The Blind Witness: sent to wash, sent to witness - John 9 notes

The Blind Witness John 9

                  Opening quote – “My graces languish, my corruptions rage, my faith is weak, my devotion is cold, yet all of these are reasons why His healing hand should be laid upon me.”     C. H. Spurgeon. 

                  I mentioned this last time but the way I see it structured…John is stressing 7 miracles prior to the death & resurrection that he believes will convince you that Jesus is not only the promised Messiah but also God Himself clothed in flesh & walking among us.

In John’s argument we’re on miracles # 6 of 7

#1 Turning water to wine, Ch 2

#2 the healing of the official’s son, Ch 4

#3 the healing at the pool of Bethesda, Ch 5

#4 the multiplication of the bread & fish ch 6

#5 is 2 fold: Walking on water & the calming of the storm ch 6

#6 healing of a man born blind ch 9

# 7 raising Lazarus from the dead ch 11

Q#1 – Have you ever felt like your current life experience was punishment from God? 

9:2-8 Who sinned? – Many Jews then like Christians today thought there was a direct link between one’s sins & temporal misfortune. Job’s friend in the OT comes to this same  assumption: Job must be the worst sinner in the land, because he’s the most grievously afflicted person in the land.

Read: Luke 13:1-5 “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? ³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Q#2 – Give me some valid reasons for affliction?

God can punish for particular sins,

General sin of the fallen world effects our lives,

God allows troubles to refine us, to teach us to be dependent on Him

Afflicted to be healed – in the providence of God, afflicted with blindness so God could 1            day heal him & receive the glory

9:3 Some of our sufferings like Job’s trials are for God’s glory, either through our resulting refinement or eventual healing. God’s purpose in any event is not always immediately clear but we’ve been told His purpose is good, Romans 8:28 

Q #3 – Why did Jesus use spit & mud, isn’t that gross?

9:6 Spit on the ground & mud cakes are not for there particular medicinal benefits but for opportunity the man to show his faith in action by washing when he was told to wash – means = Baptism & Lord’s Supper. **Also Siloam = Sent, like Apostle, sent to wash, sent to witness

9:12 Man moves on his path of faith – he goes from not knowing much to vs. 17 calling Jesus a prophet, to vs. 35-38 faith Jesus is Son of God, these steps illustrate what John wants for his readers (Read John 20:31 – the point of John’s Gospel)  

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Q #4 – Was it right for Jesus to heal on Saturday (Sabbath)?

Read Exodus 20:9-10 (ESV)

⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

Exodus 31:12-17

The Sabbath expanded:  ¹² And the Lord said to Moses, ¹³ “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. ¹⁴ You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵ Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. ¹⁶ Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. ¹⁷ It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

9:16 Sabbath work vs. Sabbath gift, instead of being grateful for the supernatural work of God’s grace the Pharisees haggle about observance of Sabbath guidelines. Not one of the actions Jesus performs: spitting, applying mud, going as far as Siloam, washing face, healing blind man are directly forbidden by the law. Instead of questioning their own traditional understanding of the law they reject Jesus & his ministry even though they know he’s from God because of his ability to heal.

There was a wide array of reactions to the miracle:

Some believed in Him & glorified God when they saw His signs, others refused to accept the miracles substantiated His claim to be the Son of God & other skeptics doubted the miracles themselves as tricks

OT law had nothing in it regarding the things Jesus did, however to protect the Sabbath law itself the Jews had listed 39 types of work to avoid on the Sabbath & 1 included kneading dough to make bread, so they may have concluded Jesus broke the Sabbath because he kneaded spit & dust into clay, the Pharisees ignored the fact God gave Sabbath to man for a rest (Mark 2:27), & ignored the Lord of the Sabbath saying its good to do good on the Sabbath

(maybe section) 9:18-34 Pharisees verify the disease & ultimately the miracles by questioning man’s parents. The additional investigation Pharisees don’t learn more but judge harsher Jesus is a sinner, we don’t know if he is from God or not & excommunicate a man who irritates them.

The man’s parents sadly are not profoundly grateful to their sons healer but are fearful of being excommunicated from the synagogue by Pharisees as saying Jesus is a real miraculous healer, is the same as saying Jesus is the Messiah 

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9:39-41 Epilogue – impact of his coming those who falsely imagine they have special insight into God become blind opponents of God’s ways & those lowly & seem to be without insight are lead to faith by the Spirit opening their eyes to who Christ is

9:39 Until the 2^nd coming of Christ this is still the age of redemption where the dead in sin & blind to truth are illuminated & raised to newness of life.

“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”― Martin Luther