Brokenness is everywhere. Buildings crumble, living things die and decay, and people hurt in many different ways. Whether brokenness has visibly affected the body or has simply left its mark on the soul and spirit, there are always lingering effects. Behind every scar is a story.
The text of John 9 considers physical brokenness. These hurts are the kind that leave behind physical limitation. Sometimes we are limited for a time, and then we heal and regain our ability. Other times the physical limitations are permanent. The particular man in John 9 fully expected his brokenness to be permanent, for he was blind from birth, according to verse 1.
Consider some of the consequences of this man’s condition. Since he was born blind, he had never seen the creation in his own backyard. He had never seen even one of the many olive trees in Israel. He had never seen the Jordan River or looked across the Mediterranean Sea. He did not know what the waves of the Sea of Galilee looked like, or the stars in the Judean sky. He had not even seen the most beautiful thing a healthy-hearted male can see: this blind man had never seen a woman. This world contains so many wonders that amaze us, or that we even take for granted, but this blind beggar had no mental image for any of them.
Although this man could not see, Jesus saw him. This “seeing” was more than just the physical sense the blind man didn’t have. By seeing, him, Jesus took notice of him. This is an important reminder for those enduring difficult circumstances: the Savior sees you too. Take comfort in that.
Jesus was not the only one to see—and notice—the blind man. The disciples saw him too. Verse 2 continues this historic account with a question from the disciples.
Asked “Who”
Jesus’ disciples were interested in the “who”: “Who did sin—this man, or his parents—that he was born blind” (v. 2)? Their interrogative includes some assumptions. They simply took for granted that some specific sin had caused the man’s birth defect, and they wanted to know who was guilty of it. Was it the man himself? Was it his parents?
Their assumption was wrong. And because their assumption was wrong, Jesus would not answer their loaded question. At the same time, their speculation was not completely invalid. Brokenness is often a consequence of sinful choices. However, instead of assuming they knew the reason for the man’s condition, they should instead have asked why he was born broken. By asking their question as they did, they implied that God was chastising this family for some specific sin. Job’s friends famously made the same erroneous assumption. They concluded without proof that Job had committed some scandalous sin. We might easily follow the same line of reasoning about the trials of others. Don’t be that guy!
This advice is harder to follow when we are the broken ones. We might assume that God is sending a trial as chastisement for sinful transgression. In that case, instead of asking “who,” we may instead ask “how”. “How long will I be punished?” “How bad will this trial be?” “How can I endure this?” Perhaps you wonder if you will ever pass through the time of trial.
God sends trials for different reasons. Sometimes, the difficulty is chastisement for specific sin. Other times, we endure undesirable circumstances simply because we live in a sin-cursed earth. Pain, sickness, and death are an unavoidable part of temporal life. Romans 8:22 tells us that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” While we walk the earth, we will bump into the thorns and thistles of life, the consequences of mankind’s sin (Gen. 3:17-18).
Since sin is generally and ultimately the cause of sorrow and trial, it is not wrong for the disciples to inquire about specific sin. However, to speculate without knowledge is unnecessary, often judgmental, and unfruitful. We may never know exactly why God permitted specific trials, and discerning between chastisement and consequences of the curse is very difficult.
Perhaps, though, you are fully persuaded that your hardship is God’s chastisement. Please remember, then, that the divine chastening is a sign of sonship. “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,” Hebrews 12:6 says. That spiritual spanking is evidence that you are a son, not a bastard. God only chastens his own, “for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not” (Hebrews 12:7)? Hebrews 12 goes on to recognize something all children know: “now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous.” However, God has a plan for his chastening: “afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” So, then, do not despise, faint at, or run from the divine discipline; in the future, when it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness, you will thank God for the chastening.
Answered “Why”
Notice how Jesus answered the disciples’ question. They asked, “Who sinned?” Jesus’ response is “Neither.” No specific sin caused this man’s congenital condition. Jesus’ answer exposed their incorrect presupposition and instead directs them to a divine reason.
