John 9:35-41

Spiritual Blindness

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."

37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."

38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

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

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




Dig Deeper

My oldest son, whom I love very much, has a curious but lovable quality that we give him a lot of good-natured teasing about. It manifests itself quite a bit, but I’ll give one example to make this quality clear. I was driving him over to the house of a friend of his one day. I had never been to this friend’s house but he had. As we were driving, I wondered out loud if the intersection coming up was the correct turn. He replied that it was not and I should keep going. I asked him if he really knew that or just thought that to be correct and he said he was sure. As I drove on, I soon realized that we had gone too far. As we doubled back I realized that the road we had passed by was indeed the correct turn. I began to laugh and ask my son why he had told me he was sure that this wasn’t the right way when he clearly was not. It was only then that he mentioned that he merely thought that was the right way. And there is that trait of his in a nutshell. He will answer questions as though he knows the answer when he really doesn’t. I cannot tell you how many times I have asked him to only answer if he absolutely knows the real answer, only to have him answer and then find out later that he was wrong and just thought that he knew. I tell him all the time, "If you don’t know, say that you don’t know. Don’t try to act like you know if you’re not sure." The problem is that it’s very difficult to get at the truth when you act as though you know something when you really don’t.

Acting like you know something or can see when you can’t can be flat out dangerous. If you don’t believe me, go to a room somewhere that you are not real familiar with that is full of furniture and other items. Now close your eyes or make it so that it is pitch black in the room. Walk through the room quickly at the speed you would if you were hurrying but could see. How painful was that? Hopefully you just thought about it and didn’t actually do it. The point is obvious, though, and one that Jesus is about to make loud and clear to the Pharisees who have been interrogating the man who was healed of blindness. Acting as though you can see when you can’t, can be as hazardous to your spiritual health as it can be to your physical health.

I absolutely love the low-key sentence, "Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him. . . " It tells us so much about Jesus and his genuine concern for others. Jesus didn’t just perform a incredible miracle and then leave this man to his own devices. He heard what had been happening to this man and that he had been thrown out of the synagogue and went looking for him. Jesus didn’t just see this man as an opportunity to advance his ministry with little care for him as a person. Jesus heard that this man had stood up to and defied the religious leaders. This man wanted the truth and didn’t care about anything else, and Jesus was determined to give it to him. That’s the way Jesus is, even today. If anyone truly desires the truth, Jesus will find us. He’s never very far from us (Acts 17:27). This man has reached out in faith, and Jesus will answer that call.

When he finds him, Jesus asks a question that I have to believe, John wants to ask all of us as well. Do you believe in the Son of Man? Some readers may not, some may, but he is moving all of us towards that goal (20:31). The man’s response is inspiring. We might expect him to respond that he doesn’t even know who the Son of Man is, but he doesn’t. He wants to believe in whatever Jesus has to say and in whomever Jesus tells him to if he will only point the way. It’s easy to dismiss this as the natural response of someone who had been so miraculously healed, but a quick review of chapter 5 will show us that not everyone who was healed by Jesus responded in such faith. It’s amazing how two people can hear the same message or experience the same thing and respond in completely different ways. This man is full of faith and ready to believe. Oh that we were all so eager to embrace whatever Jesus said.

Jesus’ response couldn’t have been all that shocking, but it certainly must have been special. Jesus says, "you have now seen him." This was likely the first time that the man actually saw Jesus considering that he was healed only after being sent to the pool at Siloam. Just a little while ago, he could not see at all, now he is looking at the very object of his faith. He can see the one speaking to him. He can see him! The man had come to such a point of humility and faith that he was ready to hear any logos, any word that Jesus had for him. Jesus’ genuine disciples, after all, are the ones who hear his word and hold to it (8:31).

The man needs to ask no questions nor does he ask for a further sign to meet his messianic expectations (cf. 6:30). Jesus has said that He is the Son of Man, a reference to the messianic hopes of Daniel 7, and the man believes him. Period. His response at Jesus’ word is simple worship. This man sees more than any of the religious leaders of Israel. This is the only example in the Gospel of John of someone worshiping Jesus before his resurrection (cf. 20:28). In verse 24, the Pharisees challenged this man to give God the glory, and now he is doing just that. Jesus has revealed the new creation to this man and because he was searching for and ready to believe in the truth, as soon as Jesus told him that he was the Messiah, the Son of Man, he believed and worshiped him.

John doesn’t tell us whether the Pharisees were close by and overhearing this conversation or whether verse 39 starts a conversation that begins at some later point. If the Pharisees were close by and observing this conversation between Jesus and his newest disciple then we can presume that they would have gone absolutely berserk when this man starts to worship Jesus and Jesus allows it. That probably indicates that verse 39 begins a conversation that took place sometime later than verse 38.

Jesus declares that he has come to bring judgment into the world. Jesus said in 3:17 that he did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save it. Both statements are true. Jesus came to open and to be the door into the age to come but that act of salvation that brings the saving of those who believe, also bring the judgment of those who reject belief in his life. The message of the gospel is shocking and turns the world upside down because it challenges all of the values that the world holds so dear. The world tells us that we must provide for ourselves and lift ourselves up or no one else will. The gospel tells us that we must humble ourselves before God and die to ourselves and only then will he lift us up. Those who realize that they are blind and that their life will never be worthy of God’s presence will be able, through faith and because of God’s mercy and grace, to enter into the life of Christ. They will see. Those who think they can see, however, who think that there is some value to their lives, they will never come to faith. They will truly be shown to be blind.

The Pharisees heard Jesus’ charge and are quick to assume that he is speaking of them. They ask him if they are blind too and they clearly expect him to answer in the affirmative. They expect him to charge them with being blind and needing to come to him to see. Jesus could have met their expectations and simply said, "yes, you are blind spiritually," but as always, Jesus is far too smart and far too unpredictable to the normal ways of thinking to just do what they expect. Jesus says quite the opposite of what they expected. They are not blind, they can see. Has Jesus just complimented the Pharisees? We, as John’s readers, probably already know better than that. If they were blind, they might have an excuse. They would know and they would be searching for the light. They would have come to Jesus in faith. But the very fact that they haven’t, shows that they think that they have the ability to see. Jesus never actually says that they can see, but they claim they can see. It is because of their self-deceiving ability to "see" that they will reject faith in the life of Jesus and their guilt remains. It is not their sin that keeps them from God. Thanks be to God that our sin never keeps us from God. What keeps them in their guilt is not their sin but their belief that they have value to their life and can see. It is the rejection of God’s grace, not their sin that keeps them from salvation. We can be truly grateful that we don’t need to be good enough to earn God’s salvation, we just need to recognize that we



Devotional Thought

Thinking that we can see when we cannot is dangerous. Are there any areas in your life that you have convinced yourself are okay but that you haven’t truly turned over to Christ? Do you think you can see when you are really blind? Sometimes the best way around that condition is to humbly ask others what they see in us.