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Our story begins as Jesus left the Temple and passed by a man who had been blind sense birth. Jewish beliefs concerning sickness and affliction was evident in the remarks of the Disciples in spite of two years of instruction from Jesus. Sense the time of Job, the Jews believed that affliction was brought on by sin, either the sin of the afflicted person or the sin of the afflicted person's parents.
Passing by the blind man, the Disciples sought to further understand this mis-conception by asking Jesus, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents?" Surly, some one had sinned for it was written, "The evil of the parents is inflicted upon the children." Many times the sins of parents bring affliction upon their children. This is the law of nature, not the Law of God, except in the case of judgment upon a nation when many innocent people may be persecuted because of the sin of the majority.
We know that many birth defects are not due to sin on the part of either, and often accidents that result in affliction are caused by others. But this particular affliction was predestined. Jesus put it this way. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned." "He was born blind that the works of God might be made manifest in him."
This statement creates a lot of questions:
There is no "pat" answer to these questions. Predestination is not an easily understood doctrine of the Calvinest belief. Beliefs that range from God's total involvement in our lives to total "free will" on the part of the person. I believe that because of God's Foreknowledge He can predestinate everything in our lives. Thus knowing that this man would be born blind, He used him to manifest His good works.
There was much work to be done and time was drawing short. This was said by Jesus to refer not only to His life but also to ours. The time will come when we can no longer work. The time will come when the Holy Spirit will no longer strive with man.
Then Jesus turned to the blind man. Notice the blind man does not ask to be healed. In the past, healing had always come as the result of a request, either the request of the sick one or a request from someone else for a sick one. But in this incident, no request is made. Man cannot ask for what he does not know exists. Whether it is spiritual or physical healing, we need to know first, that healing is available.
Notice how He cured the blind man's eyes. He spat on the ground. He made a paste of the mud and He anointed or put the mud on the blind man's eyes. Then He said to the man, "Go wash in the Pool of Siloam." Why? Why did He use spit and mud? Why didn't He just heal by the power of His word as He had in the past? Why the Pool of Siloam? The man had not asked for healing. A demonstration of faith was needed on the man's part to bring healing. Would the man obey a stranger and go do what would require the breaking of the Law, and wash? It was unlawful to wash on the Sabbath. Why the Pool of Siloam? The waters of Siloam were thought to be healing waters. The name, "Siloam" meant "sent". It was believed that at times God sent His Spirit to "stir" the waters and the first one in the water would be healed.
Christ was often called the "sent" of God, so it was in fact, Christ who healed the man not the waters. But notice, something was required of the one that was healed. He had to have faith enough to go and do as Jesus told him, otherwise, he could have set there for the rest of his life and been blind. But he went, washed his eyes in the waters of the Pool and came back seeing. Can we possibly imagine the amazement of this man, seeing for the first time in his life, the joy he must have experienced, seeing things for the first time.
Now another group comes into our story, they are the man's neighbors. Notice how confused they were. They weren't sure that it was the same man. His healing had so changed him, his physical healing and his spiritual healing. Some said, yes it is, but some said no. Why the confusion? Matthew Henry explains it this way: "Think of the wonderful change that the Grace of God makes in someone who before was wicked and vile and afterward was so different that many could not believe that it was the same man." Most of us have experienced personally, that same change.
Notice how the controversy was settled. The man himself said, "I am the man." He was not afraid to testify of the Grace of God that healed him. Thus being assured that he was the blind man, the neighbors asked him how he was healed. Very simply and accurately, he related the story to them. Then they wanted to know where Jesus was. He could not tell them where He was or even what He looked like for by the time he returned from the Pool, Jesus had gone. Perhaps this man was the first of many that would be healed and would not even see the Healer, this side of Heaven. Thus, in the work of Grace, we see the change but not the hand that makes it.
Now the Pharisees come into the story (verses 13-41) The man that was blind, was brought before the Pharisees. Why, and by whom, we can only surmise. Probably he was brought to them by someone who sought the favor of the Pharisees. There were many who would have turned in their mother to achieve this favor. They turned him in because he had broken the Law of the Sabbath. It was unlawful to wash on the Sabbath. The examination of this man by the Pharisees was totally void of compassion, reason or understanding. The fact that this man had been blind but now could see had no meaning to their evil and prejudice hearts.
Their first reaction was to doubt that he had been born blind. To verify this, they called in the man's parents. We can now see something of the power that the Pharisees had over the lay people of that day. They asked the parents, "Is this your son and was he born blind?" "If he was born blind, how is it that he now sees?" These parents were between a rock and a hard place, bound in gratitude to testify of the One who had healed him but full of fear less they anger the Pharisees and be expelled from the Synagogue.
