35  Spiritual Sight or  Spiritual Blindness?  (John 9:35—41)

Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” (9:35–41)

Christ’s miraculous healing of the man born blind was an astounding display of His divine power, and a life-changing event for the formerly blind man. But physical sight was not all the Lord was planning to give this undeserving beggar. Jesus was yet to do something even more amazing—grant him spiritual sight.

Throughout Scripture blindness is used metaphorically to represent fallen man’s inability to comprehend divine truth. Isaiah referred to “the people who are blind, even though they have eyes” (Isa. 43:8), while Jeremiah described the “foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see” (Jer. 5:21). Isaiah also portrayed the corrupt spiritual leaders of Israel as “watchmen [who] are blind, all of [whom] know nothing” (56:10). Centuries later, Jesus would similarly denounce the Pharisees as “blind guides” and “blind men” (Matt. 15:14; 23:16–17, 19, 24, 26). Like their leaders, even with the Scriptures the people of Jesus’ day also lacked spiritual understanding.

After His resurrection and ascension, Christ sent the apostle Paul to the Gentiles “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18), which was necessary because they too were “darkened in their understanding” (Eph. 4:18). In Revelation, the risen Christ also warned of spiritual blindness even in the church. He rebuked the lukewarm congregation at Laodicea with these words: “You say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17). So neither very religious Jews, nor pagan nations, nor those who are only professing Christians are exempt from this blindness.

As if the sinful blindness of those who love “the darkness rather than the Light” (John 3:19) were not bad enough, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). Those who willfully continue to walk naturally in darkness may also find that God judicially blinds them, giving them over to the darkness they love (cf. Rom. 1:21–25). Therefore, in further judgment, the Lord spoke to the crowds in parables

Writing of those who worship idols, Isaiah said, “They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend” (Isa. 44:18). Those who persistently refused to believe in Jesus eventually “could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ‘He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them’” (John 12:39–40). Paul wrote of unbelieving Israel, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day” (Rom. 11:8).

As spiritually blind sinners, the unsaved are confined to the darkness, unable to see the light of divine truth. They “walk in the ways of darkness” (Prov. 2:13; cf. 4:19; Eccl. 2:14); “substitute darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isa. 5:20); grope along with no sense of direction (cf. Acts 17:27), since the one who “walks in the darkness does not know where he goes” (John 12:35; 1 John 2:11); “participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness” (Eph. 5:11); belong to “the domain of darkness” (Col. 1:13); and do not have fellowship with God, who is Light (1 John 1:6; cf. 2:9).

The only cure for spiritual blindness is saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament predicted that the Messiah would bring spiritual sight to His people (cf. Isa. 42:7).”The people who walk in darkness,” Isaiah wrote, “will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. … Out of their gloom and darkness the eyes ofthe blind will see” (Isa. 9:2; 29:18). In Isaiah 49:6 God said of the Messiah, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, said that Messiah would “shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). Jesus applied the words of Isaiah’s prophecy to Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18). Matthew also quoted Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Messiah’s ministry: “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned” (Matt. 4:16). Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12), and, “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness” (12:46).

At salvation God “rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). Believers “were formerly darkness, but now … are Light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8; cf. 2 Cor. 4:6). We “are not in darkness … [but] are all sons of light and sons of day” (1 Thess. 5:4–5), because God “has called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

This passage, which concludes the story of the blind man whom Jesus healed, reveals the characteristics of both spiritual sight (on the part of the man) and spiritual blindness (on the part of the Pharisees).

SPIRITUAL SIGHT

Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him. (9:35–38)

John’s account of this incident reveals four characteristics of spiritual sight: it requires divine initiative, responds in faith, recognizes Christ, and results in worship.

SPIRITUAL SIGHT REQUIRES DIVINE INITIATIVE

Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (9:35)

After healing the blind man (9:1–7), Jesus had disappeared from the narrative. The man was then questioned (first by his astonished neighbors [vv. 8–12] and then by the hostile Pharisees [vv. 13–34]), abandoned by his parents (vv. 21–22; cf. Ps. 27:10), and finally excommunicated from the synagogue (v. 34). When Jesus heard that they had put him out of the synagogue, He went to find him. Just as He did in granting him his physical sight, the Lord took the initiative in opening his spiritual eyes. Rejected by the religious leaders, he was sought by the Redeemer.

