John 9 - Blind Man

Have something awful ever happened to you or someone you love? Did you question God and why it happened?  

Why do bad things happen?  

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.  (John 9:1-3 ESV)

Have you ever heard someone say that a disaster happened because of a person's sin?  

Why does Jesus say the man was born blind?  

Does the blind man have to get better in order for the works of God to be displayed in him?  

Why were we born?  

God is after the same thing with us as with the blind man - we are here so that his works might be displayed in us.  

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:7 ESV)

Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. (John 9:6, 7 ESV). 

Why did Jesus choose the grossest and dirtiest method of healing the man?  

Do you realize just how much you have to spit to make some good mud?  

Jesus’ teaching method can be summed up in this way: What you think is real, is NOT actually real, and what you think is true, is actually NOT true. And the spittle-miracles fit right into that didactic construct. Essentially Jesus was saying, ‘So, you think spit is an insult – you think spit is unclean? Well, let me show you what spit was capable of from the beginning – before sin came into the world.

Read more at: http://www.davidlgray.info/blog/2012/09/jesus-spit-miracles/ | DavidLGray.INFO

Maybe I'm biased toward this explanation because I'm a big fan of upcycling - finding junk and turning it into something amazing.  I tend to dig through people's trash to find lumber, and made a whole room out of throwaway stuff.  The thought that God can do something amazing with the most mundane and even gross things makes me happy, partly because it means I share a hobby with God.  And even more, if God can do something great with spit and mud, maybe he could do something great with me.  As David Crowder sings, "you make everything glorious, and I am yours. . .what does that make me?"  

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” (John 9:8-12 ESV)

What do you think the blind man was thinking as he stumbled along to Siloam?  

Why do you think Jesus sent him there?  

It may have been a test, or some people say it might have something to do with ritual purification.  But whatever it was, Jesus just sent the blind man marching across the city to receive his sight.  How did he know that Jesus was telling the truth?  He was healed not only by the mud and spit, but by faith.  He trusted this total stranger enough to cross town and wash.  Remember this is a blind man, crossing streets and dodging donkeys is not a simple task.  

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” (John 9:13-23 ESV). 

Epic parenting fail!  First, the neighbors knew the man because he sat out begging. . .if he still has two parents, why do they put him on the streets.  And then their son is healed and they distance themselves from the miracle.  They should be celebrating, trying to find Jesus and give him a hug.  But they cast out their son again, not wanting to incur the wrath of the religious leaders.  

Seriously, what would you want your parents to do in this situation?  

Have your parents ever failed you? (No I don't really like this question, but it's true)

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:24, 25 ESV)

What a great statement, this one thing I know!  I'm not a scholar, I'm not a messiah expert, and I'm not even going to discuss these things with you.  I will tell you what I am an expert on. . .me.  I am an expert on blindness, I have never had functioning eyes.  But now I can look into your eyes and tell you, I was blind and now I see!  

What is one thing that you know absolutely, completely, certainly, without any doubt?  

They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. (John 9:26-34 ESV)

Now who is blind, the blind man or the Pharisees?  

I can't help thinking of the men who thought the world was flat or that the sun revolved around the earth.  If someone walked into court saying, "I just sailed around the world, they would jeer him and call him an idiot.  Everyone knows the world is flat, sail around - that's ridiculous.  You're a liar!  But really, I sailed west and discovered a new land.  New land, schmew land, you sailed to India and spoke with Indians.  Yes but then I sailed further west and came to China. . .then farther and came to India.  You fool, everyone knows that China is to the east.  Marco Polo walked there - do you think you are wiser than Marco Polo?  All I know is that I sailed west and eventually came back here.  Ha!  Impossible!  You must be the worst navigator and biggest fool ever, get out of here!  

*Aristotle and the Greeks realized the world was a sphere around the time if Jesus, but I was had a knowledge bias just like the ancients.  My knowledge bias is toward the significance of America, so I always assumed Columbus discovered America and proved the world was round all in one fell swoop.  So, yes I was a little surprised to learn that Aristotle knew the world was flat around the time of Christ.  

What creates this cognitive bias that the Pharisees and I both share?

I'm sure there are many answers, and behavioral scientists could give all kinds of great examples, but it's pretty much in our nature.  I don't know if it's sin, or a survival mechanism, or both.  But sometimes we do not see the obvious right in front of us.  

Gorilla suit basketball video.  http://youtu.be/UfA3ivLK_tE

How do you overcome your cognitive bias?  

Remember Nicodemus in John 3?  He comes across as arrogant and foolish, but in John 7 he stands up for Jesus.  After his death, he helps to prepare Jesus's body for burial.  He showed up a Pharisee and became a follower.  It can happen!  

One other fun example: 

One day the Bishop Wright was discussing philosophy with a college professor. The bishop's opinion was that the millennium was at hand. As evidence, he cited the fact that everything about nature had already been discovered and that all useful inventions had already been made.

The professor politely told the bishop that he was mistaken. "Why, in a few years," he said, "we'll be able to fly through the air."

"What a nonsensical idea," Bishop Wright said. "Flight," he assured the professor, "is reserved for the birds and the angels."

- Bishop Wright was the father of two young budding inventors named Orville and Wilbur, the Wright brothers, who were the first men to fly!  

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 ESV)

The life of a Christian is basically that of a transformer.  I was dead, but now I'm alive, I was lost, but now I'm found, I was blind but now I see. . .i was a truck, but now I'm a huge fighting robot!  

Who transforms us?  

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. (John 9:35-38 ESV)

Jesus is doing the Blake Shelton finger and pointing to himself.  Who is the son of man?  Who is the savior of the world?  Who makes blind men see?  

Lord, I believe, and he worshipped Jesus.  What do you think it looked like when the man worshipped Jesus?  

Did he pull out a church bulletin and recite the apostle's creed in the most monotone voice imaginable?  

I picture a big, ginormous bear hug, probably a few tears, and then the blind man looking at Jesus.  He has never used his eyes, and now he gets to see Jesus!  People waited lifetimes and centuries to see the messiah.  He had never seen anything at all until today, then he looks straight into the eyes of the savior of the world - amazing on a level I can't imagine.  

I wonder if this is what heaven is like. As if we've been blind our entire lives and then BAM!, we can see.  And the first person we see is the only person we have ever really wanted to see.  Imagine being face to face with Jesus. . .what will you do?  What will he do?  I have no idea, but it will be amazing!