The Blind Will See

Every person you meet is fighting a hard, hidden battle.  Some are mired in grief.  They awaken each day to reminders that their loved one is not with them.  Some wrestle with declining health and the aches and pains of aging.  Some struggle with nagging self-doubt, or the darkness of depression. Some are discouraged by broken relationships, personal defeats or past abuses. And as much we try to put our best face forward, all of us have experienced some kind of suffering, some kind of loss, or some inner struggle or burden that has made our lives hard.  Every person you meet is fighting some kind of hidden battle. Think about all the battles faced by those we read about in Scripture:  Job lost ten children, his wife’s affection, his livelihood, and his reputation in a single day.  Moses stuttered.  Jacob limped.  Sarah was infertile. Tamar and Bathsheba were assaulted. David was betrayed by his son. Hosea’s wife fell into prostitution.  Ruth was widowed in her youth. Jeremiah battled with depression, as did Elijah. Gideon doubted God, as did Thomas.  Mary and Joseph spent their early years as refugees in a foreign land.  Mark was rejected by Paul. Peter despised himself for failing Jesus. The one truth that we rarely talk about is that we live in a fallen world, where bad things happen, life isn’t always fair, and yes, every person you meet is  fighting a hard, hidden battle.

So, the question God’s Word poses for us today is this: Is there hope for us?  Is there hope for the hurting?  Is there hope for those who suffer?  Is there hope for those who seem to have no hope?  Now if you’ve been with us through the story of Jesus in the Gospel of John, I think you know the answer.  But if you’re not sure if there really is any hope for the battle you may be fighting, then let me encourage you to open your Bible to John 9:1-12, where we pick up the story of Jesus as he is about to show us how he can give you hope.

Now before we enter into this story let me remind you that it comes on the heels of the past two chapters where Jesus has been revealing himself as the Messiah during the Feast of Booths.  If you remember, during the Feast of Booths, all of Israel had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate God’s goodness to Israel in the wilderness.  For eight days and nights they celebrated how God provided water in the desert, and how God protected them with His presence in the Pillar of Fire.   In chapter seven, we saw how Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah, by declaring himself as the rock from which true living water flows. Then, in chapter eight, on the day after the feast concluded, when the four towering pillars of fire were extinguished, Jesus again revealed himself to be the Messiah by declaring himself to be the light of the world.  And as we saw, some believed, but many were divided in their opinion of him and the leaders outrightly rejected him.  But now, just a few days later, we come to Jesus’ encounter with a man born blind.  A man who had no hope.  But that was all about to change as Jesus came walking by.  And as he does, we learn this good news:

2. Jesus sees your deepest need As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.  And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.  We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 9:1-5

As Jesus is walking by, he sees a man who had been blind from birth.  Obviously, Jesus has pointed him out to his disciples, who now ask him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”   Now, what’s interesting about their question, is that the disciples believed that a disability like blindness was a punishment for sin.  This was a commonly held belief in their day and was loosely based on Exodus 34:7, that teaches that God punishes children for the sins of the parents.  However, the problem with this teaching is that it exposed a legalistic outlook on life – the same outlook promoted by the religious teachers of the day.

Legalism is the attempt to earn God’s favor through our own righteous works. A legalist operates under the assumption that people earn or keep God’s favor by doing righteous works. So, legalists see themselves as deserving of certain blessings. In other words, if I can earn God’s favor by doing good works, the more good works I do, the more God becomes indebted to me.  God must reward my good works with blessings. However, if something “bad” happens to me, it must be because I did something bad.  This is what shaped the disciple’s thinking. They see this man born blind and conclude that he or his parents sinned, because if they had not done something wicked, then God would be forced to respond with blessing. That’s textbook legalism. And it’s how everyone thought in the day of Jesus.  If you suffer, you must have done something wrong and God was punishing you.

Imagine, living in a culture like that?  Imagine what it must’ve been like for the parents of this man? Every time they looked upon their blind son, they were reminded of their own guilt.  Their neighbors whispering behind their backs.  Their neighbors keeping them at arms-length.  After all, if you were a God-fearing Jew, you wouldn’t want to be associated with someone whose son was a living illustration of their sin. So, his parents, knew no mercy, no acceptance, no belonging, no love.  And the same was true for the man born blind. He and his parents were forced to live with the reality that they were under judgment. They were second-class citizens who could never escape the judging glares of their neighbors. They could never escape the judgment of a holy God.

