Notes on the Gospel of John: Chapter 9

The scene is still at the Feast of Booths or Sukkot in Jerusalem. Remember: To honor the saving power of God’s light – literally the light in the desert during their wandering – every night in Jerusalem lamps would be lit.

So. . .God = Light. Light = God.

With the understanding of the Feast and the importance of the light, Jesus says what He says in verse 4 and it is not by accident. Jesus is the light of the world.

If God is Light and Jesus says He is light. Then He is clearly saying that He is God.

Now, I’ll be honest here and say there really isn’t a whole lot more that I can probably add to your understanding of the healing of the blind man that hasn’t already been said. This section of John is fairly well-trod ground.

The man was physically blind and was given the gift of sight through the grace of Jesus Christ.

It is important to note that the man was blind since birth. This gives everyone the idea that his blindness was no mere accident or some fluke. He was blind. He is blind. He has been blind. And everyone knows it. Jesus grants him sight.

We discover that the man was spiritually blind as well. And has been since birth. Through His grace, Jesus grants Him the ability to “see” Jesus for who He really is – the light of the world and the path to eternal life.

It’s also no coincidence that this passage is particular to John. In the verses where the Jewish authorities are questioning the man and his parents, you get a real sense for how the new Christians in John’s day felt – fear of excommunication and alienation.

Well. . .on top of everything else, when did Jesus decide to heal this man? Yes, the Sabbath. It makes you wonder if Jesus worked on any other day beside the Sabbath – or perhaps that’s the point.

In verse 16 we see a refrain from the Jewish leaders similar to the one heard when Jesus healed the paralytic man. Rather than be amazed at this miracle, the leaders are angered because the healing took place on the Sabbath. Again – unable to see the forest for the trees.

I really like verse 25 here. The former blind man is being grilled relentlessly by the authorities when he finally has had enough when they want him to declare Jesus as sinner. . .
“Look, I don’t know whether this guy is a sinner or not. Here’s what I do know – I was blind and now I see!” Hmmm. . .sounds like a great line for a hymn.

In verse 39-41, Jesus really gets to the crux of what’s going on. He has come to help the blind see and to blind those who think they see.

He pokes His finger in the Pharisees’ eyes [no pun intended?] yet again when He tells them that because they claim to see they are indeed sinners. The reality is they can see nothing.

It’s easy to detach ourselves from this passage and point our finger at the Pharisees for being “blind” to the truth of Christ. But before we do this, we need to be sure we are seeing the light and that we are not choosing to be spiritually blind.

Amen.