“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. Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’”

You are going to worship something. In the beginning, in the garden, we were able to function as we were designed, walking with God. Things followed their natural order, and without sin in play, our very nature was aligned with worshiping Him, the creator of all things who made us in His image. After the fall, in a world that is forever stained by sin, the simplicity of this is lost. God’s existence is still obvious, His creation points to Him, and His Truth is so profound that in the absence of voices to declare His name, the stones themselves cry out. But while God provides all comfort, His path is not always comfortable. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, and yet we’re also called in following Him to take up our cross. It can be far more comfortable in the moment, to align ourselves with worldly pursuits. To craft gods to our own liking, things that provide a sense of accountability, or lack thereof, that fit the way we want to see the world. But God is still real, and we are still made to serve and honor Him. He is there to be seen, and to see Him, with eyes open in the Spirit, and a true understanding for who He is, is to believe.

A Clear View is Clear Belief

The ending of John 9 draws the story of the man born blind that Jesus healed to a close. We see him start as an essentially hopeless man, existing on society’s bottom rung. Born blind, not allowed inside of the temple, and living under the social stigma that his condition is potentially the result of his own, pre-natal sin, Jesus finds him as a blind beggar. After clarifying for His disciples that the man’s infirmity is no result of sin, but that his blindness is simply so “that the works of God might be displayed in him,” Jesus heals him. This healing doesn’t look like other’s we’ve seen throughout the gospels. At times Jesus has healed with a touch, or with a word, sometimes face to face or over great distance. The woman with the issue of blood, recorded in Mark 5 and Luke 8 simply touched His clothes and was made well. But with the man born blind in John 9, Jesus spits in the dirt, makes mud, anoints his eyes, and then gives him instructions, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” While this looks very different from other healings we’ve seen, it carries the common theme that the faith of the one being healed was an element of the process. This isn’t to say that God is limited to healing those who have faith – the crippled man who is healed in John 5 seeming to serve as an example of someone who received miraculous healing, but seemed unaffected in spirit and temperament in the aftermath. This paints a picture of the offer that is made to all, but only accepted by some. Faith may not be required to receive a blessing, but without it we can’t truly see what we’ve been given. After washing off the mud and receiving his sight, the formerly blind man finds himself under the scrutiny of the religious rulers who are at constant opposition, and seeking to kill Jesus. He can finally see, he’s permitted in the temple, he has an opportunity for greater inclusion into his culture and among his people than he’s ever been able to experience before – all that’s needed is for him to publicly denounce Jesus. At this point, the man doesn’t even know Jesus as the Christ, but the aim of the Pharisees is to see him confess Jesus as a sinner, and give Him no glory for healing the his eyes. On one hand is an opportunity to be included among the Jews, on the other is an even greater social exile than he’s known as a blind beggar – but the price of acceptance is the denial of the Truth. Jesus says in Matthew 16:26,

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

The man seems to fully grasp the sentiment of this teaching as he refuses to deny that Jesus is at the very least a prophet and man of God, and is responsible for the gift of his sight. Not only this, but standing in the affirmation of the Truth, he calls out the Pharisees in their hypocrisy and is ultimately cast out of the temple.

1.      Seeing is Believing

“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.”

The first thing that we see displayed in this week’s passage is God’s active pursuit of those faithful to Him. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:23,

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”

In refusing to denounce Jesus and His role in his healing, the formerly blind man has chosen his side, rejecting the worldly lies that promised societal acceptance. After being cast out of the temple, seeing Jesus seek him out is a reminder that our relationship with God is in no way a casual one. He loves us, He seeks us, He died and lived again for us. Paul wrote in Romans 8:35–39,

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It’s important to remember that the formerly blind man still doesn’t know Jesus as the Christ. It seems apparent that the discussion is in the air, and being actively suppressed by the religious authorities, so the man likely knows that this is the opinion of some, but it seems he hasn’t arrived at this conclusion yet. He’s firm that Jesus is a prophet at the very least, but he doesn’t know Him beyond this. Jesus has given him literal light in the gift of his sight, but what He now offers is His Light – the Light of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 4:2–6 says of this light,

“But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

A prophet is someone chosen by God who speaks His messages, whereas the Prophet applies to the one that God promised in Deuteronomy 18, another distinct prophet like Moses (a role which was fulfilled by Jesus). Likewise, being called “son of man,” as God frequently called Ezekiel, simply means that the person is a human, but the Son of Man is something far greater and more significant. Daniel 7:13–14 provides the prophecy concerning the Son of Man, saying,

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

When Jesus finds the formerly blind man and asks, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” this prophecy shows the weight and implication behind the question. The man’s response again shows, not doubt, but critical thinking. “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” The right response is to place your faith in the prophesied Son of Man, and the man shows that he’s ready to believe, but he asks fairly, “who are you saying is the Son of Man?” When Jesus responds, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you,” it’s as though everything clicks. This is the One who healed him, this is the One who is not just a prophet as he already knew, but is also the Son of Man. We don’t see any hesitation or second guessing, just the roots of salvation deepening rapidly. This is like a preemptive realization of Romans 10:9–11,

“… because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’”

At the time of the man’s confession, Jesus has not been crucified and resurrected, yet in placing his faith in Him as the one to be given authority and an eternal kingdom by the Ancient of Days, he acknowledges Him as Christ, and makes Him his foundation. This is what it means to truly see Jesus, to take Him in with “eyes to see and ears to hear.” In seeing we may believe, in believing we may see, and in this faith, and in the Light of Christ we may truly know that He is righteous and holy and that the only right response is to worship Him.

