John 9:35-41 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36 He answered and said, Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee. 38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. 39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? 41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

God Can Heal Anything But Self Righteousness

We have been studying the longest passage in Scripture on Jesus’ healing a man born blind. Jesus healed other blind people, but the entirety of chapter 9 deals with this one man. Interestingly, we never know this man’s name. But God knows it. Jesus knows his name. Jesus healed this man to show us that, as Messiah, He came to give sight to the blind. God told Moses:

Exodus 4:11 (ESV) … Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

It is God who makes a person. People say, “How can a loving God allow that child to be born blind, or with cancer, or with some horrid disease?” Yet what we are saying in reality is,

We have created a false god, an image of the true, in what we think is our image and in our likeness. God is not like what we want Him to be. God is as He is. God does what He does for a purpose. He is God, and we are not.

It is God – the LORD God Almighty – that makes each person according to His will. He made this man on purpose. God made this man blind so that, as we found out in verse 3, “that the works of God should be made manifest in him”. He was made blind from birth so that we all could see the power of Jesus over those who believe in Him. This man’s blindness could be healed – but the blindness of the Pharisee, the self righteousness of man made religion – cannot be fixed.

I find it interesting that Jesus waited until this man was “cast out” of the Synagogue to go to him. The Pharisees threw him out of their fellowship. Why? I believe it is because Christ cannot work with the self righteous. A person who is self righteous believes that they can be good enough for God on their own. The Bible says “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). We are all broken things, and all need Jesus.

Illustrate: Those who are in Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous know that the first thing the addict must do is to admit they have a problem. Once the problem is admitted, that person disconnects himself from others who are still in the grips of the problem. You cannot be a recovering alcoholic in a bar, nor a recovering addict in an opiate den or crack house. You must get away from those who are in the grip of that blindness.

The Pharisees were blind, not with alcohol or drugs, but with self righteousness. They might not have been physically blind, but they were spiritually blind. They saw clear indications through the miraculous that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Yet they rejected what they saw with their eyes, because their hearts were hardened toward the Lord. They kept the “traditions of the elders” (Matthew 15:2), but disobeyed the clearly taught Word of God (Matthew 15:3-6). Jesus told the Pharisees:

Mark 7:9 Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

They did not actually guard the Law of God, so much as they modified the Law to suit their own beliefs. They are much like those who ignore the Apostolic Teaching on Pastors and Deacons (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6, “The HUSBAND of ONE WIFE) or on homosexual or heterosexual sin (1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10, “The sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals shall inherit the Kingdom of God”). Though the Bible says:

2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

Just as we are commanded to withdraw from “every brother that walketh disorderly”, to not keep company with those who reject Apostolic Teaching, God caused the Pharisees to expel this once blind man from the company of the self righteous. The charge of God against the Pharisees was:

Romans 10:3-4 (NASB) For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Those who KNOW they are right will never entertain the notion that they need Jesus, the Son of God.

The Pharisees were a ground untilled, rocky, filled with weeds. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him “Why do You speak in parables?”, Jesus replied:

Matthew 13:13-15 (ESV) I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah (from Isaiah 6:9-10) is fulfilled that says: You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. (see also John 12:39-40; Luke 8:10; Mark 4:12)

The Pharisees had forgotten that the purpose of the Law was to lead mankind to the Christ, to “believe on the Son of God”. They thought they were fine because of their knowledge of Scripture, but their hearts were far from God (see Matthew 15:8-9). Jesus called them “blind guides” (Matthew 15:14; 23:16, 24), “blind fools” (Matthew 23:17), and “blind men” (Matthew 23:19). The Pharisees had the worst type of blindness. Each and every person born into the world is born “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1-2), walking according to the ways of this world, and following the direction of the “prince of the power of the air – satan” (Ephesians 2:1-2). Jesus told the Pharisees:

If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth

One of my commentaries notes:

The Pharisees repeatedly listen to the preaching of Jesus. They are not absent when he performs amazing miracles. They witness his consistent kindness toward the lowest of their society’s low. Yet they reject him as God’s Messiah or even as a man from God (John 7:30-32; John 8:16). What’s more, they call him a glutton and a drunkard, a Samaritan, demon possessed, in league with the prince of demons, and even Beelzebul himself (Luke 7:34; John 8:48; Mark 3:22; Matthew 10:25). We ask ourselves, how can the Pharisees be so blind?

Separating The Once Blind Man From The Blind Pharisees, Jesus Asks A Simple Question

John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

Jesus waited until He heard that “they had cast him out” of the Synagogue. Separated from the Pharisees our Lord asks him simply:

John 9:35 Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

Jesus has already seen this man’s heart. He sees that the man is prepared to be saved. He is out of the company of the self righteous and the confused. Jesus asks this man the question that is the key to eternal life. Jesus does not say, “Do you believe on Jesus of Nazareth?” Jesus is of Nazareth. He is “Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph” (John 1:45). But Joseph is not actually Christ’s father, but he is Jesus’ stepfather. Christ is born of God. He is born of the Virgin Mary. The Angel told Mary:

Luke 1:35 … The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Jesus is the unique Son of God. He was MADE Perfect Man, but has ALWAYS been the Son of God.

The Angels of Heaven are called “The sons of God” (Genesis 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7) because they were CREATED by God. Likewise, Adam himself was called “the son of God”:

Luke 3:38 … Adam, which was the son of God

because he was CREATED of God. But Jesus – unlike Adam and the Angels – was not created the Son of God, but He was created the Son of Man. Jesus has always been THE Son of God. The Devil himself knows Jesus is THE Son of God (Matthew 4:3, 6). When Jesus met the two possessed of devils in the country of the Gergesenes, the demons themselves cried out:

Matthew 8:29 …. What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

The devils and their Ruler know that Jesus is the Son of God, but they will not repent. The Pharisees knew the Scripture, but refused to acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God. The Gospel that saves is that “Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Salvation comes when a person recognizes Jesus as Nathaniel did, saying:

John 1:49 … {Jesus is the} the Son of God; … the King of Israel.

