So that the blind may believe (John 9)

John 9:1-49

Key Verse 39³⁹ Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

We will talk about a blind man. Blindness is the most serious handicap among all disabilities. When one is crippled, his mobility is limited. When one cannot hear, communication is possible through writings. But when one is blind, particularly from birth, he has to go by other senses to learn everything of the world. It incapacitates a man more powerfully than all other disabilities particularly in regard to the understanding the world.  Blindness may be more dangerous to his life than any other disabilities.

Through healing a man born blind, Jesus demonstrates what the work of God is. The essence of the work of God is well represented in opening the eyes of the born blind. Jesus is the one that can do that work because he is the light of the world. In addition, he asks his disciples to partake in this work of God. As we go through today’s passage, I pray that we all may know what the work of God, i.e. opening of the eyes of a man born blind is exactly and its implication for us.

I.                    Jesus displayed the work of God on a man born blind (1-7)

So that the work of God might be displayed (1-5): Jesus and his disciples went along on the street of Jerusalem. They met a man born blind. As the disciples saw this man, they asked a mind-bugling question; “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Through our experiences, we know so well that sinful life always bear its fruits in one way or another. When one drinks alcohol too much, it causes liver damage and become alcoholic, and his life as a whole is ruined. By experiences in one’s personal life or on the things happening in the world and by what God said about sin and its outcome, the world is keenly aware the principle that whatever bad things that one does result in a bad outcome, such as sicknesses, disability, and even death. So the principle of sin-its bad outcome or good behavior-good outcome is ingrained in our mind as the commanding principle of the world. The trace of such rule can be found in what God said to Adam soon after his disobedience to God’s word. Gen 3: 17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,'…19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust, you will return." (NIV) Sin surely bears its fruit. But a question comes on this man born blind. Though he did not do anything wrong, he born blind, crippling his life for good. Was it his fault or his parents that he was born blind? Along this line of question comes a very disturbing question; was it fair for him to suffer like this? Or is God right and just doing this one this man? Whom was he punishing, the man or his parents? As we know when a mother addicted to cocaine, her baby comes out with various problems, often being called ‘cocaine’ baby.  Particularly in regard to idol worship, the third Commandment says “for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exo 20:5b NIV). We have viewed or ascertained our life only in the sin-judgment aspect. In other words, sin-judgment has been the only operative tool to reason and understand all the mishaps of our lives. But strikingly, Jesus said this;

3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Jesus proposed something totally different, God’s purpose, which we never thought about before.  The rule of sin-its judgment confines men within its ultimate outcome, i.e., death.  We are crippled by it and our perspective could never grasp the purpose of God. But for the first time, Jesus rejected to stay in such rules of life, or the view that could not get out of such rule. He said that this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  Beyond the frame of sin-its outcome, Jesus opened our eyes to a new thing, the purpose of God. As he was, his life was pathetic and pitiful. It was hard to find meaning, purpose not to mention any joy.  The purpose of God not only overcomes the darkness of sin-judgment frame of mind but also opens a new bright light of life. Then who’s going to do the work of God?

4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

The implication is clear; since he is the light of the world, as long as he is in the world, it is day, and Jesus and his followers have to do the work of God. Then, what is the work of God?

Jesus displays the work of God (6-7) 

6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means "Sent"). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

In the Gospels, there are several records of opening eyes of blind men [According to your faith let it be done to you" Mat 9:29); "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." (Luk 18:42); touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.(Mat 20:34); When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him; Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.  (Mar 8:23,25); "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he (Bartimaeus) received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mar 10:52)] But in today’s passage, Jesus opened the eyes of this man in a very unique way.   As we noted in these examples of opening the eyes of blind men, Jesus never opened the eyes of the blind man as it is done here. The uniqueness of this display was to reflect the work of God very closely.

