 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 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 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
8 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?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”11 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.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus[b] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt;[d] but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. Meditation One day at work Lisa had a harmful solution get into her right eye. In blinding pain Lisa felt an urgency to wash and be cleansed. She tried several options to ease her pain and restore sight but only eye washing and time helped. In this chapter Jesus uses a physical miracle to make a spiritual point- If you want to see you must wash with faith, believing Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus never answers our questions the ways we anticipate or works how we expect. To show the works of God Jesus spits, makes mud, and anoints a blind man’s eyes. (6) After washing in Siloam the blind man could see. (7) The religious folk wanted to disqualify the miracle on a legal technicality, breaking the Sabbath (13-17), and the Jews disqualified the work of God on grounds of intellectual comprehension, specifically not knowing Jesus’ origin story. (18-29) Jesus asked the man born blind- Do you believe? (35) In vs 11 he knew Jesus’ name, in vs 17 he understood Jesus was a prophet, and in vs 33 he knew Jesus was from God. But until Jesus fully revealed Himself the man did not believe Jesus was the Son of God (35-38). When the man saw with eyes of faith he believed and worshipped Jesus, fully seeing Jesus. Those who thought they could see were blinded by their own self-righteousness and intellectual comprehension, not believing, and their guilt remained. What you wash your eyes out with matters! We must wash with faith in God, His work, and His word. Lord, help us believe! Richly Dwelling -Jesus works in surprising ways- spit, mud, and washing. Where do you see Jesus working in surprising ways in your life? -How does your self-righteousness blind you from seeing Jesus and the wonderful works of God? Are you too pre-occupied with justifying yourself to see Jesus? -How do you know you believe, fully seeing in faith? This passage shows us it is marked with worship. Jesus came for the blind to see and worship. How can you worship Jesus with eyes of faith today in your relationships, work, studies, and leadership? Key verse 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” Comments are closed.
|