He is the Messiah, the One prophesied of the Father in the Old Testament, the One Who would come and lead those who believe in Him to salvation. When we receive Jesus as “THE SON OF GOD”, the Bible says that we become “sons of God” by New Birth.

You say that you believe Jesus is THE Son of God? Then why aren’t you OBEYING Him? Why aren’t you WORSHIPING Him? Do not believe your ritual – whether circumcision or water baptism – will get you into Heaven. “Dost THOU believe on the SON OF GOD?” If you do, it will show in your lifestyle. It will show in how you spend your money, in how you dress and act, in how and what you worship.

The key to God’s Kingdom is confession and submission to Jesus as THE Son of God! The Scripture says:

1 John 4:15 Whosoever shall confess {this is PUBLIC confession} that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? {you obey JESUS, not the world}

1 John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. {You believe Jesus is UNIQUELY THE SON of GOD}

1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. {you do not BRIEFLY believe Jesus is the Son of God, but HOLD ON to Him as such}

You may believe that Jesus was a good Man, a carpenter’s son, or even a master Rabbi – and you will remain dead in your sins. But if you have received Jesus as “THE Son of God”, the Scripture says:

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

When you RECEIVE Jesus as THE Son of God, God sends the Holy Spirit to you. You receive “power to become the sons of God”. Jesus Christ is Creator God in human perfection. The Scripture declares:

Colossians 1:15-17 (AP) … Jesus Christ is the very image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: For by Him all things are created, things in Heaven and earth, things visible or invisible, whether thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers: all things were CREATED BY HIM AND FOR HIM, and He is preeminent and before all things, and by Him all things are held together.

This Once Blind Man Shows Us The
PROGRESSION Of Saving Faith

Jesus is more than mere man – He is the God Who became incarnate as Perfect Man. He is the Son of God from eternity. He asks this now seeing but who was once blind man, “Do YOU believe on the Son of God?”. God has been working on the heart of this man. When this man first was healed, he told people that he was healed when …

John 9:11 … A MAN that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes…

Jesus was just a MAN at this point. He was a person like the ex-blind man was a person. Jesus is indeed a Man, but He is not like us. He is a PERFECT Man. Jesus is our “High Priest, Who was tempted as we are, but remained SINLESS” (Hebrews 4:15). As this blind man began to contemplate the miracle of his healing, in his heart he knew that Jesus had to be MORE than just a man like himself. When the Pharisees approached him later, asking who healed him, the once blind man told them:

John 9:17 … He {Jesus} is a prophet.

He must be a Holy Man like John the Baptist, or Elijah or Elisha. After all, the great prophets of the Old Covenant sometimes healed people.

Elijah raised a widow’s son from death (1 Kings 17:17-24).
Elisha raised the Shunamite’s son from death (2 Kings 4:18-37).

Maybe Jesus was a Prophet, sent of God. But now this Person Who healed him stands before him, and asks,

vs 35 Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

The man once blind asks Jesus,

John 9:36 … Who is he, LORD, that I might believe on him?

Word Study: The context of the Greek text tells us that the word rendered “LORD” would be better rendered “SIR”. The healed blind man speaks to Jesus respectfully, but he has never (to his knowledge) seen the “Son of God” with his own eyes. Perhaps he recognizes Jesus’ voice – but he does not call Him “LORD” yet, but respectfully “SIR”. In his mind Jesus has come from common man, to Prophet, to a “Sir”. He asks Jesus Who is the Son of God. Our Lord replies:

John 9:37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

Jesus declares He is the Son of God. To the Pharisees, Jesus now commits a terrible blaspheme. When they would later bring Jesus before Pilate to be crucified, they would tell the governor:

John 19:7 … We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

They rejected Christ because they thought that “he made himself the Son of God”. But Jesus did not “MAKE HIMSELF” anything. He was clearly the Son of God. Only God could create eyes in a man born without sight. When His friend Lazarus died, Jesus brought him back to life (John 11:42-44). Martha said to Jesus:

John 11:27 … Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

Jesus did not MAKE HIMSELF anything. He is THE Son of God. His works proved His profession.

Jesus has told this man He is the Son of God. The man responds:

John 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him.

The natural outflow of faith is WORSHIP. As a Pastor, if I have to chase you to get you to come and WORSHIP Jesus, then dear friend, YOU ARE NOT SAVED. If you do not love and worship Jesus, then you do not believe in Jesus. He is the Son of God. He is co-equal with God. Jesus told the devil:

Matthew 4:10 … it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’

Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:13-14 as well as other texts. Only God is to be worshiped. Yet this once blind man WORSHIPS Jesus – and Jesus receives that worship.

Jesus was worshiped as a toddler (Matthew 2:11).
Jesus was worshiped by a leper (Matthew 8:2).
Jesus was worshiped by a ruler (Matthew 9:18).
Jesus was worshiped by His disciples (Matthew 14:33).
Jesus was worshiped by the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:25).
Jesus was worshiped by Legion (Mark 5:6).
and Jesus will be worshiped in Heaven (Revelation 11:16).

Jesus is the Son of God. He came into the world to show us the truth of God, and to open our eyes, if we would but come to Him. He came,

John 9:39 … that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

May God the Holy Spirit open your eyes to Christ this very day. If you are saved, live for Him. Worship Him. Please Him by your lifestyle. And if you are not saved, today is the day of salvation. Make your choice. May God lead you to Christ Jesus. Amen and Amen.