Now, does this ever happen today?  Do people still think like this today? Sure, they do. When I pastored in BC, we had a man in our church who believed that if something bad happened to you, it was because God was punishing you. So, on the night when both of his turkey barns burned to the ground, you can imagine how this impacted him. He had always told others that when bad things happened to them, it was because God was judging them for their sin.  And so, when this happened to him, it nearly ruined him.

But think about what I said earlier – how every person is fighting a hard, hidden battle.  The one battle people rarely talk about today is our battle with guilt.  Guilt invades our consciousness when we become aware through God’s Word that we have rebelled against God, or we’ve broken one of His commands, or we’ve transgressed one of His laws.  When we sin against God, we are guilty and deserving of judgment.  Now, you can choose to ignore this reality.  Or you can choose to say sin doesn’t really exist.  Or you can choose to medicate your feelings of shame or remorse that come with guilt.  But unless God intervenes to remove your guilt, you’re stuck with it.  Your just like this man born blind.  You are helpless to change your spiritual condition.  You have no hope. And you need God to do something to remove your guilt, or you’re stuck with it.

Now, here’s the good news we see in this passage: Just as Jesus saw the man born blind, he sees you. Jesus sees you. Jesus sees the sin you struggle with. Jesus sees your guilt. He sees your powerlessness, your helplessness and your hopelessness to change your condition. Jesus sees you, but He doesn’t ignore you. Just as he did with this man, Jesus took the initiative to cure you.  Listen again to what he says to his disciples: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.  We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:1-5

That’s why Jesus has come – to deliver us from darkness.  He has come to give hope to those who have no hope. He has come to open our eyes to the good news found in Him. This is key.  We live in a world where people are slaves to darkness.  They are blind to their own sin; they are blind to the goodness of God; they are blind to His mercy, and blind to the good news that’s found in Jesus.  God’s Word says it clearly: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4  This is why every person you meet is fighting a hard, hidden battle.  It’s a battle with sin.  Every person needs the light of the world to open their eyes to the goodness of Jesus, who has come to remove their sin, their guilt, their shame.

But now I want to point out something that we might be quick to miss.  Jesus says, “We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”  This is the phrase that links us to this encounter.  Jesus wants his disciples, his students to learn something here.  What he us to learn is this: We share in God’s work of redemption and restoration.  Jesus includes his disciples in His work because they would be the ones doing God’s work on earth after his resurrection and ascension.  Jesus is teaching his followers that we are coworkers with Him in the redemptive work of God.  And Jesus’ words carry a note of urgency here.  He tells us that night is coming when no one can work, he says.  So, the time is short.  Every person you pass by, every person you see, is someone who Jesus sees.  But he doesn’t just see them and ignore them.  No, he does something to mee their need.  And I would say it this way:

2. Jesus meets your deepest need 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 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So, he went and washed and came back seeing. Jn 9:6-7

I love this picture of God’s love in action.  Jesus takes the initiative.  He doesn’t just see the man in his need. He does something to meet his need.  He spits on the dust, kneads the dust into mud, then he anoints the man’s eyes with this mud.  This man, who all he could do was beg for help, now receives the help God gives.  What I love about this encounter is that it illustrates how God meets our deepest need.  When you are laid flat and there’s nothing you can do but beg for help, Jesus meets you in that place.  When you had no power to remove your sin, Jesus took the initiative to take away your sin.  When you were helpless to heal your relationship with God, by his wounds you were healed.  Jesus did for you what we could not do for yourself.  Just as Jesus did the work of God to heal this man’s eyes, He did the work of God to heal your relationship with God.

But now the man needed to respond.  He needed to act in faith to receive his healing. So, Jesus commands him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash his eyes.  Now, here’s where this gets interesting.  Why did Jesus send him to the pool of Siloam?

Well, the pool of Siloam was the very pool that the priests had gone to gather water to pour out on the steps of the temple during the feast of booths.  The pool of Siloam  was associated with the free-flowing fountain of God’s blessing and salvation.  So, what does the man do?  He obeys Jesus’ command, goes and washes and comes back seeing.  I love this detail John, because it shows us the extent of the man’s faith in Jesus.  Remember, this man was blind.  How did he get to the pool?  Did one of Jesus’ disciples help him?  Was one of his family members nearby to help him?  We don’t know.  But what we do know, is that he did act upon the command of Jesus.  He took Jesus at His word, went to the pool, washed his eyes and came back seeing.

