“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 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, 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…”
“…Then again called [The Pharisees] the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. 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. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? 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? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.” -John 9:1-7, 24-33
The 9th chapter of John is dedicated to the narrative of sight given to a man who was blind from birth. This narrative includes the brief recounting of the miracle followed by dialogue between the formerly blind man, his neighbors, the Pharisees, the parents of the formerly blind man, and Jesus. I did not copy the entire chapter here for the sake of space, but I encourage the reader to reread John 9 in its entirety.
There are many lessons taught through this miracle. The first we will consider is the disciples’ question: who sinned in such a way as to cause this man to suffer blindness? The disciples were operating under the assumption that people suffer because of sin, so someone who is suffering must be guilty of some particular sin which brought on the suffering. Indeed, this is sometimes true, as in the case of Jonah. Because Jonah refused to obey God’s commandment, God chastised him by preparing a whale to swallow him for three days (this was not comfortable lodging!). In fact, many examples from the Bible could be used to demonstrate God’s chastisement of His people when they sin. However, it is an error to say that suffering is always chastisement for a particular sin. This is one of the primary lessons from the book of Job, in which righteous Job suffered and his friends attempted to condemn him of sin. There are many possible reasons for suffering in this world, and sometimes the only cause is that we live in a world corrupted by sin in which bad things happen. We should be careful not to assume that a suffering person is guilty of a particular sin which brought on his suffering. Jesus declared that neither this man nor his parents had sinned to bring his blindness – the disciples were wrong to jump to this conclusion.
Next, we consider the unmerited, unrequested compassion of Jesus. I believe this is a picture of grace! This man, born blind, did not ask for help and did not even know that help was possible. Without a doubt, he was unable to help himself. Even if he had asked, Jesus would not have been obligated to give him his sight. Nonetheless, Jesus took note of this unnoteworthy beggar, had compassion on him, and healed him. Even after the man received sight, he could not explain what had taken place. On three instances, the Pharisees interrogated this man on exactly what had happened. His answer: “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” John Newton borrowed this as his own testimony: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, the saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” Surely, this is the basic experience of God’s people. Even before we learn God’s doctrine, we know by experience His power.
Another lesson here comes from the conflict which arose between men trained formally in religion and the unlearned, common-folk witnesses of God’s power. The Pharisees took great pride in their training and understanding of the law. Their attitude toward people such as this blind man was marked by condescension because of their faulty belief that physically afflicted people were more sinful and less faithful. In their own self-righteous estimation, the Pharisees were the most learned, most pure, and most faithful of men. However, they show their ignorance in their dealing with the man Jesus healed. They interrogated him and his parents three times about his healing, becoming more forceful each time. Their logic worked thus: this healing took place on the sabbath day, which is a violation of law. Therefore, the healing itself is sinful and not of God. In this case, common sense trumps the legalistic, cold, academic understanding of the Pharisees! The formerly blind man told them that the miracle speaks for itself (verse 30-33). One might ask, who is blind now? The man who was blind from birth sees the situation clearly, but the “seeing” Pharisees cannot recognize the goodness of God even when a miracle is evident!
Finally, this narrative reaffirms the same basic truth which all of the miracles teach: Jesus is truly God manifest in the flesh. God has power to heal a broken body and replace the darkness of blindness with the light of sight. This man was cast out of the synagogue because he believed that Jesus was “of God” (verse 34). Afterward, Jesus found him and declared that He is the Son of God. This man, who had experienced the miracle of receiving sight, declared, “Lord, I believe.” This was the only reasonable conclusion this man could reach. With that conclusion, the only sensible thing to do was recorded in the rest of the verse, “And he worshipped him.” In perfect harmony with the other miracles in John, this passage testifies that Jesus is worthy of worship as God.