John 9:1-41: Eyes to See

John 9:1-41: Eyes to See

Please open your Bibles to John 9. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 742. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the Gospel of John, and today we come to John 9:1-41. And this is a longer passage—I typically don’t read passages this long for the sermon—but I’m going to read all of it so that it can have its full dramatic effect and so you can feel the suspense John wants you to feel as he tells this story. John 9:1-41.1 As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 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 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 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?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 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.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 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.” 16 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. 17 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.” 

18 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 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 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.” 22 (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.) [By the way, when they put you out of the synagogue, it’s not like you could just find another synagogue. No, you were pretty much exiled from Judaism, from the entire Jewish community. So, it was a big deal. That’s why the man’s parents were so frightened.]

23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 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.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” [In other words, I don’t know everything you Pharisees know. I’m not as smart as you. But here’s what I do know: I was blind, but now I see.] 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 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?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 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. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. [So they actually did kick him out of Judaism.]

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, [and here’s the most important sentence of the entire chapter] “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. 

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Matrix. And the reason I like The Matrix so much is because it has an amazing plot. It depicts a world that’s controlled by machines, and these machines have basically enslaved humanity. They’ve kept humans alive in these pods so they can use their bodies as an energy source. And in order to keep the humans from rebelling, they’ve created a kind of virtual reality for the humans. So the humans think they’re living in a regular world much like the one we know today, but really that world is actually just a computer simulation. None of it is real. And that raises an interesting question. How do we know anything’s real? How do we know that this room we’re sitting in right now is real and isn’t just a figment of our imagination? If you’ve ever taken a college philosophy class, you know that those are the kinds of questions philosophers like to ask. And to be honest with you, thinking about those questions kind of makes my head hurt. And I’ll admit that at the end of the day, I can’t use sophisticated philosophical arguments to prove to you that the things we see around us are real. I can’t do it. But I still believe they’re real because I see them and I touch them and I experience them every day. And I suspect you believe the same way. You don’t necessarily have to explain reality in order to know reality. Sometimes, reality is just staring you in the face. 

And that’s also the approach this man in John 9 takes as well—the man Jesus healed. He knew that the Pharisees were highly intelligent and highly educated, and under most circumstances he probably would have listened to what they said. But not this time. This time, in spite of the Pharisees’ negative view of Jesus, this man had experienced the power of Jesus for himself, and so he knew that Jesus was someone special. He may not have been able to give a detailed exegetical argument for Jesus’ identity as the Messiah, but he knew that Jesus had been sent from God—regardless of what the Pharisees said—because he had experienced the power of Jesus for himself. And because of that, Jesus says in verse 39, the key verse of this chapter, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see [the Pharisees] may become blind.” So that’s our main point this morning. Jesus came so that the blind will see and so that those who see will become blind. And this morning, we’re going to take those two ideas in that order. Number one, Jesus came so the blind will see. And number two, Jesus came so those who see will become blind.

Jesus Came So the Blind Will See

So first, let’s look at how Jesus came so that the blind will see. And when Jesus says in verse 39 that he came so the blind will see, he’s not just talking about physical sight. Of course Jesus does restore the man’s physical sight. Verse 7 records how the man followed Jesus’ instructions and washed in the pool of Siloam and “came back seeing.” So Jesus did give him physical sight. But more importantly, Jesus gave him spiritual sight as well. The main miracle here is the way Jesus opens the man’s spiritual eyes and enables him to be receptive to what Jesus was teaching. Even when the Pharisees try to intimidate the man into speaking against Jesus, the man boldly tells them in verses 32-33, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” So of course, the Pharisees then kick him out of the synagogue. But the man continues to get a clearer picture of who Jesus is in verses 35-38: “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ 36 He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ 37 Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.’ 38 He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him.” So by the end of the story, the man’s able to see not just physically but spiritually as well. He’s able to see and acknowledge who Jesus really is. 

