Page 1
Miracle #6 (Healing Of The Blind Man)
(John 9:1–12 … 41)
Introduction:
A biographical profile of Fanny Crosby found on the Christianity Today website said…
Francis Jane Crosby wrote more than 9,000 hymns, some of which are among the most popular in every Christian denomination. She wrote so many that she was forced to use pen names lest the hymnals be filled with her name above all others. And, for most people, the most remarkable thing about her was that she had done so in spite of her blindness.
“I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when he showered so many other gifts upon you,” remarked one well-meaning preacher.
Fanny Crosby responded at once, as she had heard such comments before. “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind?” said the poet, who had been able to see only for her first six weeks of life. “Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
Her love of poetry began early—her first verse, written at age 8, echoed her lifelong refusal to feel sorry for herself:
Oh, what a happy soul I am,
though I cannot see!
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't,
To weep and sigh because I'm blind
I cannot, and I won't!
(
I’ve known a few blind folks over the years. When I was pastoring my first church in Virginia, close to Angie’s home area, we lived next to a brother and sister who were both blind. Lois and Ralph Hastings had been blind since birth. Ralph owned a little store down the road from where they lived. He frequently had people try to cheat him on paying for their purchases, but Ralph had somehow learned to tell what piece of money was given to him. He actually owned a car that someone drove him around in. Angie and I used to joke and say that if Ralph could have attached a tapping cane to the front bumper, he could have driven the car himself.
I remember dear Brother Don Whaley, a blind man who could play skillfully just about any instrument placed in front of him. Don sang and played the piano with the touch of God on him. Some of you have seen the blind singer and musician, Gordon Mote on the Gaither videos. Don was playing and singing at that same level or better before Gordon Mote came on the scene.
I’ve shared with you before about a story that my friend Mike Sutphin told me about his blind cousin. Mike’s mother was at his cousin’s house one day helping him do a few things, and she noticed that he seemed to be searching for something in the house. She asked him what he was trying to find, and he said that he had misplaced his Braille writer (a device sort of like a typewriter). Mike’s mother said, “If you tell me what it looks like, I’ll try to help you find it.” And his cousin replied, “If I knew what it looked like, I wouldn’t need it to begin with.”
The man here in John chapter 9 knew he needed something. In fact, the Bible tells us in verse 8 that he sat and begged on a regular basis. But Jesus went far beyond what this man had been asking for and did the miraculous.
Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at the miracles in John’s Gospel. There are seven signs (or miracles with a message) that are highlighted in the fourth gospel, and they include…
- The Changing Water Into Wine At Cana John 2:1-11
The Spiritual Lesson Is That Jesus Has The Power To Change Us
- The Healing Of The Nobleman’s Son John 4:46-54
The Spiritual Lesson Is That Jesus Has The Power To Heal Us No Matter How Far Away We Are
- The Healing Of The Man At The Pool Of Bethesda John 5:1-16
The Spiritual Lesson Is That Jesus Has The Power To Cause Us To Walk
- The Feeding Of The 5,000 John 6:1-13
The Spiritual Lesson Is That Jesus Has The Power To Feed Us And Bring Us Into Fellowship
- Jesus Walking On Water John 6:16-21 (Also in Matt. 14 & Mark 6)
The Spiritual Lesson Is That Jesus Has The Power Over Our Storms
- The Healing Of The Man Born Blind John 9:1-7
The Spiritual Lesson Is That Jesus Has The Power To Give Us Vision
- The Raising Of Lazarus John 11:1-44
The Spiritual Lesson Is That Jesus Even Has The Power Over Death
Today, we’re looking at The Miracle Of Jesus Healing A Blind Man in John chapter 9. And…
I. In This Passage, We Find The Tragic Case Of This Man Born Blind
(John 9:1–3)
A. Notice The Pitiful Situation
(John 9:1) And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
In his commentary, John MacArthur elaborates on some of the aspects of what we find in this verse. He said…
Some connect the phrase as He passed by with the previous narrative, and place this healing immediately after Jesus left the temple (8:59). The wording, however, is general enough that the precise time and location of the healing cannot be determined. Since Jesus sent the blind man to wash at the pool of Siloam (v. 7), the incident must have taken place in Jerusalem. The temple was a prime location for beggars (cf. Matt. 21:14; Acts 3:1-10), since people coming there to worship would be more likely to give them alms. The temple was also a place where large crowds gathered. Possibly, then, the Lord encountered this man near the temple grounds.
