I am not a country music fan per se. But to those who know country music, say that one of the all-time legendary greats was Hank Williams. He wrote a song entitled "I Saw the Light" that has lyrics that go like this:
I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin;
I wouldn't let my dear Savior in.
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night;
Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
Even though Hank Williams wrote those words almost a half a century ago, it could have been written and sung two millennia ago by a man whose name we do not know, but whose life we will never forget.
This is a story of a man born blind. From the time human hands pulled him from his mother's womb, he entered into a world where the velvet cover of darkness had been pulled over the light of the sun. But all of that changed in an instant when he met a man named Jesus. When he met the S-O-N he saw the S-U-N. When he met the Lord he saw the light. In fact, this miracle is really a physical illustration of a spiritual truth Jesus uttered in v.5 when he said, "I am the light of the world."
Now this man was born blind, but we learn he did not die blind. He was born in darkness; he was born again in light. He was born where he could not see; he was born again that he might see. The question you need to answer this morning before you leave this building is: "Have I seen the light?"
I. The Misery Of A Sightless Man
Now before you can understand the meaning of the miracle, you must examine the man in the miracle. For you see, this blind man is a picture of every person who has yet to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. What was it that made this man so miserable?
a. His Blindness
"Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth." (v.1) This was a man who was blind. Likewise, without Jesus Christ every person is blind. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3) A person without Jesus is living in darkness. Why is that?
Well, the answer is found in John 1:4, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." You see, in the Lord there is life, and in His life there is light. When God created Adam, God not only lived with Adam, He came to live in Adam. But when Adam sinned, God vacated the premises. He not only left the garden, he moved out of Adam. When the Lord went out, the life went out, and when the life went out, the light went out. Because all darkness is, is simply the absence of light. Ever since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden, man has lived in spiritual darkness.
Did you know you can have perfect 20/20 vision, but be as spiritually blind as a bat? Did you know that you not only have eyes in your head, you also have eyes in your heart? Paul said to the Ephesians, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…" (Eph. 1:18, NASB)
The problem with people who do not believe in God is they don't understand that you don't see God with the eyes in your head, you see God with the eyes in your heart. Augustine was once accosted by a heathen who showed him his idol and said, "Here is my god, where is yours?" Augustine replied, "I cannot show you my God—not because there is no God to show you, but because you have no eyes to see Him."
b. His Birth
"And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed to him.'" (vv.2-3) Even though Jesus healed blind people on at least five occasions, this story is unique because it is the only case on record where Jesus healed a congenital disease. In the Greek language the phrase "born blind" is not found anywhere else in the New Testament.
Now immediately the Pharisees were asking, "I wonder what this man did to deserve this?" They just assumed that a physical handicap was a sign of God's spiritual displeasure.
I am reminded of a very devout Christian woman who went to a pet store. She saw this beautiful parrot, immediately fell in love with it and decided to buy it. Well, the owner knowing this lady said, "Lady, I cannot sell you that parrot."
The lady said, "Why not?"
He said, "Well, you see, he was owned by a sailor and he curses a blue streak."
But the woman was not to be denied. She said, "I will change that parrot and turn him into a good parrot. I do want to buy him."
She took that parrot home, believing that with some Christian love and firm discipline he could be changed.
No sooner had she gotten that parrot home and the parrot began cursing and swearing just like the man warned. Well, she looked at that parrot and said, "I will not have that kind of language in this house, and if I hear any more of it I am going to put you in the freezer for ten minutes and teach you a lesson."
Well, the parrot continued to swear, so the woman took the parrot out of the cage and put him in the freezer. After ten minutes she took him out.
The shivering parrot looked at her and said, "Pppplease, Llllady, wwwwould yyyyou ttttell mmmme jjjjust oooone tttthing? Wwwwhat ddddid tttthe tttturkey ddddo?"
Well likewise these Pharisees thought that there was something wrong with this man or with his parents. But you see, his condition was simply the result of his birth. Likewise, we are sinners, spiritually blind from birth. We are not only sinners by choice, we are sinners by nature. David said, "I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." (Ps. 51:5)
You see, this man was not blind because he could not see, he could not see because he was blind. Man is not a sinner because he sins, he sins because he is a sinner. Man is not born with God, and then somehow loses God when he sins. He is born without God, and that is why he must be born again.
c. His Begging
Verse 8 tells us: "Is not this he who sat and begged?" You see, in that day the only thing a blind man could do was beg. There were no laws to protect the handicap, there was no pension plan for the physically weak; they were at the mercy of society.
If you have ever seen a beggar you know that by and large they are poor, they have no money. Many of them are putrid, they smell. They have a foul odor. But most of all, they are pitiful. They really either cannot or will not help themselves. That is the way every person is without the lord Jesus Christ.
You know the saddest person in the world is not the man who is blind and can't see, but the man who is blind but thinks he can see. You may think you are rich, wearing your gold jewelry, driving your fine automobile, living in your palatial home, enjoying your big bank account. But without Jesus Christ you are poor as dirt.
