The Blind Man Who Could See

Pastor Laurie DeWitt


	Have you ever pretended that you were blind? Have you ever
closed your eyes and tried to pace through your living room or
bed room without hitting anything? Or have   you ever tried to
do it in the dark, searching for that small rectangular area on
the wall which can provide you with light? Well. I have. and
occasionally I've bumped into a chair arm or a table edge. 

	Have you ever been spiritually blind? Have you deliberately
ignored truth and light, or have you been seeking for truth in
the darkness, only to bump into more difficulties? 		Today I
want to go to the scriptures and look at a discussion of
blindness. And in the story that we will be exploring today we
are going to see all kinds of people. There are those who are
blind, but who are able to see the true light. There are people
who are able to see light, but unable to see the true light. And
there are those who are able to see light and also are able to
see the true light. 

	In our world we now have many organizations for the blind there
are many things done for the blind. They are given tax breaks.
Devices are developed to enable them to get around better. An
alphabet has been devised for the blind, Animals are trained to
help them. With all these things and others, it is sometimes
possible for the blind to lead a nearly normal life. Even so,
this does not make up for the blindness. 

	But this has not always been the case, for there was a time,
and it still exists in some societies when the blind were
treated as outcasts, in most cases. We have mention of at least
4 different blind people in the gospels, and all of them were
beggars. Maybe that tells us something of the status of the
blind in the time of Jesus. John 9 tells us the story of one of
these. 

	One day as Jesus is walking along the road with the disciples,
they see a blind beggar sitting on the edge of the road. The
disciples, anxious to find out where Jesus stands in relation to
the teachings of the Pharisees, asked him "Master, why was this
man born blind? Was it the result of his sin or was it the
result of the sins of the man's parents?"

	The disciples were undoubtedly familiar with the Jewish concept
of a God that carefully measured out a mans sins and then just
as carefully repaid the man for his sins in some form of
punishment measure for measure. 

	But in this case the man was born blind. Now it was obvious
that if this mans condition was the result of his sins, he must
have sinned before he was born, and some of the Jewish
theologians agreed that this was possible. Perhaps that says
something about what happens when you try to define God too
closely in mans terms. 

	Now according to the same logic, if the man hadn't sinned ,
then his parents must have sinned sometime. This concept at
least had some type of Biblical basis, for Moses records that
the sins of the parents will be visited unto the third and
fourth generation.

	But in his reply, Jesus goes directly against the teaching of
the Pharisees and declares, "Neither one of these things is
correct" Then I can see Jesus squat down on the side of the
road, as they still do in the Middle East, and spit in the dust,
take his finger and the spittle and dust it into a paste, and
smear it on the eyelids of the blind man.

	"Go wash in the pool of Siloam" he tells the man. 			
	Whatthoughts must have raced through the beggars head as he 
made his way to the pool. He knew the way, but in his haste he kept
bumping into things and making wrong turns. "I'm going to see,
I'm going to see" he keeps telling himself. 

	Finally reaching the pool I can see that instead of daintily
washing his face to remove the clay that he plunges his whole
head under the water, and washes his eyes. And as the mud comes
off, he notices a change. 

	"Light Yes I can see light" In his eagerness to experience this
new concept of seeing he raises his head to try to look around,
without drying his face. Looking around everything is blurry,
but blinking the water out of his eyes... "Oh Joy, Oh wander. I
can see" he shouts. 

	He hurries back to the place where he used to spend his time
begging . As he makes his was through town this time, his brain
is crowded with vision. Look at those orange persimmons. And the
green of the cucumbers. And the beautiful three tone of the
watermelons. And he had never dared that there could be so many
shades of brown as he saw in the beans and grains.

	As he goes along, he leaves behind him a trail of surprised
people. 

	"Hey, isn't that the man that was blind? Isn't that the blind
beggar? He sure doesn't look blind now: 

	"No that can't be him, Because no one who is blind ever sees
again." 

	"But it looks like him." 

	"I am the same man" the beggar shouts out again and again. 

	"But what happened? Now you can see." 

	"A man made mud and smoothed it over my eyes, and told me to go
to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud off of my eyes, and I
did, and now I can see: I can see." 

	"Where is this man now? Do you know where he is?"

	"I don't know" replies the beggar,

	Eager to get the reaction of the Pharisees about this unusual
event, they take the seeing man to the religious leaders. I'm
not sure why they did this, but I think that we often do the
same thing today when we study the word of God, and the Spirit
convicts us of truth.

