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God promised that He would send His Servant who would open the eyes of the blind (Isaiah 42:7). Jesus delivered on that promise, giving sight to the sightless. He also took sight from the seeing. The Father sent His Son to take away the sin of the world. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He bore in His body the guilt and condemnation for all who would ever believe. That’s not all He accomplished. He also corroborated the sinfulness of sin and demonstrated the sort of judgment that sinners who don’t believe in Him deserve.

Jesus opens eyes and He shuts them. He delivers men and He condemns others. We can tell the difference between the two groups by the kind of questions they ask.

John 9 culminates with both believing and blinding. Both are included in “the works of God” that Jesus set out to do in verse 4. Believing and blindness find their tipping point on the “man blind from birth” (verse 1). While the disciples wondered whose sin had caused his condition, Jesus answered that God’s purpose for blind eyes was so “that the works of God might be displayed in him” (verse 3).

But the sight-giving sign is complete by verse 7. Jesus made mud, applied it to the man’s eyes, told him to wash in the Siloam pool, the man obeyed, and he “came back seeing” (verse 7). Why are there, then, so many more verses in the chapter? Why is there so much space devoted to the different reactions to the miracle? It’s because the works of God that give Him glory are more than physical and they are more than only favorable (from our perspective).

The blind man’s neighbors see no joy in his sight (vv.8-12). They brought him to the panel of experts who see fault with the process (vv.13-17). The Pharisees called the man’s parents, hoping to invalidate the whole thing, and they saw punishment coming so they distanced themselves from their son (vv.18-23). The Pharisees called the man back and pressured him to deny Jesus (vv.24-34). He saw through their attack. He answered their questions with courage, and it cost him. The Jews “cast him out” (verse 34) meaning that they excommunicated him from the synagogue (as his parents feared in verse 22). If he didn’t see how alone he was before, then he certainly did now. Jesus gave him two kinds of sight and neither enabled him to see good things.

But Jesus comes to find him. Jesus doesn’t leave His own alone. It’s part of what makes Him the good Shepherd, the theme of chapter 10. In fact, the final interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees in verses 40-41 of chapter 9 spills into verses 1-21 of chapter 10. The context of the conversation is the same as Jesus contrasts His shepherding with theirs. They are thieves and robbers. They are also blind (see also Romans 2:19-20). Jesus blinded them.

In verses 35-41 we see Jesus revealing Himself to His own and concealing Himself from others. These are both works of God, to open eyes and to shut others.

Jesus Gives Sight (vv.35-38)

Jesus gives two kinds of sight. If opening the man’s bodily eyeballs was the ultimate purpose of God, there wouldn’t be much benefit for this. Also, there really wouldn’t be much hope.

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)

Imagine the whirlwind of the man’s day. A few hours ago he couldn’t see. A few hours ago he was ignored by his community, but he also wasn’t officially rejected by them. Now he can see how alone he is. That’s when Jesus finds him.

Oh, that’s good news! Jesus finds those who need Him. If that sounds too preachy, it is preachy. If it doesn’t sound preachy, that might be because you know how much you need Him.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out. He wasn’t surprised by that; that was part of the plan. Opposition was expected, and it was the best thing in the world for the man in terms of getting him to the right place. That doesn’t mean that the man knew how good it was to be rejected. He didn’t know how good it was for him to be born blind.

Jesus heard and Jesus found him. Maybe the man had gone looking for his healer, the one he called a “prophet” (verse 17), the one he knew must be “from God” (verse 33). But if he went, it doesn’t say. John does say that Jesus sought him. Jesus will finish what He started.

When Jesus found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He could have asked, “Do you believe in Me?” Instead, He established the proper categories. Jesus frames the questions in terms of being a fulfillment of God’s promises rather than a revealer of God’s promises. The question is about the presence of the Messiah, not just the promise of the Messiah. Son of Man emphasizes the revelation of God, both in His saving and judging work. “The overwhelming use [of “Son of Man”] in John [is that Jesus is] the incarnate revelation of God who gave his life for the world” (Borchert, 324).

The man answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” The way he asks the question shows his eagerness. He knows he is in need. He’s in a place where his new physical sight wasn’t the solution he previously thought would fix everything. He’s in a place where he saw that the religious authorities were deliberately blind. He doesn’t complain, He doesn’t argue, he humbly seeks to believe. He’s a remarkable contrast to the paralyzed man in John 5; think of his whining in verse 7 and his tattle-taling in verse 15.

Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He could have said, “I am He.” Instead, Jesus stresses His work. Have seen him is in the perfect tense, a past action. But this is the first time that the man has laid eyes on Jesus. How could he already “have seen” Him? It’s because he has seen Jesus with his spiritual eyes. The eyes of his heart have been becoming clearer and clearer about Jesus’ identity since verse 7.

And the one who he saw is now talking. There is a connection between the two. Jesus is revealing His word, He’s revealing Himself to the man even as He speaks.

