv. 39–41)
And Jesus said,
“For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and
that those who see may become blind.”
Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to
Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since
you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
Jesus says here that He has come for judgment, and that may
confuse you. The term judgment here is
different than we’ve seen before. The
word is krima, different than in John 3:17 — “For God did not send the
Son into the world to judge (krino) the world, but that the world might
be saved through Him.” There, we read
that Jesus did not come for a judgment of condemnation. Here, this kind of judgment is a sorting or
sifting judgment.
So, judgment is an aspect of His first coming — just not in
the same sense. He divides people. As Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, “Do not think
that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a
sword,” going on to say, “For I came to set a man against his father, and a
daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (vv. 35–36). There will be those, like the formerly blind
man, who come to believe in Jesus, and there will be others who oppose that
belief. His presence brings that
judgment.
Those who believe will have their eyes opened to a new
reality — Jesus is Lord and Savior. That
they can see this is all the grace of Christ.
Those who refuse to believe, however, will find that that what truth
they could see will even be taken away; they will become even more blind to the
reality of Christ!
In fact, there is also that coming judgment that Jesus will
bring. For instance, 2 Thessalonians
1:6–8 says, “For after all it is only
just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted
and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His
mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know
God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” Those who afflict the blind man here for
holding to his faith will face the penalty if they don’t repent.
This man needed to hear this, for the road ahead of him will
be more difficult because of his professed belief in Jesus. It is for the sake of this comfort that Jesus
says this. He wants the man to know that
He knows his suffering and will act on his behalf.
We need to hear this.
Some of you young people are going to public school, for instance, and
that is a dark place. There are other
students who will mock you because of your faith in Jesus Christ, and there are
teachers who will try to discourage it.
Of course, this also exists in private schools and homeschool groups, as
well. Some of you will go to colleges
where this pressure to conform will intensify.
You will work in jobs that may try to force you to attend training
sessions and sign statements which go against the Bible. In the power of Christ, you can stand strong,
and you need to hear that the Lord notices your suffering, as well, and will
act on your behalf.
This talk of blindness and judgment bothers the Pharisees. (Did you not know that they’ve been listening
this whole time? Of course they have!) Jesus’s words stir them enough for them to
now speak up and ask their question in v. 40.
They’re always in the shadows at this point, trying to find something to
blame Jesus, and now they wonder at His words which seem to condemn them.
So, they pipe up now, as Jesus has just injured their
pride. They understood Jesus to be
implying that they, the wise and educated religious elite, were blind to the
truth. They assume a negative response
to their question, as if Jesus were to respond, “No, you Pharisees have no
problem seeing the truth!”
Of course, this proves just how blind they are as they rely
on their name and own resources. As
Romans 2:19 says, they are confident that they “are a guide to the blind, a
light to those who are in darkness.” Jesus
had already said in Matthew 15:14 that “they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both
will fall into a pit.” They have eyes,
but they cannot see.
So, in v. 41, Jesus says, “If you were blind, you would have
no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” Jesus doesn’t answer their question; He instead
attacks their presupposition that they can see.
Perhaps they thought themselves clever for understanding that Jesus had
been talking about them. However, Jesus
says that this only increases their condemnation.
If they had confessed to having a problem, things would be
different. Even if they could not see
their problems, but recognized their need for sight, they would not face the
condemnation they do. A small child is
born in sin but doesn’t know it; a person with a severe mental handicap
likewise may not understand his state.
Jesus happily pays for the sins of those who have no resources of their
own, giving grace to the least of these.
However, the Pharisees claim they can see. They don’t need the carpenter Jesus and His
rag-tag group of fishermen to take them by the hand! They think they know the truth! That means they can see and choose to
ignore. Their willful ignorance has
consequences.
So, Jesus says that their sin remains or abides. This is a sad state of affairs. Elsewhere, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit
“abides” or “remains” with the believer (John 14:17). They could have eternal communion with God,
but they choose to have eternal communion with their sin.
IV.
Conclusion
The most fearful reality is that there are many who have
eyes, who think they see, but they can’t.
Sometimes they put their faith in their religious knowledge. Sometimes, they put their faith in their
academic knowledge. Others place their
faith in the knowledge of others; if certain celebrities don’t believe in Jesus
Christ or aren’t concerned with spiritual realities, then they think they shouldn’t
be, either. And still others are just
distracted by every bright toy and bouncy ball that comes along, never giving a
moment’s thought to eternity. These are
all examples of blindness.
You must recognize yourself to be without resources, like
this blind man. You must also recognize
that there is only one person who can save you, and that’s Jesus Christ. Put your full faith in Him, even if it means
drawing negative attention to yourself from unbelievers. Ask Him to give you spiritual sight, saving
you from your personal darkness, and then worship Him alone.
[1] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia
of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times, (Garland, TX: Bible
Communications, Inc., 1996), 775.
[2] Ibid., 503.
[3] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on the Gospel according to John, (Bellingham, WA: Logos
Bible Software, 2010), 1:387–388.
[4] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Jn 9:36.
[5] Matthew Henry, Matthew
Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume,
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1981.
[6] Edwin A. Blum, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 309.