Notice how they answered: "Yes, he is our son." "Yes he was blind from birth." "Yes, now he can see, but, how he was healed, we do not know." "Ask him, he is of age." Apparently, this shifted the responsibility to their son. There is an old saying:
"Near is my friend."There had been a new law recently made by the Sanhedrin, "Any man that proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, shall be put out of the Synagogue (excommunicated)."
"Near is my child."
"Near is my religion."
"Nearer is myself."
What was the healed man to say to the questions of the Pharisees? This Jesus who had given him sight was accused of breaking the law. But, how could a man who was a sinner, do such things? Notice that even those in the crowd who had witnessed the healing, were afraid to speak of what they had seen. So the Pharisees asked the healed man again, "What do you say about Him sense He had opened your eyes?" It would seem that from the beginning of His ministry, those who benefited the most and who claimed to be His friends, did more to discredit His ministry than all His enemies combined.
Obviously, this man whose sight had been restored, was put on the spot. If he should speak "lightly" of Jesus, as he was tempted to do to gain favor with the Pharisees, than the Devil would triumph, but, if he should speak "rightly" of Jesus, they would surly persecute him. Again they ask, "What do you say about Jesus?", to which the man replied. "He is a Prophet." With his limited understanding, this man had a clearer judgment of Jesus than the Masters of Israel had.
Well it became evident that there indeed had been a miracle there and the Pharisees could not deny it, so they tried to get the man to give God the credit and deny that Jesus had a nothing to do with it sense He obviously was a sinner. But the man replied, "Whether He is a sinner or not, I do not know." "But one thing I do know, once I was blind, and now I can see." Again they questioned him, "Tell us again, how did He open your eyes?" Why were they repeatedly asking him this question? They hoped that by making him repeat the story over and over again that they could catch him in a mistake.
Notice that this time he does not repeat his story; rather, he condemns them for not listening. Those who willfully shut their ears from the truth. make themselves contemptible and forfeit all the benefit of any further instruction. He condemns them for not hearing and then taunts them with the idea that they might want to be one of His disciples. For his bravery, they harassed him and cursed him in what they thought was the worse way, "We are Disciples of Moses but you are the Disciple of a sinner."
Then the blind man made a statement that should get the most devout agnostic thinking, "It puzzles me that you, the Masters of Israel, do not know where He comes from, yet He opens my eyes, the eyes of a man born blind." "If this man were not from God, He could not do this." A year later, Peter and John were before the Council in Jerusalem, the Jews wanted to kill them for preaching the Gospel. A Pharisee named Gamaliel spoke similar words of wisdom, "Men of Israel, take care what you do to these men, for if this plan is of men, it will fail, but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it." Naturally, this man's statement of truth, made the Pharisees very angry.
The blind man, made to see, was very fortunate that they did not execute some form of judgment upon him, for he had been born blind and the belief then was that either he, or his parents, had sinned. "The nerve of this man, born on sin, trying to teach us." They cast him out from the Council, and Jesus hearing this, went to him. Because this man spoke bravely of the little that he knew, Jesus sought him out that he might be further enlightened.
Notice Jesus asked the man a question similar to the one asked by the Pharisees, "Do you believe in the Son of Man." The term, Son of Man, did not mean anything to this man so he asked," And who is he, Sir?" And Jesus replied, "It is He who speaks to you." Now it would appear that this was the first that this man had seen Jesus but somehow he knew that this was the Man who had healed him and about whom the Pharisees were speaking, and he put into action the statement of belief that he had made to the Pharisees, and said, "Yes, Lord, I believe," and he worshipped Him.
Then Jesus told the man of His true mission, the miracle of "INSIGHT", for He came that those who could not "see", might see, and those who thought that they "saw", might become blind." The Pharisees thought they knew it all, they had all the "insight", but they were the truly blind ones. Jesus came to bring "sight", understanding, enlightenment, to those like this blind man who were spiritually blind. As far as we know, the Pharisees never received their "sight".
Some light is shed on this in the Book of Revelation in Chapter 6, verse 12 thru Chapter 7, verse 12, with the opening of the 6th. Seal on the Scroll called the Lambs Book of God. We see there recorded a "relative number", 144,000 Jews were saved and a multitude of Gentiles, to numerous to number, were saved. The Gentiles saw a "great light", while blindness came upon Israel.
The Pharisees asked, "Are we also blind?" We know that the "common people" are blind, but we are educated in the scriptures, we pray without ceasing. we are the "close ones" to God, we built this Tabernacle, "Are we also blind?" Jesus answered, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt or sin." Because they were educated in the scriptures, they were without excuse. "It will be more tolerable for those who perish without the "light", than for those who rebel against the "light" (Matthew Henry).
The real lesson in this story is the responsibility we have when we are enlightened" in the Word of God. The story appears to be about physical blindness but Jesus used it to teach about "spiritual" blindness. That is the miracle of this lesson.
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