JOHN LESSON 27


     We will begin this lesson in John 9:1.

     V-1, "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from
his birth."

     The fact that this man was blind from birth brings us to believe
that a creative miracle would be needed here.  This man had not lost
his sight from an accident, nor had he gradually lost his sight.
Jesus does not overlook the needs of people, even though He is just
passing by.

     V-2, "And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin,
this man, or his parents,  that he was born blind?"

     Really, this question shows the weakness of the disciples'
understanding.  It appears from this question they asked Jesus, that
they believe all disease is caused by sin.  This is just not true.
Some disease is caused by sin, but not all.  A very good example of
sickness without sin is Job.  It seems, though these disciples walked
with Jesus most of the time, they still misundertstood much of His
teaching.  If this man's sin made him blind, how did he sin before his
birth?  You see, that statement could not be true, because you must
live before you yourself sin.

     V-3, "Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his
parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

     We see, here, an answer to many of the people today who preach
that sickness means you have sinned.  I say again, not all sickness is
caused by sin.  You see, God had a purpose in this man's blindness.
Many dear saints have been made to feel guilty about disease in their
bodies.  God has many purposes unknown to us.  One of the best
examples, I believe, is Paul.  God would not take his thorn in the
flesh away, so that Paul would remain humble.  We are not told
specifically what disease Paul had , we just know that God refused to
heal him for a purpose.  Most people are closer to God when there is a
problem in their life.  The purpose of this man's blindness is to show
the creative power of the Lord Jesus.  I say creative, because he had
never seen before.  The Lord must create sight for him.

     V-4, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day:
the night cometh, when no man can work."

     Just as Jesus says, here, that He must work while it is day, we
must do the same.  After we have died, it is too late to go out and do
the things God called us to do while we were on earth.  The called of
God are called to complete a mission on this earth.  The job God
called you to do, is not for your life in heaven, but is a call to
work here on this earth.  Jesus was on a mission.  He knew His time on
earth this time was limited.  He must complete His mission as the
opportunity arises now.

     V-5, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

     These words are in red in the Bible which tell us that Jesus
spoke these words Himself.  He is the Light.  Those who do not receive
Jesus, even now, are living in darkness.  We have already studied in
this teaching on the Book of John that Jesus said , "I am the light of
the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life."  When it became dark for three hours at
Jesus' crucifixion, Satan thought he had defeated Jesus.  He was
really disappointed when Jesus rose from the grave.

     V-6, "When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made
clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with
the clay,"

     As we said in an earlier verse, since this man was blind from
birth, this needed to be a creative miracle.  Man was made from the
dust of the earth.  Perhaps, that is why Jesus picked up a hand full
of clay to anoint the eyes with.  To me, this clay speaks of creation.

     V-7, "And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which
is by interpretation, Sent.)  He went his way therefore, and washed,
and came seeing."

     This going and washing are an act of faith upon this man's part.
Sometimes Jesus would say, your faith has made you whole.  Had this
man not believed that he would be able to see when he washed, he would
not have gone to wash.  This was an outward sign that he believed.
His faith shown by his action activated his healing.

     V-8, "The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen
him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?"

     These neighbors had to be astonished at him being healed.  They
had seen him from his birth and knew that he was blind.  They even
knew he had begged, because he could not make a living being blind.
They could not believe their own eyes.

     V-9, "Some said, This is he:  others said, He is like him:  but
he said, I am he."

     This type of miracle was so outstanding that many around just
could not believe it.  His appearance had changed, also.  The eyes
give off such expression that having his eyes open did alter his
appearance.  We see here, though, that he answers and says, it's me.

     V-10, "Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?"

     V-11, "He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made
clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of
Siloam, and wash:  and I went and washed, and I received sight."


     Now that he can see, they are curious about how this happened.
You see, this man does not even realize that Jesus is Messiah.  He
calls Jesus a man.  Something had caused him to believe and to obey
Jesus, and his sight was restored.

     V-12, "Then said they unto him, Where is he?  He said, I know
not."

     Jesus had sent him to the pool of Siloam.  He didn't go back to
Jesus, so he doesn't really know where Jesus went, or even who Jesus
is.

     V-13, "They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was
blind."

     V-14, "And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and
opened his eyes."

     These Pharisees have already been seeking to accuse Jesus and get
rid of Him.  As we said before, they were jealous because Jesus was
doing miracles that they could not do.  The worst accusation they
could make of this was that He had done this on the sabbath.  No one,
except the man, seems to be pleased about his sight being returned.
These Pharisees and the people who brought him to the Pharisees are so
caught up in the letter of the law, that they have overlooked the fact
that a fantastic miracle has occurred here.  I cannot believe they
want to punish anyone for doing good to this extent.  This is like
much of the knitpicking that goes on in today's churches.  They get so
caught up in carrying out their rules and doctrines that they miss
God's real message.  Being technical about the Bible will get us
nowhere with God.  God wants us to understand the deeper meaning in
our Spirit and heart.

     V-15, "Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had
received his sight.  He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes,
and I washed, and do see."

     We see here jealousy to the utmost.  These Pharisees were not
concerned that the man could see, all they wanted to do was get enough
evidence so they could accuse Jesus.

     V-16, "Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of
God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day.  Others said, How can a
man that is a sinner do such miracles?  And there was a division among
them."

     We see a division among these Pharisees.  Some would not believe
that He was any more than a man guilty of breaking the sabbath,
regardless of how fantastic the miracles He did were.  Some of the
others, however, were beginning to realize that no mer e man could do
these miracles.  This has to be Messiah.  This division still exists
today.  It is the believer and the nonbeliever.


                           John 27 Questions


1.  How long had this man been blind?
2.  The fact he had been blind this long indicates what kind of
    miracle is necessary?
3.  What question did the disciples ask Jesus about the man's
    blindness?
4.  How did Jesus answer them?
5.  What was the purpose of his blindness?
6.  This question the disciples asked showed what about themselves?
7.  What makes the disciples' question ridiculous?
8.  Who prayed three times to be healed and was told no?
9.  What was his disease?
10. When did Jesus say He must work?
11. What are the called of God, called to complete?
12. In verse 5, what did Jesus call Himself?
13. When did Satan believe he had beaten Jesus?
14. What actually did Jesus do to the blind man?
15. When Jesus did that, what did He tell the blind man to do?
16. When the blind man obeyed Jesus, what did that show?
17. What does Siloam mean?
18. When he did what Jesus said, what happened?
19. In verse 8, who had difficulty believing this miracle?
20. What question did they ask the man?
21. Who did they take the man to?
22. What were they accusing Jesus of?
23. What caused the divided opinions?
24. Who did they mistakenly believe Jesus to be?


                                 Notes