Without making a personal interaction with the man, Jesus took some of his saliva and mixed it with a dirt on the ground and made a lump of mud. And he applied it on the eyes of the man born blind. Then he told the man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud away. Since this is how Jesus displayed the work of God, we are to think about each of these steps in their significances.

We are to know the particularity of this man among all blinds. He was born blind. He never saw the real world and lived in darkness and his mind was totally blank in regard to what the world would be like.

Jesus did not ask anything to this man to confirm or to test his faith before he did this; Jesus just told the man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash his eyes that were covered with thick mud. We do not know how far he had to go. But it would be a quite a distance for him to go with his blind eyes. This was where he has to exercise his faith in obedience to Jesus who told him what to do.  

Jesus put mud on his eyes. When a lump of mud is on one’s eyes, there is no way one can see even if he had a good eyesight. When he walked to the Pool of Siloam, no one would think that he could not see because he was blind. He could not see because of the mud in his eyes. This was the situation of this man’s eyes before he was healed. So for him to see, it was necessary to wash the mud away. Unless this dirt is completely washed away, there is no way for him to see. In this way, Jesus demonstrated that there is mud and that mud, as long as it is there on his eyes, blocks his eyes sight and cannot see. So we ought to think what the mud is in this display.

He washed his eyes and then, was able to see for the first time in life. “Washing away” the mud on his eyes was as important as what Jesus said to him. This was a display of his obedience by faith in him.  This was required of him by Jesus.

Then, his eyes were opened. He saw the real world for the first time in life. Until this time, his eyes were shut and lived in darkness and the real world was never a part of his thinking and his world. Even he had some understanding, it was so limited and he could not capture the true reality of life even one-millionth of the world seen with eyes. Now he can see and understand the world.

II.                  The work of God was witnessed and confirmed (8-23)

Two differing opinions (8-12): As the neighbors saw him, they were surprised at the change in this man’s life. He did not beg anymore and walk around like a normal person because he could see like anyone else. So some doubted what they saw and asked this man if he was the one who begged; without hesitation, he said that he was the man begged. Actually, he insisted that he was the man. In other words, he was very proud of what he has become, particularly for the fact that Jesus opened his eyes. He explained how he was healed and he testified that it was Jesus who healed him. Even if he testified without any hesitation of the fact that Jesus opened his eyes, there were many who could not be fully convinced of this. Out of doubt and uncertainty, they brought this man to the Pharisees, the religious authorities of the time. Though the fact of opening the eyes of the man born blind evident, it was too great a miracle to accept and to believe. In addition who was the man, Jesus that healed this man? In doubt and skeptic, they wanted to investigate further and brought him to the Pharisees.  

Healing investigated and confirmed (13-23): When they brought this man to the Pharisees, they determined that the man who healed the blind was not a man of God for he violated the Sabbath. The implication is that Jesus is not from God and has nothing to do with the opening of the eyes of the man.  But such assumption was challenged seriously; But others asked, "How can a sinner perform such signs?"(16) This is a very powerful argument that is hard to refute. When the matter was not settled because of the two conflicting opinions about the man, they asked the man how he thought about Jesus; he said, “He is a prophet”. Without any tinge of hesitation or doubt, he expressed his firm conviction that Jesus was a prophet, a man of God, and has the power of God. The Pharisees could not accept their faith-based understanding of the work of God and embarked a new investigation of the event in its entirety. They called in and asked his parents. They confirmed that the blind man was their son and was born blind. As for how that happened, they would not want to disclose because they knew what the Pharisees wanted to hear in a suppression of the truth.  In this way, the fact that Jesus opened the eyes of a man born blind was proven to be true. It spoke the true reality that a might work of God was displayed in the man born blind through Jesus.

