CHRIST'S SEVEN SIGN MIRACLES OF HIS PERSON AND MISSION

VI. The Healing Of The Man Born Blind: Christ's Giving Spiritual Sight To Believers

(John 9:1-41)

I. Introduction

A. John's Gospel presents only seven miracles of Jesus in His earthly ministry, each of them sign-miracles that reveal His Person and mission for readers to believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing to receive eternal life, John 20:31; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, "Intro. to the Gospel Acc. to John," p. 1492.

B. Viewing these sign-miracles both strengthens our faith in Christ and offers us talking points in witnessing to the unsaved, so we view the sixth sign-miracle, Christ's healing of the man born blind, for our edification:

II. The Healing Of The Man Born Blind: Christ's Giving Spiritual Sight To Believers, John 9:1-41.

A. To understand the sign presented in Christ's healing of the man born blind, we note in John 9:1-5 that Jesus prefaced the healing event by claiming that while He was in the world, He was the Light of the world.

B. Upon saying this, Jesus healed the man by spitting on the ground, making clay of the spittle, anointing the man's eyes with the clay and sending him to the pool of Siloam to wash off the clay, John 9:6-7. There is thus a connection between the healing event and Christ's giving spiritual insight in John 9:8-41 (as follows):

1. When the blind man was healed, he told onlookers that Jesus was simply a "man," John 9:8-12 KJV.

2. The people brought the healed man to the Pharisees who asked him how he had received his sight, and when he told them Jesus had made clay, anointed his eyes with it and told him to wash it off to be healed, they criticized Jesus for violating their legalistic rule against making clay on the Sabbath, John 9:13-16.

3. This led the Pharisees to ask the healed man what he thought of Jesus, and this time, the healed man said, "He is a prophet" (John 9:17), more than just a mere "man" like he had said of Jesus back in John 9:11!

4. The Pharisees then asked his parents if he as their son was born blind, and how he could see, John 9:18-19.

5. The parents were afraid they would be excommunicated were they to confess Jesus as the Messiah, so they told the Pharisees their son had been born blind, but they did not know how he gained his eyesight, and that they should ask him about it since he was of age and could speak for himself, John 9:20-23.

6. The Pharisees then tried to get the healed man to claim Jesus was a sinner (John 9:24), but the healed man replied that whether Jesus was a sinner or not, where once he was blind, now he could see, John 9:25.

7. The Pharisees again asked the healed man what Jesus did to heal him, and the man mockingly replied that he had already told them, and asked if they intended to believe in Him to be His disciples, John 9:26-27.

8. Reacting to the healed man's mock, the Pharisees reviled him, charging him with being Jesus' disciple while they were Moses' disciple (John 9:28-29), but the man replied it was amazing that they did not know Jesus' origin though He had opened the eyes of one born blind, what had never before occurred, v. 30-32.

9. The healed man said Jesus was from God to heal like He did, so the man was excommunicated, v. 33-34.

10. Later, Jesus met the healed man to ask if he believed on the "Son of God," and the healed man asked Who He was that he might believe in Him, and Jesus identified Himself as that One, John 9:35-37.

11. The healed man thus believed on Jesus as the "Son of God," a term of deity (cf. John 5:18), and he confessed his faith in Jesus and worshiped Him as God, John 9:38-39.

12. Jesus again alluded to Himself as the Light of the world as He had in John 9:5 to make the spiritually blind discern like this healed man by use of an eye salve who came from viewing Jesus as a "man" to being a "prophet" and even the "Son of God," and condemn the godless Pharisees to spiritual blindness, v. 40-41.

Lesson: By healing the man born blind through forming clay in violation of the Pharisees' legalistic rule, Jesus not only healed the man's physical blindness, but He put him into conflict with the spiritually blind Pharisees that the healed man might discern their darkness and view Jesus as more than a man or a prophet, but the Son of God Himself! In stunning contrast, Jesus caused the spiritually blind Pharisees to remain in their spiritual blindness!

Application: (1) A similar connection between applying eyesalve for spiritual insight is given in Revelation 3:18. There, Christ calls believers to buy from Him eye salve to anoint their eyes to gain spiritual insight. In Revelation 3:18, this refers to the John 9:1-41 event where the Lord used eye salve to put the blind man into conflict with the Pharisees that he in being persecuted by them might gain discernment of their error while gaining insight of Jesus. (2) Thus, in John 9, Jesus revealed His ministry involves arranging for conflicts to arise between false religionists and believers to give believers, even amid persecution, spiritual insight and keep the godless in darkness. (3) May we trust Christ to arrange for conflicts between us and errant religionists to give us discernment amid persecution!