Blindness was an all too common occurrence in the ancient world (cf. Lev. 19:14; 21:18; Deut. 27:18; 28:29; 2 Sam. 5:6, 8; Job 29:15); and the uncared-for blind were reduced to begging (cf. Mark 10:46). As Isaiah 42:7 predicted that the Messiah would do, Jesus gave sight to the blind on several occasions (Matt. 9:27-28; 11:5; 12:22; 15:30-31; 20:30-34; 21:14; Mark 8:22-25; Luke 4:18).
The text does not say how the disciples knew that this man had been blind from birth (v. 2). Presumably he was a familiar enough figure that his background was common knowledge. Or the blind man himself may have told them. In either case, this is the only recorded instance in the gospels of Jesus healing someone who is said to have had a congenital condition.
We don’t know exactly how old this man was. The fact that he is called a “man” in verse 1 indicates that he was an adult. In verse 21, his parents said that he was “of age,” and according to Albert Barnes, this meant…
[He is of age] He is of sufficient age to give testimony. Among the Jews this age was fixed at thirteen years.
The United Bible Societies New Testament Handbook Series says…
The expression he is old enough (so also JB, NAB; Mft, NEB “he is of age”) is perhaps a reference to the age of legal responsibility. Phillips translates “He is a grown-up man.” In many languages it is sufficient to say “he is a man,” though it would be more typical to say in some languages “he is no longer a child.”
He was not just a blind man, but he was a begging man.
(John 9:8) The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
begged – Greek 4319. prosaiteoo; from G4314 and G154; to ask repeatedly (importune – pester), i.e. solicit.
B. Notice The Plaguing Speculation
(John 9:2) And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Warren Wiersbe wrote…
The disciples did not look at the man as an object of mercy but rather as a subject for a theological discussion. It is much easier to discuss an abstract subject like “sin” than it is to minister to a concrete need in the life of a person. The disciples were sure that the man’s congenital blindness was caused by sin, either his own or his parents’, but Jesus disagreed with them.
In the final analysis, all physical problems are the result of our fall in Adam, for his disobedience brought sin and death into the world (Romans 5:12ff). But afterward, to blame a specific disability on a specific sin committed by specific persons is certainly beyond any man’s ability or authority. Only God knows why babies are born with handicaps, and only God can turn those handicaps into something that will bring good to the people and glory to His name.
Certainly both the man and his parents had at some time committed sin, but Jesus did not see their sin as the cause of the man’s blindness. Nor did He suggest that God deliberately made the man blind so that, years later, Jesus could perform a miracle.
MacArthur said…
The truth was that like Job (Job 1, 2); the blind man was afflicted so that the works of God might be displayed in him. But as F. F. Bruce notes,
This does not mean that God deliberately caused the child to be born blind in order that, after many years, his glory should be displayed in the removal of the blindness; to think so would again be an aspersion on the character of God. It does mean that God overruled the disaster of the child's blindness so that, when the child grew to manhood, he might, by recovering his sight, see the glory of God in the face of Christ, and others, seeing this work of God, might turn to the true Light of the World. (The Gospel of John [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994], 209)
God sovereignly chose to use this man's affliction for His own glory.
God may not have necessarily caused this to happen. But He had allowed it to happen. And the man’s situation becomes an opportunity for God to work in a miraculous way in his life.
I had a man recently who said that he must have done something terrible to have the suffering and sickness that he had. And I told him that it was just part of life. Trouble and suffering is part of life.
C. Notice The Passing Savior
(John 9:1) And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
passed by – Greek 3855. parago, par-ag'-o; from G3844 and G71; to lead near, i.e. (reflex. or intrans.) to go along or away:--depart, pass (away, by, forth).
saw – Greek 1492. eido, i'-do; a prim. verb; used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equiv. G3700 and G3708; prop. to see (lit. or fig.); by impl. (in the perf. only) to know:--be aware, behold, X can (+ not tell), consider, (have) known (-ledge), look (on), perceive, see, be sure, tell, understand, wist, wot.
This blind man may not have seen Jesus, but Jesus saw the blind man!
(John 9:3) Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
should be made manifest – Greek 5319. phaneroo, fan-er-o'-o; from G5318; to render apparent (lit. or fig.):--appear, manifestly declare, (make) manifest (forth), shew (self).