The “why” question is the most commonly asked question during trying times. However, a maturing Christian will ask that question less and less frequently. The reason maturity eliminates “why” questions is because it understands that the answer Jesus gave is the key to understanding every trial. That man was born blind, Jesus said, “that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (v. 3). The same is true for our hardship. Trials are opportunities for God to reveal His power through our lives.
My life is a testimony to God’s purpose for trials. I now know why I was born into broken home, and why I experienced all the drama of my inner city upbringing. Many times I asked God “why” through my tears. “Why was I born into this mess? Why are we poor? Why was I born into these inner city problems?” Today, I look back and see “why.” God put me in that situation so the “works of God should be made manifest” through my life. The works of God are the marriage and family He has entrusted to my care. Had I not been born into those circumstances and learned the many lessons God taught me, I would not have the blessings I currently enjoy. At the time, I hated the trials. Now, I see how God allowed me to benefit from them, and how God is even now getting glory through it. My life has been a series of Romans 8:28 moments.
John 9 is also a Romans 8:28 scenario. This man was born blind so Jesus could do a great work through him, specifically, revealing that He is the Messiah. Jesus is the Light of the World, verse 5 reminds us. Healing this man will provide the readers yet another reason to believe John 8:12 and John 9:5, “and that believing ye might have life through His name” (John 20:31).
Anointed the Eyes
Through verse 5, the man is still blind. In verses 6-7, Jesus heals the man. This healing, though, was accomplished in a most unusual way. Jesus used divine saliva and Israeli soil to form a supernatural clay that takes man’s blindness away. However, he also entrusted the blind man with responsibility. “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” Jesus said, and the man responded submissively, leaving to wash the clay off his eyes. When the clay came off, the lights came on, and the man could see. What a miracle!
Audience Responds
This miracle was done in a public place. Further, this blind beggar was apparently well-known. Naturally, then, the public had opinions on the event. Verse 8 identifies the two general opinions of two groups. One group was “the neighbors”; the other was “they which before had seen him that was blind.” The object of controversy that John records is whether or not “this is he that sat and begged.” One group said yes; “this is he” (v. 9). The other group said no, “he is like him.” The audience was divided.
Authenticating the Miracle
To address the division, the healed man himself answered the hotly debated question. “I am he,” the man said in verse 9. Satisfied with his first hand testimony, the gathered neighbors and acquaintances pressed him for details. “How were thine eyes opened?” they ask in verse 10. The man responds with exactly what happened. “A man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes, and said unto me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ I went and washed, and I received sight” (v. 11). Spit & soil smeared, submission at Siloam, and now sight! That is this man’s story.
Anyone who expects the crowd to congratulate the man, or explain all the things he was seeing for the first time (or introduce the man to Roy G. Biv), will be disappointed. Instead of rejoicing, they interrogate further. “Where is he?” they ask. The man responds simply: “I know not” (v. 12).
Authorities Investigate
The polarizing nature of this miracle attracted the attention of the authorities, and the Pharisees investigate the man’s claim of healing. Just like the crowd, the Pharisees did not pause to rejoice with the man. Their concern was that he was healed on the Sabbath. Once more Jesus had to deal with the legalistic obsession over the Sabbath. How much work is required to spit on the ground and form clay? Very little. Their stated concern was over a trifle, and it was deceitful. They were not primarily invested in preserving the sanctity of the Sabbath; rather, they were worried that Jesus would threaten their authority. Their desire for power made them spiritually blind, just like the man had been physically blind. And, unlike the man, they were unwilling to be healed by Jesus.
These authorities directed their jealousy of Jesus into their interrogation. They had two questions: “How did you receive your sight?” and “What do you think of Jesus?” Unsatisfied with the man’s answers, the authorities next located and interrogated the man’s parents. “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then doth he now see” (v. 19)? Father and mother affirm that, yes, this was their son, and yes, he was born blind. But they did not admit to knowing how his eyes were opened. Verse 22 explains that the parents were afraid of the Jews, for “the Jews had agreed already that, if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.” To be excommunicated from the synagogue was to be cast out of respectable society and suffer shame. The parents not only refused to consider who Jesus was, but also were willing to sell out their son. This is what a person who gives into fear is capable of.