The man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. There’s no hesitation. Why? Because how do you now if God has opened your eyes? You see. How do you know if you’ve been born again? You breathe by the Spirit. The man calls Jesus, Lord, κύριε. It’s the same word used in verse 36 translated “sir.” It’s similar to our word lord; it can be used on a couple levels. But the man believes—finally! someone who *believes**—that Jesus is the Son of Man.

Also without delay he worshiped. The word is a form of προσκυνέω meaning to fall down or to bow down before. It can be used in contexts to show respect rather than worship. But there’s no doubt that he’s worshiping Jesus. He’s outside the synagogue but he’s right where he needs to be. Note also that Jesus receives the worship, an unacceptable thing for him to do if He was merely a prophet.

Jesus Makes Blind (vv.39-41)

Wherever it was that Jesus found the man, there was an audience. That means that they saw the man fall down in worship. They probably didn’t care since they had cast him out anyway. They couldn’t help but care about what they overheard.

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. (John 9:39–41, ESV)

First, how is this a response to the man’s worship? It is a response to worship because both the seeing and the blinding are part of God’s works.

Second, isn’t this a direct contradiction with John 3:17, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world”? It may seem that way, but consider Jesus’ own explanation in the rest of verse 39. There are two works that He does: that those who do not see may see comes first. That doesn’t sound like judgment, it sounds like salvation. It is. It’s what He did for the man born blind. He gave him physical sight as preparation for giving him spiritual sight.

In that process, the work of sight-giving, others lost their sight. More specifically, it became clear that those who thought that they could see were actually blind. For judgment I came into this world, that…those who see may become blind. Think Isaiah 6:8-10.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

It is no contradiction for Jesus to say that His purpose in coming was to shine the light for those in darkness and that His purpose was to cause darkness for those who think that they are in light. In other words, one doesn’t work without the other. The two are so connected that they can both be stated as purposes, even though one takes precedence.

Jesus came (the first time) primarily to save. He came to shine light. He came to make sacrifice. But men in darkness hate the light. They hate to know that they need a sacrifice. Because of how things are in the hearts of men, those who believe that they are well become angry at the physician’s diagnosis. Jesus came to take supposed sight away from those who claim it.

Who couldn’t see, the man or the ones who kicked the man out of the synagogue? All of the above. But the man recognized it. The Jews looked down on this blind beggar. He was of little account to them. To them, he was needy and worthless. They were blind to their own need.

Right on cue and proving the point, some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, “Are we also blind?” They were insulted by the possibility.

hypocrites do not so obstinately resist God before Christ shines; but as soon as the light is brought near them, then do they, in open war, and—-as it were, with unfurled banner,—-rise up against God. (Calvin on John 9:40).

Their question is not like that of the man. They are eager to be proven right, not eager to believe in a Savior. They ask in disbelief, he asked with the belief he had, wanting more. They ask, unwilling to give up their reputation. He asks, realizing that he has nothing to hold onto.

Maybe you’ve been in a situation where you offended a friend, or spouse, by ignoring them. Maybe they asked you for help and you paid no attention. Later, when it becomes clear to you that the other person is upset, and you come to ask why they are upset, you prove that you weren’t paying attention by the question. If you have to ask, you prove the problem.

These Pharisees illustrate that they were really blind by their need to ask if they were really blind. Do they not know if they have need? “Jesus, do we have any need for you?” If you have to ask, the blindness is stunning. They despised the notion.

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt.” It’s as if Jesus said, “You should want to be blind like this. You need to recognize your need. If you did, then you would be saved.” When Jesus said, you would have no guilt He really said, “you would have no sin” (NAS). I assume that the ESV translation uses “guilt” because of the potential for misunderstanding. But sin, or more specifically, the weight and consequences of sin is the issue in the entire chapter. Who sinned? Who is a sinner? Who does God listen to? He saves those who admit it.

But now that you say, “We see,” you won’t acknowledge your problem and need, your sin remains. You say, you claim that it’s true but, in reality, that saying shows that you are still in darkness, you are still slaves to sin and will die in your sins (see John 8:21, 24).

Conclusion

Amazing grace finds the lost and gives sight to the blind. Jesus finds those in need. He sets us free from the chains of sin. He rescues us from death when we acknowledge Him as the Savior. That is His work.

But He is also glorified when He hardens hearts. When those who think that they see pressure and lift themselves up, God sets Himself up against them. He resists the proud. He increases darkness for those who love darkness. The things of God will grow strangely dim to those who won’t admit their need. This also is His work.

The kinds of questions we ask show which group we belong to.

God’s purpose for blind eyes was so “that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). How were God’s works displayed in this man in this story? First, God provided for him. Whether or not anyone acknowledged it, God’s power gave the man sight. Only God can do that. Second, God testified through Him. God gave spiritual sight and courage to a despised beggar. Third, God raised opposition to him. It is the work of God to shine light so bright that it blinds, and He does it in us.