Picking up where we left off in John chapter 9, Jesus healed a man born blind, and the Pharisees questioned the healing. It didn’t help that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.
Read John 9:35-38.
- The Pharisees forcefully cast the man out of their presence.1
- They refused to acknowledge the man’s restored sight was miraculous.
- Jesus found the man and asked if he believed in the Son of God.2
- The one healed expressed willingness to believe, so Jesus identified himself.
- The man confessed belief and worshiped Jesus, giving him honor and respect as one deserving reverence.3
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, [he is God’s eternal Son], you will be saved” (Romans 10:9)
*Why did the Pharisees refuse to acknowledge the man’s healing was miraculous?
*When do we disbelieve or discredit God’s hand at work?
*How can we confess our belief and worship Jesus today?
Read John 9:39-41.
- Jesus said he came into the world for judgment, referring to future rewards and punishment.4
- The blind will see.
“For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them” (Matthew 13:15).
- John used the words “see” and “blind” figuratively: the Pharisees were blind in their thinking, ignorant, refusing to seek understanding.5
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. … So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’” (John 8:34, 36).
- Those who think they see will become blind; the Pharisees then asked if they were indeed blind.
- Jesus said those who are blind are not guilty of sin, answering their question with a riddle.
- Sin here refers to our sin nature and offenses we commit against God.6
- Those who claim they can see are guilty; they remain in their evil lifestyle.7
- Our redemption comes when we acknowledge we are [blind] in trespasses and sins.
*What is your response to Matthew 13:15?
*In what ways are we blind to spiritual truth today?
*Why are those who are blind not guilty of sin?
In John chapter 3, Jesus taught Nicodemus about spiritual birth.
Here in chapter 9, Jesus taught the Pharisees about spiritual sight, which is given to those who will accept it.
Many Jews chose to reject Jesus’ light and message.
“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. … He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:9, 11).
They thought they saw and knew God’s truth but were blind to their own Messiah.
*How would you summarize what we’ve learned so far about light and faith, two prevalent themes in John’s gospel?
- Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament (AMG Publishers, 1992), 1544.
- Zodhiates, 729-730.
- Zodhiates, 1233.
- Zodhiates, 888.
- Zodhiates, 1400.
- Zodhiates, 130.
- Zodhiates, 960.