	We want some earthly figure to agree with us or support us.
Instead of actively seeking the one who was the source of this
miracle, they run to their earthly leaders for an analysis of
what is right or wrong. 

	Now it is not wrong to turn to a friend or a leader to discuss
what is truth. This is good, for it strengthens all of us.
Neither is it wrong to ask someone for help with the study of
the Word. But remember, that the basis for knowing the savior is
always a l to 1 relationship.  No one on earth can know Christ
for you. And it is after knowing Christ, that he brings us into
all truth.

	The Pharisees were naturally curious about this happening, for
they had ready declared that anyone who said that Jesus was
Christ would be banned from the temple, so they ask the man to
tell his story. "I was in by usual place by the side of the
road, when I heard someone come up to me. I heard him and his
friends talking about me. He came close, and, after a minute he
spread mud on my eyes, and told me to go wash it off. When I
washed the mud off I was able to see." 

	"Nonsense" Say some of the Pharisees, "This man can't be of
God, because he worked on the Sabbath. The law specifically
forbids making clay of the Sabbath." 

	"But" says another, "How could an ordinary sinner do such
miracles?" 

	For a while the two groups argue back and forth among
themselves. 

	"He's a prophet."

	"No he isn't."

	"He's a common sinner."

	 Back and forth. Finally they turn to the seeing man and demand
"This man who opened your eyes, who is he? 	Who do you think he
is?" 

	"I think that he must be a prophet sent from God," replies the
man, now beginning to get a little frustrated with the attitude
of the Pharisees. 

	"Well, I think that it's all a hoax" one of them says. "We
don't know if this man were ever really blind." 

	"Yes" says another, lets check this out." 

	"Call his parents," agrees a third. 

	So the man's parents are summoned. "Is this your son? Was he
born blind?  If so, why can he see now?" The questions came in
rapid fire pace, hoping to either confuse the parents or to
prove their point. 

	"We know that this is our son. We also know that he was born
blind, and that he has been blind all of his life. But we don't
know what happened to make him see or who did it. He's a man
now. Let him speak for himself. Ask him," they hedged, for
they knew that anyone that said that Jesus was the Messiah would
not be allowed back into the temple. 

	Getting nowhere with the man parents, the Pharisees call the
man in before them again. "Give the glory to to, not to Jesus,
for we know that Jesus is an evil person."  This kind of proved
that they knew only Jesus could have done this.

	That didn't go over too well with the seeing man. "I don't know
whether He is good or bad, but I do know that I was blind, and
now I am able to see."

	This is the kind of an argument that cannot be refuted. The man
refused to argue about whether or not Christ was a sinner, But
instead stuck to the only argument that could be unquestioned
questioned. And this is the same argument that can convince
those around you of the worth of being with Jesus. I've heard
many  people who could argue evolution for days. They could
debate that the Bible was a pack of lies. They could disprove
just about anything that you can tell them. But when you get to
the quiet talk on the lonely evenings and you yell them of a
Savior that changed your life, and that gives you hope, and
cares for you, and guides your future, then that person will
become quiet, and often will sincerely say, "I with that I could
believe like that." 

	And when you visit with people, they are not nearly so
interested about what is written down in some book, as they are
in seeing what is being written every day in your life. 			
That old saying that "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day
holds true, my friends. 

	But if you have received sight where there was once  blindness,
you will be unable to contain it, and you will not only live it,
you will talk about it also. 

	Not contented with the way things were going, the Pharisees ask
again, But what did he do? How did he heal you? Becoming even
more fed up with these men who were able to pontificate on all
kinds of knowledge, yet were unable to remember a simple story,
the seeing man says, "Look, I told you once. Didn't you listen?
Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his
disciples too?"

	This was just too much. The air becomes charged with tension
between the man and those who are trying to trip him up. As is
often the case when one can't refute the truth, The Pharisees
turn vindictive. "You are cursed" they shout. "You are his
disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has
spoken to him, but we don't know anything about this Jesus.

	That was practically an outright lie, for they had sent spies
out to spy and report to them the actions of Jesus. Jesus
himself had left them no room to doubt about who he claimed that
he was. They knew that he had healed the

sick. They knew that they or others had tried to kill him
several times. It is even likely that even this same group was
plotting his death. 

	The seeing man, probably knowing something of all this,
replies: "Well well, Isn't that odd. Jesus can heal blind men,
but you say that you don't know anything about him. But God
doesn't listen to evil men who try to perform miracles but He
has open ears to the ones who worship Him and do his will. Since
the world was made, no one has ever been able to cure someone
who was born blind. If this man were not from God, He couldn't
do it." 