III.                The blind Pharisees rejected their blindness (24-34)

At this point, it was clear that Jesus opened the eyes of the man and it was the WORK of God. Many of those who HEARD all were convinced of this and openly refuted the Pharisees’ rejection of Jesus by saying, "How can a sinner perform such signs?"  Leaving this question unanswered, the Pharisees moved forward to change the opinion of the most critical witness even by interrogation for the second time: "Give glory to God by telling the truth," (24) While many were wandering between the two opinions, the Pharisees very assertively declared, “We know this man is a sinner.” To impose their knowledge on others, they dared to condemn Jesus as a sinner.  But the man stood firm on what he knew; “one thing I do know, I was blind and now I can see.”(26) The miracle speaks itself of the truth and the words of ignorance or sinful desire cannot undo or erase the truth that was in his eyes.  It speaks of the power of God and His grace. This cannot be denied no matter how superior knowledge one has; on hearing this man’s rejection of their decision, they began to ask again the same question;

26 Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" Then this man rebuked the Pharisees: 27 He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen.

Though this man spoke, actually God was speaking in him to rebuke them for the hardness of their heart to hear and to see what God was doing through the hand of Jesus. When they decided not to hear the word of God, there was no way to bring changes in their heart to know the truth of life. This man pushed the Pharisees further in demand of revealing their intention and reason for this second interrogation;

27 He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?"

Here this man brought up an important connection between hearing and being a disciple. He himself listened to Jesus and obeyed and went to the pool of Siloam. So in his heart, he knew an intimate knowledge of God-Jesus- the miraculous power of healing his eyes and positively became Jesus’ disciple. As they wanted to hear again how Jesus did open his eyes, he asked them this question if they wanted to become his disciples too (27b). While he was blind, the only thing he could do was hearing. So when Jesus put mud on his eyes, he did not know what was happening. When Jesus told him to go to the Pool to wash away, he kept Jesus’ word and went. Out of this listening came a firm resolution to seek Jesus and to follow him. So in this man’s mind, a desire to hear one is a will to be the disciples of the one who speaks. Whose disciples were they or did they want to be? Their answer gives us an insight on what drove them.

28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from."

They claimed that they were disciples of Moses. The reason is that God spoke to Moses. So they lent their ears to listen to Moses. But actually, they were positively listening to the devil, their true father (John 8:43-44). The problem they had with Jesus was that God did not speak to him and they did not know where he was from. So they shut off their ears to hear and would not be Jesus’ disciples. This sounded to make a very plausible argument. But the man retorted.

30 The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."

He was implying that God was speaking then through the miracle that Jesus performed. Simply opening of his eyes was a clear evidence that he was from God for no one can do such thing unless God was with him. God speaks through the miracle; opening eyes of this man. His argument speaks not just his own but Jesus’ as well as God’s. In obedience to Jesus’ word, he went to the pool and washed his eyes, and he came to sense that Jesus was from God. He was blind in his eyes as well as in his spirit. But now not only his eyes but also his spiritual eyes were opened.

Then, where or how did this man get such courage and wisdom? Before Jesus put the mud in his eyes, he neither expressed his desire to seek Jesus nor expressed words of faith. It was unlike all other healings of blindness. Simply this man’s faith was unknown or he did not have much faith. But as we have seen in his exchange of argument with the Pharisees, we find a remarkable faith and conviction. To explore the source of such strength, I like to go back to the last part of the display, washing the mud at the pool of Siloam. The pool had a unique history. King Hezekiah prepared Jerusalem for an impending siege by the Assyrians, by "blocking the source of the waters of the upper Gihon, and leading them straight down on the west to the City of David" (2 Chronicles 32;) by digging a tunnel leads from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam (Wikipedia). So the pool of Siloam was a ‘never-ending source of water’ for the people of the city of Jerusalem even when the city was under siege by enemies for a long time. It was like a lifeline for the people of Jerusalem. Soon after the water drawing ceremony at the Feast of Tabernacle, Jesus said of himself this;

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." (Joh 7:38 NIV)

If how the pool served for the life of Jerusalemites signifies what Jesus would do for the people under the dark shadow of death as an unending source of living water, then washing the mud of this man with that same water signifies what Jesus did to open the blindness of man. As this man washed the mud away, he experienced not only an opening of his eyes but also opening of his spiritual eyes to see the living water, Jesus. Light shined and darkness removed.  Washing the mud on our eyes invites the work of God that Jesus would do so that men may see the light of life as the living water. The blindness is in the flesh as the mud was of the earth. Jesus crucified that flesh on the cross and took away all the false truth embodied in the flesh. And then through his resurrection, he opened a new light shining and dispelling all the darkness of our heart. So the message is this; go to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud in your eyes away so that you may see!

