1 And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? 3 Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes. 7 and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated Sent). And so he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
Message: The Man Born Blind
Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."
What the Lord is Saying: From the previous verse at the end of Chapter 8, Jesus has left the temple where he had spoken of his history - that He was before Abraham, and “I am” - he is equal with God. And so now here in verse 1 of chapter 9, Jesus is probably near a spot by the Temple, a place where beggars asked for alms. This beggar probably voiced to Jesus and to all that passed by his condition - blind since birth. He probably announced this to gain more pity from those passing by and thereby bringing about greater sorrow and greater alms.
In our culture, it seems we are living in a time when begging is very apropos and commonplace. It is difficult to drive in the city now and not see beggars at street corners or traffic lights, who are holding signs, pleading to those passing by for money. And their signs are being written in numerous ways in order to help people have this desire to give to them, to feel sorrow, to recognize the need.
In this passage, the disciples see the disability of the man and automatically believe it is there not by accident. In the Bible, sicknesses and ailments like this can be the result of sin. Man is not in a perfect state and sickness and disease are signs of that imperfection. But a persons condition may not be a result of their own sin. It may, but it also may be the general result of all sin to mankind. The disciples asset that the beggars blindness is the result of some form of disobedience, either by the man himself while in the womb or even of the belief that this man had a past life and was now bearing the punishment of past indiscretions - either by himself or his parents.
Jesus, however, corrects them. Jesus responds that this man's problem is not a problem at all and instead it is actually a good thing to result in God's glory. Genesis 50:20 echoes the promise, "and as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." This man, and we don't know his age, has been born blind in order to glorify God. This man's blindness will be cured (verse 6) and that cure will be an act of God showing us his glory and so Jesus is saying that he has what we term a handicap for the purpose of glorifying God. God did not make us only temporary people but eternal people and so we need to remember to look beyond circumstances to what God may be doing in a person’s entire life.
In verse 4, Jesus mentions the importance of working, not simply laboring as in a job, but doing the work of the Father. This work that is done will be temporary (day) because at some point the work will no longer be needed (because of night). It is possible that the events of the Feast of Booths, which Jesus went to Jerusalem and was involved in (John 7:37 until this the time of John 10:21) constituted the same day and so maybe the day/night correlated with this verse. He has spoken a lot but He seems to still be in this same area of Jerusalem. But Jesus, in whatever work He is speaking about, includes the disciples in that work. He says, "We." While Jesus is the central focus of the gospel in calling people to an abundant life and living life to the fullest, the disciples are involved. We are also involved.
Either way, I suppose the encouragement here is to work hard while we can work. I think of this as I am getting older as the older I get the harder it will be to keep working. My body just won't keep up. Jesus then in verse 5 remarks, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Jesus has spoke of the day in the previous verse, the day being the time to the work, but the sun of the day is not what will illuminate us, He will illuminate us. He is the Light. Maybe this is more of a plead to the disciples that He is here now, in the world, they are to work hard to spread His message as He is in the world and He is a light to this world.
And then Jesus spits on the ground, made clay, and wiped it on the man's eyes. And the man then saw. Jesus heals, not sure why he did it this way, but Jesus can heal any way he wants.
Summary: Jesus is the light and in our world today and reveals that a man born blind is that way to bring glory to God. Jesus later heals this man.
Promise: Jesus reminds us that we do not need to look at others to try to determine why they are in the condition they are in, but rather we are to minister to them, and help them in their suffering.
Prayer: God, you brought Jesus into the world to be our light, both then, now and forever. Thank you for helping me be more understanding of those that are suffering. Give me the strength to do this.
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