7 Signs Of The Gospel Of John: Healing Of The Man Born Blind

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7 SIGNS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND

Pastor Mike here.

(This is Part 6 of the seven signs of the Gospel of John where we’re considering the sixth sign: Healing Of The Man Born Blind.)

The Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle John the words of his Gospel account surrounding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

JOHN’S GOSPEL CONSTRUCTED AROUND SEVEN MIRACLES

One of the ways John constructed his Gospel is around seven signs (or miracles) that our Lord performed.

The sixth of the seven signs is found in John chapter 9, verse 1 through 41, where it reads…

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud

7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”

9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”

12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight

19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.

21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)

23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.

31 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.

32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.

33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”

37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”

38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”

41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND

And so we have the sixth sign of the seven signs of the Gospel of John: Healing Of The Man Born Blind.

And before we dive in to the text, let me just remind you of the main point of the seven signs of the Gospel of John.

John himself gives it to us in John chapter 20, verse 30-31…

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these (the seven signs of the Gospel of John) are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And so the signs are meant to be convincing proof that Jesus is the Messiah promised from the Garden of Eden that God would send to die in your place on the cross so that you would be saved from your sins and have eternal life.

VERSE 1

Which brings us to the text.

Which, by the way, it’s the only place in the Bible that this miracle is recorded.

In v. 1 we discover that as Jesus is passing by he sees a man blind from birth.

One important thing to note here is how this man is a picture of each of us who, from birth, are blind to God and in spiritual darkness – dead in trespasses and sins.

Unless Jesus opens our eyes we will remain in our sad state.

VERSE 2-5

Continuing now in v. 2 through 5 we find an interesting conversation arises between the disciples and Jesus.

They ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Many people believed that sickness, etc, were judgments of God on sins committed. (v. 2)

Jesus gives an answer which gets our eyes off ourselves and on to the “works of God” which for believers are to cause all things to work for our good (even sickness and suffering) (v. 3) and most especially the “works of God” are that the gospel would be delivered to save sinners (which is the very thing that happens in this story!).

Jesus says in v. 4 and 5, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

VERSE 6-7

Continuing now in v. 6 and 7 we come to the healing.

In v. 6 Jesus spits on the ground.

He makes mud with the saliva.

By the way, spitting on the ground and making mud was actually a breaking of the Rabbinic rules to not work on the Sabbath. (v. 14)

And in ancient times, it was believed that saliva had curative powers (as an example, think of how animals clean themselves).

And then now in the last part of v. 6 Jesus anoints the man’s eyes with the mud.

And then in v. 7 He tells him to “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.”

The man does as Jesus says.

He goes.

He washes.

And he comes back seeing.

VERSE 8-34

Continuing now with the text at v. 8 through 34, there are various discussions regarding the man born blind’s healing first with his neighbors (v. 8a) and people who had seen him before as a beggar (v. 8b), and then with the Pharisees who themselves would be interested especially on whether or not Jesus was breaking the Sabbath by healing the man the way he does (v. 13) – even the blind man’s parents at one point are called upon for answers. (v. 18)

Throughout these discussions (interrogations!) the healed man is growing in his understanding of who Jesus really is while various others dig ever deeper in their unbelief.

Ultimately, the healed man is cast out for his testimony about Jesus.

VERSE 35-38

And closing now in v. 35 through 38 Jesus finds the man and asks him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”

37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”

38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

DR. PAUL KRETZMANN ON THE HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND

In his commentary on the the entire Bible including the Gospel of John, Dr. Paul Kretzmann puts it this way…

The man that drew the attention of Jesus had been blind from his birth. The disciples, who also noticed the poor unfortunate man, voiced the opinion of the general public when they asked Jesus whether his affliction was due to some sin which he himself had committed or to some fault of his parents. Their question gives Jesus an opportunity to repudiate the popular belief as though each particular sickness or sorrow is traceable to some particular sin. It is true in general, of course, that sin has been followed by all manner of physical ailments and weaknesses, which are in themselves only forerunners of death, the wages of sin. It is true, also, that certain sins, especially those of impurity, will bring direct punishment to the body. But to scent exceptional transgression whenever any severe misfortune or sickness strikes an individual or a family, is almost invariably an injustice and savors of the judging and condemning against which the Lord warns.

Dr. Kretzmann goes on…

The former blind man’s frankness enraged the Pharisees beyond measure. They now cast the popular belief into his face, telling him that his blindness was due to sin, and reproaching him with his calamity. That is the manner of unbelievers. When they are no longer able to contradict plain facts, they have recourse to vile insinuations and malicious blasphemies. And the Pharisees, in addition to their other insult, cast him out of the room where they had their sessions and took the first steps to put him out of the congregation as well. They willfully, deliberately closed their eyes against the plain facts that were before their eyes; they denied their reality; they throttled their own conscience. All their actions were a product of hypocrisy of the rankest kind, blasphemy without parallel.

Dr. Kretzmann concludes…

Jesus, who had carefully watched the case of the former blind man, soon found out that the Jewish rulers had begun the process of excommunication against him. He therefore took occasion to look him up and reassure him in a most wonderful way. The question of Jesus, whether he believed in the Son of God, was intended to work this faith in the man’s heart, for such is the nature of the Word of God at all times. The healed man was a believing Israelite; his faith was placed in the coming Messiah, of whom he knew that He was the Son of God. When he was therefore assured of the identity of the Son of God with the great Healer who was speaking to him, he gladly confessed his faith and showed it by his outward act of devotion, by bending his knee in worshipful prayer; he worshiped Jesus as God.

THE SEVEN SIGNS ARE CONVINCING PROOF THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH

And so we have the sixth sign of the seven signs of the Gospel of John: Healing Of The Man Born Blind.

This sixth sign, along with the other six signs of the Gospel of John, are meant to be convincing proof that Jesus is the Messiah promised from the Garden of Eden that God would send to die in your place on the cross so that you would be saved from your sins and have eternal life.