The man gave a remarkable revelation of the truth to the Pharisees. But, were they willing to acknowledge their blindness?

34 To this, they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.

The Pharisees labeled him as a man stigmatized by sin and judgment from birth.  The implication is that they were born not like this man. They were born privileged and chosen above others to be right and good.  They did not accept that they were blind and would not be willing to entertain the truth that God spoke in this man’s life. Here is a clear contrast between the man who came to see the truth and the Pharisees who remained in an oblivion of unbelief.   

IV.                So that the blind may see (35-41)

When Jesus heard that the Pharisees throw him out, Jesus found him and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Jesus introduced himself as the Son of man.

36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."

Since he could see, he wanted to confirm who the Son of man that healed his eyes. Then, he was ready to know him and to believe in Him. When Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you" (37), then the man said this,

"Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. (38)

The man started his life with total blindness, physically and spiritually. To him, Jesus was just a man called Jesus. Now he confessed that Jesus was the Son of Man and gave him full honor as the Son of Man for he saw the light of life in His work.

The Pharisees were far better position for they could see all and knew the scriptures more than the blind man. They had similar experiences on the work of God in the blind man; both did not see what Jesus was doing.  Both confirmed what Jesus said and did beyond the reasonable doubt.  And yet, the Pharisees remained in darkness, under God’s judgment and death. Jesus said of such differing outcome;

39 Jesus said, "For judgment, I have come into this world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

For judgment, Jesus came into the world. This does not mean that he came to judge the world for Jesus said clearly he did not come to judge the people but to save the people. Judging people was never his purpose or goal. Then what does it mean that he came into the world for judgment? To find its meaning, I like to go back to find Jesus’ purpose. In v3 Jesus said that God’s purpose in the blindness of this man was not in imposing the rule of sin-judgment but for the work of God might be displayed in him. The blind man listened to Jesus and washed the mud in his eyes in obedience to Jesus’ word and then experienced his eyes being opened. But the Pharisees were listening to their own desires framed in the law of their own concoction and unwilling to admit that they were blind (40) or their eyes were covered by mud and chose to remain in darkness. Their fate was sealed for good for they rejected the final offer of the light of life from God. As they were unwilling to admit their blindness, Jesus made clear of their fate.

41 Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

As we discussed, the mind of the world has been under the frame of sin-guilt-judgment.  Under this frame of mind, people raised a question, who sinned that this man was born blind. Since the Pharisees rejected the work of God, the new light of life, they shall be still under the shackle of sin-guilt-judgment. This is a pathetic outcome that will end in the eternal judgment under the sin-guilt-judgment.

What do all these teach us?

We all are blind from birth. The blindness is caused by something of mud, of which we are made, which we are to work with, and to which we are to return.  In this way, the man on whose eyes are covered with mud represent the whole human race. What it means is clearly noted in John 1:5 “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (NAS) This understanding is more emphasized by the fact that he was born blind. The implication is clear; as we are, we are born under the power of sin and are exactly like the man on whose eyes the mud is and cannot see the light of life in Jesus. In this sense, the man with a lump of mud in his eyes represents, not just a man in spiritual ignorance. Simply, the man whose eyes are covered by mud is a display of the predicament of the whole human races. We must acknowledge and be willing to wash the mud away with the living water from Jesus.

