For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind

 

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."  He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see."

Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."

 

- John 9:18–41 

 

In our current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, and it is the final year of His earthly life.  He has been disputing in the temple with the religious leaders, who sought to arrest Him and to stone Him, and failed to do either one.  Yesterday we read that, as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash."  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."  They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

 

 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!  We know that this Man is a sinner."   My study Bible comments that, with Jesus not present, the Pharisees call Him a sinner, but earlier when He asked them face-to-face, "Which of you convicts me of sin?" (John 8:46), they evaded the question.  Give God the glory! was an oath formula which was used before giving testimony, according to my study Bible.  But nonetheless, God truly give God glory.  The more he's pressed, the more fervent his faith grows, and at the same time, the Pharisees lapse into deeper darkness. 

He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see."  In giving this testimony, the healed man becomes a model of Christian witness.  My study Bible comments that many people do not bear witness to Christ because they are afraid they will be asked questions which they cannot answer.  But this man's answer to people who are more educated  than he is provides the right solution:  he admits what he does not know, but follows up with what he does not know, but yet follows up with what he does know.  My study Bible says that the formula, "That I don't know, but what I do know is this," is foundational to witnessing one's faith to others.

Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you?  How did He open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become His disciples?"  Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from."  The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!  Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.  Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.  If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."  They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"  And they cast him out.  Since Christ had opened this formerly blind man's eyes, He also opens his heart and illumines his spirit.  The man has moved from knowing almost nothing about Christ (verse 25), through the understanding that Jesus could not possibly be a sinner (verse 31), to confessing that Jesus must be from God (verse 33); and finally to see Christ as the divine Son of God and worship Him (John 9:38).  Since the Pharisees once again cannot refuge the man's logic nor the truth of what he reveals, they once more resort to personal insult ("You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?"); see also John 8:48.  Additionally the unprecedented nature of opening the eyes of one who was born blind, my study Bible comments, is a confirmation of Christ's divinity.  This was one of the signs of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7) and a prerogative which belonged solely to God (Psalm 146:8).

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"  He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?"  And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then he said, "Lord, I believe!"  And he worshiped Him  And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  My study Bible notes here that the Lord's coming brought judgment to the world, not because He came to judge (John 12:47-48), but because of our accountability to Him.  It says that those who see and hear Him but do not believe are judged by their own faithlessness. 

 

Today's reading is marked by issues of "sight."  How do we see?  What do we see?  Are we responsible if we say we see?  Jesus has healed this man blind from birth, a miraculous healing that is singular in all of Scripture -- for never was there a report of a person whose sight was restored from blindness at birth.  Of course the religious leaders are even more zealously going to go after Christ now.  They were already after Him after He healed a paralytic on the Sabbath.   Now this stupendous miracle of healing a man blind from birth has also happened on a Sabbath.  The religious leaders begin by questioning the formerly blind man's parents, who are so terrified to respond that they say, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.  He is of age; ask him.  He will speak for himself."  It's a little like the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, only the inverse.  There we also read about sudden sight; we're told, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings."  God asks them, "Who told you that you were naked?"  Adam first blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent.  They will all pay the consequences, and we the inheritors of the earth live with the same.  But in some sense, in this healing, Jesus reverses what is sometimes referred to as the Fall.  There is no shame in this act of this man's eyes being opened.  On the contrary, Jesus has declared, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  Here this man's eyes having been opened in the sense of physical sight, we see his spiritual sight gradually grow as well.  Again, the themes of sight and sinning reverse themselves from the Genesis story.  The religious leaders swear him to an oath, significantly, "Give God the glory!"  And they go on to claim about Jesus, "We know that this Man is a sinner."  The roles are reversed; here it is God Himself in the Person of Christ the Son who is declared a sinner by the religious leaders.  The formerly blind man answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.  One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see."  It's truly powerful that my study Bible declares this the model of Christian witness or testimony of faith; it is both about seeing and telling the truth one knows, and that leads to a greater and expanding vision of truth.  This in turn leads to a greater revelation of faith; Jesus finds and asks the man if he believes in the Son of God.  Then He reveals to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you."  Then the man declares, "Lord, I believe!" His spiritual sight being truly opened, he then worshiped Christ.  This is the restoration of the relationship between God and Adam and Eve in the Garden, where this healed man may now speak with and fully engage in worship with God.  But there's a deeper story than the simple reversal of the Fall; it is a picture of this world in which Christ has entered.  And Jesus declares this new state of the world, this new age, in the following open way for all of us:  "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." This seems a paradoxical statement, but it is both further illumined and made more complex in Christ's next statement to the religious leaders, who still quite evidently don't see, ""If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  They cannot admit to their blindness and repent; but they declare they see, so their sin remains.  This is the state of the world in which we live now, this age which the coming of Christ has inaugurated for judgment.  At the Last Supper, Jesus will say to the disciples, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:7-11).  So we dwell in this place where so much depends upon our sight, on how we rely on faith to open our sight, or not:  sin, righteousness, and judgment all live there.  How will we play our part?  To whom shall we turn for our illumination, our sight, so that our eyes are washed in the living water He offers to restore?