How do you know if you are spiritually blind John 9:24-41 | RIOT Podcast Ep 92 | Christian Podcast

About this Episode

How Do You Know If You Are Spiritually Blind? John 9:24-41 is the topic that will be discussed today on RIOT Podcast, a Christian Discipleship Podcast.

In last week’s show episode 91, we started John 9 and covered vs 1-23 and talked about the blind man that Jesus healed by putting mud on his eyes. We unpacked the story and revealed the beginning stages of how this man came to know Jesus.

We saw that Jesus first called him, out of all the other blind people, Jesus went out of His way to call this blind man. It’s like when we were blind to him and then Jesus called us to serve Him. Then we unpacked that the man recognized that Jesus was more than just a man. In fact, he boldly claimed to the Pharisees that Jesus was a prophet.

In our reading today, How do you know if you are spiritually blind John 9:24-41 we will see that the once blind man did not stop with Jesus just for a profit. He will begin to see Him as a man of God and then finally recognize that He is the Son of God. In our walk with Jesus, we do have a progression of faith, we are first “called” by Him, and over time as we get to know Him we begin to see Him more for who He really is. This story is very relevant for us today.

Read John 9:24-34

The Pharisees are anxious to settle this case, so they called the once blind man in again for more questioning, but this time they put him under oath. They said that “Give God the praise” is a form of Jewish swearing-in at court. The problem with this court is the judges are prejudiced from the start! They said we know that this man is a sinner. They were warning the man that he better cooperate with them or he might be excommunicated.

Notice that the once blind man did not debate the character of Jesus, probably because that was beyond his knowledge and experience. But the one thing he did know, is that now he could see.

In vs 26, the Pharisees asked him for the 4th time, “How did Jesus open your eyes?” Can you imagine this once blind man getting frustrated with them at this point? He has been blind all of his life and there is so much now to see. He certainly did not want to spend much longer in a synagogue court, looking at angry faces and answering the same question over and over again.

Unable to refute the evidence, the judges began to revile the man, and once again Moses is brought into the picture. Vs 28 “The judges said you are his disciple, but we are the disciple of Moses.” The Pharisees were cautious men who would consider themselves conservatives when in reality they were preservatives. A true conservative takes the best of the past and uses it, but he is also aware of the new things that God is doing. Mathew 13:52 says “The new grows out of the old.”

The leaders were sure about Moses but were not sure about Jesus. Vs 29 said we do not know where Jesus comes from. Remember Jesus had already told them in John 6 that he came from heaven sent by the Father. However, the Pharisees were convinced that Jesus was a natural son of Mary and Joseph and that He was from the city of Nazareth.

How many people were going around Jerusalem opening the eyes of blind people? Instead of investigating the miracle, these religious leaders should have been investigating the One who did the miracle and learned from Him. Acts 4:11 says “The experts were rejecting the Stone that was sent to them.”

In vs 30-33 the man gave the experts a lesson in practical theology. He said, “You call Jesus a sinner and yet it was Jesus that opened my eyes.” In vs 31, He paraphrases Psalms 66:18 where he said “God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him. He then concludes by giving them a truth bomb. Vs 33 it says “if this man were not from God, He could do nothing!”

The Pharisees had excommunicated this man and cast him out. He was not cut off from his family and friends. He was considered now a publican of sinners. But Jesus comes to those that are outcasts and rejected. In vs 35-41, we will see how Jesus never let this man down and how this man came to know Jesus as the son of God.

Read John 9:33-41

The good shepherd always cares for His sheep. Jesus knew that the man had been cast out, so He found him and revealed Himself to him. This man knew Jesus' voice but He had never seen him face to face. Where ever Jesus went, some of the Pharisees tried to be present so they could catch him in something He said or did. In vs 39, Jesus closes out this episode by preaching a brief, but penetrating sermon on spiritual blindness. The reason for Jesus coming was ultimately for salvation, but the result as He put it in vs 39 is with His coming, comes condemnation of those who would not believe.

The religious leaders were blind and would not admit it, therefore, the light of truth only made them more blind. The once blind man admitted his need and he received both physical sight and spiritual sight.

In vs 41, Jesus responded to the religious leaders by saying, If you were blind, you would be better off, but you claim to see. Therefore, you are guilty! Blindness would at least be an excuse for not knowing what was going on. But they did know what was going on. Jesus had performed many miracles, and the religious leaders ignored the evidence to make the right decision.

The once blind man was cast out of the synagogue but taken by the Good Shepherd and added to His flock! We never see this healed man again in scripture, but surely the man followed Jesus closely and was among those who was a witness for Him.