John 9:35-41

³⁵Jesus 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." ³⁷Jesus said, "You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you." ³⁸Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped Him. ³⁹Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." ⁴⁰Some Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" ⁴¹Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

After all this, Jesus found the healed man, now hopelessly excommunicated from the synagogue, which would have been the only spiritual hope he likely thought he’d ever had, and explained to him who He truly was. The man did not know then who was the Messiah, or the Son of Man, that he could believe in Him; but Jesus told him, “You have seen Him” – which was a statement that summarized the true meaning of the miracle. By the mighty work of Christ, the man had come to see Jesus, with physical eyes, when he had always been blind before; but in the same way, it was through Jesus’ work that he came to see Him with spiritual eyes, and so have eternal life. This is another example that perfectly fleshes out the process of John’s purpose statement in John 20:31. And the man worshipped Jesus. Convinced that Jesus was Messiah, the man, in complete admiration, bowed down before Him. It calls to mind John 6:37, “All the Father gives Me will come to Me and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Jesus then expanded the principle taught to the healed man to a general truth taught to all around Him: only the blind need to be given sight, and so He came to give sight to the blind. But when He says, “For judgment I have come,” He means to make those who already see become blind. When one recognizes that he cannot see God because of his sin and ignorance, Jesus is always willing to give him spiritual sight. But He hardens in their blindness those who believe they are already spiritually knowledgeable – they are “blinded by the Light.” This was the purpose for many of the prophets, including Isaiah and Jesus, who, as Isaiah did, fulfilled Isaiah 6:9, which reads, “He said, ‘Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’” If the Pharisees knew of their blindness, Christ would forgive their sins – but since they already thought that they could “see,” in a spiritual sense, He left them in their sinful state. This hardening of sinners, or giving them over to their sins, is a terrible and righteous judgment of God (see Romans 1:18-32). Let us be thankful that, in His great mercy, He has chosen to show us our need and open up our eyes instead!

Some of the Pharisees acknowledge that Jesus insults them, so they ask, “Are we blind too?” First we see their pride, manifested by their being satisfied with themselves and refusing to have anything taken from them, and their anger at Christ by arguing with Him, because He has pointed out their wound. Second, the word “too” is emphatic; for it means that, though all the rest be blind, still it is improper that they should be reckoned as belonging to the ordinary rank. It is too common a fault among those who are distinguished above others, that they are intoxicated with pride, and almost forget that they are men. The rhetorical question is meant to draw a negative answer, “Of course you’re not blind.” But of course, they were blind! And Jesus’ response is not a simple, “Yes, you are blind.” Rather it’s as if He says, “If you would acknowledge your disease, it would not be altogether incurable; but now because you think that you are in perfect health, you continue in a desperate state.”

Finally, one commentator points out the interesting fact that there’s no mention of the blind man’s name. Why didn’t John slipped in the man’s name? Was he Peter or Joseph or Matthew? Perhaps John is saying, “Look, I don’t want to tell you his name, because slip in your own name, because this is every man’s name. This is your name; this is my name. We need the touch of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to see. John Newton, blinded by then broken in then healed from his sinful state, wrote, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see!”