John 9:1-25 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.… I. THE GREATNESS OF HIS AFFLICTION. His blindness — 1. Deprived him of an important means of knowledge. The blind may acquire a word knowledge of men and things, but he is powerless to form any corresponding mental picture. Locke speaks of one who, after listening to an explanation of scarlet, thought it resembled the blast of a trumpet; and so of the man here. There he stands at the gate of the Temple; his features familiar to the worshippers, but the gorgeous service within, and all the life and beauty without, he had never beheld, and as he now stood beneath the Redeemer's gaze he was unconscious whose pitying look rested on him. We are all born blind. The eyes of the soul are there, but they see not. For many years some have heard the disfiguration our moral visage described and the beauty of Jesus depicted, and are as insensible to both as this blind man. 2. Denied him a grand source of enjoyment. The eye is the channel of some of our purest pleasures. The blind know nothing of the beauties of nature, art, literature, friendship; and the spiritually blind are dead to the perception of a Father's presence and a Father's love. 3. Unfitted him for the discharge of life's duties. Instead of being able to care for others, he needed others to care for him. He whose mind is blinded by unbelief, prejudice, or passion can never rightly discharge his duty. The light of God's renewing grace within is the only sufficient qualification for doing the works of righteousness. II. THE MANNER OF HIS CURE. 1. There was the Divine employment of a material element. A medicinal value was attributed to the saliva, but the clay could only have further injured the eyes. So that the ointment was not an assistance to Divine power but only to human faith. 2. There was implicit obedience to the Divine command. Without question or debate, and actuated only by hope of cure, the man did as he was told. What. ever God appoints as a condition of blessing we are bound to instantly accept. If He commands us wash in the Saviour's blood, and move with the feet of prayer to the place of healing, it is for us not to question but to obey. 3. There was the evident operation of Divine power. The clay and Siloam were only outward and visible signs of Christ's curative energy. The cure of spiritual blindness is possible only to the power of God. Neither priestly incantations nor clay-cold creeds can make the blind to see. III. THE CHARACTER OF HIS TESTIMONY. 1. It was the embodiment of personal experience. He does not attempt to explain the how of the cure, nor does he allow himself to be shaken by the Pharisees' objection to the Author of his cure. He keeps to the one thing he knows. There is no evidence so valuable as experimental. If we have been brought out of darkness into marvellous light no objector can destroy that fact of consciousness. 2. It was sustained by visible proof. His neighbours could not at first agree as to his identity, there was so great a change. So by their fruits regenerate Christians are known. 3. It was borne with unflinching boldness. He dared and suffered that which a Jew dreaded most. It is an easy thing to confess Christ when the confession involves no sacrifice. But to witness for Him when convenience and custom would counsel silence; to lose a good situation rather than deny our Lord — that requires courage. But Christ made up to the man more than he had lost, and so He will do to us. (W. Kirkman.) Parallel Verses KJV: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. |
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