Who Are The Truly Blind?

John 9:1-41

I was looking all over for something, but I couldn’t see it.  After much frustration, my daughter pointed it out to me. It was right in front of my eyes, but I hadn’t seen it.  I might as well have been blind. How often has that happened to us, where something is right in front of us, as plain as day, but we don’t see it?  Maybe it is an item on a shelf at the grocery store, or a book on the bookshelf. Perhaps it is a spiritual truth, but our stubborn and hardened heart has blinded our mind.  In today’s Gospel reading we will read the account of Jesus healing the man born blind, and the response of the Pharisees, his neighbors, family, and himself, and see who really was blind.

As our account begins, Jesus and His disciples pass by a man who was blind from birth.  Jesus turned to him and made clay from the ground and applied it to the eyes of the blind man, and then told him to go and wash it off (vs. 6-7).  The blind man was obedient to Jesus, and he went to wash the clay from his eyes, even if it seemed unbelievable. His obedience brought about his healing, and the man was now able to see.  He stepped out in faith, doing what the Lord told him. Had the man said to himself that it was ridiculous to believe that simply washing his eyes would bring about his healing, and then failed to obey, he would have remained blind.  His obedience brought healing.

Now the problems began.  Rather than rejoicing with this miracle, the whole neighborhood went into an uproar.  We read in this passage of the different reactions to the healing of the blind man. First, there were the people of the neighborhood who were surprised and skeptical (vs. 8-9).  They had seen him day after day begging his living on the street. They were eyewitnesses to this miracle, and yet where were the praises to what God had obviously done? Then there were the blind man’s own parents.  They believed, but kept quiet for fear of the Pharisees, and fear of being excommunicated (vs. 18-23). We should never allow the fear of anyone keep us from proclaiming God’s truth.

Then we have the reaction of the Pharisees.  As we read throughout all four Gospels, these religious leaders had hard hearts, and would not believe anything Jesus did or taught.  This miraculous healing, the restoring of sight to a man born blind, was no exception. They already were seeking ways to bring Jesus down, arrest and destroy Him.  They were proud, and extremely jealous of the attention and popularity of Jesus. Here He went and healed a man born blind, which was unheard of. And what was worst of all in their minds was that He healed people on the Sabbath day!  In their minds no one could be a true servant of God and also break the Sabbath.

The fourth reaction was that of the man born blind, whom Jesus healed.  This man showed consistent and growing faith. At the first, he didn’t really know who Jesus was, only that He had healed his blindness.  When the Pharisees thoroughly, and then later harshly questioned the man, he went over the events to them, again and again. He didn’t know how or why he was healed, but he knew Jesus had healed him, and he was not afraid to tell the truth.  He said that Jesus must be a prophet, a man of God, because obviously God heard His prayers and brought healing to a man born blind.

His bold and faithful comments about Jesus angered the jealous Pharisees, and they threw the man out of the synagogue.  In the Jewish community, to be thrown out the synagogue was to ostracize someone, throw them out of the community, and shun them, sometimes leaving them with no way to make a living.  When Jesus heard this had happened, He came to the man and revealed Himself as the Messiah, bringing the man to faith in Him (vs. 35-38). The man, whose heart and mind were opened, seeing the truth as well as his eyes could now see, believed and accepted Jesus as Savior.

This man who had been born blind, and thus would not have had any formal education, demonstrated more spiritual insight and common sense than all the religious authorities combined, who sat in judgment of Jesus and the healed man.  They were blinded by their stubborn pride, jealousy, and sin (vs. 39-41). Here was a great miracle that God performed before their very eyes, but because of their sin, the Pharisees would not see or acknowledge it. Are we blind to what God is showing us before our very eyes?  Are our hearts equally hardened? Are we skeptical or indifferent, like the neighbors? Are we afraid to speak out for God, like his parents were? Or do we seek God, like the healed man did, with open hearts, and speak out boldly for Him? Let’s open our eyes, see God working around us, and boldly give Him praise and glory.