John 9:1 – And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

Hello readers, thanks for reading today, and hope this blog is a blessing to you. It would be best to read John 3, John 8 and John 9 for yourself… and today we are going to be gleaning mainly John 9 when Jesus healed a blind man… a blind beggar. Let’s be like Ruth, gleaning in the field, and Boaz our Saviour leaving big handfuls for us on purpose! John 9 is an incredible chapter with an incredible miracle. Salvation is a miracle is it not. Salvation takes the power of God. The Lord Jesus Christ gets the glory when he saves us from our sins. There is rejoicing in heaven over one lost sinner who repents. There’s so much in this chapter, and book, and Bible. You’ll never get to the point of where “I know it all”. Not nearly, in fact we barely touch the hem of the garment.

The context is important. Jesus had been dealing with a whole lot of unbelieving Jews. They didn’t believe who he was. They didn’t see the need they had. They didn’t believe in what he offered. And they didn’t believe in him. The sin of unbelief is what will send you to hell. You’ll go to hell because you rejected the Son of God who came to forgive you your sins and give you eternal life. He’s died for your sins, all he requires of is for you to place your faith and trust in him. But the Jews were blind to Jesus Christ… and still are today. Their blindness was significant, because in chapter 9 Jesus heals a blind man. There’s a wonderful picture of salvation in here. A wonderful portrait of the grace and mercy and power of Jesus Christ, who can heal your blindness. If you can’t see, he can make you see.

In John 8, Jesus exits the temple. He exits because they’ve ended up wanting to stone him. They’ve thoroughly rejected what he said. They got a bit insulted, thinking they’re so good only to be labelled children of the devil. They thought God was their Father. So of course they don’t think they’re going to die in their sins. They think they’re God’s children. And they picked up stones to throw at Jesus. But Jesus hid and passed through the midst of them. And so Jesus is on his way, and he sees a blind man as he passes by. Before you saw Jesus, he saw you. He created you. And he created you with purpose, just as he did this blind man.

The disciples think he is blind because of some sin he or his parents did. But Jesus says it’s neither, its so the works of God should be made manifest in him. Is that what your life is about? God just manifesting himself through you? That’s the purpose to which we were all created, for his pleasure, for his glory. You’ll never find fulfillment, purpose and rest outside of Jesus Christ. We have a purpose people, and that purpose is to obtain salvation and bring glory to our Saviour.

Jesus performed a very unusual miracle in this chapter. It’s kind of hard to get your head around. Jesus spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, anointed the blind man’s eyes with it and then told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Imagine if he did this to one of the scribes and Pharisees! Don’t spit on me! Don’t put that in my eyes! You see, the Jews that Jesus was dealing with thought they were clean. The law really proved their guilt, but they weren’t willing to be made guilty, they weren’t willing to be made ashamed or a reproach… they instead used it to prove and justify how good they were. Were they really keeping the law? Were they really free? Could they really see? No. You’ll never need the Saviour or see the Saviour until you first are made guilty, made ashamed, made unclean, made aware of your true spiritual condition.

And the law said a bit about spitting. Spitting was associated with being unclean and needing washing, with shame, with reproach. But a proud person feels none of those things about his state. You see, before you get washed, you need to see you need to be washed. Jesus has come to fix the problem, and fix it better than the law ever could… but there’s no fixing something that doesn’t want fixing, that doesn’t see a need to be fixed, that thinks it’s fine.

This blind man didn’t have the same pride that the Jews that Jesus had been dealing with had. See, when you’re a blind beggar, when you’re told its that way because you’re getting what you deserve, you’re probably not going to have airs about yourself. You’re not really in a position of power in any part of your life… particularly as you live off the goodwill and sympathy of others. You’re a burden to society. This guy had never seen the light. But are we any different? Have you seen the light? Jesus said he was the light of the world, and this guy was about to get a whole lot of light. Those Jews who could see walked in darkness even with perfectly functioning physical eyes. God help us to see our need for spiritual sight, sight that has the capacity to see the truth of who we are and who he is.

This guy didn’t love his first birth as much as the other Jews did. He was dealt a dud hand. Born blind. While many Jews were proud of their ancestry and righteousness… we get to thinking it was kind of a blessing to him that was born blind. It’s an odd thing to say… but think about it. He could’ve had his sight and gone to hell. His blindness was something that Jesus used to reveal himself to him. He actually had more sight than any other Jew in the whole narrative.

