So That You May Believe and Have Life – The Gospel of John
Part 26 – “Jesus Opens Blind Eyes”
John 9:1-41
Have you ever experienced some difficulty or hardship in life or has someone you loved been in trouble or sick, and you asked God to relieve you of that difficulty or hardship, or to heal the person you loved – and he didn’t. Do you ever wonder why some people get relief from the difficulty and hardship they are experiencing, or why God healed someone else but not the person you loved?
In those times, people will sometimes ask, What's that all about? Does God not love me? Did he not see our tears? Why did God come through for some people in the Bible and not for us?
The story from John 9:1-11… An encounter Jesus has with a blind man for whom God came through as Jesus heals the man.
John places this event and other miracles from the life of Jesus in his gospel to let people know that Jesus is truly God, not the false mythological gods the people worshipped and in which they put their trust. See John 20:30-31…
The healing of the man born blind through the use of mud and washing in water was a miracle speaking to people in John’s day about the Egyptian-Greek god of healing, Serapis. The Serapis religion came into existence around 323 B.C., and the priests of Serapis used many of the same kinds of treatment as the priests of Asclepius, including the use of moving mineral water. However, they combined water with mud, which supposedly had powers for healing eyesight issues. John is saying by putting this miracle of Jesus in the Gospel, it is not Serapis but Jesus who is truly God and can heal the blind.
John 9:12-41… The religious leaders who have been trying to get Jesus into trouble with the people and the Roman officials so they could have him killed, do not believe who Jesus is and that he has healed the man. They have no concern for the blind man's situation and cannot celebrate his healing. Instead, they're just bent on getting Jesus.
Jesus makes the point that a man who once lived in physical and spiritual darkness experiences physical and spiritual light and healing, while ironically, the Pharisees who claim to possess the light (spiritual truth), are living in spiritual darkness.
Action Steps:
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Reflect on where you are in your relationship with Jesus. Ask: Am I living in spiritual darkness or am I living in the light?
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The sickness and suffering others experience are opportunities for us to show the love and compassion of God to them.
Taking It Home
We encourage you to take a few minutes today and this week to process this morning’s message. These questions are designed for discussion with your family, a friend, mentor, spouse, and small group. They are also useful for self-reflection.
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What stands out to you in these passages from the Bible? From the message?
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What is difficult for you to understand or accept in these passages from the Bible? From the message?
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What is God saying in these passages and through what we heard in the message about Himself? About people? About you?
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What examples are there to follow, commands to obey, or promises to stand on from these passages in the Bible, and from what we heard in the message?
