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No Longer Blind Because of Jesus, Part III, John 9:13-21
We continue in the Gospel of John, the ninth chapter where we are witness to Jesus passing by.
But a thing that we learn with Jesus is he never passes by without thinking about his purpose to be about His Father’s business.
So he passes by and sees a man born blind and does not continue passing by but he stops and sees to it that this man also sees.
Because of Jesus a man born blind is no longer blind.
And as the news spreads the neighborhood was astounded for the beggar was no longer blind.
This blind beggar, a fixture who daily begged for sustenance, no longer needed the help of others for now he had sight to go about as others went about.
He needed no guide, he needed no support, nor cane nor help, for now for the first time ever, his eyes could see.
How did this happen was the question that came from the mouths of many?
But all the once-blind man could testify to was not how but who.
A man called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes saying to me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.
I could do nothing but obey and I went and washed, and I received sight.
The world is always interested in how but God desires you to know who.
In the beginning was the word.
The focus is always on the “who.”
Faith is always in the “who” not the how.
Christ is the ultimate answer to every question.
And that is what this once blind beggar came to as he simply and honestly and sincerely gave his testimony of this miraculous healing that he had received from this man called Jesus.
As a new believer he boasted of the work of Christ because he did not as yet have an intimate knowledge of his person for that will come later.
As a new believer I was interested in forgiveness of sins and eternal life and becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus.
But as I mature in Christ I find myself wanting to know the person of Jesus Christ in a more intimate way.
I want to know Jesus Christ personally for God’s purpose is to conform all His children to His only begotten Son, Jesus!
That's what it’s all about.
Knowing God! Knowing Jesus Christ!
What a friend we have in Jesus should be real to us as we grow in grace.
But this man, now previously blind, did not go beyond the light that he had.
So the neighbors reacted as given in John 9:13,14 and: They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
A religious issue is involved and the Pharisees must be consulted for no doubt that was their law.
Be sure to report those offenders of the Sabbath!
Now at last the blind beggar will be noticed by those who before took no notice.
Blindness, they thought was the result of sin and they did not want anything to do with any sinner.
But now a beggar born blind who now could see is brought before them!
The beggar had testified to his neighbors but by being interrogated by the Pharisees he faced a greater test of his faith.
We will learn in verse 22 that fear of being put out of the temple for supporting Jesus was common in Jerusalem on this day?
The Pharisees were bent on discrediting Jesus Christ and would welcome one who would testify against him.
They looked for one who would testify that Jesus Christ worked on the Sabbath for this man Jesus was a Sabbath breaker and must be stopped.
But by Christ's example He shows us that works of necessity and works of mercy are allowable works on the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was made for man but the Jews had twisted its beauty and now used it to control man religiously for that is man’s way.
We see here typical tentacles of religion for religion always binds but Christ always frees!
Christ gave no regard to the commandments of men when they conflicted with the works that he must work for the Father.
This should be our example as we do the works of God.
We are not to be in bondage to the rules and regulations of religion when they have no support from the Word of God.
God intends us to be free of the bonds of man-made religious barriers and only be governed by the faithful barriers of the wisdom of the Word of God.
Be careful of the bonds of man-made religion.
As Gal 5:1, tells us we are to: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
So the Pharisees, who intend to load this blind man with a yoke ask in John 9:15, …….. how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
The minds of the Pharisees are closed.
Their necks are stiff to the word of God.
They are incapable of turning toward truth.
They have so pre-determined that if anyone confess that Jesus is the Christ he should be put out of the synagogue.
They examine the blind beggar to discredit the miracle and to intimidate the one upon whom the miracle was performed.
So they too ask how.
How did this happen?
There must be a logical explanation.
How? The question from the unbelieving who deny the power of faith.
To the seeing beggar's credit he answers in a straight forward manner and gives an accurate account of the miracle.
He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
Not how but he!
John 9:16, Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
As we study the life of Christ it is easy to see that division is a specialty of Jesus Christ. In Luke 12:51, he said, Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.
This is a mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
His life will divide.