And as we think about people today—and us today—that’s what we need more than anything else. We need eyes to see the glory of Christ. That’s the main thing that makes a Christian a Christian…the main mark that distinguishes someone who’s truly been born again. They see Jesus in a whole new way. And really, they see everything in a whole new way, because they see it all in light of Jesus and in light of the gospel of Jesus. So a Christian is someone who’s been given eyes to see. A non-Christian may be exposed to Christian ideas and Christian teachings, but only a Christian is able to see those ideas and teachings as God intends them to be seen. Kind of like a surgeon looking at an x-ray image as opposed to someone like me looking at an x-ray image. When I look at an x-ray image, I may be able to pick out a few obvious things like ribs or something like that, but I really can’t see very much at all. It’s right in front of my eyes, but I can’t see it. And that’s because I haven’t been trained to see it. But a surgeon who has undergone years and maybe even decades of training is able to see many of the things he needs to see in an x-ray image. When he looks at that image, with years and years of training under his belt, he’s able to see things other people can’t. He could glance at that image for 10 seconds and see more than I’d be able to see in 10 hours. So because of his training, he’s able to see that image in a whole new way. And that’s the way it is when God saves somebody and causes them to become born again. They see everything in a fundamentally different way. God has given them eyes to see. And they’re able to see two things in particular that I believe are especially important. 

The Truth of Christ

The first is the truth of Christ. For the first time in their lives, they’re able to see just how true the message of Jesus—the gospel message—is. They’re able to see just how wretched and even wicked they are before coming to Jesus. They’re able to see how deserving they are of God’s wrath. But in addition to that, they can also see how Jesus’ death on the cross is one hundred percent sufficient to satisfy the requirements of God’s justice. God’s justice demanded that sin be punished, but they can see that Jesus took that punishment in our place. And then after he died, he victoriously resurrected from the dead in order to secure a complete victory over sin and make it possible for us to be rescued. That’s the gospel. And when someone’s born again, that message becomes so real to them. God shows them just how true that message is. 

The Beauty of Christ

But there’s also something else God opens a person’s eyes to see. Not only can they see the truth of Jesus, but seeing the truth of Jesus leads them to also see the beauty of Jesus. And when I say the beauty of Jesus, I’m talking about the beauty of his love, the beauty of his grace, the beauty of his righteousness, the beauty of his power, the beauty of his justice, and the beauty of every other aspect of his being. You can’t see any flaws because there are no flaws—only perfection in every way. And when God opens our eyes to really see such a Savior, it’s the most beautiful sight we’ve ever beheld. And we revel in the sight of Christ. We don’t just know the facts about him. We revel in those truths. We’re captivated by the sight of one so glorious. 

Next year, my wife and I are thinking about travelling to Yellowstone Park. And if we do decide to do that, we wouldn’t just travel to Yellowstone in order to familiarize ourselves with the roads of the park or where the different visitor centers are or any of the other facts of the park. Those things are all helpful to know when you’re visiting, but the main reason we would visit wouldn’t be to gain information or learn facts. We’d be going to enjoy the beauty of the park. We see the park as a beautiful thing, and we want to enjoy that beauty. And that’s the way a true Christian whose eyes have been opened sees Jesus. They don’t just see him as an interesting historical figure or someone they just want more information about. They see him as one who’s more beautiful and more glorious than anything else in this world. God has opened their eyes to see not only the truth of Jesus but also the beauty of Jesus.

Jesus Came So Those Who See Will Become Blind

However, back in our text, the Pharisees saw neither of those things—neither the truth nor the beauty of Christ. And that’s why Jesus says that he came not only so the blind will see but also so those who see will become blind. That’s the second part of that key statement he makes in verse 39. Jesus came so those who see will become blind. Or, if we wanted to state it more descriptively, we could say, “Jesus came so those who think they see will be shown to be blind.” Because that’s the way the Pharisees were. They were experts in the Old Testament Law. They knew more about the Law than anyone else on the planet. And so, because of that, they thought they could see. But even with all their learning and scholarly achievements, this text paints a very dismal picture of their true ability to see. Verse 18 records that even after they talk to the man who had been healed, they’re still skeptical that the healing has even taken place. It says, “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.” Then after they get additional confirmation from his parents, verse 24 records, “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.’” So even when the man’s parents confirm the miracle, the Pharisees still want to find a way to justify their skepticism about Jesus. But the man who was healed doesn’t play along. Instead, he tells them that Jesus could only do what he did if he was sent from God. So in verse 34, the Pharisees answer him, “‘You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?’ And they cast him out.” So the Pharisees think they see, but really we see in this text how blind they are in rejecting Jesus. Even when Jesus does an undeniable miracle, they still can’t see his true identity as the Messiah.

