Healing of the man born blind
We often see the bible as a book with little humour, but there are some quite amusing incidents, which however often do have some serious overtones. One of those is in Exodus 14 when the Israelites were fleeing with the Egyptians hot on their tail. But they get to the Red Sea or the “Reed Sea” and now they appear trapped. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord and Moses and said “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out to the desert to die”, that’s amusing in itself but what I find so amusing is (v15) the Lord says to Moses “Why are you crying out to me. Tell the Israelites to move on.” What a learning point that is! Another classic would be Genesis 3:12 Adams response to God, “It was the woman you gave me……… who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
But today I want to have a look at another story, the story in John 9 where Jesus heals a man born blind. As we will see he is quite a character and parts of it a quite amusing. As we go though this story keep in mind that there is a parallel story unfolding showing our own spiritual blindness on earth, until our eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit ending when we too physically see Jesus at our resurrection.
So we pick up the story on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles where Jesus comes across a man born blind. This Feast of Tabernacles is an important part of what is happening here. We will come to it in a minute but part of the Feast of Tabernacles is its prophetic nature revealing a time when God will dwell amongst His people and be reconciled to them, i.e. a time of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The Feast is a time of great joy.
John 9:1-5 NIV Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
So Jesus refutes these suggestions that sin is the cause disabilities. We know that sin does have consequences and can have physical consequences but specific disabilities of this nature are not caused by sin.
Keep in mind Exodus 4:11 and Psalm 139:13: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’” “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”
So the question we tend to almost automatically ask in situations like these is “what is the cause of this condition, or why did this happen?”. Often it seems to be “unfair”. But Jesus turns this question around. We should be asking “what is the purpose in this trial?”
Remember Paul cried out three times for his thorn in the flesh to be healed, Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Moving on in the story
John 9:6- NIV 6 After saying this, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.8 His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him. ”But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
At this time there were three miracles that the Jews said would reveal the Messiah. The three Messianic miracles were healing leprosy, casting out a mute demon, and giving sight to a man born blind.
In the Law there is a provision for what the priests are to do should a person be healed of leprosy- But in all Israel’s history, there is no record of any Jew ever being healed of leprosy
And rabbis had a means for exorcising demons, but only if the demon within the person chose to speak and reveal their name- They had no power to cast out mute demons. That had never been done
And blindness that comes upon a person after birth is sometimes corrected in time, either by the natural healing of the body or other remedies- But a person born blind had never been healed by anyone
So its is noteworthy that particularly at this time of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus performs a Messianic miracle clearly demonstrating that He was the Son of God! God was with them.
John 9:16- NIV 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened. “The man replied, “He is a prophet.”18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.[They realised that this was a Messianic miracle and their leaders would for various reasons not accept this] 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
Just picking up the parallel story of us been spiritually blind before we were called by the Holy Spirit, isn’t it interesting that this man did not go in search of Jesus or call out to Him, no, it was Jesus that came to the blind man. In exactly the same way in our lives, it is not by our own strength, ability, knowledge or listening to a sermon that opens up our spiritual eyes and results in us calling out to God, but it is the Holy Spirit that comes to us and draws us to the Father, and we in obedience, still not very spiritually sightful go to the pool of baptism where we are washed and reborn in the Spirit. Thereafter we too can testify to what Jesus has done for us.
We also notice that in v22 his parents said this” because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue”. More and more as we get towards the end of this age we can expect that our beliefs will have us cast out from society. Our beliefs and what we know to be true will have us rejected and there will be a falling away from the church as people try to conform to this world. But this message says hold on and resist this pressure to conform to the world. What we believe in may result in us been rejected or cast out from society, just as the blind man did, we too need to stand firm and we too will see Jesus in the end.
Let’s have a quick look at the significance of the Feast of Tabernacles and the association with the Pool of Siloam in this story
The Feast of Tabernacles was considered the greatest of all the feasts. This is a most joyful feast in remembering how God has looked after Israel and looks back on how when in the wilderness Israel built temporary shelters or booths as God provided for their every need. It also has a prophetic aspect, how one day in the age of the Messiah, God would again dwell with Israel. There were a few regulatory requirements for this feast,.
The building of a temporary shelter (booth),
The taking of foliage to wave at the appropriate time (on the 7th day and included palm branches and or willow branches) and
Rejoicing during all 7 days.
At the time of the second temple and at the time of Jesus one of the most popular regulation or requirement was the ritualistic pouring out of water from a jug over the bronze altar in the Temple. This represented the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the age of the Messiah. Isaiah writes about this in
Isaiah 44:3 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground;I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”
In the Mishnah (book of Jewish traditions) they write ““He that has never seen the joy of the ceremony of the water drawing, has never in his life seen joy”, there were trumpets, harps, lyres and singing. Now this water was drawn from a specific pool, the Pool of Siloam. In Hezekiah’s time he had built and tunnel from the Spring of Gihon to the Pool of Siloam providing fresh water to the city should there be a siege. In fact Isaiah writes about this pool and this joy in Isaiah 12
Isaiah 12:2-3 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation,
And so this pool also became known as the “well of salvation”
So this Feast not only looked back, but also forward to a time of the Messiah, a pouring out of His Holy Spirit, a time of salvation and great joy. A time when the Shekinah glory of God would once again dwell with Israel. And here Jesus was, the glory of God, who heals a man born blind, a clear Messianic miracle by the Pharisee’s own definition, who directs the man to go to the Pool of Siloam to wash and the Pharisee’s miss every connection! So here at this pool or the “well of salvation”, a central part of the Feast of Tabernacles at this time, the priests were gathered and celebrating yet with all their knowledge of the scriptures they are the ones that are blind. There’s a learning point here…. been religious, or having head knowledge is a very different thing to being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Carrying on:
John 9:26-34 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
Very amusing.
But let’s just round off what we have learnt from this chapter
Let’s remember the parallel story of being born blind. We too were born spiritually blind i.e. we also had a birth defect, and by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit opened our eyes. Being rejected by society may be part of that whole experience, as with this blind man. However this chapter in John looks forward to a most joyous time when we too will see Jesus and we will dwell or tabernacle with Him.
When we face various disabilities and trials, blindness, or “thorns in the flesh” and the like the question we should maybe be asking, is not “why or what is the cause?” but “what purpose can this serve?” and paraphrasing John 9:3 “what work of God may be revealed to me in my life” or alternatively from Romans 8 :28 “what good things are going to come from this” because we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him!
For me we are living in the time of the man whose eyes were opened, a time similar to the joyous Feast of the Tabernacles, where we dwell with Jesus and by the Holy Spirit enter into the presence of God. A truly joyous time Psalm 145 highlights this feeling for me:
Psalm 145 NLT
1 I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever.2 I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever.
3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.
4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power.
5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendour and your wonderful miracles. 6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness.7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
And so this week we can go out in joy and be led forth in peace and even the mountains and hills will burst into song before you!
Amen