I hope you will forgive me if I tell you a story about my Great Grandfather. I say, “Forgive me,” because I am haunted by William Faulkner’s novel Light in August in which a minister, Rev. Hightower, drives his congregation crazy with constant stories about his Grandfather! I do not want to do that, but I would like to share something with you about my Great Grandfather, Wade Hampton Richardson. He went by “Hamp,” for short. He was my Grandaddy’s daddy. I never knew him or met him because he died when my Grandaddy was only twelve-years-old.

The story is that he grieved himself to death after the passing of his wife, my Great Grandmother Bridgette, who I likewise never knew or met. In doing some research on our family some years back, I found that the exact cause of his death was Pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease that attacked and killed numbers of people in the American South in the early years of the twentieth century.

One of the effects of Pellagra is blindness and, in fact, Hamp lost his eyesight and went blind near the end of his life. My Grandaddy tells the story of his father calling in all the children to gather around his deathbed. He informed them that he would soon be passing away, a fact that was evident to all. He then informed the children that the Lord had restored his eyesight to him in his last days. The story is that the children looked shocked at such an idea. So Hamp said to them, “No, I’m serious. Look out that window. Just outside the window there is a bird on a tree limb.” He described the bird and the limb. All of his children looked and, behold, it was just as he had said. Shortly thereafter, he died.

It’s a comforting story to me, a nice story, no doubt, to some extent, because it involves one of my ancestors. But I like the idea of Jesus giving my Great Grandfather his eyes back just before the end, just so he could see his family one more time, just so he could see a bird on a limb one more time, or perhaps just as a symbolic reminder that the Lord is the God who gives sight to the blind.

Jesus will say, near the end of our text this morning, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (v.39). He says this in the context of His amazing, “I am the light of the world,” lesson. He taught that in chapter eight of John. Now he demonstrates it in chapter nine.

Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus is He who gives sight to the blind. He did this for a man born blind in John 9, and, as we have come to expect, controversy erupted in the aftermath.

This morning, let us consider the main characters in this story: the religious crowd who opposed Jesus, the Lord Jesus Himself, and the man who received this amazing miracle. In doing so, we will witness the spiritual degeneration of the opposing crowd, the spiritual grandeur of the healing Savior, and the spiritual awakening of the man who was healed.

We see in the crowd of those who opposed Jesus a spiritual collapse and degeneration. It is not merely that they were blind. It is also that they were blind while standing in the very presence of the light. How could this be? How could those who witnessed the astounding miracles of Jesus not understand that He was from the Father? The text gives us many evidences of their blindness, but also many explanations for it.

·        Theywere blinded by their religious customs. (v.13-16)

Our text significantly points out the timing of this miracle:

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.

In both v.14 and v.16 the Sabbath again comes to the forefront of the discussion. In healing this man on the Sabbath, Jesus violated the religious customs that had grown up around and accumulated on the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. He did not violate or break the commandment itself, merely the customary religious explanation of what it meant to keep the Sabbath.

The Jewish opposition was blinded by their religious customs. Their secondary rules concerning keeping the Sabbath had grown so big that they could not see the Lord of the Sabbath working in their very midst!

It is a heartbreaking reality that religious people often let their religious customs blind them to the movements of God. We are, in many ways, no less guilty. When keeping the secondary rules of the religious community become so big that we cannot see God, then we have allowed those rules to become idols indeed.

·        They were blinded by their refusal to believe. (v.18-21)

Of course, this opposition party simply refused to believe that Jesus was from God and doing the work of God:

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.”

Forget for a moment that rather humorous and sad spectacle of these parents protecting their own skin. The real tragedy here is that, faced with evidence of a divine miracle, these Jews relapse into simply denying that the man was ever sick. This is unbelief in its most pernicious form. When the evidence contradicts their assumptions, they simply deny the man was blind in the first place.

This is the blinding power of unbelief. When a person does not want to believe something, all the proof in the world cannot convince him or her otherwise. So it was with these who refused to believe. So it is today.

·        They were blinded by their understanding of God. (v.24-25)

At the heart of their refusal to believe stood a conflict between what Jesus was doing and who they envisioned God to be.

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.”

They fall back on their misguided creed and their own theological assumptions concerning God. “Give glory to God,” they tell this man. The assumption here is clear enough: they thought they understood God so well that anything deviating from their understanding must be deemed ungodly.

Religious convictions have often stood in the way of the gospel. Many will not come to Jesus today because of the ways in which He violates their creeds, their understanding of God. Many today oppose Jesus in the name of God. It is a position of profound irony and blasphemy, for Jesus is God among us.