On this earth truth always divides.
Truth and error cannot co-exist and we are not to try to make them co-exist.
Truth and error cannot join together and multiply.
A disciple's life, like the life of his Master, is either yea or nay.
This miracle of the healing of the blind man was designed by the Father to cause division amongst the Jews.
Two opposing points of view are expressed, and two opposing conclusions are reached.
In order for the conclusion to be correct both premises must be correct.
The major premise of the first point of view is:
A man who breaks the Sabbath law is not a man of God.
Few in Israel would argue with this premise.
The minor premise is:
Jesus has broken the Sabbath law by working on the Sabbath.
Hadn't he made clay on the Sabbath?
Therefore the conclusion of some of the Jews:
Jesus is not a man of God.
The second viewpoint was based on the major premise that:
Anyone who cures a man of his blindness - especially a man born blind - is a man of God.
This premise is not accepted by all because of the power of Satan's children to perform lying wonders.
But those who will examine the miracles of Christ with a pure heart will find that they were done totally in accordance with the character of God as expressed in his word.
So their minor premise was: Jesus has cured a man of his blindness, a man, moreover who was born blind.
The conclusion followed:
Jesus is a man of God, he cannot be a sinner and therefore the commonly accepted interpretation of the Sabbath law called for re-examination.
This passage is intended to be a lesson to us in being very careful to judge righteously.
People who are taught a set line of belief, a denominational slant, group beliefs, instead of being taught of the Lord, are subject to being channeled into wrong conclusions in the same manner that these Jews were.
Be careful of your premise! Be careful of your fundamentalism! Be careful of your tradition!
Let it be guided only by the scriptures studied under the supervision of the Holy Spirit.
So we move on to John 9:17,18, They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
The man born blind, unencumbered by loyalty to years of false doctrine, examines the question as to the "who" of Jesus Christ.
He knows that before Jesus Christ came into his life he was blind, he did not know what sight was because he never saw anything.
He knows that after Jesus Christ came into his life he can now see.
It is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to him.
It is beyond his wildest dreams to be able to function as other men. His only conclusion is that Jesus Christ must be a prophet of God.
There is no other conclusion to come to as far as he is concerned.
Once he was blind but now he can see.
Is that your testimony of the work of Jesus Christ in your life?
But unbelievers will not believe you.
We are not surprised when we tell them what Jesus Christ has done for us!
And see the response of the Jews.
We don't believe you that you were blind!
You had sight all the time and now are lying to us.
You were not blind.
Tell an unbeliever that you were blind, in other words you were a lost sinner, and they will object.
They will not agree because it calls for them to admit the same thing.
If you are blind and made of the same flesh and blood that they are does that not call for the same conclusion on their part?
So the natural man will not admit blindness.
The natural man sees God in his own way.
The natural man, out of the deceitfulness of his own heart, has created a world in which he sees God.
How can he be blind when he can see God so well, he asks?
Isn't this what unbelief produces?
It produces a whole economy of a vision of God that they have produced to convince them that they are not blind.
A man made system of salvation that is within the blindness in which they exist.
John 9:19-21, And they asked them, (his parents) saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
The man could not accurately testify that he was blind since birth for no man can testify of things that occurred at his birth.
Being born blind was an important factor to the Jews.
Perhaps if he was blind for a portion of his life due to an accident or a sickness perhaps the healing had taken place which might be used to justify the regaining of his sight.
A logical explanation to refute the miracle.
Isn't that typical of unbelief?
We Jews refuse to believe in a miracle.
So summon the parents and let’s get to the bottom of this.
This Jesus must be proved wrong.
They too confine their evidence to what they actually knew and did not speculate about by what means (how) or by whom his eyes were opened.
As we see in the next verse the parents were afraid of the authorities and were careful to answer only the questions that were asked.
Yes, he is our son. Yes, we can testify that he was indeed born blind.
We are his parents, valid and trustworthy witnesses of that fact.
To the "how" and to the "who" question ask him, he is of age.
He can speak for himself.
John 9:22,23, These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
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