But before we look down on them too much and wonder how in the world they could be so blind, it would probably be good for us to remember that we also have the potential for blindness. Everybody does. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” So do you see what’s happening there? Jesus is describing a scene in which people—and not just some people but “many” people—are coming to Jesus on the Day of Judgment and saying, “Lord, Lord, look at all these impressive religious things we’ve done. We’ve done this for you and that for you and have so many impressive religious accomplishments on our resume.” But what will Jesus say to them? “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” So why did they fall short? Well, they didn’t have the true saving faith that’s described in the context of that passage—the kind of faith that changes you and makes you a different person. And as we see, they were tragically blind to their true spiritual condition—just like the Pharisees were blind to their spiritual condition in John 9 and just like you and I can be blind to our spiritual condition today. 

Listen, you may think you’re saved because you’ve been raised in church and know all the church lingo. You may think you’re saved because you perform various acts of religious devotion. But it’s possible for you to be just as blind to your true spiritual condition as the Pharisees were and as these people in Matthew 7 were to their condition. That’s why we need to be regularly examining ourselves in light of the Bible’s teaching and praying that God would give us eyes to see—eyes to see ourselves for who we are and eyes to see Jesus for who he is.

Conclusion

And as you share the gospel with others, keep in mind that’s what they need as well. They need eyes to see. If they’re ever going to come to true faith in Jesus, they need God to open their eyes. They don’t just need more information, although information is certainly necessary. And they don’t need intellectual arguments and proofs, although there is a time and a place for those. People need eyes to see. 

And as we begin to come to a close, here’s something else to consider. When you think about conversion not primarily as responding to convincing intellectual arguments but as God giving us eyes to see, that makes you so much more secure in your faith and driven to have the kind of passion and radical commitment that’s involved in  being a true disciple of Jesus. I used to think that exercising faith in Jesus was like selecting a parachute when you’re about to be forced to jump out of an airplane. You’d want to examine the different parachutes as best you could to see which of them looked the most promising, keeping an eye out for any obvious flaws or defects. And then, you’d just choose one. You’d have to. And as you jumped out, you’d be putting your faith in that parachute to save your life. You wouldn’t know with 100% certainty that it would save your life, but you’d be trusting it nonetheless. That’s the way I used to think of faith. But I think this picture of faith we get in John 9 is a whole lot more accurate. True faith isn’t doing the best we can intellectually to choose the option that will give us the greatest likelihood of success. It’s hearing the gospel and having our eyes supernaturally opened to see the gospel’s truth. It’s being granted spiritual sight from a source completely outside of ourselves.

That’s the kind of faith that will drive you to the radical passion and commitment Jesus says a true disciple should have. Because when you’ve been granted spiritual sight in a way that transcends the intellect, no one can convince you otherwise. In fact, you’ll be willing even to give your life for the sake of Jesus. I think of Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor from the former Soviet Union who was tortured by the Soviets for being a Christian. In his book Tortured for Christ, he describes the grueling tortures he endured over a period of fourteen years as he sat in prison. The communist government finally allowed Christians from the West to ransom him for a price of $10,000 and bring him to America, where he was able to testify before Congress and share what was going on behind the Iron Curtain. But for fourteen years, this man endured things that I don’t even think I can repeat in this room. And here’s why he could endure those horrific things without abandoning the gospel. His faith was more than just an intellectual decision to tentatively embrace the best of several options. God had opened his eyes to the truth, and he absolutely refused deny it. Kind of similar to blind man Jesus healed in John 9. And even though you may never find yourself in a communist prison cell being tortured like Richard Wurmbrand or put in a position quite like the man in John 9, that’s the kind of faith you need as well—a faith that consists of God supernaturally opening your eyes to the truth. That’s what will motivate you to give up sin in your life, that’s what will motivate you to be devoted to Jesus without reservation, and that’s what will motivate you to sacrifice for Jesus in whatever ways he calls you to sacrifice. It all begins with God giving you eyes to see. Has he done that for you, and are you walking according to the sight you’ve received?