Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” John 9:39 ESV1
Read John 9:1-41
“After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea [where Jerusalem was], because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. [But] the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand” (John 7:1-2). The Feast of Booths, also known as The Feast of Tabernacles, is a time of remembering the LORD’s faithfulness toward His people, the Israelites, during the forty years they wandered in the wilderness after being freed from slavery to Egypt. It is an eight-day feast with the first and last days being Sabbath days. It is immediately followed by an additional Sabbath day which marks the beginning of the year’s cycle of Torah readings. This Feast was one of the three mandated Feasts which all able-bodied Jewish men were commanded to journey to Jerusalem to attend.
Because His life was in danger, Jesus considered not attending the Feast (see John 7:8). When He did decide to go, He tried to remain out of the public eye (see John 7:10). But He did not remain hidden for long. “About the middle of the Feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching” (John 7:14). I believe, at that point, He realized there was more work that needed to be done (see John 9:4-5), and that even though threats abounded, He was in no real danger, “because His hour had not yet come” (John 8:20b). It wasn’t yet time for Him to give up His earthly life, and God’s plan would trump the plans of man.
This truth was evidenced by the fact that during the Feast week, there were five unsuccessful attempts to arrest Him (see John 7:30, 32, 44-46 & John 8:5-6, 20), and one failed undertaking to kill Him (see John 8:59). Jesus remained safe as He boldly proclaimed the truth. In the process, “many of the people [listening] believed in Him” (John 7:31a, also see John 8:30). Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem was a special blessing for one man in particular; because of Jesus, the whole trajectory of this man’s life was changed for time and eternity.
Evading the attempt of the religious leaders to take His life, “Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple” (John 8:59b). “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him … Having said these things, He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then He anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to Him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So, he went and washed and came back seeing” (John 9:1-4 & 6-7).
“The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘It is he.’ Others said, ‘No, but he is like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ So, they said to him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” So, I went and washed and received my sight’” (John 9:8-11).
“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So, the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This Man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a Man who is a sinner do such signs?’ And there was a division among them. So, they said again to the blind man, ‘What do you say about Him, since He has opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet’” (John 9:13-17).
“The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.’ (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore, his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him’” (John 9:18-23).
“So, for the second time, they called the man who had been blind and said to him, ‘Give glory to God. We know that this Man is a sinner.’ He answered, ‘Whether He is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ They said to him, ‘What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples’” (John 9:24-27)?
“And they reviled him, saying, ‘You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this Man, we do not know where He comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?’ And they cast him out” (John 9:28-34).
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him He said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped Him. Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near Him heard these things, and said to Him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains’” (John 9:35-41).
Over and over again, in His earthly ministry, Jesus encountered two different types of people. The first sort were those experiencing dire circumstances or caught up in life-styles of sin. Using the wording of the above passage, these would be known as “those who do not see” (John 9:39). The second classification of people Jesus came across was the religious elite who had much knowledge about the things of God. Here, these people would be referred to as “those who see” (John 9:39). The first bunch knew they needed help; therefore, Jesus was continually able to alleviate their suffering, forgive their sins, and give them direction. In other words, He was able to help them “see” (John 9:39). The second group was often filled with pride that prevented them from embracing Jesus as the much-anticipated Messiah; therefore, though they had what they needed to recognize Jesus as the Christ, they had willingly “become blind” (John 9:39).
The formerly blind man in this account was the victim of dreadful circumstances. He was born blind, forced to beg, and judged unfairly. Even those who had walked with Jesus, and who had seen first-hand His compassion for the hurting, assumed that the crisis in this man’s life was the punishment for wrongdoing. Jesus pointed them to the truth—not all suffering is a result of sin, but there can be a God-ordained purpose in suffering. God had a plan for this man’s life and used a negative situation for good. For a time, the man suffered from the consequences of being physically blind, but when Jesus entered his life, he was enabled to see both physically and spiritually.
This man was endowed with great faith; he unquestionably obeyed Jesus and was blessed with immediate healing. Then he was given the opportunity to, again and again, to share his story—with his neighbors, his parents, and the religious community. Sadly, his neighbors didn’t respect him enough to take him seriously, his parents out of fear denied his story, and the Pharisees met him with unbelief. When he stuck to his story and spoke to them wisely and truthfully, the religious leaders became fierce with anger and threw him out of the synagogue, disassociating him from everyone he knew.
But this man’s story didn’t end there. When Jesus heard of the man’s faith and the consequences of his standing for truth, He came and encouraged him. I know of only one other person whom Jesus sought out after his healing, and that was to warn that person to turn from sin (see John 5:14). Jesus found this man to inspire him in his faith. This inspiritment led to the unrestrained immediate worship of Jesus. There were others who, when asking for healing (see Matthew 8:2, 9:18, & 15:25) or in gratitude for healing received (see Luke 17:15-16), bowed in respect to Jesus, but Scripture only records this healing recipient as actually openly worshiping Jesus. I have got to think that this man went on to have a powerfully fruitful life, both physically and spiritually, helping others like him “who [did] not see … see” (John 9:39).
Regrettably, we know from Scripture, that “those who [saw would continue to] become blind” (John 9:39). So often, they were offended that Jesus, on the Sabbath, did what they considered work. During this Feast, where the Jews were supposed to be remembering the faithfulness of God, Jesus took the opportunity to do good. On the Sabbath days of this festival, Jesus displayed the faithfulness of God; He taught (see John 7:37 & John 8:2 &12), He forgave (see John 8:11), He adverted a trap and prevented violence against another (see John 8:3-11), and He healed (see John 9:6-7).
The religious leaders were so blinded with hatred that they missed the point of the Feast altogether. Instead of revealing the faithfulness of God, they exhibited the evilness of Satan. On the Sabbaths of this Feast, the religious leaders attempted to arrest Jesus (see John 7:44-46), they tried to trap Jesus and bring charges against Him (see John 8:3-11), they attempted to stone Jesus (see John 8:59), they called people in for questioning (see John 9:13, 15, 18, 19 & 24), and they verbally abused a previously handicapped man (see John 9:28) and threw him out of the synagogue (see John 9:28).
“The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, ‘I am my own god.’ This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis—my claim to my right to myself. When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man (see John 2:25).
God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. ‘This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light…’ (John 3:19).”2
So, what’s your story? Where were/are you blind? What did/do you see? Take some time now to find out from God how healthy your spiritual vision is. May it not be said of you, “‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “[I] see,” your guilt remains’” (John 9:41).
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.