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John 9:39-41

Have you ever been surprised by someone, have you ever looked at someone, something, or a situation and it was not what you thought they were in your initial assessment or assumption? I sure have, now probably the best illustration for me at least is reality tv.

I don’t like much of reality tv. Mainly because it’s not that real. But once in a while I’ve watched a couple of shows and especially the talent and singing shows. And on there, every once in a while, there is someone who comes out to sing and by their appearance you wouldn’t think they had much talent.

So yesterday we talked about Jesus healing a blind man. But we didn’t talk too much about The Pharisees and the discussion some of them had with Jesus afterward. I would say that Jesus spoke strongly to them, we might not understand that because we come from a different society and culture. It might be something we should pay a bit more attention to a bit closer.

John 9:39-41 (NIV) Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

On the surface some of this just sounds like the average back and forth Between Jesus and the Pharisees. But when we look at the overall picture, and then as we look tomorrow about what’s coming up in chapter 10, you will realize that Jesus is not just having a passing discussion.

All throughout this narrative we see that Jesus has done something that puts Him in the spotlight. And it has to do with this particular miracle - not just the part that I brought up yesterday which parallels creation – the mud in eyes – it’s the idea that the man was healed from his blindness.

Remember that the Old Testament is there to point us to the Messiah. The Messiah was promised and was sent to save all of Israel and then the world through Israel.

Isaiah 35:5-6 (NIV) Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Now Jesus has already healed the lame, and He had the audacity to do that on the sabbath. And now He has healed the blind. Sight was given to the blind. And not just any blind man but a man, known by his entire community to be blind from birth – born blind.

And these are all things that are directly attributed in Scripture to help point us towards the Messiah. How could these men – these Pharisees not see this – they studied Scripture and they taught Scripture. You would have thought they would have figured it out by now. It seems as if they seriously don’t. I believe they knew and that’s why Jesus said what He said – He could see their hearts.

Now, the blind man could only testify to what happened to him. And the Pharisees blindly reject it. They reject the truth of Who Jesus is. What happens when we reject truth? Our hearts become hardened.

Think about this, even though there was overwhelming evidence that Jesus was exactly who He said He was, the Pharisees continue to refuse to believe their hearts become harder and harder. At the same time the man who was healed grows exponentially in his faith in Christ.

“In this passage, Jesus is never called the Messiah or the Christ. Yet, bringing sight to the blind was associated with messianic expectation (Isa 35:5; see Matt 11:5; Luke 4:18; 7:22). Therefor, this passage instructs readers not only about sin and blindness but also about beliefs, as to the kind of Messiah we expect Jesus to be.”

This begs the question, how do we see Jesus, and how do we see others? Do we look at others and ourselves through the eyes of Christ? We truly need to focus on others and ourselves through His eyes – that we would have the eyes of our hearts opened.