If God did not take the initiative in salvation, no one would be saved, since sinners cannot seek Him on their own. Romans 3:10–12 sums up the sinner’s total inability: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” “No one can come to Me,” Jesus said, “unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44, cf. v. 65).”You did not choose Me,” Jesus told the disciples, “but I chose you” (15:16). Just as the physically blind are incapable of restoring their own sight, so also the spiritually dead and blind cannot live or see by their own will or power. Salvation depends on God’s initiative, power, and sovereign grace (cf. 1:12–13). (For a discussion of God’s sovereignty in salvation, see the exposition of 6:37 in chapter 20 of this volume.)

After finding him, Jesus asked the formerly blind man the crucial question, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” By using the personal pronoun you in addition to the verb, Jesus emphasized the man’s need to respond; the question could be translated, “You … do you believe in the Son of Man?” not just as a miracle worker with power from God, but as Messiah. In this way, the man was confronted with his need to place his trust for forgiveness and salvation in Christ as his Lord and Savior. The title Son of Man (cf. 1:51; 3:13; 6:27, 62; 8:28) is messianic and drawn from Daniel 7:13–14, which prophesies His coming and everlasting kingdom. (For a further discussion of the title Son of Man, see the exposition of 1:51 in chapter 5 of this volume.)

SPIRITUAL SIGHT RESPONDS IN FAITH

He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”(9:36)

The man’s reply revealed a heart divinely prepared to believe in Jesus. He already viewed Him as a prophet (v. 17), who had been sent from God (v. 33), and had experienced His supernatural power in the miraculous healing. Not yet fully aware of who the Messiah was, but convinced Jesus was a messenger from God who did know, he trusted Him implicitly to direct him to the One in whom he was to believe. His trust illustrates the truth that though divinely initiated, salvation is never apart from a faith response. At the outset of His public ministry Jesus declared it necessary for lost sinners to “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). In the prologue to his gospel John wrote, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (1:12). The most familiar verse in the New Testament promises “that whoever believes in [Jesus] shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16; cf. vv. 15, 36; 5:24). “For this is the will of My Father,” Jesus said, “that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (6:40). Later in that same discourse He solemnly affirmed, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (6:47). The apostle John wrote his gospel “so that [people] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing [they] may have life in His name” (20:31). Peter told Cornelius and the other Gentiles, “Through [Jesus’] name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43). When the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “’Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household’” (Acts 16:30–31). Writing to the Romans, Paul explained that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Later in that same epistle he wrote, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Rom. 10:9–10). Paul also told Timothy that Jesus Christ had showed him mercy so that He “might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:16).

Acts 13:48 sums up the interplay of divine sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation: “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” In other words, God sovereignly chose those who would be empowered, awakened, and enabled to respond in faith (cf. Eph. 2:8–9).

SPIRITUAL SIGHT RECOGNIZES CHRIST

Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.” (9:37–38a)

When the Samaritan woman had referred to the coming Messiah, “Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He’” (4:26). Here in response to the healed man’s request for the Son of Man’s identity, Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” The Lord presented Himself as the object of saving faith, just as He had earlier done at Capernaum: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (6:29). It is the one “who believes in the Son [who] has eternal life” (3:36; cf. vv. 15–16, 18; 6:35, 40; 7:38; 8:24; 11:25–26; 12:36, 46; 17:20; 20:31).

Unhesitatingly, the man said, “Lord, I believe.” The Spirit of God had opened his heart to the truth (cf. 3:5–8), revealing to him Jesus’ true identity (cf. Matt. 16:16–17). He exemplified the principle Jesus enumerated in 7:17: “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.” Jesus never turns away those whom the Father gives Him; as He Himself said, “the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (6:37).

SPIRITUAL SIGHT RESULTS IN WORSHIP

And he worshiped Him. (9:38b)

As the last vestiges of spiritual darkness were dispelled, the eyes of the man’s heart were opened, and he saw clearly who Jesus is. The inevitable result of such a revelation is always worship (Matt. 14:33; Luke 24:45, 52; Phil. 2:10). Preaching on this passage, Charles Spurgeon summed up the joy and delight the man must have felt at that moment:

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” (9:39–41)

By way of contrast, four features of spiritual blindness may also be recognized in this passage, illustrated by the Pharisees in the final verses of the chapter: it receives judgment, refuses to admit its blindness, rejects spiritual sight, and results in doom.