2.      Seeing is a Blessing

“Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’”

When I’ve read this passage in the past, I’ve taken this to show a distinction between those who were following Jesus (the one’s who can see), and the religious authorities (the one’s who are blind), but this doesn’t actually track. The first thing we see is that Jesus came into the world for judgement, but we also know from John 3:17 that Jesus was not in the world in order to pass judgement,

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

So what does this mean as it pertains to judgement? Jesus is holy and sinless; the world is fallen, and sin stained. The judgement occurs through contrast, the perfect beside the imperfect, the Light compared against the darkness. For those who had no understanding of God, the pagans who worshiped idols – those who lived in a state of blindness, the Truth of Christ was the delivery of sight. We can see this principle outlined many times in the letters to the early churches, as the Apostles (mostly Paul), contrast the people’s old ways of behaving against the new life they’ve been delivered to through salvation in Jesus. The gospel, the good news of Jesus was the miracle of sight and an unspeakable blessing. The effect of the contrast on some though, to make it so that “those who see may become blind,” does apply to the Jews, but not all of them. While we know that this affected others, Nicodemus is the primary example we’re given of this kind of impact. The Pharisees stood as teachers of the Law, sitting on “the seat of Moses,” and wielding significant power among the Jewish people. If anyone would have looked at themselves and said that they are right before God and understand His commands, it would have been them. Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of night in John 3, and opens things by saying in verse 2,

“… Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

He thinks he understands, he thinks he has a grasp on the Law, and the truth as it pertains to Jesus, but in actuality, he doesn’t quite understand either. As their conversation progresses, Nicodemus shows himself to be lost and confused. He is a “teacher of Israel” and yet, when Jesus speaks of being born again, and born in the spirit, he can’t follow. Jesus tells him in verses 11 and 12,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

This may sound like a bad thing, to have what you think is sight, and come to realize the truth, that it’s only blindness. But what we see is that the judgement that Jesus provides is a blessing. If you’re blind and you’re given sight, then you’ve received an inexpressible gift. But if you go from thinking you have full understanding, and that you hold all the answers, to realizing that you have nothing, and that the light you held was actually darkness, you’ve still been blessed. You now know the truth, you’re now able to seek understanding and the Light of Christ. The true folly is of the one who is blind, yet insists that they can see.

3.      Seeing is Convicting

“Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’”

I’ve heard it taught before that all sin is equal, that stealing a candy bar and killing someone are the same in the eyes of God. It’s hard for me to begin to explain just how wrong that is. I think the confusion stems from the fact that no sin is acceptable before God. God is Holy, and so a sinner is unable to stand before Him regardless of their transgression. But this doesn’t mean that the transgressions are equally bad, just that God is supremely holy. The (admittedly gross) analogy that I’ve used in the past is that if I serve someone a bowl of soup, and tell them that I put a teaspoon of sewage into the pot when I was making it, they’re not going to eat that soup, the meal just became unacceptable. But if instead of adding a teaspoon, I just sit a bowl full of sewage in front of them, that’s worse. Both are unacceptable, and immediately ruin dinner, but that doesn’t mean they’re equally bad. This is outlined in the Law, where there are a host of different atonements and sacrifices to be made for various transgressions. The penalty for stealing your neighbors donkey is not the same as the one for stealing your neighbors wife. There are even distinctions made between the severity of manslaughter (negligently killing another), as opposed to murder, though in both cases you’ve taken the life of a man, made in the image of God. We also see that there are distinctions for different people groups. Leviticus 18:1-23 has a whole list of varying sexual sins, after which God explains in verses 24–30,

“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

Similarly Deuteronomy 18:9–14 gives a list of abominable practices of the people living in the land of Caanan before the people of Israel occupied the land,

“When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.”

The people of God, set aside and given His Law were held to a higher standard than the rest of the world. This is not to say that sin was not still sin, but that the level of accountability was lower for those outside of the Law. Yet even with a lower standard, there were still practices that were so contrary to nature, and so morally corrupt that it brought the wrath of God upon them. When Jesus tells these Pharisees, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains,” we can piece together the problem. If they, like Nicodemus, acknowledged their blindness, there would be hope for them in seeking the Truth of Christ. However in their arrogance, hypocrisy, and commitment to their own worldly positions, they are at the opposite end of the spectrum from the formerly blind man, worshiping the Son of Man. They take their own words, call them God’s Word, and claim wisdom, and in their lies, in their insistence that they can see, they are held accountable as one with sight. 1 Corinthians 11:31–32 says,

“But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

Jesus is the Light of the world; He offers us salvation and true sight in Him. He offers to affirm our belief in Him with new mercies each day, to bless us with the Truth of the Spirit, and restore us for His righteousness sake. But if we reject Him, if we claim wisdom while clinging to worldly foolishness, and swear that we can see while living in darkness, then there is nothing for us but to find ourselves convicted, to fall into the pit, and face darkness and separation for eternity.

Pastor Chris’s Sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OxB_RN7xRY