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John 9:35-41
So here we are – Jesus again has done something that draws attention, and lends credibility to who He is, the Messiah – the Son of God. And the religious leaders of the day are a bit cranky about it. Because whenever there is truth and evidence of that truth going against the given narrative of the leadership – no matter what organization – it causes a definite problem for the leadership.
As this account of healing goes this man was blind from birth. Here was the societal thinking of that day regarding his blindness. It was believed that either him as a baby in the womb or his parents had sinned while his mother was pregnant with him, and that is what caused his blindness. Jesus does something here that you or I wouldn’t really think about. He sees the man who is blind and engages him. He spits in some dirt, makes some mud and put it on the man’s eyes and tells him to go wash in the nearby pool.
Remember that in John’s introduction that Jesus was before creation. And that Jesus was present at creation, that everything was created through Him.
When we see Jesus taking the dust of the ground and mixing some spit with it is a direct parallel to creation. When God formed Adam from the dust of the earth – it’s the same as what Jesus did with the dirt He picked up and mixed with spit. I honestly believe that here Jesus is creating this man new eyes.
Jesus tells him to go wash, which was a custom to ceremonially wash to be healed. And after the man washes in the pool, what do you know – he can see.
People are amazed. They even aren’t certain that this is the same man they’ve known to be blind. But he reassures them that he is and he testifies to who healed him. As word gets around, The Pharisees decide to investigate. So they question him, then his parents - who refer them back to him. And this man kind of puts this situation back in the Pharisee’s faces – he lectures them. And of course that doesn’t go well so they throw him out – synagogue, community, the village, whatever it was – this is probably what his parents feared that caused them hesitation to speak to the Pharisees in the first place. This is where we pick up the account…
John 9:35-41 (NIV) Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 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.
When we look at this story – continually, the Pharisees call this man a sinner. They are firm in their belief that someone at sometime at some place sinned and that caused his blindness. Jesus didn’t think so, and Jesus even said as much. I find it interesting though, even if there were to have been a cause and affect issue that contributed to his blindness, he comes to full salvation through his belief in Jesus Christ as Son of Man. We can see that sight and salvation are synonymous with each other here, and we see that spiritual blindness is equated with sin and death.
I find it interesting that when confronted with biblical truth, those who knew the Scripture and those who knew “better” than Jesus supposedly, are the ones who are spiritually blind. They are the ones left in their sinful state of being.
And that makes me ask myself, how do I respond to biblical truth? Am I looking for Jesus and His Holy Spirit to speak to me through others around me? Or am I like the Pharisees and know it all…
When we are teachable we are like the blind man. When we become like the Pharisees it’s as if we are saying – I’m done, I’ve learned all I need to learn. There are no areas of my life that God needs to work in any further.
Hmmm… I’m not sure I ever want to be in a place where I believe “I’m done.” We are human beings not turkeys. Last I checked we don’t have a red button that pops out when we are done. We’re not done till we get to heaven. If you take anything from today remember - don’t be a turkey!