H- Highlight

41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

John 9:41

E- Explain

In these last 3 verses of the chapter we see Jesus respond to the faith of the once blind man receiving spiritual sight, spiritual life, and to the spiritual blindness of the pharisees.  First, let’s see his response to the one who believed.

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.

John 9:39

Some might read a verse like verse 39 where it says “For judgment I am come into this world” and think that there is an apparent contradiction in the Bible to the verse I read last week in John 3 which reads, 

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:17-18

The word “judgment” in verse 39 can be used in the sense of a judgment or “a sentence”.  Sometimes the judgment comes out in your favor, and sometimes it doesn’t.  John the Baptist compared Jesus’s coming ministry in Luke 3:15-17 where it says, 

15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

Luke 3:15-17

In verse 39 Jesus is saying that by coming and revealing Himself as the Son of God, there will be some who are in spiritual darkness who will see Him and be healed, and there will be those who believe that they have spiritual vision, spiritual insight, but in refusing to acknowledge Jesus show that they are spiritually blind.  How you identify Jesus reveals where you are in that division.

Someone may ask, “Are you sure that’s the right interpretation?”.  Well, that’s the question the pharisees ask in verse 40.

40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

John 9:40

Look at Jesus’ answer to them.

41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

John 9:39-41

It’s not as though Jesus was at fault for their blindness.  It’s not that Jesus made them blind.  It’s not that they cannot see the evidence.  It’s not that God was making them blind because He chose them to damnation for their rejection of Christ.

No.  The issue is that they refused to see it.  They refused to acknowledge their blindness. 

The one thing that will keep you from healing is not admitting that you are sick.

A- Apply

Over the years, being a pastor, I have found myself in a hospital visiting someone at least weekly.  Dozens of times I have heard someone say something like, “They told me it was a good thing I came in when I did.  They told me if I had waited any longer I might not be here.”  I heard that as lately as this week.  

I read a New York Post article this week that sited a poll that says that most Americans will not admit that they are sick for two days before they finally acknowledge that they are sick.  The article says,

“A poll of 2,000 Americans revealed that until they have cold sweats or chills (48%), a fever (46%) or see green snot (21%), they won’t acknowledge they’re sick.

Despite other tell-tale signs such as body aches (46%) or a juicy cough (19%), it takes Americans an average of two days of symptoms before admitting they may be unwell.”

New York Post

While I don’t know exactly how accurate this poll and article are, I know that this sounds like most men I know. We don’t want to go to the doctor. We just want the sickness to go away.

Here’s the point. To be healed, you must realize and acknowledge you are sick.  To be saved, you must realize your need for forgiveness that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said it this way.  

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mark 2:16-17

In the sermon on the mount he said this:

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

The person that acknowledges their own blindness, their own sinfulness, is the one who is in the place to look to Jesus Christ and be saved.

The person that acknowledges their own lack, their ignorance, their need for growth, their need to learn- these are the ones that grow.

The ones that think they know everything are the ones who are not teachable.

The ones who think that they have no sin are the ones who do not realize their own lostness and don’t get saved.

Consider this last passage.

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Romans 5:6-11

R- Respond

In my own life Lord, you know that I am too often self-sufficient.  I think that I can do life, ministry, and family on my own.  The truth is I cannot save myself.  I cannot save others.  I cannot get through this life being the kind of example I need to be apart from you.  I need You.  Help me not to be blind to what you want to do in me.  Please help me to trust in you with all my heart, and not lean on my own understanding.  Help me to acknowledge you in all my ways, and let you direct my paths.  I love you, Lord, Amen.