35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. ~ John 9:35-41
The Lord Jesus had given to this formerly blind man physical eyesight. Now, in today's text, He gives him spiritual eyesight by saying in v.37, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." I love the man's response in v.38, "Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him."
As illustrated here, the biggest issue in our lives is that of worship. And yet, there are so many competitors in life for our worship. This is why the first commandment informs us to have no gods BEFORE Him. You see, that preposition "before" is of major importance. Whether we admit it or not, we have many gods. I believe the number one god in America is "comfort." So, what we worship the most is of most importance in our lives.
Then follows the Lord's next comment in v.39, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." We live among the most educated group of young people ever in this country, and yet, they largely do not believe in the Lord Jesus. Millenials illustrate this adage: when we begin to think that we do not need the Lord, we are in the most danger. To put is another way, "Once we reach the top, take care as the only way left to go is down."
Some of the Pharisees near the Lord Jesus heard these things, and said to Him, “Are we blind, too?” In v.41, the Lord Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."
This chapter began with Jesus healing a man born blind. A physical miracle happened. Jesus did it on the Sabbath, and He did it by making clay which He applied to the blind man's eyes. And so a conflict is unleashed. And as the conflict progresses, it becomes clear that the blind beggar is seeing reality more and more clearly, and the Pharisees are seeing reality less and less clearly.
The blind man moves from seeing Jesus as a man (v.11), to seeing Him as a prophet (v.17) to worshiping Him (v.38). But the Pharisees move the opposite direction. In v.16: “This man [Jesus] is not from God.” In v.22: “If anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.” Then, in v. 24: “This man [Jesus] is a sinner.” Finally, in v.34, to the formerly blind man: “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?”
And what becomes plain as we come to the last three verses is that what began as a miracle of healing physical blindness has become (as so often in this Gospel) a picture of healing spiritual blindness.
The mission of the Lord Jesus was not to condemn us. However, as people believe in the Lord Jesus, a division happens and those who do not believe are revealed by their unbelief.
The Lord Jesus saves by being the truth and speaking the truth and doing the truth. And those who are not of the truth refuse to embrace Him as Savior, and therefore are condemned.
So, in v.39, the Lord Jesus explains how He has come into the world for judgment. He has come for judgment “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” On the one hand, the judging sword of the Lord Jesus is going to cut away the blinding calluses of the heart, and the blind will see. But on the other hand, there is a blinding effect of this saving work. According to v.39: “and those who see may become blind.”
For the spiritually blind, blindness is a condition of the mind, whereas the Lord Jesus is saying spiritual blindness is of the heart. So, in v.41, the Lord Jesus says, "your guilt remains." Our sin condemns us if we do not turn to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness.
Those who have perfectly good eyes, who can think and reason, who can see the evidences, and hear the sermons, and read the Bible, and get acquainted with the Lord Jesus, but who will not admit they are blind and need to be born again with spiritual life and light, they are blind, their blindness is revealed and the more light that they resist, the harder and deeper becomes their blindness.
To help BYM, click here
To help BYM, click here