It’s amazing how the scribes and Pharisees logic worked. This blind beggar had no choice in how he was born. He was subjected to a life of abject blind begging through no fault of his own. He could’ve been soured by it, but instead he had a heart of humility and simple faith in the Lord. And he was the guy thinking straight, and he was able to teach the Jews with such clarity that they cast him out. They were after him just like they were after Christ! His blindness which was healed became his testimony to the Lord that healed him. God’s biggest victories are in our biggest weaknesses. God gives grace to the humble, and what grace God gave this man to live with what he had and then to heal him of something that no man could fix. We need divine help people. We need to throw our pride in the trashcan. But until you realize you are a blind beggar, you aren’t really able to receive the grace and mercy of Christ.

Jesus wants to heal people. But he can’t heal you if you don’t need healing. Before healing comes the spit. We are all made from the same cursed ground. Jesus making clay, this kind of reminds one of the potter and the clay in Jeremiah. Jesus was showing he is God. Before the washing, you need to see you need washing. You’re meant to be made guilty, not justified by the law. The Holy Spirit brings conviction and reproof. He’s going to expose who you truly are. He’s going to rubbish your self righteousness and your pride. He’s going soften the clay, so we can be made anew. The scribes and Pharisees didn’t see they had a sin problem. They condemned the blind man as a sinner when his simple testimony confounded them. You see Jesus’ spit had never found it’s way to their eyes. They wouldn’t be made ashamed. They wouldn’t be convicted. They wouldn’t feel reproach. From God in the flesh! Not even God would convict and reprove them of sin. See, people just don’t believe God’s word, they don’t have the capacity to because they think they’re righteous, they’re clean, they’ve got it made. They don’t know humbling, they won’t ever feel the condemnation that they are under.

You’ll never get washed, and you’ll never get true sight until God’s conviction and reproof of your sin falls upon you. This blind man didn’t have airs about himself, he had humility. Because God doesn’t just convict you, but he will heal you. God shows us our sin, so that we can be forgiven. But if you won’t be shown, if you can’t be convinced, then you won’t be healed either. And you’ll never truly see Jesus Christ.

The spit laden clay is what first needs to be placed on our blind eyes. We need to see we are guilty before holy God. They wouldn’t feel dirty because they felt so good about themselves. When God truly starts to change our vision we start to get a good sense of our identity. We are sinful. Our goodness needs to be rubbished. We need to be convinced of our uncleanness  so that we can be made clean. We are already unclean, but we need to see that we are so. And because you’ve never seen you’re a guilty hell deserving sinner, you’ll never experience the healing that Jesus Christ also offers. God doesn’t convince of our sin and leave us there, he needs to do that so we can then be healed. Before the planting and the building has to be the rooting up and tearing down of our own self righteousness.

After the clay was applied to his eyes, Jesus said go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Siloam means “Sent”. Read this verse… 1 John 4:9 – In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Jesus was sent by God to save us from our sins. And he’s given us his word to learn all about him, so that can immerse ourselves in him. Indeed, when we are saved, we are washed by Jesus Christ in his blood and by the water of his word. See, the true healing for our condition is found in Jesus Christ. We have a washing that the law could never offer, we have a washing in him that can take away our sin. It can take away the reproach, the shame, the uncleanness, the guilt, the condemnation. Because he did no sin. We need to get in the pool of his word, his word washes us. Compare this to the unbelieving Jews of whom Jesus said that his word had no place in them.

Jesus said go… and the blind man went. He obeyed God. Did you know the gospel is something we have to obey? The gospel is a matter of obedience. Romans 1:5 – By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name. The gospel that Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising the third day for our sins is something we have to “obey”. Obeying is when you are told to do something and you go and do it. You act upon it. We hear the gospel, and we’ve gotta act on it by faith. We’ve gotta obey it. Believe… well let’s obey by believing. If you don’t believe or have faith in who is saying it or what is being saying, you’re likely not to obey it right? This man went and washed. And he came back with his sight. You get to Jesus Christ and you’ll start seeing clearly, you’ll start seeing for the first time in fact… he’d never seen. He hadn’t seen once and then stopped seeing… he’d never seen. When your sin is washed away in the blood of Christ, that’ll get you seeing the world differently. You’ll be new in him.

People noticed a change in this man. He’d changed. Getting saved will change a man. Getting saved will spiritually enlighten you. Spiritual enlightenment will start with the Holy Spirit working on you. That takes the anointing of Jesus Christ, just like what Jesus did to this man’s eyes with the clay. We all need conviction and rebuke of our sins. We need the Holy Spirit’s drawing to Christ. We need to see that life is about the glory of Christ. He wants to save you, that’s why he came. He wants to forgive you, wash you, change you. But these guys didn’t want to feel guilt, shame, reproach, they didn’t want to feel unclean especially in light of Christ’s perfect holiness… you see his holiness reveals our wickedness… they liked their religion and feeling so good about themselves. They had their precious pride to protect. And they never got washed, and they never got sight. They said they saw, but they didn’t. Do you think you see, but you don’t? The world is full of those. People blinded by their sin, blinded by the devil.