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS RECEIVES JUDGMENT

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” (9:39)

Jesus’ words, “For judgment I came into this world,” appear at first glance to contradict the truth that “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (3:17). They also seem to oppose the unambiguous revelation of 5:22 and 27: “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son … and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” But far from being contradictory, those two truths are complementary; they are two sides of the same reality. To reject Jesus’ peace is to receive His punishment; to reject His grace is to receive His justice; to reject His mercy is to receive His wrath; to reject His love is to receive His anger; to reject His forgiveness is to receive His judgment. While Jesus came to save, not to condemn (cf. 12:47; Luke 19:10), those who reject His gospel condemn themselves, and subject themselves to judgment (John 3:18, 36). Spiritual sight comes only to those who acknowledge that they do not see, who confess their spiritual blindness and their need for the Light of the World. On the other hand, those who think they see on their own apart from Christ delude themselves, and will remain blind. They will not come to the Light, because they love the darkness and do not want their evil deeds to be exposed (3:19).

This was precisely the issue in the synagogue at Nazareth, where Jesus offered the gospel’s salvation only to those who were aware of their sin—the penitent spiritually poor, imprisoned, blind, and oppressed (Luke 4:18). The hearers, like most in Israel, did not see themselves as such and reacted by trying to murder Jesus (Luke 4:29). Their response was self-condemning.

As noted earlier, the danger faced by those who think they see is that their rejection and unbelief is irreversible, and they may become permanently blind. The sobering truth is that those who willfully reject the light of salvation in Christ may find themselves fixed in their condition by God (cf. 12:39–40; Isa. 6:10; Matt. 13:13–15; Acts 28:26–27; Rom. 11:8–10). Scripture records not only that Pharaoh hardened his heart against God (Ex. 8:15, 32; 9:34; 1 Sam. 6:6), but also that, as a result, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). Some of the Pharisees reached that same point when they rejected the full light of God’s revelation in Christ and attributed His divine power to Satan (Matt. 12:24–32).

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS REFUSES TO ADMIT ITS CONDITION

Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” (9:40)

Evidently Jesus was not alone when He found the blind man; some of the Pharisees … were still with Him. Having heard the things Jesus said in verse 39, they indignantly said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” The form of their question in the Greek expects a negative answer. Surely Jesus could not be suggesting that they were spiritually blind like the common people who did not know the Law (7:49)? After all, they were the elite, self-proclaimed experts in the Law and devout disciples of Moses (9:28). As the recognized religious leaders of Israel, they were confident that they did not lack spiritual perception. But the reality was that they were blind to spiritual truth, even though they did not know it. And by refusing to admit their blindness, they confirmed the darkened condition of their hearts and increased their hatred for the only One who could save them from Satan and their damning sin.

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS REJECTS SPIRITUAL SIGHT

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin;” 1a)

The Lord’s answer must have surprised the Pharisees, who no doubt expected a more direct answer to their question. But Jesus’ point was that if the Pharisees would confess that they were spiritually blind (thereby a dmitting their need for Christ, the true Light) they would have no sin, because it would be forgiven (Ps. 32:5; Prov. 28:13; 1 John 1:9).

Unfortunately, the Pharisees were like those of whom Solomon said, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov. 26:12; cf. 12:15; Isa. 5:21). Many by stubbornly refusing to admit their blindness, doomed themselves to darkness forever.

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS RESULTS IN DOOM

“but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” (9:416)

Since the Pharisees were unwilling to acknowledge their blindness, but claimed to see, they remained culpable and unforgiven for all their sin. They could not plead ignorance or lack of opportunity. In particular, the sin in view here, and the one that always damns, is that of unbelief. Jesus’ pronouncement that their sin remains (cf. Matt. 12:32; Heb. 6:4–6; 10:29–31) carries with it a sense of finality. It may be that at this point He permanently confirmed them in their willful spiritual blindness, as He did with some other Pharisees in Matthew 15:13–14. On that occasion, when He was told by His disciples that some Pharisees were offended by His words, Jesus had replied, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” Those three shocking words, “Let them alone,” reveal that God will sometimes judge directly unrepentant sinners by abandoning them (and even hardening them) in their unbelief (cf. Hos. 4:17; Rom. 1:18, 24, 26, 28).

As the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16), Jesus Christ is the determiner of human destiny. Simeon said prophetically of Him, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34). The Lord Himself said of His ministry,

Those who, like the blind beggar, acknowledge their spiritual blindness and turn to the Light “will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12). But those who, like the Pharisees, persist in loving the darkness rather than the Light (3:19) will continue to wander aimlessly in the gloom (12:35; 1 John 2:11), bereft of any spiritual vision (Matt.6:23). The first group is destined to spend eternity in the glorious light of heaven (Rev. 22:5); the latter will be condemned to the horrifying darkness of eternal hell (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).