Elder Brian Haferkamp preaches on John 9:1-41, the healing of the man born blind.
Read John 9:1-41
There is a key word in this passage that keeps coming up from beginning to end. In the Greek, the word is πιστεύω. The ESV translates this word as "believe." This is a good translation, especially if you're trying to be succinct. As with most words, however, there is more in the meaning.. The word means to think something to be true; to be persuaded of something; to place confidence in someone or something.
In our passage today we see a dichotomy of belief. On the one hand we have the man born blind who only exhibits faith from the beginning to the end. On the other hand we have the religious leaders who only exhibit unbelief from beginning to end. In the middle of it all is Jesus Christ.
When a person comes into contact with Jesus he or she is encountering the Truth. When encountering the Truth there are only two choices: belief or unbelief. We see this all throughout the scriptures and it is in full view in this story of the man born blind.
Jesus had just left the Temple where he made one of the biggest reveals of his ministry: He is the light of the world, the Son of God, and, more than that, he is God (“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”). After saying this he flees the Temple and he passes by a man born blind who was begging on the street.
The disciples ask Jesus a quite common question, “Was it this man’s sin that made him blind or his parents’ sin?” There was a common saying in Israel that said, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.” The implication was that the sins of the father were passed down to the sons and daughters. This was a common understanding of situations involving those born with deformities or disabilities, like the man born blind.
More than 500 years before the birth of Christ, Ezekiel addressed this proverb in a prophecy:
Ezekiel 18
The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
5 “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right...he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD.
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
With this same heart Jesus looks at the man born blind and says that it is not the sins of his father that has made him blind from birth. Instead, he is here to glorify God because God will show his power in this man. Jesus says the same thing about Lazarus in chapter 11:
John 11:4
But when Jesus heard [about Lazarus's death] he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Jesus creates mud with his spit and puts it on the man's eyes. He then tells the man to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam and he will see.
We do not read of any hesitation in the man. He goes to the Pool of Siloam, washes off the mud on his eyes, and is able to see.
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
We're not told why the people brought the man to the religious leaders but they did. Maybe they just wanted to get some clarification or judgment from the Pharisees about the validity of his testimony about his eyesight.
The religious leaders interrogated the man, then brought in his parents, then brought in the man a second time. Still they persist in their unbelief. Faced with the decision to believe or not believe they chose to persist in unbelief.
In verse 34, the leaders cast out the man born blind. The Greek word here actually means to be cast out of the synagogue. We might translate it "excommunicated." He was no longer welcome in the synagogue or the Temple.
Finally, Jesus meets the newly sighted man outside the Temple and confirms his belief a second time. The man confesses his belief and worships Jesus as the Messiah. The term "Son of Man" would have been a title known by the Jews to mean the Messiah.
Jesus lays out a part of his mission on earth, which is to bring people to a decision; to bring a change. He came to give sight to the blind and to make blind those who believe can see.
A few observations about belief.
Christ will never force you to choose him but he will force a choice.
When Jesus saw the man born blind he stepped in an acted upon the man. After rubbing the mud on his eyes he commanded the man to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam and he would see.
The man could just as easily have thrown off the mud from his eyes. He was in a place of decision. Should he go and wash or stay?
If you watch Christ in the Gospels you will see that he is gentle. He is all-powerful yet he never forces that on anyone.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Revelation 3:20
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Jesus did not come to usher in his Kingdom by force. He came to seek and save the lost, open the eyes of the blind, and to save those who were given to him by the Father.
John 1:9-13
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word of God is a gift to be received. He is not unmerciful. He is not here to take you by storm. He stands at the door of your heart and knocks.
But for all his gentleness and meekness, he stands as the dividing line; the judge. He is the cornerstone of what God is doing in the world.
Matthew 21:44
44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
There is no neutral encounter with Christ. You are choosing belief or unbelief. The man born blind persists in belief at every encounter with Christ and the religious leaders persist in their unbelief when encountered by the testimony of Christ’s work and, later, by Christ himself.
One is broken by the cornerstone. The others are crushed.
Putting your belief in Christ will cost everything
Had the man born blind not followed through in belief he would have maintained the status quo. It was the life he had always known; the life he knew how to live.
With his newfound sight I believe he would have had the opportunity to enter into society. He was born into sin, as the religious leaders tell him in this story. But he was presented to the Pharisees whole. It seems that, to the religious leaders, his healing would have been a sign of the forgiveness of his sins. Jesus addressed this idea with the paralytic who was lowered from the ceiling.
Mat 9:5-6
For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
In our story today, the man born blind had been outcast from birth and now had an opportunity to be "in." He was standing at the door ready to enter into society. All he had to do was recant his story of Christ’s healing and he would be in. Again, Christ’s work brought him to a choice of belief or unbelief. There was no middle ground.
He chose belief in Christ even with the opportunity to rejoin regular society. His choice meant he was excommunicated from religious life--and thereby, removed from the community, his family, and even being able to offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of his sins.
Putting your belief in Christ will cost you everything.
Luke 14:26
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
Philippians 3:7-11
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Hebrews 11:13-16
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Belief will take you beyond your understanding
The man born blind witnessed to the truth of what Christ had done. He stood before the religious leaders and they were forced to make a choice for belief or unbelief. So with this miracle confirmed before them why did they hold to unbelief?
One reason is that this didn’t fit within their worldview. What happened was outside their rules and understanding of the world; even their understanding of God himself.
Would God use this sinner, Jesus, who defies the Law and does work on the Sabbath to complete such a miraculous sign? Would God break his own Law?
God is not confined to our understanding of him. So much of what he does and says is a mystery to us. It is beyond our understanding and scope. Yet we are called to believe even in our lack.
John 20:24-31
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
The religious leaders were faced with the truth in front of them that God would break their Sabbath laws; the extra laws they had come up with to make sure that they could be righteous whether God was involved in that righteousness or not.
Believing that God’s Word is the Truth will take us beyond where we are comfortable. If you believe that the scriptures are true then you believe:
The entire universe was created by words
God destroyed all life that he created with a global flood
God destroyed one of the great armies and rulers of the world without violence
Food fell from the sky
God healed people by looking upon the image of a snake
God became a man who existed as fully God and fully man
The difficulty of believing these things is that they all run contrary to what we know and understand about the universe. If you need to come to understanding before belief you will not have the faith God requires.
Brothers and sisters, our culture is a skeptical culture. We do not easily accept things in faith. We do not trust easily. 2020 has been an object lesson of American skepticism.
What God requires of each of us, however, is belief. Believing Christ, believing God’s Word, will make you very uncomfortable. It will take you past the limits of your understanding. It will cost you everything to hold onto Christ. Brothers and sisters:
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let us be like those we read about in the chapter of faith, Hebrews 11. Let us not place our confidence in what we can see and taste and touch but put our faith in God each and every moment, even when that belief takes us beyond our human understanding and our comfort. Do not box God in by your own understanding.
Christ stands at the door and knocks. God, give us faith to open the door to you. Help our unbelief! Amen.