The United Bible Societies New Testament Handbook Series says…
“The works of God” is taken by several other translations with the meaning of God’s power (NEB, Phps; Mft “the work of God”). The term “work” is often used in John’s Gospel to refer to Jesus’ miracles, and even though the plural “works” is used in the present context, it is better translated by the singular “work,” in light of the observation that it refers to the particular miracle performed on this man. In some languages “the works of God” may be expressed as “the kind of works which only God does” or “...that only God can do.” The passive expression might be seen may, of course, be translated into the active, “people may see.” One may therefore translate this entire final clause “in order that people may see in this man the kind of work that only God can do” or “...the kind of miracle that only God can make possible” or “...perform.”
M. G. Pearse, as recorded inThe Biblical Illustrator, said…
At such a time (as they sought to kill him in chapter 8), it was very wonderful that He should see anything but the way out. His life was in peril. The plot was thickening, the pursuers were more than ever determined to murder Him. At such times men are likely to see only what concerns themselves and their own safety. It is a blessed proof of the way in which that most gracious heart lay open to all the sorrow and needs of men.
The disciples were looking for sin; Jesus was looking at the soul. The disciples saw an obstacle; Jesus saw an opportunity!
II. In This Passage, We Find The Transforming Cure For This Man Born Blind
(John 9:4–7)
A. We Are Told Of The Master’s Purpose
(John 9:4-5) 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.
MacArthur writes…
Having addressed their misunderstanding and introduced the matter of doing God’s work, Jesus affirmed it as the priority, saying to the disciples, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me.” Their focus was backward, on analyzing how the blind man came to be in his condition; the Lord’s concern was forward, on putting God’s power on display for the man’s benefit.
Albert Barnes said…
[The night cometh] Night here represents death. It was drawing near, and he must therefore do what he had to do soon. It is not improbable, also, that this took place near the close of the Sabbath, as the sun was declining, and the shades of evening about to appear. This supposition will give increased beauty to the language which follows.
The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says…
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work - a most interesting statement this, from the mouth of Christ; intimating, first, that He had a precise work to do upon earth, with every particular of it arranged and laid out to Him; next, that all He did upon earth was just “the works of God” - particularly “going about doing good,” though not exclusively by miracles…
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Not as if he would cease, after that, to be so; but that He must make full proof of His fidelity, while His earthly career lasted, By displaying His glory. As before the resurrection of Lazarus, says Alford, He announces Himself as the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), so now He holds Himself forth as the Source of that archetypal spiritual light, of which the natural, now about to be conferred, is only a derivation and symbol.
B. We Are Told Of The Muddy Poultice
(John 9:6) 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,
As you can tell, I really like John MacArthur’s commentaries. And I particularly like what he shares regarding this verse:
Having finished His dialogue with the disciples, the Lord spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to the blind man’s eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” Jesus had earlier used His saliva in the healing of a deaf and mute man (Mark 7:33) and a blind man (8:23), but only here did He make clay of the spittle. Why He did so is not stated. Some of the early church fathers interpreted Jesus’ actions in light of Genesis 2:7. In that case, making the clay would symbolize the Lord’s creating a new, functioning pair of eyes to replace those which had never seen. But as Leon Morris notes, “Jesus performed His miracles with a sovereign hand and He cannot be limited by rules of procedure. He cured how He willed.”
Cf. (Genesis 2:7) And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Have you ever heard the toast in an old movie when someone says “Here’s mud in your eye”? One online source said…
This toast may have been popular with the soldiers slogging through the muddy trenches of WWI, but it did not originate with them, as many believe. It was being bandied about in U.S. saloons as early as 1890 and was popular with the English fox hunting and race horse crowd before then. Most likely it’s a back-handed toast among jockeys, meaning “Here’s to you losing the race.” If you’ve ever been to a race track after a good rain, you’ll note that the leading horses throw up a lot a mud and the trailing jockeys tend to get splattered from head to toe. The phrase was all the more pertinent before the introduction of goggles to the sport.
Christ became a “mud-slinging” preacher here. Matthew Henry said…
He could have cured him with a word, as he did others, but he chose to do it in this way to show that he is not tied to any method. He made clay of his own spittle, because there was no water near; and he would teach us not to be nice or curious. … Christ did this to magnify his power in making a blind man to see by that method which one would think more likely to make a seeing man blind. Daubing clay on the eyes would close them up, but never open them. Note, the power of God often works by contraries; and he makes men feel their own blindness before he gives them sight.