Three Years That Changed The World – Lesson 11

Healing the Eyes and the Heart

(Jesus in John 9)

The Gospel of John is the only Gospel account that records the healing of a blind man who had been blind since birth. There is no record that the man asked to be healed, nor did anyone ask Jesus to heal him. In the same way that Jesus chose to heal the severely disabled man (John 5:5-8) for a specific purpose, Jesus chooses to heal this man who had been blind since birth for a purpose – to bring glory to God.

The story begins with the disciples of Jesus asking a question about the cause of the blind man’s physical condition. Jesus addresses their question and proceeds to heal the man by spitting on the ground, making mud and applying the mud to the man’s eyes. Jesus then instructs the man to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam and the man “came home seeing”.

Those who knew the man were perplexed as they were accustomed to seeing the blind man begging and yet now, he is no longer blind. Given that they knew he had been blind since birth they were extremely confused. They then involve the Pharisees who investigate the matter but refuse to accept that Jesus (someone they later label as a sinner) could have been responsible for such a miraculous healing.

The blind beggar wasn’t confused at all for he said, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”. He initially concludes that Jesus was a prophet but as the story unfolds, we will see that the healing that Jesus offers is more than the physical healing of the eyes. Jesus provides a way to be healed from spiritual blindness as well.

The conclusion that the formerly blind beggar eventually comes to was, that God and Jesus were One, since apart from God Jesus could not have done what he did by healing him. This was no insignificant conclusion and may well have been a direct revelation by God to this man who was originally born blind and brought to this very place at this specific time to be healed by Jesus and bring glory to God.

Sadly, although the Pharisees were presented with irrefutable proof of the divine power of Jesus, they still choose to willfully deny the undeniable. My prayer is that after reading this story and the details of the lesson that you will come to the same conclusion that the blind beggar came to and not follow in the ways of the Pharisees in this story.