You may think you are a very good person, but without Jesus Christ your righteousness is like filthy rags before a holy and a righteous God. You may think you are on top of the world; you've got good health, adequate wealth, a bright future. But without the Lord Jesus Christ, you are of all people most to be pitied.
I am convinced that man's biggest need today is to see his need. His biggest problem is he cannot see his real problem.
Someone has said, "Your problem is, you don't know what your problem is—you think your problem is your problem, but that's not the problem at all. Your problem is not your problem and that's your main problem."1
The problem of the human race is that without Christ people are spiritually dead, spiritually darkened, spiritually depraved, and spiritually doomed, and their only solution is to see the light.
II. The Ministry Of A Sovereign Master
"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." "When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash, in the pool of Siloam!' (which is translated Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing." (vv.5-7)
I love this story. Here is a man, blind from birth, who has never seen the light of day, never seen the rays of the sun shimmering across the Sea of Galilee, never seen a father's smile or a mother's tear, never seen the blush of color on a rose.
But then he meets Jesus, who puts some spittle mixed with dirt on his eyes, and tells him to go wash in a pool, and all of a sudden he has 20/20 vision.
Now you would have thought that everyone would have been happy. You would have thought they would have thrown a party. You would have thought this story would have been on the front page of the Jerusalem Journal, and he really would have been on "20/20." But not so.
a. He Was Expelled By The Leaders
When this man was healed, you would have expected a celebration, but instead all he got was confrontation. In fact, it was the people you thought would have been the happiest, the religious church-going crowd, who were the very ones who cast him out.
They did everything they could to get the man to deny that a miracle had taken place, and then to deny who had actually performed the miracle. But when he would not do either one, when he stubbornly stood by his testimony of truth, v.34 tells us: "They answered and said to him, ‘You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?' And they cast him out."
In other words, this man was ex-communicated from the synagogue. He was cut off from the religious life of his own people. That is, they didn't just throw him out of the building, they threw him out of the church.
Even his own parents wouldn't stand by him. For we read in v.22, "His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue."
Now understand the seriousness of this. When a man was ex-communicated he could no longer be employed, his family would disown him, he could never again enter the synagogue and enjoy the fellowship of others who believed in the Lord, he couldn't buy, he couldn't sell. When he died he was not even given a funeral.
But that leads me to say this: When Jesus walks into your life, the world will walk out. As a matter of fact, Jesus will not come in until the world moves out. But when Jesus comes in the world will move out, for "friendship with the world is enmity with God—whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)
But you know that's all right because it is better to be cast out by the world, and to come out from the world, than it is to be condemned with the world in the day of judgment. I tell you, that Jesus and nothing else, is better than the world and everything else.
b. He Was Exposed To The Light
"Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God?' He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?'" (vv.35-36) Up until now this man had seen the "sun" but he had not seen the "Son." He had seen the light from the "sun" but he had not seen the Lord who is the "Son." But when he does, v. 38 tells us, "Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!' And he worshiped Him." Instantaneously this man goes from sight to salvation, from wonder to worship.
Now what is interesting to notice is the progression of his faith. His neighbors asked him how this miracle took place, and he said, "Therefore they said to him, ‘How were your eyes opened?' He answered and said, ‘A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." (vv.10-11) First of all, he simply calls Jesus a man. Now here he is really calling Jesus a good man. Because this is the man who healed him.
Then the Pharisees check in with their question, and notice his response: "They said to the blind man again, ‘What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?' He said, ‘He is a prophet.' But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight." (vv.17-18)
Now Jesus is not only a good man, he is a great man. You couldn't pay a person a higher compliment in that day than to call them a prophet. Because a prophet was considered a spokesman for God.
But after further questioning by the Pharisees, and further reflection, his opinion goes even higher. "We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from. The man answered and said to them, ‘Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.'" (vv. 29-31)
Now Jesus is not just a good man, nor even just a great man, He is a Godly man. That is wonderful, but He goes even further. Salvation does not come until he recognizes Jesus as the God-man. "And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.' Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!' And he worshiped Him. (vv.37-38) If Jesus is not the God-man, He is not a good man, much less a great man or a godly man.
Do you see how this man progressed in his faith? First, Jesus was a good man, then a great man, then a godly man, then the God-man. The point is, this man responded to the first light that he saw. As he responded to the first light, God gave him more light. That is the meaning of Luke 8:18: "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."
You see, what Jesus was saying was this: When God gives you a little light, if you will just respond He will give you more light. But when He gives you a little light, if you reject even that light He will take away the light that you have. When you really boil it down, the difference between a man that is saved and a man that is lost, is whether or not he has responded to the light that he has.
I like the way The Living Bible translates Prov. 4:18-19, "But the good man walks along in the ever brightening light of God's favor; the dawn gives way to morning splendor, while the evil man gropes and stumbles in the dark." It's just like learning. First you learn your ABC's, then you learn to read. First you learn to read easy books, and then you can go on to read the deeper books.
