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Sunday Sermon Outline STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL
OF JOHN-
PART 50
Chapter
9, verses 1-7- This incident of Jesus healing a blind man becomes
the sixth miracle of seven in John’s gospel. It serves to illustrate Jesus’ words in
vs.5 “I am the light of the
world” and to fulfill Messianic prophecies- note Isaiah 29:18, 35:5
and 42:7.
Incidents of blindness
corrected by Jesus: [No OT
accounts of such] 1)
Two blind men healed- Matt. 9:27-31 (possibly near
2)
Blind, mute & demon-poss. man healed- Matt.12:22
3)
General group- Matt.15:30; 4)
Two blind men healed- Matt.20:29-34 –near
5)
Blind man near Bethsaida- Mark
8:22-26 6)
Bartimaeus, blind near Jericho- Mark 10:46-52 (same as
Lk.18:35-43) 7)
Blind (from birth)- John 9:1-41 (in
John gives a large space to this
event with many details not found in the other accounts. As the healing takes place on the
Sabbath (vs.14), it becomes the occasion for
conflict. In vs.2, the disciples reflect the
common thinking of that period –“who sinned…that he was
born blind?” It grows
out of a culture of legalism where aspects of consequence from
wrong-doing are often overplayed.
Under the legalistic mindset, fault or culpability is a major issue! See 8:4-5. It comes from a judgmentalism, frequently a part of legalism- note
Gal.5:15. When discussing problems of evil
& suffering, such phenomena may fall into two categories: 1) suffering brought on by human action
(war, crime, etc) 2) suffering brought on by divine action or inaction (birth
defects, hurricanes, etc). The
first may be answered by human responsibility, but the second is more difficult
and touches on theodicy (study of righteousness or justice of divine actions;
allowing for sin, suffering).
“that he was born blind” is a purpose clause (hina with the subjunctive case)- paraphrased “..who sinned, this man or his parents in order that he
might be born blind”. In
vs.3 Jesus answer is direct- “Neither this man nor
his parents sinned” which is
followed by another purpose clause! Jesus’ answer infers that this
man’s blindness (suffering) has a purpose in revealing the works of God (Jesus’
power to heal). But we would not
wish to use this to declare that all suffering is to reveal God’s
works. In vs.4, Jesus states the reality
of His own limitations of time and declares for the second time “I am the
light…” It may be that
“night”
refers to the period on earth when His presence/work will no longer continue-
7:33-34. One might ask if clay were
necessary to accomplish this healing—it reveals Jesus using means toward
a goal. Part of an answer might be
that a definite response was required of the blind man (“Go, wash in the
pool..”) with Page 2 clay covering his eyes, he had
to go in order to be with sight.
Upon doing so, the man has sight- vs.7. chapter 9, verses
8-18-In the verses that follow- vs.8-34- John takes us through the
post-healing experience of this man, showing us how people viewed his
healing. Jesus is noticeably absent
from this portion. The incredulity of the crowd is
observed in vs.8-9 with someone finally asking in vs.10 “how?” The man’s answer is direct and accurate,
but prompts another question, “where is he
[Jesus]?” John reports
the man is taken to the Pharisees and asked again about the
incident. In vs.16- prejudiced, the
Pharisees declare “This man is not from
God”. Observe, in contrast, 3:2! The disqualify Jesus since the healing
occurred on the Sabbath in violation of their law or tradition. John records “others” who
ask, “How
can a man who is a sinner do such miracles?” Their reasoning is,
‘if good
came from it, it must be done by a good man’. The result is,
again, “division”. Apparently, the division moves someone
to ask the blind man “What do you say about
Him…?” The man answers
honestly- “he is a
prophet.” Vs.18 records the persistent
unbelief of this group by their challenge as to whether the man was ever really
blind. John, the author, is
carefully documenting just how far these leaders would go in attempting to
remove such power from the person of
Jesus. |