The scriptures often use the condition
of blindness to picture for us the lost condition of man. And the
parallels are obvious, because the lost man cannot see or
understand spiritual things, any more than a blind man can see or
understand the beauty of the things that we all take for granted!
This chapter introduces
one more sign miracle to satisfy the demands of the Jews. Jesus
Himself had stated that the Jews require a sign, and they're still
waiting for signs. They have a blindness, believing that because
they are children of Abraham, they have special favour with God. The
man blind from birth, in this passage, pictures this group. The Jews
are still bowing at the wailing wall in Jerusalem, praying for the
Messiah. They not only refuse Jesus, but they hate the Jesus
presented in New Testament scripture, and until their spiritual
blindness is healed, and their eyes are opened, they will still
refuse to believe. As they say..."there is none so blind as he
who will not see"!
But spiritual blindness is
a universal problem; not one person this side of Adam, other than
the Lord Jesus Himself, has been born without this condition, and
there are three things about the Healer that we're going to consider
in vss. 1-11...
1. First of all, "The
Misunderstood Jesus" (vss. 1-5)
You know, before Jesus, we
are in a state of misunderstanding; when we become saved, we enter
the state of understanding, and it's then and only then that we begin
to gain insight into the who and why of our lives; that we can
see so clearly what kind of a state we have come out of!
Jesus and His disciples
recognized this blind man; I doubt if he carried a sign, but
obviously, the signs were there, and this poor man was blind from his
birth. Now in the spiritual sense we are blind from our
birth, as well. And we continue in that blind state, or state of
lostness until Jesus offers us the cure, and it is then that the
light of God's word and the power of His Holy Spirit illuminate us.
Just like the old hymn says..."once I was blind but now I
see...!"
The disciples, as they
passed by, were curious about this man, so they asked Jesus..."Who
sinned...?" You see, the common thinking then, just as it
sometimes still is, that sickness and suffering come about as a
result of one's own sin (not to mention Adam's sin!); and there
probably is a sin-to-sickness connection in many cases today just as
there was in Jesus' day...certain types of cancer, venereal diseases
and AIDS, for example. And the man who had spent 38 years at the
Bethesda pool, could very well have been there because of some sin or
another (Who did sin...?). But notice the Lord's answer to their
question (v. 3.b). Oftentimes
sickness is just that, and in this case, it was an opportunity for
Jesus to demonstrate Who and why He was.
Every one of us would
rather have some protective shield that would prevent us from getting
cancer, or heart disease, or even a cold. We would like to be
protected from genetic deficiencies and immune system problems, but
it isn't to be...all of us are subject to sickness and death...for
now, at least. And we realize that God is not to blame for bringing
sin and its consequences into the world. And so the answer Jesus
gave His disciples is that He had a work to perform through that
blind man, and that He had the purposes of God to fulfill.
It may seem unthinkable to
us that God would have reserved that man and his blindness for
that day in the life of our Lord, but obviously, He did. And you
know, that blind man may have been just waiting there by that pool
for Jesus to come along, and at last, He did! We can never know
God's eternal purposes! On the other hand, some of the most gracious
and humble people I know are those who have accepted their disability
or their illness without complaint. It's true! As Romans 8.28
says..."We know all things work together...".
But notice what v. 4(b)
says...
We may be in a state of
spiritual blindness that God wants to heal, but the opportunity will
not always be there..."the night cometh..." (v. 4). We
believers need to keep that in mind as we speak to the unsaved about
Christ; even more so, when we don't!
2. Secondly we
experience..."The Marvelous Jesus!"
(vss. 6-7)
Jesus was about to do
something marvellous!
This man was known
throughout his community as being blind; his neighbours saw him every
day, yet the change after his healing was marvellous (vs. 1..."He
is like him, but..."). The change in the man who receives his
physical sight, or who receives his spiritual sight, is amazing for
sure!
When we see Jesus heal
someone's spiritual blindness it certainly is recognized as the work
of God; none of us ever fail to get a thrill when a new soul is won
to the Lord! It's a privilege to have a part in it, especially when
you think that new believer is now yoked with Jesus rather than to
Satan! This is not a natural event, it's a spiritual advent! And
that's the real healing business that Jesus was and is in.
And what Jesus did for this blind man is a perfect illustration of
His healing power in every area of our lives.
When Jesus spit on the
ground, He didn't create a magic potion...he made a mud cake for each
of that blind man's eyes! Can you smell what's cooking here? And
then He stimulated his faith..."Go, and wash", and He
didn't even tell him that his eyes would be opened as a result. But
when that man put his faith into action, something marvellous
happened; Jesus commanded him, and he obeyed.
Now why did Jesus do such
a seemingly foolish thing? After all, "the winds and the waves
obey His will!" And just so with spiritual blindness; many of us today can testify of our own personal experience of salvation, but
the result is always the same...the blind receive their sight! When
one goes from the hellish darkness to heavenly light, the change is both inconceivable and unbelievable! A real miracle! That man's sight was a testimony to
the very power of God, and it is just so, every time a person is
saved. Just think what that man's testimony must have been to his
family and friends; we only have a little bit of it recorded here,
but in the next few vss. we can see something of the impact that He
made...
3. "The
Man, Jesus!" (vss. 8-11)
It was only natural that
his neighbours would want to hear all about his experience, so this
once-blind man testified of his new-found sight, just as we have
opportunities to testify of our new spiritual sight, and our
new lives in Jesus! Don't you just love to have someone ask you that
simple, saving question..."How..?" (V. 10). That means
they are interested; that they may want to see, themselves; at the
very least, that they are curious. Maybe they have already heard the
News elsewhere, and now they want to hear it firsthand. And the
account can be simple and to the point, but just as with that
once-blind man, it will speak volumes!
Just consider that man's
account...first, he identified the One Who healed him..."a Man
called Jesus". Every healing of spiritual blindness starts at
the same place. That's why the Jews attacked Jesus in the way that
they did (vss. 16-18), as the cults still attack Him today. They
deny Him and they deny His power and they deny the results that were
so obvious, even to them! And then he told them the facts of his
healing...he went, and he washed, and he received his sight, and
although they questioned him and his parents at length, they couldn't
change the facts!
The fact is, just as when the
blind man receives sight, and for the first time maybe, sees the
world for what it is, the saved person is able to see life in the
very way that God intended that it be seen, and experienced...in the
Light of God's love and grace!
Thank you, Jesus!
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