Saturday, May 17, 2025

The Sign of His Light

Have you ever heard the expression "the hardest part about being deceived is that you don't KNOW you are being deceived.  Something similar can be said about our "sight", our ability to see the truth.  We can easily convince ourselves that we may clearly see reality, when in reality we are blind. But when we encounter Christ our perspective changes and we gain understanding of Spiritual truth and life.

Claude Monet, one of my favorite early 20th century painters, is considered the founder of the French impressionist art movement.  He had tremendous influence upon art, but what we rarely hear is how Monet had a vision impairment that would lead to his eventual blindness. 

In this study we look at John 9:1-11, and 30 to 33 at the sixth sign John reported of the miraculous acts of Jesus that reveal his glory as the Christ, the Son of God, and attest to his saving mission.  

Only through Jesus can we truly see.  John 9 is the story of the healing of a man who had been blind from birth.  After his healing, the local authorities tried to use the man to build a case for opposing Jesus. Jesus had another message for those who are NOT spiritually blind.

Jesus performed miracles of restoring sight to the blind.  He did so to identify himself with the Messianic activity predicted in Isaiah 29:18 and 35:5, in which the blind will be made to see.  

Giving physical sight was an appropriate metaphor for the spiritual work he desired in people's lives in that they would move from darkness to light. 

Here we see Jesus take a man who was blind from birth and re-created his physical sight.  But more than that, this man’s spiritual sight was sharpened as he beheld the reality that is Jesus.

John 9:1-5

1 As he was passing by, 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,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. 4 We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The problem with spiritual blindness is that people don’t even recognize that Jesus is the light they need. While it is easy to see that physical blindness results in different functioning in the world, it is less easy, for the spiritually blind, 
to see that spiritual blindness results in the abnormal functioning of the world, rather than the NORMAL functioning of God.  But Jesus can open eyes to see truth and light.

Like most of humanity, the disciples were focused on the "problem" and laying blame and pointing fingers instead of seeing the individual with a need.  It was natural for Jesus’s disciples to think as Job’s friends had—that past sin lay behind the present malady. If you were to never DO anything wrong or sinful, then you would never have any "punishment" for sin; someone MUST have sinned somewhere they reasoned. 

The disciples may have remembered the Old Testament warning about judgment in Exodus 20:5—“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations.” They wondered if this man’s parents bore judgment for personal or ancestral wrongs that brought about the birth abnormality of blindness in their son. 

Commonly people associate suffering with penalty.  Often we fail to understand all the reasons people suffer. It’s fruitless for us to offer personal speculation in these instances. We, like Job, can speak of things “too wondrous” or great for us to know. Whatever the reason, the disciples sought new understanding from their rabbi. They were seeking the truth from Him. Jesus proceeded to dispel their “either-or” assumption of blame.  He had an entirely different rationale for the blindness.

Some take this passage to mean that God had a preexisting plan that this particular man would be blind so that Jesus could find and heal him.  Others suggest that Jesus stepped into a situation of need, and realized that the outcome of his actions would bring awareness of his divinity, and glory to the Creator God.

We could summarize this lesson with his disciples as Why do "bad" things happen? That God may show the "good" in his provision FOR those to whom "bad" things happen. Remember that a happening is neither "good" nor "bad" in and of itself.  It is the OPPORTUNITY for Good that a circumstance displays, for if there is no "need" then there is no reason for Agape (Love) to be expressed.  WHEN there is need, then God's love, agape may be demonstrated for others calling attention to God.  We must make it a priority to love and serve others despite adverse circumstances around us.

Jesus tells US to do good because night is coming.  Night meant it was impossible to work normally as the normal day shut down and the limited light sources of Jesus’ time would not allow for much more than personal work. Night metaphorically implies finality and the end of opportunity. Jesus taught that His disciples, like Jesus, should do the works of God and do them promptly. The night, darkness, comes at some point and cancels opportunities to serve. There is only regret when we fail to do the will of God when we become aware of it and when we are walking WITH God in His light. That is, when we have opportunity. If we miss the opportunity while we are WITH GOD, (In the Holy Spirit), then we regret that we passed up an opportunity to do as God called us to do.  
Thus, meet the need when you are aware of the need, and when the Spirit moves you to meet the need.

Jesus’ reference to The light of the world is another of John’s seven “I am” statements of Jesus. John introduced this theme in the Gospel’s prologue. He contrasted Jesus with John the Baptist: “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He (the Baptist) was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world”. Jesus bears the light of God’s presence, love, and purpose.  Jesus is about to demonstrate that he is this light so that the people, the Pharisees and other “government officials” could learn that God’s light was now in the world.  

Let’s learn the details of this miracle.

John 9:6-11

6 After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” 9 Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one.” 10 So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.”

So Jesus spit on the ground and made some mud. Spitting is often associated with great insult, but this incident is certainly not to be understood as an insult. 

Some ancient peoples believed saliva had healing powers but Jesus did not need any medicine in order to show the power of God. Nor did the pool of Siloam have any unique healing properties. So it is clear that Jesus was not "practicing medicine", but rather performing a miracle. But why spit and mud?

Though not typical, the methodology in this miracle is not unique, since it is one of three similar incidents involving saliva in the Gospels (see also Mark 7:32-35; 8:22-25). No explanation is given for why, but here are several conjectures for using spit and mud:
  • The mud created by Jesus evokes the creation story where God formed Adam from the dust of the earth. Jesus is re-creating this man's sight.

  • Saliva in the time of Christ was seen as a symbol of humanity at a basic level. Most of the wonders of God in the Old Testament were brought about by the use of humans as the instrument of God. This illustrates that humanity is used to accomplish God's purposes.

