John 9:1–7

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

The Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus and were already picking up stones to put him to death. But once again he slipped out from among them and got away. However, as he was leaving the temple, he passed by a blind beggar at the gates. Now this man was no ordinary blind man, someone who had injured his eyes or lost his sight by some ophthalmic disease. Rather he had been born blind and this fact immediately raised the question, "Why was he born blind? Was it a punishment for some sin of his? Or, was it punishment for some sin of his parents?"

This question opens up to discussion the whole subject of suffering and evil in the world. Notice the premise of the question was that sickness and suffering was punishment for a sin someone had committed. The only question was, "Whose?" This topic is still one of lively debate today. There are some who think that when someone gets sick it is because of some sin which he has not repented of. Or that natural disasters are punishments on a whole country is being punished for specific sin, such as those who thought that Hurricane Katrina was a punishment from God for abortion and homosexuality in this country. Others use suffering as a pretext to reject God altogether and say they could not worship a God who would allow sickness and suffering in the world or who was too weak to stop it.

But Jesus here puts it in a whole new light; one that shows that all human explanations are way too shallow and weak. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Jesus' answer is that even our suffering and pain are in God's hands. This man was born blind in order that the works of God might be revealed. His suffering was ordained to glorify God! Suffering, pain, and misery in this life are all in God's hands. Our life is not racing ahead like an out of control rollercoaster. We live in the providence of a loving God who not only takes care of us in our suffering, but reveals his mighty deeds of salvation through it. Beyond that we cannot understand why;... nor does the man of faith need to understand any more. For faith trusts that we are the people of God's hand and nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ, not tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. "For we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." But that the powerful deeds of God's salvation might be made manifest, he sent his Son into our world to suffer, to bear our diseases, to be hated and rejected and ridiculed, and to die on a cross. God himself knows our suffering for God himself suffers with us.

Faith, then, is being able to see the mighty salvation of God in the midst of human misery and suffering. "For God has consigned us all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"

So then, it is obvious that this was not just a simple miracle of Jesus, but it was prearranged that this man should be born blind in order to show God's saving works. Therefore this miracle must have a meaning. It must teach us a lesson. Let's dig deep into this miracle to learn to see God's mighty works of salvation.

First, the man was born blind. What does that mean? It was not a coincidence. It was designed by God to teach us the lesson that we are born with original sin. We are sinners by nature. We are born blind to God's works, to his promises of salvation. We are born without fear, love and trust in God. That is true blindness. Lack of faith. Lack of love for God. Lack of trust in God. The inability to see God's works or know his salvation. Those who do not see God's salvation are blind and do not have faith in Christ.

Then Jesus says that as long as he is in the world he is the light of the world. But blind men cannot see the light. Non-believers cannot see Jesus. Jesus is the light which shows us the works of God's salvation. But blind men cannot see this light and do not see God's salvation in the midst of suffering and misery. The man born blind teaches us that we are born sinners, separated from God by sin, dead to God and unable to know, love or believe in God by nature. We cannot see the light of Christ or believe in Christ as our savior from sin in our natural state.

So Jesus spat on the ground and mixed the saliva with the dirt to make mud. Once again this was prearranged to teach us a lesson. The mud was not some magic cure. Nor did Jesus need the aid of some medicinal properties of the soil. Jesus could have just commanded his eyes to see and they would have been opened. This mud was for us. It teaches us that our eyes are blinded by the filth of sin. It is sin that blinds us so that we cannot see the light of Jesus which shows us the works of God. It is sin that makes us blind to God's love. It is sin that causes us to turn from God in our suffering and reject him and blame him and accuse him of being too weak or of not caring for us. This is the blindness of our sinful nature and separation from God. The mud represents our sin and teaches us that we are sinners.

Now here we have a sight. Jesus standing there facing a blind man with mud all over his eyes. But that is not the end of this miracle. Nor did the mud heal the man. Jesus sent the man to wash off the mud in the Pool of Siloam. Notice how God had arranged everything just right for this miracle. The name Siloam means "Sent." It was where Jesus sent the blind man. God had even arranged that years before this man was even born, for whatever reason, the people had named this pool of water "Sent" because it was to this pool that Jesus would send the blind man. Ever feel like your life is spinning out of control like a whirling dervish? Notice the attention that God gave to every detail of this man's suffering. There was nothing out of control here; and there is nothing out of control in our lives either. Every detail of our lives is in God's loving hands; yes, even the number of hairs on our head.

The point is, though, that Jesus sent the man to wash the mud off his eyes in the water, and when he had washed off the mud, his eyes were opened and he could see. Now it wasn't the water that healed him, any more than it was the mud. It was Jesus who opened the man's eyes with his healing power. But Jesus is teaching us here that when our sins are washed away in the waters of baptism, our eyes are opened to see the light of Christ which reveals the mighty works of God's salvation. It is not the water in baptism that washes our sin and gives us faith, but the promise of God in his word attached to the water. In baptism he tells us that we receive the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit. He tells us in his Word that baptism saves us. This miracle demonstrates that in baptism our sin is washed away and our eyes are opened; we are given faith to see and believe God's salvation and the forgiveness of sins purchased on the cross of Christ. Christ, the Lamb of God, took away the sin of the world on the cross and in baptism that forgiveness is applied to each and every one of us whose eyes of faith are opened to see it.

This miracle teaches us that Jesus, by his own suffering, washes away our sin and gives us eternal life. The blind man was not the only one who suffered. Jesus suffered. He suffered by becoming a man in the first place and receiving with his humanity all the suffering and sickness and weakness that being a human in this world entails. He suffered by placing himself under the authority of the law in order to fulfill its demands for us by his obedience. He suffered by becoming sin for us; making himself guilty of our sin and disobedience so he could pay the price and be punished for it in our place. He suffered by placing himself on a cross and pouring out his blood as a sacrifice for our sin that would purify us and purchase us for his Father to be the people of God.

And there is one more detail about this miracle that we must not overlook. Jesus did it on a Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day of rest in which no man was permitted to work. But Jesus worked. Jesus healed this blind man. In fact Jesus did many miracles on Sabbath days. It may seem like an insignificant detail, but it teaches us a significant lesson. It teaches us that we are saved by grace not by works. Our salvation is entirely the work of God not our work. For by grace you are saved through faith,...not of works lest any man should boast. Our forgiveness and salvation are gifts from God and do not depend on anything we do or say or any qualities in us. They are freely given to us as gifts of his love and mercy. That is why Jesus especially liked performing miracles on Sabbath days. They were the days when man rested and did no work: "Not by works, lest any man should boast.

Now, our eyes having been opened and having seen the work of God's salvation, let us thank and praise God forevermore. Amen.