·        They were blinded by their refusal to listen. (v.26-27)

In their disbelief they pester this man with questions they refuse to hear answered.

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?”

The man’s agitation is evident and understandable: “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?”

The sarcasm is justifiable here. After all, it is an exercise in folly to keep demanding an answer you will not even grant as being possible. So it was in the first-century and so it is today.

Perhaps you have experienced this before: the person who quite simply refuses to listen, the person who does not want to hear. They are not only blind to the truth of God, they are deaf to it as well.

·        They were blinded by their religious pedigree. (v.28)

They next resort to one of their favorite tactics of evasion: the retreat to their religious pedigrees.

²⁸ And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Ah!  Earlier they appealed to Abraham in opposing Jesus. That did not turn out so well in chapter 8. Now they lift up Moses above Jesus. Of course, this man does not yet know enough of Jesus to know that before Moses was, Jesus was. Even so, he surely knows enough to see what is happening here. They fall back on their heritage, on their status as insiders.

Let us be perfectly clear on this: no degree of religious heritage or pedigree or ancestry will save you if you turn from the truth of God. They say, “We are disciples of Moses!” We say, “I come from generations of preachers and teachers and missionaries. I was raised in the Sunday School. My first spoken words were ‘Lottie’ and ‘Moon.’ I have the t-shirt. I’m on the inside.”

Good for you, as far as that goes, but I ask you: just how far does that go? Just how far can your religious heritage take you? I daresay not very far if you are using it to hide from the truth of God in and on your life!

·        They were blinded by their arrogance. (v.29)

And, of course, they were an arrogant people, these who refused to acknowledge what Jesus was doing and Who He was from.

²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

You will notice a repetition of certainty here: “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

Their supposed knowledge had become the gold standard and basis by which they judged all things. This is arrogance, plain and simple. It is arrogant to plant your feet in your own mind and refuse to move from that position. It is arrogant to assert more than you can assert.

“We know…” Ah! But that’s the question, isn’t it? Do you really know? On what basis do you claim to know?

They were blinded by their own arrogance.

·        They were blinded by their unteachable hearts. (v.34)

Hand-in-hand with arrogance was the assumption that they could not learn more of God. They were especially incensed at the suggestion that they might learn more of God from such a supposedly-lowly creature as this man.

³⁴ They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

It is always regrettable when a man or woman reaches the point that they do not believe they have anything else to learn about God. It is further regrettable when a man or woman refuses they could learn from a simple person like this man.

God will never shed new light that contradicts His Word, but He may yet shed further light from His Word in our lives. None of us have reached the point where we need learn no more. All of us are pilgrims along the way.

Do not assume, like these who opposed Jesus, that you have nothing more to learn!

We see the spiritual degeneracy of those who opposed Jesus. We will see the spiritual growth of the man who received the miracle. But, in the midst of all, stands Jesus, the Savior, Lord and God of all. He neither falls nor rises in His understanding of God, for He was one with the Father.

Consider what the text reveals about Jesus.

·        Jesus is the initiating giver of light. (v.1)

¹ As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

Notice that Jesus takes the initiative. He is passing by while the man is stationary. He sees the man while the man cannot see Him. Could there be a better explanation of conversion than this?

We were blind in our sins, lost, sitting in judgment. Then along comes Jesus and He casts eyes of mercy upon us. He sees us and calls to us. He touches us and heals us. He lifts us up and gives us a new song to sing.

Jesus is the initiating giver of light.

·        Jesus is the displayer of God’s glory. (v.2-3)

He gives light and He does so to display God’s glory.

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.

Jesus pushes back against the assumption that this man’s blindness is a result of some particular sin. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

I agree with Theodore of Mopsuestia who pointed out that Jesus is not denying that the man and his parents are sinners. He is simply saying that, in the case of this man’s blindness, sin isn’t the issue. Rather, God wanted to work a miracle so as to display His glory in and through this man.

Let us be humble when seeking to diagnose our problems. We often attribute this or that to “an attack from the devil,” when, in fact, it may simply be a work of God in our lives to the furtherance of His great glory.

Jesus sought to display God’s glory in this man. This dear man becomes, then, the stage on which God decides to move and work. This is what Jesus does in all of His works with His people and with His church. He seeks to bring glory to God by transforming our lives.

·        Jesus is the seeking Savior. (v.35a)

^35a Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said,

Like the one sheep who was lost, the Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and seeks him out. Jesus is the seeking, searching, loving, reaching Savior. What an amazing picture! Jesus goes to the man and finds him.

