A Second Healing
TRANSLATION
(35) Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and, when he had found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (36) He responded, “And who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” (37) Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who is speaking with you.” (38) And he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshipped him. (39) Then Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (40) Some of the Pharisees who were near heard these things and said to him, “Are we also blind?” (41) Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
OBSERVATIONS
This brief segment contains four repeated words, terms which not only point to the thrust of the chapter but actually reflect the very essence of John’s Gospel: “believe” (three times in vss. 35, 36, & 38), “see/seen” (five times in vss. 37, 39, and 41), “blind” (three times in vss. 39, 40, & 41), and “guilt” (twice in vs. 41). Only those who have been cured of spiritual blindness have the capacity to see the truth and believe in the One who is able to remove their guilt by giving them eternal life. Note that the evidence of saving faith in the one who was born blind was his response of worshiping the one who had healed him (vs. 38).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus healed the man spiritually whom he had earlier healed physically. (35-38)
II. Jesus taught the Pharisees about blindness and sight, both physical and spiritual. (39-41)
IDEA STATEMENT
Upon encountering Jesus again and being made aware of who he really was, the man born blind believed in him, was healed of his spiritual blindness, and received the gift of eternal life.
APPLICATION
What took place during Jesus’ second meeting with the man born blind was just like what happened when the Samaritan leper returned to thank Jesus for healing him in Luke 17. Ten lepers had been healed physically, but only one returned to express gratitude for the miracle. When Jesus said to the Samaritan, “Rise and go your way…your faith has made you well” (Lk. 17:19), he received a second healing, this one spiritual, and was granted eternal life. Likewise, when Jesus found the blind man whose sight he had restored and revealed to him that he was God’s Messiah, he also believed and received the gift of eternal life.
We should take time to consider Jesus’ cryptic statement, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” With these words, Jesus essentially divided the world into two groups, namely, the blind who have been granted sight and the sighted who remain spiritually blind. The Pharisees failed to recognize that every human is born spiritually blind because of Adam’s sin. Like the blind man whose sight Jesus restored, all of us need God’s healing touch in order to see spiritually. Those with physical sight who refuse to recognize their spiritual blindness remain blind and accountable for their sin before a righteous God unless they seek from him the spiritual healing they desperately need.