Well, the only thing you need to understand to come into the kingdom of God, is the bare-bone fact of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Once you respond to the light of the gospel you will find more light to walk deeper in the word of God. Dr. Vance Havner once said, "A man is judged not on the basis of how much sin he commits, but on the basis of how much light he rejects." The blind man was saved because he responded to the light. The Pharisees were lost because they rejected the light.
c. He Was Excited By His Life
These Pharisees had done everything they could to get this man to deny what had happened, how it had happened, by whom it had happened. Finally, rather than argue with them he just gives this testimony: "He answered and said, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.'" (v.25)
Not even those brilliant religious Ph.D.'s could argue with that testimony. Because, friend, a heart full of Jesus is worth a book full of arguments. If you know Jesus and your life has been changed, you know enough to bring people to the light of the world. Because we have not been called to prosecuting attorneys, we've just been called to be His witnesses.
III. The Message Of The Supernatural Miracle
Now remember, this entire miracle is meant to teach us a lesson, found in v.5, that Jesus is the light of the world. What a mighty light He is.
a. He Is The Shining Light
Notice He is the light of the world. Earlier he had said in John 8:12, "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'"
Many so-called lights have burned like Roman candles; up like a rocket and down like a rock, never to be heard from again. But I want to tell you two thousand years after He walked this earth, His fire burns hotter and His light shines more brightly than ever before in human history.
b. He Is The Seeking Light
"Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God?'" (v.35) This man did not find Jesus, Jesus found him. It is so beautiful to notice that when this man had been shut out by the sinners, he was sought out by the Savior.
Do you know what you will find when you find God? You will find He was looking for you all along. You see, salvation always results because God first seeks the sinner, not because the sinner first seeks God. Jesus said in John 15:16, "You didn't choose Me, but I chose you…"
c. He Is The Saving Light
"Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him." (v.38) Now don't miss this point. This blind man did not receive his sight just because he was exposed to the light. No amount of light affects blindness. You can put a blind man in broad daylight at twelve o'clock noon; he'll be just as blind as if he were in pitch darkness. All the light in the world will never make a blind eye see. The only thing that can do that is a literal miracle.
You see, this man could see physically, because Jesus opened the eyes in his head, but he could see spiritually because Jesus opened the eyes in his heart.
When Paul came to Philippi to preach the gospel, there was a lady there named Lydia. She worshiped God in her head, but she did not know God in her heart. Do you know how she was saved? The Bible says in Acts 16:14, "The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul."
d. He Is The Shunned Light
You know there were actually four different players in this drama. There were the people, that is his neighbors; his parents, the Pharisees, and then the person who was healed. But of all these groups, only one person was saved, and that was the man born blind.
Jesus uses that to illustrate a truth in v.39, "And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.'" Now understand the reason Jesus came was to save. But the result of his coming was judgment on all who do not believe. The same sun that melts the ice, hardens the clay. The same gospel that I preach that brings some men to the light, drives other men deeper into the dark.
That explains vv.40-41, "Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, ‘Are we blind also?' Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.' Therefore your sin remains." You see, these Pharisees had seen the miracles Jesus performed, they had heard the message Jesus preached, but they still refused to believe.
No one will ever see until they first admit they are blind. Just as light obeyed increases light, light refused increases darkness. But no one is as blind as the person who cannot see, but claims that he can.
Every time I think about the Pharisees I am reminded of what Jesus said in John 3:19, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." You see, no one is in darkness because they cannot come to the light, but because they will not come to the light.
I heard a story of a man who used to pilot a small plane. One night one of his passengers asked this pilot: "What would happen if your engine suddenly quit?"
The pilot smiled and said, "Well, I would glide as far as I could, and then as I got near the ground I would turn on the lights."
The passenger said, "Then what would you do?"
The pilot replied, "Well, if I didn't like what I saw I would turn off the lights."
Well, that is what a lot of people do. They are exposed to the light, and when they don't like what they see, they just turn it off and tune it out. So you understand something today. No blind person should be blamed because he cannot see. But no blind person should be pitied because he will not see.
When I preach the gospel to people who are lost, or I present the gospel to a lost person one on one, and I share with them the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, if for whatever the reason that person refuses to be saved, and he dies and spends eternity separated in hell from God, one thing he cannot do, and I will not do, is blame God.
e. He Is To Be The Shared Light
Now the best manuscripts in v.4 use the pronoun "we" not the pronoun "I." The verse really reads this way: "We must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."
You see, this miracle is not just to tell us what Jesus did then, it is to tell us what Jesus wants to do through us now. Just as Jesus opened this man's eyes and turned him from darkness to light, we, today, are to be sharing the light of the world, bringing people in from the spiritual darkness. After God calls Paul to see the light on the Damascus Road, he told Paul he was going to send him to the Gentiles "to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light." (Acts 26:18) Every sermon we preach, every word we say, every song we sing, every deed we do, is to be an "eye-opener" that people might see the light.
Hank Williams wrote a second stanza to that song that I pray either is your testimony or will be today:
Just like a blind man, I wandered alone
Worries and fears I claimed for my own;
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight,
Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
1 Lifetime Guarantee, Bill Gillham, p. 2.