JOHN

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John Chapter 9

John 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind.
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Jesus stated that the man was not blind as a direct result of his sin or the sin of his parents. When sin entered the world originally, imperfection and disease were the results. Now we have birth defects and disease in what was originally perfect bodies. Adam and Eve were the most physically perfect human beings that ever walked the earth.

This also shows us a trait in some of us that desire to point fingers at someone's past sins and use it to condemn him or her. This is also a way to deflect what is in our own past. Sin that is still there. After we have come to Jesus for salvation, our past is wiped out so we in turn need to forget the past of others. I'm not speaking here of crimes like murder that have to be solved and brought to justice even though those kind of sins can be forgiving by God too; but the world we live in might require restitution of some kind. Fault finding and trying to ruin those that have a past they have abandoned is something though we have to forgive and not hold it against them in case they are forgiven by the Lord. It is who they are now that counts.

Those here speaking to Jesus was trying to determine if this man's blindness was because of his past sins. That sort of excuses any guilt for not helping the blind man or desiring his deliverance. The attitude, "He deserves it," may have been present.

This man's blindness was because God was going to deliver him for the purpose of confirming who Jesus was and that God sent Him to save us from sin. The works of God were to be manifest in this person. Through his blindness, many would see the Messiah.

John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Jesus is the light of the world and while He was in the world there was light. After He left that light is shone only through those that walk in His spirit and in His word. I'm not merely talking of Christianity or the Christian religion for when a Christian religion gets away from the word and departs from the Holy Spirit, it becomes dark.

An example of that darkness is the Middle Ages where the word was chained up and men were in darkness. If we want to be lights to this dark world, we have to remain faithful to the word and walk in the spirit, not giving in to the works of the flesh. The word must be hidden in our hearts that we will not desire a return to sin and darkness.

No man can work if there is darkness. The day represents light and truth. The night represents darkness, sin and lack of the word.

John 9:6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

Sometimes obedience is necessary to bring in healing and miracles. Had this man refused to go wash in the pool of Siloam, it would show unbelief and lack of obedience resulting in no healing. Why Jesus healed some instantly and some had to do an act of obedience is not stated but we see that God does things in different ways and is not traditional.

We can't put God in our own denominational boxes and expect all things to be done the same. Every church or Christian group may not always worship the same way or do things like we are used to seeing it done, but as long as the word is preached and not changed but kept pure and we obey the Holy Spirit, traditions may not matter so much.

John 9:8 The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
14 And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

We have to be careful not to do the same thing today. I know Jesus warns us that there will be false teachers even some doing miracles in His name but we can't falsely accuse all who heal the sick and do things a little different of being "Not of God". Remember Jesus was accused of being "Not of God" because He healed on the Sabbath day.

Jesus said that His sheep would know His voice. He also said that if we continue in His word, we will know the truth. The study of the word keeps us from false doctrines and from deception. If we see a fault, we must search our hearts for a motive to see if we are just fault finding or if God is revealing to us a false teacher.

We can see clearly that those that accused Jesus had an evil motive. They did not care that a man who was born blind could now see. They had no compassion on the man and preferred that he remain blind. Their motive may have been envy. They feared to see people following Jesus and that they would lose their control over the people. Many times that is the motive for not hearing something new. It could be losing income, losing control or losing their position instead of being more concerned that we walk in truth and others find that truth.

The Roman church in the middle ages had become the same way. If they would have allowed people to have the bible in their own language, the people would find out the truth and the Roman church would have lost control over the them. Some Protestant churches later assumed that kind of control also and persecuted those that would branch out and do things differently from their tradition which had also gotten away from the original word of God.

Some may have genuinely feared that the Roman Empire might get upset if Jesus continued preaching, but I think that most of them just envied Jesus because too many people started to love Him.

John 9:17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.

Fear of man is a big hindrance to our sharing the gospel with others. We fear losing jobs, political influence, and other vain things. If we can't stand up against that, how could any of us stand against real persecution that threatens our lives?

Being raised in the United States, it is hard for me to imagine any fear of being put out of a synagogue or church. My attitude would be go ahead and throw me out of the church, I'll just go somewhere else. Back then though to be put out of a synagogue or church would cause one believe he or she would lose their jobs, social standing, and their salvation.

We see more clearly now that our salvation depends only on our faith in Jesus and not on which church we belong to but there was a time when everyone thought their salvation depended on religious leaders or religious rituals and rites. Thank God that is not so.

John 9:23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?
28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.
29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

Remember this passage is the words of the blind man that was healed that he spoke to the Pharisees. We can't quote this as a doctrine. It may be true that God doesn't hear sinners but we can't go by this passage to prove that point. This passage isn't the words of Jesus but of the man who was healed. I do believe God will hear sinners if they are praying for salvation or praying with an humble heart as the publican in Luke chapter 18.

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
John 9:32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

Little did they realize that all of us were born in sins and need Jesus to save us from that sin.
We see here an example of religious pride. They thought some poor uneducated sinner surely had no authority to tell them anything. They truly desired that someone would find fault with Jesus and add fuel to the fire they were trying to stir up against Jesus.

This is one way we can tell whether someone is merely pursuing truth or whether someone desires to destroy someone's ministry. I get turned off by someone continually trying to tear an individual down. If a doctrine is false, attack the doctrine and preach the truth. We have to warn again false teaching but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Sometimes the devil is just out to destroy and kill the ministry of good men rather than deliver someone from any false teaching.

John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

Jesus cared for this man's soul as well as his physical healing in that He took time to seek the man and make sure that He believed on Him as the Son of God which is necessary for our salvation. We must believe in the deity of Jesus to be saved.

In the letters to the churches in Revelation, much was said about churches who had not denied His name. There is something about that name. Not just the name of Jesus for it is pronounced differently in other languages but it means the same thing. My understanding is that to believe in His name means more than believing a man once lived with the name of Jesus. I believe it means that we believe He is the Christ, the one God sent to save us from sin.

We must believe that there is no salvation in any other name and His name represents God coming in the flesh. Jesus was the Son of God. To deny the deity of Christ is to deny His name. To say Jesus was an angel or a good prophet but not say that He is God in the flesh is to deny His name.

John 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him.
39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

Those that seek the light will see and those that think they already know it all and do not see the need for a savior from sin, will abide in darkness and be blind to the truth.

We can't receive light if we don't see ourselves in darkness and sin before coming to Christ. If we think we are okay without Christ and have no need of any salvation, we abide in darkness and are blind.

John 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind also?
41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

They thought they knew all about truth having the law of Moses but didn't realize that they were in darkness and needed so desperately this savior who was talking to them.

Those that seek will find but those that go their own way and ignore the words of God will not find the way. We in the United States have access to more churches, bibles and truth than probably any other nation in history but so many continually let the truth pass close by them without their eyes being open. We have so much but in reality our country is poor, blind and naked. We are in big trouble and do not know it. We need to recognize our need for Jesus and seek Him diligently. DC