  • Jesus may have been "performing" for the Pharisees. Jesus knew it was Saturday, the Sabbath. Jesus knew that the Pharisees held that it was against God's law to knead dough, or clay, or mud on the Sabbath. (The word used for dough is identical to the word used for mud or clay.) So while the Pharisees held that the act of spitting and kneading it into mud would be "against God's law" as THEY interpreted it but Jesus was about to demonstrate that HE was the Lord of the Sabbath.  

    You say it is against the law, but God DEMONSTRATES that it is within GOD'S power to heal when ever God chooses.  Jesus was demonstrating in a very material way that God was the Lord of the Sabbath and NOT Human's interpretations of God's Law.
The sabbath day was a day of rest implemented by GOD. Rest is for healing, making whole. If one doesn't rest, one will eventually die. Rest is weekly therapy for dying bodies. Get well; stop working.

Jesus made a pasty poultice to anoint the man’s eyes, He applied it to his eyes, then told him to find his way to Siloam for washing. John noted that the pool’s name means Sent. The One who had been sent from heaven to take away the sins of the world and provide sight to the spiritually blind sent this physically blind man to the pool of Sent.

The pool of Siloam is introduced in 2 Kings 20:20 as King Hezekiah’s public works project to bring water inside the walls of Jerusalem. The pool’s location was discovered by modern archaeologists in 2004. It’s believed the pool was more than two hundred feet in length. 

In obedience, the blind man left and made his way to the sent pool where he was sent. The man’s compliance with Jesus' instructions, coupled with the actions that Jesus took, resulted in the man's healing. This parallels the Old Testament where the prophet Elisha told Naaman of Syria to wash seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman protested that the river was polluted and his own country had better water in their own rivers, but at the urging of his servants, Naaman eventually agreed to this instruction. His obedience brought cleansing from leprosy. In both cases healing was dependent on following unique instructions. Traveling to the water source indicated following through on the instructions given, an act of obedience and faith.

The one who had never seen a day in his life came back seeing. The blind man found healing and joyously returned home. Those who had previously known him puzzled over this and did not recognize him at first. The passage notes that the man "kept saying", indicating an ongoing effort on the man’s part. He did not make a single claim to be the same person but repeatedly identified himself as that man. 

Upon being questioned about his ability to see, the formerly blind man explained that Jesus had given him a strange command that, when followed, had brought about the presence of his sight. The healed man was about to discover that not everyone was thrilled with his testimony of his healing transformation. But that didn’t stop him from declaring that Jesus’s work in his life pointed to who Jesus really is. His understanding progressed thusly:
  • In talking with his family and friends, he identified Jesus a man (v. 11). 
  • When the Pharisees began to question him regarding the identity of the One who healed him, the man replied, “He’s a prophet” (v. 17). 
  • His understanding of Jesus as a man of God would continue to grow and develop as we move through the remainder of his story.
John 9:30-33

30 “This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him. 32 Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

His neighbors brought the formerly blind man to the Pharisees. But the response of the religious leaders was mixed. Some of them were distraught about the healing having taken place on the Sabbath (he’s a law breaker); others questioned how an evil human could have done such a remarkable act of healing (because he is human he is a sinner; because he is a sinner he must be a charlatan; because he is a charlatan he cannot be “of God”). 

Having reached no firm conclusion these leaders further interrogated the man who was healed about the exact circumstances of the healing. The Pharisees even summoned the formerly blind man’s parents to testify further about what had happened. The religious leaders insisted Jesus, being human, was a sinner and could NOT do the works of God. 

The man who was healed insisted he didn’t know every legal thing about this matter, but only knew that Jesus had miracle-working power. The man gave a familiar response to his inquisitors: “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”The man then demonstrated boldness in responding to the critical inquisition of the Pharisees. They were undoubtedly faulting the man for what they perceived as a lack of credentials for Jesus. They claimed they didn’t know where Jesus was from, implying that He didn’t have the same spiritual credentials as Moses. To them Jesus was just a teacher with no spiritual authority, a spiritual upstart without the sanction of their government.

The man noted that if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, God listens. God-fearing refers to a respect for, a reverence for God. The Greek uses a compound word composed of “God” and “worship” or “devout.” The adjective is used only here in the New Testament when the healed man continued his bold testimony. God doesn’t listen to sinners, he said. His assertion was that it was impossible for Jesus to do miracles without God-ordained authority. The miracle that he experienced demonstrated Jesus was a man of holiness. 

This observation came from the presumably unschooled, formerly blind man who now had amazing spiritual insight. The Pharisees didn’t know where Jesus came from nor His spiritual pedigree. Their self-righteousness and jealousy blinded them to the truth before them. The man who had been physically blind demonstrated he was not spiritually blind. He had a greater understanding than they did. He knew Jesus was, no doubt, a man sent from God to do the work of God.

Whereas the healed man had previously identified Jesus as a man (v. 11) then a prophet (v. 17), he now concluded that Jesus had to be from God. Later he came to recognize and acknowledge that Jesus is “Lord” and worshiped Him for who He is (v. 38). 

Light, by definition, is radiant energy. Energy is power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources. Power is the ability to do something.  If you study science down to the lowest molecular, subatomic activities of the smallest particles, or non-particles, there comes a point where there is no explanation inside this closed material system other than God – the radiant ability to do something derived from physical, chemical or spiritual resources. If our hearts are alive and humble and worshipful, we will not stop until we see God at the bottom of everything.

Jesus' healing of this blind man was a sign of the radiant energy of God doing what Jesus desired done. This formerly blind-man’s spiritual wisdom is inspired motivation for us to earnestly seek God in our lives, to see God at the foundational aspect of everything.

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