Which part of 'now I can see' don't you understand?

John 9.1-41....continued   verses 24-34     courtesy of www.biblegateway.com
²⁴ A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
 ²⁵ He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
 ²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
 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?”
 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.”
 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.”
 ³⁴ To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.


This is beginning to take on hints of an Abbot and Costello act.  (Remember Who's on First?)  This healed man just can't seem to answer their questions so that they will actually hear what he is saying.   We will want to look at what impact their deafness has on his relationship with Jesus.

"Give glory to God'   He has been!  But since the questioners do not want to acknowledge Jesus' authority or person as Son of God, the testimony of the formerly blind man is discounted.  A perfect case of not letting the facts get in the way of what you know to be true!

But notice the movement in the blind man's answer, "Do you want to become disciples too?"  What is he thinking?  Is HE thinking about becoming a disciple?  And the absolutely worst question to ask this group of Pharisees.  They are stuck on Moses - meaning they can't see the relationship between the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of Moses.  They don't recognize one that stands in the tradition of Moses and the prophets. 

A point the formerly blind man makes well as he places the facts before them.  A true lawyer here, laying out the case so the others can see the implications of what has happened.  "If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."

But that is NOT the conclusion that the Pharisees want, so once again, they reframe the situation.  "You were steeped in sin from birth"   Remember the connection between sin and illness?  On the surface that is what they are referring to, but of course, we are all steeped in sin from birth - including these guys!   What a conundrum!



And now the conclusion: v 35-41

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
 ³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
 ³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
 ³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
 ³⁹ Jesus said,^[a] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
 ⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
 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.


There is a connection between sin and blindness, but not the connection that everyone has been trying to make from the beginning.   Here we must be careful to keep separate physical blindness and spiritual blindness.   Physical blindness is what it is, it is not an indicator of a lack of faith.  Spiritual blindness however is a willful turning away from the obvious before your face - rejecting the light that has come into your life - calling what is light (Jesus) darkness (not of God). 

The formerly blind man did not receive his sight and immediately assume a solid, confident faith in Jesus as God's agent, and ultimately as the Son of Man.  He walked slowly toward this understanding - each time repeating what had happened and what he knew about God.  But not only were his eyes opened, his heart was opened as well.  His eyesight was more than a new convenience in his life, it was now an encounter with God - and so he worshipped Jesus. 

Jesus says he has come into this world for judgment.  Substitute the word 'division' for judgment.  When a person encounters the living Word, the light of the world, etc and walks away from it, they have joined a group who Jesus would describe as spiritually blind (even though they think they know and can physically see).  When a person encounters Jesus and worships him (even if it takes a while to get there) then they have true sight.  Jesus is the dividing point; those who turn away from Jesus (the light of the world) have already divided themselves into the 'blind' camp.  Or as Jesus said previously those who have rejected me have already judged themselves. 

What kind of darkness is in this story?  (Since that is the theme I've been following this Lent.)  Clearly it is more than the darkness that comes with physical blindness.   This is a rejection of the light that is in front of your face; a clinging to who you think God is and should be instead of who God is revealing Godself to be.  Rejecting Jesus as the Son of God is to willingly remain in the darkness. 

Since our next story is Lazarus who is residing in the back of a tomb, we can see where rejection of Jesus can lead to a powerful and lasting darkness.

One challenge we face as 21st century believers is to come to grips with our understanding of those who walk away from God.  Where do the non-believers fall in our concept of the universe and God's plan for the world?  Is this something that would encourage you to work harder to bring Jesus' light into the lives of others?


Great text.  John's stories are wonderful even if they are long!