## Believe in Miracles: Healing a Man Born Blind

## John 9:1-12

So far in our study we have discovered that the miracles included in John's gospel were for the purpose of pointing us to Jesus Christ that we 'might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God'. In each of the miracles we have considered we have seen the sovereignty and power of God demonstrated through the life and ministry of Jesus. He turned water into wine, He healed the nobleman's son with just a word, He healed the man at Bethesda who had not walked in 38 years. He fed the multitude with five loaves and two small fish, and He came walking upon the water to join His disciples in the midst of a storm on the sea of Galilee. Each of these miracles revealed a bit more of His power and glory that we might believe. No two miracles were the same, and tonight we will see that He works differently again to bring sight to the blind man.

I. The Occasion of the Miracle

A. He had been in conflict with the Pharisees in the temple.

1. He spoke to them of Light and Darkness.

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

2. He spoke to them of Sin and Death.

Joh 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

3. He spoke to them of Freedom and Bondage.

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

4. He spoke of Abraham and Himself.

Joh 8:58-59 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

5. This caused the Jews to rise up against Him and seek to destroy Him.

B. As He passed by… v1-2

1. Now we see the context of this miracle.

2. Jesus walked right through the midst of the angry crowd, and He saw a man who was blind from birth.

3. This miracle would be to illustrate and instruct the disciples as well as others that Jesus came to bring sight to the blind.

4. The disciples also saw the man and asked some questions concerning him.

a. Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

b. Where does the responsibility lie for this man's hopeless condition.

c. Was it his fault, or was it the fault of his parents?

d. It was commonly believed that all special calamities were caused by special sins.

e. Since God warned that He would visit iniquities of fathers upon their children to the fourth generation, they wanted to know.

Nu 14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

C. For God's Glory v3-5

1. Neither!

2. This circumstance is for God's glory.

3. The Lord was not saying that the parents were sinless, or that the blind man was sinless, but that no special sin of either caused the man to be born blind.

4. God had a purpose in this and that was to demonstrate His glory…to illustrate the truth Jesus had given earlier… I am the Light of the world!

5. Jesus explains that He must do the work of God while it is day.

a. He is speaking of the urgency of the work here.

b. People are in darkness…and they must see the Light.

c. This is why He came into the world!

d. This is also a challenge to us…for He declared that we, as His disciples, were to carry that light into the darkness.

Mt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

II. The Working of the Miracle

A. The Anointing. v6

1. This is completely different.

2. Jesus could have spoken…He could have done anything…but He chose to do this.

3. Here is a very public demonstration…they were not alone.

4. He didn't take medicine…He simply used His saliva with dust of the earth to make clay.

5. Again, a demonstration of the power of God…no one could claim a natural basis for this healing.

B. The Washing. v7

1. Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.

2. The Pool of Siloam was the only permanent water source for the city of Jerusalem in the first century AD.

3. It was fed by the waters of the Gihon Spring diverted through Hezekiah's Tunnel, built in the 8th century BC.

4. It had no healing properties at all. Unlike the legend that surrounded the pool of Bethesda that we considered in John 5.

5. This miracle was reminiscent of Naaman's healing in 2 Kings 5 when Elisha instructed him to go wash in the Jordan River.

6. That miracle as well as this one speaks to the need of obedience to the Word.

7. He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

III. The Response of the Crowd

A. The testimony of the neighbors. v8-9a

1. Some believed, others doubted.

2. They knew him…he had been blind since birth.

3. No doubt he spent much time at the gate of the temple begging and many people would pass by him going to and from worship.

4. But this was such an amazing miracle that some thought it impossible.

B. The testimony of the man himself. v9b

1. He declared to them…I am he!

2. The crowd was talking about him, but not to him!

3. He speaks up and said, yes… it is me! I am the one who was born blind, but now I can see!

C. Their honest question - How? v10

1. Their question confirmed that a miracle had taken place.

2. He was the man born blind…and now he could see again.

3. This conversation again was public, and it no doubt drew more attention to the miracle that had taken place.

D. His explanation given. v11-12

1. His explanation is simple and direct.

2. A witness only tells what they know to be true…they give their account of what happened to them.

3. We do not need a Seminary degree to be a witness…we just need to tell what we know.

4. He pointed them to Jesus.

a. He made clay.

b. He anointed my eyes.

c. He told me to go wash.

d. I did, and now I see.

5. His witness caused others to seek Jesus for themselves. 'Where is He?'

IV. The Response of the Pharisees

A. Their resistance to accept this. v13-18a

1. The man repeated his testimony of what had taken place.

2. Some totally rejected that it could be of God, because it was on the Sabbath.

3. Others acknowledged the miracle and it caused division among them.

4. Some of them didn't believe this man's testimony of what had taken place.

B. They call his parents to question. v18b-23

1. Their testimony is simple as well.

2. He is our son, he was born blind, now he can see, but that is all we know.

3. Go ask him if you need further details.

4. They were afraid to declare Jesus as the Messiah because of a previous declaration of the Jews.

C. The second interrogation. v24-25

1. They sought to coerce him to deny Jesus.

2. We know this man is a sinner!

3. His simple response, 'One thing I know'

4. Again they asked about what Jesus did.

D. The man's observation. v26-34

1. Note the frustration and a bit of sarcasm from the man.

2. His response infuriated them.

3. Can't you hear their pride in v28?

4. He declares that it is an amazing thing…

a. You don't know anything about Him, but He gave me sight.

b. He couldn't be a sinner, because God doesn't hear sinners.

c. There is no question that He did this miracle…and that it was from God.

d. As a result, they threw him out of the temple.

E. Jesus finds the man again. v35-38

1. He heard what had happened to this man so He came looking for him.

2. He asked him if he believed on the Son of God.

3. The response of the man - Who is He?

4. Jesus declared Himself to be the Son of God and the man placed his faith in Him and worshipped Him.

5. Now he was doubly blessed… he received physical sight and spiritual sight.

F. Jesus' declaration to the Pharisees. v39-41

1. This is why I came into the world.

2. To provide sight to those who are blind, and to reveal the blindness of those who refuse to see.

3. The Pharisees refused to accept the thought they were blind to the True Light of God.

4. Sight was available, but only to those who would admit they needed it!

Next: Raising Lazarus John 11:1-44