Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign- Blindness As Sight

Blindness as Sight
(John 9)

In the first chapter of John we see a theme that is carried throughout his entire testimony. “The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, ‘Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’” Look! Behold! He uses the term 15 times interwoven throughout his stories of the life of Jesus. It is as if he is addressing his listening audience to tell them to see the truth of the story. Look at this! Look at Jesus!

John 9 is miracle 6 and is near the end of Jesus’ life and ministry. It drips with irony, in both the physical and spiritual sense. Some of its elements make me laugh as I read the dialogue. Some of its elements are crushing as I see the truth that there are the blind who are willing to see, and those who could see who are willing to be blind.

In chapter 9, Jesus heals a man born blind and we literally see darkness illuminated by the Son of God who spoke the words in the beginning, “Let there be light.” Christ has come into a dark and broken and needy and blind world. It is Jesus who gives sight to the blind. He is the light of the world, and He is the life of the world.

Jesus uses ordinary clay and his own saliva as the necessary ingredients to heal literal eyes in order to create the opportunity for spiritual sight. After the man washes the healing balm off of his eyes in the pool of Siloam, Jesus is nowhere in sight. And, the religious leaders thinking that they have insight into the situation clearly miss seeing the point of the spiritual significance of what took place.

Jesus is the original ophthalmologist. He sees with piercing and perfect 20-20 vision and knows how to correct someone’s vision. Others passed by (vs.1) and pretended not to see, but John is clear that Jesus saw the one born with congenital blindness.

There is a blind man begging along the side of the road. The disciples (vs. 2) ask him who caused the blindness: ‘the beggar's sins or his parents'? They were merely stating the popular notion of the day that all suffering was caused by sin. Be careful to not judge someone as a great sinner because of great suffering. Jesus shattered the current paradigm by saying that this blindness was not a punishment but an opportunity to put God's work on display. Yes, Jesus did not deny the general connection between sin and suffering, but God’s Sovereignty and purposes supersede and govern all.

Jesus then spit on the ground, smeared the mud on the man's eyes. You have to see the allusion here to the creation account. God used clay to create the first man, and now Jesus the creator is using clay to recreate sight for the man born blind.

He then told him to go wash it off at the nearby Pool of Siloam (meaning ‘Sent’), the only permanent water source in the city at the time. It is interesting that Jesus told him to go to that particular pool. Christ is called the ‘one who is sent from God’. The pool had significance during the reign of King David. The blind man, of course, couldn't see Jesus. And it wasn't until he washed his eyes, did he return seeing.

In a sense this is a test of obedience for the blind man. Go and do what God says even when it does not make sense, even when it does not seem pragmatic, and even when others may mock you.

Then the confrontations began.

This is about blindness as sight. The truth that there are the blind who are willing to see, and those who could see who are willing to be blind.
-According to John MacArthur there are 5 key characteristics of willful unbelief
-set false standards
-always want more evidence but never have enough
-biased research on a purely subjective basis
-reject the facts
-self-centered

The neighbors were intrigued. "Isn't that the blind beggar?" they asked. Some thought it only resembled him. Others wanted to know what happened. Suspicion hovered over the audience. And they took the healed man to the religious authorities.

Imagine being the blind guy who received his sight. For the first time, he sees the faces of the people whose voices he knew so well. Did they look the way they sounded? Imagine the familiar footpath he would normally take to the Pool, only to return, not only feeling, but also seeing his way along. The vibrant colors of people's dress. The multiple textures of the sand, earth, and mortar. He finally saw the eyes of those who probably threw disgusting remarks toward him during his years of begging.

Along with all the wonder, he is brought before the religious folks, the Pharisees, on account of his newly found sight. The Pharisees begin to drill him with theological questions, apparently fearful that the now-seeing fellow might hold Jesus in higher authority. "What do you say about him?" they ask. Pulling from his own theological understanding, he says, "He is a prophet." The voices start to rise, the parents are called to testify, and threats are made. The parents practically disown their son because of the threats of the Pharisees. They back out of the scene and require their son to speak for himself. The story is told. The man was born blind. Now he sees. That's all that is said. That's all that happened.

But the Pharisees know something larger is at stake. In verse 24-30 this endless questioning continues, but it takes an interesting twist. The pretentiousness of the religious leaders and their spiritual blindness is transparently seen, and the openness of the blind man for truth and the increase of his spiritual sight is seen as well.

The seeing man makes a remark at the endless, repetition of questions. This remark (vss. 31-34) is a straightforward theological treatise about the origin and process of miracles: "We know that God does not listen to sinners. But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." We see a right response of worship. We see that the person of God makes it their business to glorify his Creator by solemn adoration of His name and sincere obedience to His will.

Those who have received mercy from God should magnify the mercies they have received. Not to heap honor upon self as if you were an extraordinary favorite of heaven, but that God may get the glory and by that draw attention to Himself so people may have a hope to see and gaze upon.

The Pharisees, exasperated by the theological lesson, throw the man out. Those who could physically see were spiritually blind. Instead of bending in humility they broke off the dialogue in pride. Proud men refuse to be obedient—no one will tell me what to do. Proud men refuse to be taught—who are you to think you can teach me? We should never think of self as too old, too wise, or too good to learn. How much wealth is enough? Just a little bit more. How much intimacy is enough? Just a little bit more. How much knowledge is enough? Just a little bit more.

Here's the next scene: Jesus approaches the downcast man. The man does not know what Jesus looks like. And being overwhelmed with so many voices that day, he may have forgotten the voice of his healer. "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" Jesus says. The man is eager to find out who he is so that he can believe. Then Jesus turns his phrase on a double-meaning of the word "see," a word that was probably a repeated prayer in the blind man's life. "You have now seen him," he says, "And he is speaking to you."

The man believed, and worshipped. This is an episode of the profound sensitivity of Jesus. He sought him out and restored the lonely one’s sight. He helped him see that, though he's been isolated that day from his social community, there is another community of a vaster importance. And it wouldn't be much later till that man, once blind but then seeing, would discover the communion of saints such as the world had never known. If you feel much like that man of this story, allow Christ to draw near to you. And find your satisfaction, security, and well being in worshipping him.