·        Jesus is the revealing Savior. (v.35b-37)

Having found Him, Jesus draws this man further into a relationship with Him by revealing who He is:

^35b “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.”

Jesus is the revealer. First, He removes the man’s blindness. Now He fixes the man’s gaze upon Himself. Here again we see the divine initiative: the Lord Jesus reveals Himself to the man.

·        Jesus is the judging Savior. (v.39-41)

Finally, the Lord announces judgment on those who reject the work of God or seek to stifle His movements in the world.

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; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Jesus, the Lord of mercy, likewise judges those who refuse to see. The Pharisees were guilty because they should have known the truth of God, because they were the recipients of the Law and prophets, and because they rejected the grace the Lord had shown them. Their guilt remained because they refused to accept the mercy of God in Christ.

And finally we see the man himself. I like this man. He is a character. He seems mildly irritated by the religious controversy in which he finds himself even as he rejoices at what God has done in his life.

I believe it is best to speak of this man as the recipient of dawning light. We see in him a religious awakening, a passage from darkness to light. He has been healed, but he must journey to understand fully what has happened and, more importantly, by what hand it has happened.

The sun rises in his life. The light begins to spread. It illuminates all that he is and all he knows. Let us watch the progression:

·        He acknowledges that something has happened to him. (v.9)

⁹ Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

The man begins with the simple fact that something has happened to him. It is not a bad place to start, is it? When we are touched by Christ this is usually the sum total of our testimony in the very beginning. “I can’t explain it to you, but I know something has happened to me.”

·        He recounts what happened. (v.11)

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.”

He is able to recount the events of the miracle. He knows the raw facts: Jesus, mud, blindness, healing. He does not know the theological back story. At this point, how could he? But He knows the sequence of events.

·        He is not in relationship with Jesus. (v.12)

¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

His experience with Jesus is real, but there is no abiding relationship as of yet.

“Where is he?”

“I do not know.”

He has been touched by the Lord, but He does not yet stand in the Lord’s presence. There is still a distance in His own life and mind and understanding.

·        He interprets Jesus through the lens of his spiritual upbringing. (v.17)

When the man ventures a religious explanation, he, of course, employs the religious terminology of his upbringing.

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.”

He does not yet see Jesus as an object of worship, but He knows there is something unique, something special about Him. “He is a prophet.” Again, this is not a bad place to start: a recognition that there is something special about this Jesus.

·        He knows Jesus has power. (v.24-25)

Furthermore, He is a prophet with power, according to this man’s understanding. Do you see the growing light? He is progressing, learning and growing in grace.

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.”

He disclaims any special knowledge of Jesus, but this he does know: this Jesus is powerful and strong. He has touched him and healed him. He has something that others do not have.

·        He grows uncomfortable with those who oppose Jesus. (v.26-27)

While he does not yet know fully what he believes, he begins to sense that something is amiss with those who refuse to believe.

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?”

One need not have a profound knowledge of Jesus to know that there is something wrong with rejecting Him. This is the position of the man. He begins to at least know what He does not believe. He does not believe what these people are saying about Jesus. He does not believe Jesus is a liar, a sinner, a demon.  He does not believe Jesus is a sinner.

If you notice, they are essentially driving this man into the arms of Jesus with their absurd rejection of Jesus! He at least knows enough to know that what they are doing rings false and hollow.

·        He begins to connect Jesus to God. (v.29-33)

The next step is reasonable enough. If the crowd that opposes Jesus is wrong to say that He is not of God, then it must be that He is of God.

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.”

The sun continues to rise, illuminating his mind and heart. It is still somewhat vague, but it is powerful nonetheless. This unnamed man begins to draw a connection between Jesus and God. “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

His eyes have been healed, but it is almost as if he is only now beginning to see. He sees the imprint of God on this Jesus. It is as if this man begins to entertain amazing thoughts now, thoughts that he never would have considered before. Could this man Jesus be from God in a special way, a unique way?

·        He believes and worships. (v.35-38)

Then he finds himself again in the presence of the Jesus who touched Him. It is an astounding scene of soul-inspiring beauty:

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.

Finally! His healing is complete! The miracle is no longer a merely physical matter. He has been healed to see the truth and beauty and glory of Jesus. He has been touched by Jesus and his life will never, ever be the same.

The same Jesus calls to us today.

The same crowd opposes this Jesus.

But to those who come, He gives light and life, forevermore.