JOHN 9:1-41 - JESUS HEALS A MAN BORN BLIND

Intro: In John 8, Jesus had been involved in a major, serious, almost fatal confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus had told the religious leaders to stone the woman caught in adultery only if they did not have any sin. Jesus had made bold claims about Himself and about His relationship with His Father in Heaven. He had claimed to be one with the Father. He had claimed to be greater than Abraham. He had said that the religious leaders were sons of the Devil. And He made that day His boldest claim to divinity- Before Abraham was, I am”. The Pharisees had begun to pick up stones so they could stone Jesus to death for blasphemy, and He had escaped from them somehow by slipping away through the crowd. And enters John 9… “As He went along”. Jesus saw a man blind from birth’’.

One of the most popular Theological believe today is found in John 9:2 “And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’’ This question isn’t asking about the sin we inherited from Adam, no, this is a direct sin. Meaning, if things are not right with me, in any aspect of my life, then automatically, it is my sin. We usually make peoples’ suffering a point of discussion rather than an object of compassion. There is a time and place for such discussion, but there has to come a time in the life of a Christian when you need to ask yourself “what am I doing to alleviate someone’s suffering?” In The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis, “The main idea is that although pain and evil are not in God’s plan or will, God uses them for His glory and for the good of his people. God uses pain in our lives to make us realize that we need Him.”

QUESTION:

1. Do you think that that pain you are going through is there so that the work of God might be displayed in your life?
2. Do you think that what that brother or sister is going through has nothing to do with his or her sins as you have thought, but so that the work of God might be displayed in his/her life?
3. Do you think that God can use that suffering and that pain you are going through and bring something really good out of it?

There are some lessons to be learnt from this Miracle. Let’s look at 4 of them:

1. The Importance of Compassion

(John 9:1 – what am I doing to alleviate someone’s suffering?)

Compassion is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another person’s suffering and feels motivated to relieve that suffering. .Jesus’ healing of the blind man is an act of compassion and kindness. Remember that Jesus was in a huge problem Himself, He has barely just escaped being stoned by the Pharisees, but at this point, Jesus still had compassion on the blind man. Compassion is meant to be open to all those who are suffering, regardless of their situation. Christians are challenged to show compassion to all people, even to the most hardened sinners. Compassion is centered on showing Christ’s love to all people, showing them the ultimate pathway to Heaven through concrete acts of love. Christianity and compassion go hand-in-hand.

2. The Role of Suffering

(John 9:3 – God can use, even our most difficult experiences for good.)

1. Suffering can equip us– if you have never suffered or had any problems in your life, how do you hope to minister to those who are suffering or those who have problems? This is why Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1 “God of all comfort comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by Cod.”
2. Suffering can strengthen us– Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being shaken by suffering is to make our faith more unshakable.
3. Suffering corrects us– S. Lewis wrote this in “The Problem of Pain” “No doubt Pain as God’s megaphone is a terrible instrument: it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul.

3. The Power of Faith

(John 9:7 – It takes faith to believe that what God says is always right and true)

According to Hebrew 11:1, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Understood in this light, faith is that quality in us which enables us to look past appearances of lack, limitation, or difficulty, to take hold of the divine idea and believe in it, even though we do not see any evidence of it except in our minds. Through faith we know with an inner knowing the Truth that has not yet expressed itself in our manifest world. The blind man’s faith in Jesus is a central part of his healing. Even when he doesn’t fully understand what is happening, he follows Jesus’ instructions and is rewarded with his sight.

4. The Danger of Religious Legalism – Spiritual Blindness

(John 9:41 – Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you

say,‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.)

1. Legalism puts a person’s focus on themselves and not on Christ.
2. Legalism always leads to pride and arrogance and never to the cross of Jesus

The Pharisees’ focus on legalism and adherence to rules causes them to miss the true power and meaning of Jesus’ healing.

Conclusion: In Luke 16:19-31 there was a story about a rich man and Lazarus. But verse 31 is the main point here… “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,

they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” This miracle alone should have substantially changed their view of Jesus. If they hadn’t already understood that

He was divine, this should’ve been enough to affirm His claim to deity. But instead of coming to faith, they refused to believe Jesus. This proves what John wrote in John 1:11-12 “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”