You know, at the end of this chapter Jesus said this… John 9:39 – And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. This blind man’s simple faith had opened his eyes to see Jesus for who he truly was and receive forgiveness from sin and eternal life. The blind man could see that he couldn’t see. But the Pharisees couldn’t see that they couldn’t see. See, your sins can be forgiven and healed, it just takes you realizing your condition. When someone spat on them they knew they needed to wash the reproach, the uncleanness, the shame, the sin away… how much more the rebuke and conviction of the Light of the world? The light which shone in darkness, revealed the darkness and who loved the darkness and who loved the light. This blind man was in darkness but wanted the light. He was a true worshiper of God from outside the temple. Read John 3 in conjunction with this chapter. It’s not a sin to be born a sinner, but it is a sin to reject Jesus Christ.

They threw this man out because he was “born in sins”, but they didn’t think they were born in sins. It’s not a sin to be born a sinner, you can’t control that. But you can control what you do with Christ. So when the light came into the world, when the light comes to you, that is what judges you! You’ll be judged not because you’re a sinner, for we all inescapable are, but for what we did with the man called Christ. This blind man believed on Jesus Christ while they wanted to stone Jesus! The sin that will condemn you is refusing the light when it’s come. Jesus is the light of this world, that’s what Jesus said before he healed the blind man. Jesus, the divine potter, he can heal you and make you new, he can wash you, Jesus wants to work his truth into our blind eyes, he wants to save you, that’s why he came. These unbelieving Jews were judged by themselves… they didn’t believe, and that’s why they were condemned. They thought they saw, which is why Jesus said their sin remained. They could’ve been washed, they could’ve been cleansed but because they refused to see, they rejected the one man in eternity who could forgive them and save them from their sins. What a miracle it was. It’s a miracle we all need. Our righteousness is nothing, see that you are a sinner, and see the Saviour! He was SENT to save you and I.

This miracle can be yours today. Jesus willingly healed the blind. He came to give sight to the blind. He’ll give you sight, and fix what you see, which is what he sees. See, he got his sight, and he got cleansed too. Salvation is pretty easy when you see you’re a blind sinner in darkness and Jesus the light of the world who’s come to fix it all. Jesus sees our true condition. The Pharisees sin remained because they thought they could see, but this blind beggar got given sight because he didn’t dispute his blindness, he knew he was blind… and he got first time sight… hey when you get saved it’s the first time you see. What an amazing testimony he had, and one that confounded the religious elite. Jesus Christ can make you see. It begins with seeing you are a clay vessel, Jesus is the potter… he is God Almighty. And you need to let him show you were you are wrong, and stop trying to prove how right you are. You see, he sees you better than you see him. He saw this blind man before the blind man saw him. God does what’s for our good, and when he shows us our sin, our guilt, it’s so he can point us to the Saviour and help us to see our need and know our Saviour and to grow in the grace and knowledge of him. Do you realize you are a sinner on the road to hell in unbelief? Do you realize you need to be washed? You need to be cleansed? How come a blind beggar could see what everyone else could not? What a stinging rebuke, and his simple faith so stung their unbelieving hearts that they cast him out.

It’s God’s mercy that he shows us who we truly are, that he brings conviction, that he brings things into our lives which point us to the Saviour who he gave so that we can be freely forgiven and saved forever. Why is it so hard to see and admit our guilt? Our shame? Our state in sin? God exposes who we are in his love and mercy. He wants to make us see. Not to blind us. He gave this blind man sight. The Holy Spirit brings repentance in our lives so that we go to the cross, so we go to Jesus so that we can be washed and made new, so we can truly see for the first time in our lives. He didn’t make you to go to hell, he made you so that he could bestow his grace and mercy and love upon you. He reveals himself to you through salvation, which takes a humble, believing, truth receiving heart. In this blind man, Jesus Christ made manifest the works of God. John 6:29 – Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Jesus came so that you can go and wash that shame, that guilt, that reproach, that sin away in his blood. All by faith, just believe. That is the work of God… salvation by his grace through faith. May Jesus Christ bring healing to your eyes and your life today, and that he would manifest himself to you, and in you and through you to a lost and dying world.

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