John 9:35-41 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is John 9:35-41. I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
John 9:35-38 (NIV)
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
On verses 35-38: When the healed man was thrown out by some Pharisees, Jesus goes out to find him. During this second encounter with Jesus, Jesus teaches the healed man more of who Jesus is, calling himself the Son of Man, and leads the man to saving faith in him.
What can we learn from this?
- Faith is a process. Often people will not profess saving faith in Jesus after just one encounter with Jesus, but after multiple encounters. So when you’re sharing your faith with others, don’t be discouraged if that person does not come to saving faith in Christ instantaneously. Realize that faith is a process. What you are doing in that person’s life is planting a seed, or watering a seed that has been planted. God willing, one day, when it’s time, that seed will sprout.
- Jesus reveals himself to this once blind man, calling himself the Son of Man. The once blind man believes and begins to worship Jesus. Notice Jesus doesn’t stop him from worshiping. Instead Jesus receives his worship. This is further proof that Jesus believed himself to be God and worthy of worship.
- I love how Jesus didn’t just reach out to the man once. Rather, after the man is thrown out of the temple, Jesus reached out to him again. I love that. First it shows that when we are excluded and rejected by others, Jesus still receives us. Second it shows that Jesus keeps on pursuing us, not just once, but over and over. As David said in Psalm 23, “goodness and love follow me all the days of my life”, so God continues to pursue you with His love to this day.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
On verses 39-41: What does Jesus mean in verse 39 when he says, “For judgment I have come into this world”? Didn’t Jesus earlier say that he came not to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17)? How do we reconcile this? Here’s one way to think of it: The heart and the intention of Jesus’ first coming was to save as many people as possible from sin and death (John 3:17). At the same time, because people will respond to Jesus’ offer of salvation in different ways – some accepting Him, some rejecting Him – Jesus’ coming indirectly has the effect of “judging”, or showing, who are the ones who truly see and the ones who think they see but are actually blind. In this way, Jesus’ coming is the litmus test that helps God judge or determine whether a person is spiritually blind or spiritually seeing. As one pastor puts it, judgment is not the reason for Jesus’ coming, but an indirect result of Jesus’ coming.
In this case, we have two very different responses to Jesus: the once blind but now healed man believes and worships Jesus (v38), while the Pharisees who claim to see are blind to who Jesus is (v40-41).
This miracle of Jesus healing the blind man is a real life parable that teaches us what spiritual blindness and spiritual sight really look like.
What can we learn from this? A person’s attitude toward Jesus reveals so much about their true spiritual condition. No matter how spiritual or unspiritual a person may claim to be, if you have an open, humble attitude toward Jesus, it shows you are closer to and deeper in the kingdom of God than you think. If you have a closed, prideful attitude toward Jesus, it shows that you are much more in the dark spiritually than you think.
Jesus, thank You for relentlessly pursuing me with Your love and never giving up on me. Thank that those others may exclude or reject me, You still welcome me with open arms. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