The mud must be washed away:  Jesus did not say to him to wash his eyes. Instead, he said, "Wash in the Pool of Siloam" The meaning was clear; he meant to wash away the mud on his eyes. Have you ever washed your eyes with plain water before? How did you feel? Did the man literally washed his eyes with the water? Highly unlikely because as soon as the mud was washed away, he was already able to see. What I mean is that it was not washing his eyes but washing the mud away that led him to open his eyes as Jesus said.  So the key display of the work of God is in the mud that Jesus put on this man’s eyes. THAT MUD must be washed away in order to see! The key message is that all men, from the man born blind to the most intelligent Pharisees, walk around with their eyes covered with mud and this mud made the man blind! What is the mud then? Jesus spat on the ground and made a lump of mud. So mud is something of the ground, which God cursed soon after Adam sinned against God, of which he had to walk hard for life, and to which he had to return. It is the sinful nature of the flesh, i.e., all cares, concerns, and fear wrapped around the need of the flesh blind our eyes.  In the letters, we find the similar idea; Galatians 5:17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want.  2 Peter 2:18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. It is something of the world and of the flesh. It is one’s view of the world that he formulated through his experiences on the earth and of himself.

To be able to do so, we must pay careful attention to the word of Jesus with a resolve to be disciples of Jesus. Whom do we listen? When we listen to the Law of Moses, then we become the disciples of Moses. If we listen to Jesus, we become the disciples of Jesus. We must listen to Jesus!

We must see God’s purpose in His work. The blindness from birth was understood to be and also truly was a tragic the outcome of the fall of man. No one’s mind could get out of the frame of sin-judgment. But, Jesus for the first time recognized the purpose of God in this.  All the bad outcomes of sin are the places of God’s work to display the glory of God.
I am so much like those disciples. I have a backache and is getting worse last few days. My mind is captured by sin-its outcome. But as long as my mind is confined in this thought, I only see darkness and hopelessness. Job was in the same predicament. When his life crumbled, he did not know why that happened for he firmly believed that he did his best to do right thing and did not sin; and yet he was covered with sores and suffering a great deal, not to mention about the tragic death of all of his children and loosing of all his riches. His heart was filled with complaints, asking God for an answer why he was doing these things to him. Though his friends consistently understood his tragedy to be the result of his sin and repeatedly told him to confess his sin and ask for God’s forgiveness. As Job insisted his innocence and asked God an answer for his suffering.  God asked this,

  Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- (Job 38:4 NIV)

All, Job as well as his friends thought and reasoned tragedy in Job’s life only in respect to justice for him or his right and his wellbeing. They could not think anything beyond sin-its punishment. Through this question, God was asking Job if he had ever thought of God and His glory, His will, and His purpose for the world. Our mind is and has been wrapped up so much with our own wellbeing, our justice, and our blessing or is overwhelmed by the heavy loads of pains, sufferings, and death.  As long as we are wrapped up with self-centered purpose, we never know and see the purpose of God that reaches to the understanding of the eternity with Him. Now through this blind man, Jesus demonstrated the work of God that opens a new door to see the purpose of God, which not only undo all the ill-effects of sin and judgment but also imbues a bright hope of life.  Are you willing to entertain the purpose of God in your life?

Lastly, Jesus wants us to participate in this work of God:  to see God’s purpose, and to undo the ill-effects of sin and to reveal the glory of God, Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.”(4) Here Jesus included his disciples in the work of God. He wanted his disciples to join with him in the work of God in opening the eyes of the blind, particularly born blind. So in Christ, all the tragedies that we see in this world are not anymore the places to mourn in bitterness and sorry but the places of our work with Jesus for He is the light of the world. When all men washed the mud on their eyes with the living water Jesus, then amazing life is reborn. Jesus wants us all as his disciples to participate in the work of God. In this regard, what else is more important than teaching the words of God.

Jesus is the light of the world that gives a new light of life to all the blind. Wash the mud and see and be a part of the work of God.