	"You, you, you illegitimate son" the Pharisees shout. "Are you
trying to teach us?" And they throw him out of the temple. 

	Take a minute and look friends, at the blind man who now sees
the light, and these appointed by God to spread the light, who
close their eyes to it. Observe the man who has grasped the
basis for all truth as opposed to the men with all the knowledge
and very little truth. Yes, that seeing man had a diploma from
the school of heaven. Those that threw him out only had degrees
from the wisdom of earth.

	The really sad thing was that the Pharisees were not really
tossing the seeing man out, but they were in effect tossing out
the Savior. Once again they hardened their hearts to their
Savior.

	You see, friends, if you know and love and accept the man of
Calvary, you can expect some strange things to happen. Don't be
surprised if your knowledge of Christ is counted as foolishness
by those aground you. Don't be surprised if someday, a personal
knowledge of Christ through a changed life, gets you tossed out
of sometime. And don't be surprised is you can't find a changed
life in a degree of some kind or in a library. Because someday,
if it hasn't already happened, Christ will walk through your
life and offer to heal your spiritual blindness. Then it's up to
you. And he's not going to leave you when you need him the most. 

	Word gets around to Christ that the man has been cast out of
the temple The seeing man's connection with his religion and God
had been severed by the Pharisees in their minds. But it is the
rejection of mankind that throws the man in to the arms of the
Jesus. 

	Often that's exactly what happens to us when our earthly
supports are removed, and that is exactly what will happen at
the end of time when the faithful ones are awaiting the return
of Christ. And I think that in a way it will be the most
beautiful thing that could ever happen. 

	So Jesus looks for the man until he find him and wastes no time
in getting right to the heart of the matter. "Do you believe in
the Messiah?"

	"Who is he that I might be believe." 

	"You have seen him", says Jesus, "and he is speaking to you
right now." 

	"Yes , Lord, I believe," says the seeing man, seeing even more
for, as he bows to worship at the feet of his Redeemer. 

	This is the first time that he has seen Jesus, and he sees him
both spiritually and physically. 

	Then Jesus says, "I have come into the world to give sight to
those who are spiritually blind, and to show those who think
that they see that they are really blind." 

	Friends, today there is a message in this story for us that is
of tremendous importance. And for a church that claims to be the
light to the world in the end time; we need to look very closely
at what Christ tells us in this story. In effect He is saying
that anyone who thinks he has arrived is the one who  is blinded
to the real truths of his situation. It is the person who knows
his defects that is open to the work of Christ in the life. The
person who is confident about knowing all the rules,  is the one
who is blind.

	Let me share little poem with written by one of our young
people in academy that gets to the heart of the matter.

	

	My mother taught me how to pray I do-

	My father taught me what to say; I do.

	They said to go to church each week,

	And listen to the preacher speak; I do.

	My dean has taught me modesty,	

	To wear my skirt below the knee; I do.

	Life and Teachings helps me too;

	I learned Acts 3, verse 22.

	

	Every night at nine o'clock

	Good kids meet to pray in bands, I do.

	We sing . " If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands; I
	do. 

	I do these things most every day;

	My dean--she says I've found the way.

	

	Let's see. Clap your hands, Go to church, say a prayer, learn a
	verse--I'm saved. Yippee!

	What; did you say? Jesus Christ? Who's He? 

	

	Maybe that's a little extreme, And maybe it isn't. But it is
the person of Jesus that provides us with sight and salvation. 
That is stated clearly in Isaiah 42:5-7 and 16. 

	Isa 42:5  "Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the
heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth,
and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the
people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:"

Isa 42:6  "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and
will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a
covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;"

Isa 42:7  "To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners
from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison
house."



Isa 42:16  "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew
not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will
make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.
These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."



	Brothers and sisters, we are all blind to some degree. The
scales of sin, self-righteousness and hypocrisy have covered our
eyes.  Some of us know that we see poorly. Others of us think
that we have excellent sight. God wants to help us see. He wants
the paths to be clear before us. He wants to take us to heights
that we have never dreamed of .

	He bids those who are suffering under the trauma of this life,
Matt 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.

29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.





We have not known thee as we ought,

Nor learned thy wisdom, grace, and power.

The things of earth have filled our thought,

And trifles of the passing hour.

Lord give us light, they truth to see,

And make us wise in knowing Thee.



We have not loved the as we ought,

Nor cared that we are loved by thee.

Thy presence we have coldly sought,

And feebly longed thy face to see.

Lord give a pure and seeing heart,

To feel and know the Love Thou are.