This is what God said would happen when He sent the Messiah into the world: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the peopleand a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:5-6   God sent Jesus to do His work of grace.  God sent Jesus to open blind eyes, to set the captives free, to deliver you from the realm of darkness.  God sent Jesus to meet your deepest need.  And His healing of this man born blind tells us, that there is no sin so bad He can’t forgive; there is no life so far gone that He can’t rescue, and no eyes so blind that He can’t open.  But just like the man born blind, to receive God’s mercy, you must respond to what Jesus has done.  You must act in faith, by putting your trust in Jesus. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. For Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

That’s what the man born blind did.  He heard, he acted and came back seeing.  Jesus restored his sight.  Jesus redeemed his life.  No longer would he hear whispers of judgment.  No longer would he and his family be outcasts.  God had given him a new life. God had changed his life.  And people noticed:  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?” Some said, “It is he.”  Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”  So, they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” John 9:8-10

One of the immediate results of being redeemed by Jesus is this: When Jesus changes you, you will look different to others.   In the blind man’s case, there were those who knew him as a blind beggar, so they recognized that he could now see.  That must have been incredible for him. There was no more darkness.  He could see light.  He could now put the voices he knew with the faces he’d never seen.  He could look into their eyes.  He could see their smiles. He could see their sadness.  And he could see his parents. Not only that, he could see colors. He could look with awe upon the brilliant blue sky.  He could take joy in watching children pay. In fact, now that he could see, his whole world had blossomed and expanded. This must have been thrilling.  The weight of living under the judgment was gone.  So much so, that now when people saw his face, his entire countenance had changed.  His face was full of life, full of joy, full of wonder. No wonder some people had trouble recognizing him. No wonder he had to keep reminding them, “I am the man.”

When Jesus changes you, you should look different to others.  When you experience forgiveness, peace will fill your face. When you know you are loved by God, joy will change your countenance.  For when Jesus changes you, you become a new person, a person whose been reconciled to God, a person who’s been filled with hope, joy and love in the Holy Spirit.  That’s what Jesus does when He heals you.  He fills you with His life.  He gives you His joy.  He fills you with real hope.  You’re no longer alone, you belong to God.  And when all that Jesus has done for you begins to sink in, others will see it in you. And guess what: They will want to know what happened to you.  And just like this man who could now see, you now have a story to tell.

3.You now have a story to tell  Here’s the man’s story: 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.”  They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”  John 9:11-12

All the man can share at this point is a summary of the bare facts of his encounter. “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.” He gave a clear and simple testimony of who gave Him sight – the man called Jesus.  He told what Jesus did for him.  He told how Jesus anointed his eyes with mud, commanded him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  So, he went and washed in that pool and received his sight.  That was his story.  It was about what Jesus did for Him and how He responded to his work.

That’s such a beautiful outline for sharing your story.  When you share your story all you need to do is tell what Jesus did for you: To tell how Jesus took your place on the cross, how Jesus took the punishment you deserved for your sin, and how Jesus made a way for you to be made right with God. And all you had to do was respond to what He did for you.  All you had to do was go to the cross and trust in Jesus.  For when you did that, Jesus not only cleansed you of all sin, but gave you a new life with Him.  That’s your story if you’ve trusted in Jesus.

Now, notice how the people responded to this man’s story. They didn’t ask about the mud. They didn’t enquire if there were any healing powers in the waters. They only wanted to know one thing: “Where is he?”  They wanted to meet this man who did this miracle. They wanted to find Jesus. Perhaps they saw something hopeful in the face of this man born blind. Perhaps they’d heard Jesus proclaim that He was light of the world, or they knew the Messianic significance of the waters at pool of Siloam. Or they too were fighting a hard, hidden battle, and if Jesus really did give hope to the hopeless, like He did for this man, then perhaps He could restore their hope.

So, the man answered their request: “I don’t know.”  He couldn’t tell them how to find Jesus.  But the good news today, is that if you’ve met Jesus, if you’ve been cleansed by Jesus, received new life from Jesus, then you do know.  And like this man, you have a story to tell.  And it’s the story every person needs to hear.  For every person needs to know that there’s help for the helpless, there’s hope for the hopeless, that there’s a way their relationship with God can be healed – and it’s found in the man called Jesus.

So yes, every person you meet is fighting a hard, hidden battle.  But there is hope for them, and there’s hope for you.  For Jesus sees your deepest need and He’s done something about it.  He loved you so much that He came to fight that battle for you on the cross, so He could give you hope – if you are ready to trust in Him.  Do you want the hope that Jesus offers?  Then act on it and put your faith in Jesus today.  Trust in what He has done for you and He will open your eyes to God. Let’s pray.