Stonewalled by the man’s parents, the Pharisees returned to interrogating the formerly blind man. They wanted him to denounce Jesus. “Give God the praise,” they demanded. “We know that this man [Jesus] is a sinner” (v. 24). Our healed friend answered simply, “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (v. 25). As they continued to press him, the man grew exasperated. “I have told you already,” he says in verse 27. Perhaps he thought to himself that, though he had been blind, these pompous Pharisees are deaf. “Wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye also be his disciples?”
Two things came from the man’s spunky declaration. One, he publicly declared his allegiance to Jesus. Two, the Pharisees became angry and belittled the man. “We are Moses’ disciples,” they proclaimed. They wanted to paint Jesus as a sinner, and themselves as righteous. However, the healed man would not call Jesus a sinner. Instead, he quoted Psalm 66:18 and asserted that Jesus was from God.
Professing Jesus to be divine was repugnant to the Pharisees. “Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?” they responded. Instead of humility, they doubled down on the hardness of their heart. They, like all hard hearted people, were unteachable. In their pride, the religious leaders were willing to cast this man out of the synagogue. According to verse 34, they did just that.
As interesting as this human interaction is, John did not record it for the sake of the drama. The purpose of the interrogation was to show his readers the Christ and to expose the hearts of those who refuse to see Him. Modern skeptics are not the first to reject the claims of Jesus of Nazareth. Today’s intellectuals are not the first to mask unbelief with claims of scrutiny. Those who hate Jesus have existed in every generation.
Adoring the Son of God
While many hate the Christ, there have been lovers of Jesus in every generation as well. This formerly blind man became one of the lovers. We know this because Jesus went to seek out the man and verify his profession. Consider what the man had endured by this time: he had been socially shunned as a beggar all his life and, now that he was whole, he was cast out of the community by the Pharisees. Yet, in this deep trial, Jesus sought him out. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” Jesus asks in verse 35. The man responds in verse 38, “Lord, I believe.”
This man’s profession was truly the turning point of his life. Yes, he was excommunicated from the synagogue. Yes, his parents were too cowardly to support or defend him. Yes, he had to start his life over again now that he could see. However, this man now had Jesus. And because he had Jesus, the man had everything.
On the other hand, the Pharisees temporarily retained their power. They controlled the synagogue. They held power to intimidate and disgrace others. And yet, they were blinded by their self-sufficiency and arrogance.
The humility to adore Jesus is central to the Christian life. Long before this generation, the man was humble enough to recognize that Jesus is worthy of worship and adoration. Today, we gather Sunday after Sunday with a church family to adore the Creator. We recognize that we did not create ourselves, and so the One who created us should be adored. We recognize we are saved from the consequences of our sin, and the One who saved us should be praised, learned from, and obeyed.
Conclusion
Let us return to the theme of sight. This blind man was able to see many things for the first time that day he was healed. He saw his parents. Imagine the overflow of emotion. He saw the Pharisees. To see such a spiritually ugly, arrogant, and self-absorbed group was an unpleasant experience. However, neither of those experiences is as glorious as seeing the Messiah. We have not yet had such pleasure. 1 Corinthians 13:12 captures our situation well. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then [one day] face to face.”
Jesus may heal your brokenness the way he healed this man. He may instead allow the trial to remain. In either case, if He has saved your soul from the devil’s hell, you have everything to thank Him for and certainly nothing to complain about.
Now, we walk by faith. One day, we will walk by sight. In the meantime, through the “glass darkly” of this time, I charge you to see Jesus. Ignore the world full of critics of Christ, like the blind man did. If you have been healed spiritually and redeemed as he was, you have those things in common. Jesus is the Christ, this account proclaims to us. Now is the time to adore Him.
The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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