Physically Blind or Spiritually Blind

John 9:1-41

The Gospel reading from this past Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, is the story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind, and encompasses the whole 9th chapter of John.  As Jesus and His disciples were passing through a location, they came across a man who had been born blind, and the disciples ask Jesus whose fault was it that this man was born blind.  The common belief of that day was that any sort of affliction that came upon a person was judgment for sins in their life.  Since this man was born blind they felt it must be either his fault or his parents fault.  In verse 3 Jesus sets them straight.  Not every tragedy, whether health related or personal tragedy, is caused because of some sin a person committed.  Jesus told them that in this case it wasn’t sin.  He had been born blind so that God’s power and glory could be shown forth when He healed the man.

Sometimes things happen to us because of wrong choices we make, such as the drunk who gets into an accident and is now crippled, or a night of carousing and now one has a disease.  However, most often that is not the case, as was shown with Job, and here in this passage.  We should be careful to never cast judgment, as we can’t know the reasons.

After explaining this to His disciples, Jesus proceeds to heal this man, and give him his sight (vs. 6 - 7).   The Pharisees then, as they usually did, attacked Jesus for this healing.  The healed man received his sight, but the Pharisees were blinded by their pride, their jealousy of Jesus, and their sin.  They interrogate the formerly blind man, and then his parents, questioning over and over again what had happened, and how Jesus healed him.  Their unbelief in Jesus was willful, rejecting the evidence of the man receiving his sight.  It wasn’t for lack of evidence, as they had the proof right before them, and Jesus had healed many people before this.  They were hard-hearted, stubborn, and jealous.

These Pharisees considered Jesus a sinner because He healed on the Sabbath, and especially because He rejected their extra-Biblical traditions.  Because of this, they refused to accept that a miracle had taken place, and that Jesus was sent by God.  There are people today who, like these Pharisees, doubt the works of God because they just don’t want to believe.

Back and forth the Pharisees went as they questioned this man (vs 13 - 17, 24 - 34).  “Who did this?  How did He do this?  Do you believe He is a prophet?  How can He be a godly man when He heals on the Sabbath?”   Then they hauled his parents in for questioning (vs 18 - 23).  The Pharisees held so strong a control over the spiritual life of the people that his parents were too afraid to give a straight answer as they feared being put out of the synagogue.  The formerly blind man was not afraid, though.  He knew what had happened in his life, the healing and blessings Jesus had wrought, and he was not afraid to speak out in praise of the Lord.  This brought about his expulsion from the synagogue, as seen in verse 34.  This was the first mentioned occurrence of the schism between the followers of Jesus and the Jews of the synagogue.  This conflict continued on through the Book of Acts.  The formerly blind man saw that Jesus was more than a mere man.  The Pharisees were blind to that fact.  They continued on in spiritual blindness.

Where do we stand?  Are we like the blind man’s neighbors, who questioned if he was the same man as before, were surprised and showed some skepticism?  Some may have come to believe, many may not have.  Are we like his parents, who believed, but were too afraid to speak out?  Are some of you who read this like the Pharisees, who had their hearts so hardened against Jesus, holding on to their willful stubbornness and their man-made beliefs?  Or are you like the blind man who was healed, who believed in Jesus, accepted Him as His Lord and Savior, and who was bold enough to speak out in his faith, even to being kicked out of the synagogue for that faith?  May our eyes be always opened to Jesus, and not willfully, stubbornly blind.  May we also be willing to speak out for our Lord, no matter what the cost.