The Account Of The Man Born Blind is the sixth of the eight miracles recorded in John’s gospel. In this account we have set forth a contrast of those with and those who are without spiritual sight, and it shows how spiritual sight is acquired through the choices we make. This sign demonstrates that God overthrows pride and willfulness, but nurtures the humble heart and the mind that seeks to honor Him and to serve others above all else.
In John 8, Jesus proclaimed to the people gathered to him in the temple, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8: 12). In the exchanges that followed, Jesus was insulted in public by the hypocritical leaders of the people he had come to save. They even took up stones to try to kill him. Jesus had the choice of responding in bitterness. He could have taken time to contemplate the wrongs done to him and to dwell on the pain he felt. But he saw a man who needed his help; a man blind from birth. Jesus also had the choice of ministering in love, and this was the choice he always made.
Long-term suffering for others
The disciples asked Jesus if the man’s pitiable condition was due to his own sin or that of his parents. Christ said the man had been born blind so “the works of God should be made manifest in him.” The implication of this statement can be hard for us to accept: this man’s many years of sorrow, hardship, and exclusion from society had occurred so God might be glorified in him. This teaching humbles us, for it teaches that we are here for the glory of God and not for our own glory or enjoyment. As a result, we may have to endure long periods of suffering that we do not fully understand. Some of us may be in the midst of such a time at this very moment. If we are experiencing great difficulty in our lives, there is much consolation in the words that Jesus repeats in John 9: 5, “I am the light of the world.” We have the choice of following Jesus. If we do, he will show us the way through our trials. God will be glorified, and we will receive our blessing.
Jesus chose to heal the man by anointing his eyes with clay and telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Clay is an oft-used symbol of the flesh in the Bible (e.g., Isaiah 64: 8). Washing in the pool of Siloam would, therefore, be a putting away of the flesh. This is what we are called upon to do in baptism.
And what a reward awaited the man! For the first time ever he saw the world around him. No more would he need someone to guide him by the hand.
How similar this is to the spiritual sight we gain from following Jesus! We see the vanity of this world, and we change the way we think and spend our time. Instead of relying on the routes to escapism offered by man as a means of coping, we are filled with the peace that comes from serving God, and we trust in Him to guide us.
A remarkable reaction
The man left the pool with great eagerness and joy. His neighbors noticed the change in him, so much so that they initially disagreed among themselves whether he was the same man. But instead of rejoicing with him, his neighbors questioned him about the circumstances of his healing. He told them that Jesus had healed him. Although his plain declaration may seem like a trivial matter, it required faith. Even great spiritual leaders, such as king Hezekiah, have faltered when called upon to give proper credit for miraculous deliverances given to them. Moreover, this man was attributing a miracle to Jesus at a time when being associated with the Master brought ever-increasing risk.
Nevertheless, the healed man’s faith was still maturing. He referred to Jesus as “a man” (John 9:11). That was what Jesus was to him at this point, but God was going to increase his spiritual sight in the more difficult choices he was about to face.
The healing of the man born blind was one of at least seven miracles that Jesus performed on the Sabbath. “Where is he?” the neighbors asked the man concerning Jesus. He did not know. Since the neighbors would not be able to ingratiate themselves with the Pharisees by bringing in Jesus, they decided to at least curry favor by bringing in the man born blind.
The parents were fearful
Although the man born blind was unlearned, his growing spiritual vision allowed him to see through the Pharisees’ grand display. When they asked the man what he thought of Jesus, his answer was different from before. “He is a prophet,” the man confessed.
The label of the man’s interrogators changes from “the Pharisees” in verse 16 to “the Jews” in verse 18. This suggests the intervention of higher authorities who came and arrogantly dismissed the claims the man made concerning Jesus and called his parents in to testify.
The parents were careful to testify truthfully that their son had been born blind and could now see, but they feared the authorities and a threat of excommunication to anyone confessing that Jesus was the Messiah. Their lack of faith robbed them of courage, and they turned the rulers’ attention back to their son so that they might escape.
Pressuring the formerly blind
The Jews returned their attention to the man born blind. They asked him again how the miracle had occurred, attempting to weaken his resolve in cross-examination. But he replied to them with his boldest confession yet: “Will ye also be his disciples?” The clear implication was that he now considered himself to be a disciple of Christ.
The Jews reviled him: “We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is” (John 9:29). There was an incredible irony to the Jews’ statement. Did they not realize that the same sneer they were now making about Christ must have been made time-and-again about Moses when he was growing up in the house of Pharaoh’s daughter?
A spiritual crisis
The man born blind was now under intense pressure. He had just received his sight after a lifetime of blindness. He had a choice of siding with the elders and enjoying some of the pleasures of this world for a season. (He had, after all, never experienced the “lust of the eyes.”) He also had the choice of siding with Christ and facing excommunication.
There were many things the Jewish elders could take from this man. They could deny him access to the temple and deprive him of the right to employment and the enjoyment of society. But what Christ had given him could not be taken away. Christ had demonstrated that he had the power and the will to care for him, if he would only have faith.
So the man made his choice. He told them that Jesus could not be a sinner because God would not work such a miracle through a person who was against God. He told them that Jesus was “of” God.
“Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?” came the cry from the elders. How interesting that they attribute sin to the man based on the fact that he had been born blind. But where was his blindness now? It was gone because of the power of Jesus. The man’s choice allowed him to see freely. His faith freed him from sin. Their choice left them blinded. Their refusal to humble themselves left them mired in their sins.
And they cast him out.
A new disciple of the Lord
Christ learned of the man’s plight. He sought him and found him. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” Jesus asked the man. The fact that Jesus would ask him this question shows just how far his spiritual vision exceeded that of the Jewish elders. When Christ confessed to them that he was the Son of God, they sentenced him to death (Matt. 26: 63–66).
“Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” was the man’s response. This man’s faith through his trials had brought him a long way. At the beginning, Jesus was “a man” to him. Then he was “a prophet.” Now he is “Lord.” “Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee” was Jesus’ response. And the man worshipped him.
Contrast to the spiritually blind
The Pharisees looked on and mocked. “Are we blind also?” they asked. Drawing the distinction between these men and “the Jews,” suggests that these were not the men who had cast the man out of the synagogue. These were men of lower rank who were nonetheless puffed up with self-righteousness and self-importance. They were spiritually blind and could not see their need to humble themselves, confess their faults, and follow the Son of God to salvation. Their sins, therefore, remained, declared Christ.
Christ appears twice in this account. At his first appearance, he gave instructions. At his second appearance, he pronounced judgment. Two categories of men, the man born blind and the Pharisees were before him. The category in which each placed himself was based on the choices he made and was a reflection of the spiritual sight he had.
Let us, therefore, spend the remainder of the days we have on this earth in service to our God, looking to our Lord to lead us, and seeing with the eye of faith.
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