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Introduction.
When suffering occurs what is your initial thought?
Amid sickness do you ever wonder what you did that resulted in God allowing your sickness?
When suffering of any kind entered your life did you question what you must have done to deserve it?
Or, maybe you didn’t think you deserved it and questioned whether God cared about you or was unjust in allowing your suffering.
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind | Message 42 | | Sept 22, 2019
Introduction.
When suffering occurs what is your initial thought?
Amid sickness do you ever wonder what you did that resulted in God allowing your sickness?
When suffering of any kind entered your life did you question what you must have done to deserve it?
Or, maybe you didn’t think you deserved it and questioned whether God cared about you or was unjust in allowing your suffering.
When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans did you think it was the wrath of God on an unrighteous people?
Alabama state senator, Hank Erwin posited in an interview on the “Hannity & Colmes” show that “the damage done by Katrina was God’s wrath on a sinful coast.”[1]
Do we have cancer because of our sin?
Do mother’s miscarry babies because a parent was sinful?
Is Teddi wrestling with neck pain because of her sin?
Is Dennis struggling with back pain because of his sin?
While we may theologically know better, we often conclude (if not question) that suffering is the direct result of God’s judgment on sin.
In this story about a “Man Born Blind” we will vividly see that suffering may be in no way connected to the individual’s sin or even his faith.
In fact (Purpose Statement) our suffering may be motivated by God’s desire to be glorified through us.
Before we consider this any further, we need to grab a hold of the broader context.
Broad Context
Shortly after chapter 8. Chapter 8 ends with the Jews picking “up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple” ().
John writes, in the first verse of chapter 9 that Jesus “passed by, he saw a man blind from birth” ().
Are we to conclude that Jesus fled the temple in order to escape a stoning only to get to the temple gates and pause to heal a blind man?
Is it possible this event took place sometime later?
There seems to be a clear indication that this miracle took place at least the same day.
Likely, the events of chapter 8 took place on the 8th day of the festival, which would have been the Sabbath.
Chapter 9 also indicates that the Jews were upset with Jesus for healing this blind man on the Sabbath.
Therefore, Jesus interaction in the temple on the 8th day of the Feast appears to be the same day that he heals the blind man.
John offers no indication that much time elapsed between these two events.
The most likely scenario, Jesus evades being captured in the temple by those who want to stone Him (8:59).
As he is leaving the temple, He stops to heal this man born blind.
If this is the case, this may be why Jesus does immediately heal the man but instead sends the man to the pool of Siloam.[2] A healing right then and right there would have stirred up even more trouble.
By sending the man away to the pool, the man would not know who healed him.
As well the hostile Jewish accusers would remain at a distance from the event.
Chapter 10 potentially part of conversation.
We won’t dwell long on this contextual question, but many question whether the conversation in chapter 9 extends into chapter 10 or whether chapter 10 introduces a new conversation a couple of months later.
(1) In our Bibles, Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees appears to flow right into chapter 10.
In verses 21 of chapter 10, the theme of Jesus being possessed by a demon and the healing of the blind man are mentioned which seem to indicate the previous verses are part of chapter 9’s discussion.
In addition to these thematic reasons, John offers a chronological marker in 10:22, “At that time the Feast of Dedication.”
The Feast of Dedication (Nov or Dec) would have followed the Feast of Tabernacles (Sept) by a couple of months.
(2) On the other hand, the theme of Jesus being a good shepherd (10:1-18) continues into the later part of chapter 10 which may indicate that all of chapter 10 occurs during the time of the Feast of Dedication.
Certainty in this discussion offers little practicality to the reader.
Chapter 9 is one interaction (one play with 8 scenes).
Certainly, the events surrounding the healing of the blind man in chapter 9 concludes Jesus interaction in Jerusalem during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.
The apostle John summarizes the events during the Feast of Tabernacles in chapters 7-9.
However, the events of chapter 9 offer one dynamic play that consists of 8 different scenes.
Chapter 9 is one interaction (one play with 8 scenes).
Certainly, the events surrounding the healing of the blind man in chapter 9 concludes Jesus interaction in Jerusalem during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.
The apostle John summarizes the events during the Feast of Tabernacles in chapters 7-9.
However, the events of chapter 9 offer one dynamic play that consists of 8 different scenes.
Disciples ask Jesus about man born blind (MBB) (9:1-5)
Jesus heals the MBB (9:6-7).
The MBB is questioned by his neighbors (9:8-12).
Pharisees 1st inquisition of MBB (9:13-17).
Pharisees interrogate MBB’s parents (9:18-23).
Pharisees 2nd inquisition of MBB (9:24-34).
Jesus reveals himself to the MBB (9:35-39).
Jesus accuses Pharisees of blindness (9:40-41).
Overview of next few messages.
1. Interaction with disciples over the purpose of suffering.
2. Contrast between believers and unbelievers, a contrast between the faith of the MBB and everyone else (parents, neighbors, and Pharisees).
3. Potentially, consider the brief interaction and effectual draw of Jesus and the MBB.
Purpose & Opportunity in Suffering
A sketch of the man born blind.
1. Primarily ignored.
Many blind beggars would have claimed some public corner or entryway.
This blind man did not beg alone.
He likely would have been offered about as much attention as the men who beg for money on our street corners in our busy cities.
What attention do you show them?
What emotions do you feel for them?
How much thought do you extend to them?
Do we not typically try to rush by and act like we didn’t see?
2. Assumed to be guilty.
The disciples’ response offers evidence to the fact that this man was assumed to be guilty in some way.
They assumed that either he or his parents had done something wrong.
They believed in prenatal sin.
Sin could be committed prior to birth and the sinner could be righteously condemned throughout their lives.
Hall.
This was a common belief in Judaism; the rabbis used to prove there was no death without sin, and to prove there was no punishment without guilt. . . .
Midrash Rabbah on Song of Songs 1:41 states that when a pregnant woman worships in a heathen temple the fetus also commits idolatry.
This is only one example of how, in rabbinic Jewish thought, an unborn child was capable of sinning.[3]
Vincent’s Word Studies.
It was a common Jewish view that the merits or demerits of the parents would appear in the children, and that the thoughts of a mother might affect the moral state of her unborn offspring.
The apostasy of one of the greatest Rabbis had, in popular belief, been caused by the sinful delight of his mother in passing through an idol grove.[4]
Others believed that spirits roamed the earth prior to being placed in a body.
If the spirit sinned prior to this union, the person could be judged with physical ailments due to the sin of their spirit.
If the sin wasn’t the blind man’s it must have been his parents.
Old Testament passages, if understood incorrectly, might lead one to believe this.
God told the people of Israel that if they bowed down to idols, he would visit “the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me” ().
Borchert.
In so doing, the disciples joined the long cadre of miserable friends who like those in another biblical story sought to comfort the unfortunate Job.
Actually, those colleagues added to Job’s terrible plight (e.g., ).
In assigning blame, the friends there in fact stood over against the suffering of Job and perched themselves on the pinnacle of self-righteousness.[5]
3. Likely placed outside the temple.
The temple had broad colonnades that would have offered a natural place for beggars to settle.
As well the people that were coming to the temple may have been more prone to give and show mercy due to their awareness of sin and the need to worship and sacrifice.
4. The Absence of Initial Faith.
Most often faith accompanied a healing.
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