John 9:1-7

Back in John 5, Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, later telling the man to “stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” One must at least wonder whether the implication of the passage is that the man was an invalid because of his sins.

 

But here in John 9, Jesus encounters a man who was blind from birth. The disciples must have assumed that most such afflictions were God’s judgments. With such an assumption, the one question in this case is whether God was judging this man (had God counted him so sinful as to judge him at birth?) or judging his parents for their sins. And this is exactly the question they asked.

 

Jesus leaves no ambiguity in His answer: Neither this man nor his parents sinned – that is, this blindness was not God’s judgment on their sins (though both had, of course, sinned at various points in their lives – all have sinned).

 

So why was this man cursed with blindness? This man was blind so that God’s work could be displayed in his life. That is the answer, pure and simple. Of course, this answer raises other questions. Why would God make – or at least allow – a person to suffer just so that His work could be displayed? Couldn’t God find other ways to display His work? Essentially, is this fair?

 

That question is not answered here. But we do see God’s work in the man’s life.

 

Before reading the conclusion, though, I want to see what else Jesus has to say. “It is necessary that we work the works of Him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming, when no one is able to work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

 

First, God’s works must be done. “While it is day,” that is, while work can be done. As long as it is possible to do God’s works, Jesus and His followers must do them.

 

Second, there is a time coming when no one will be able to work. I’m really not sure what time this refers to. Jesus basically claims to be the daytime we need in the next statement. Was Jesus saying that God’s works could no longer be done after His ascension (now)? I don’t think so, because Jesus then sent His Holy Spirit to live in His followers, and we believe that we are doing God’s works now. If not now, does He mean merely the couple of days He was in the grave? That doesn’t seem likely, either, although the disciples certainly weren’t doing much during those days. It seems most likely that the time Jesus means is the time of tribulation at the end. Whether that implies that Christians would be removed from the world (otherwise, wouldn’t Jesus still be in the world?) or that Christians would stay in the world but be so persecuted that they could not carry out God’s work, either way I’m pretty sure Jesus was referring to the end times.

 

Last, Jesus says, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As long as Jesus was among them, the disciples knew that there was work to be done… God’s work. He was the day. He makes God’s work possible. We believe that God’s presence in us by His Spirit enables God’s work to continue. Jesus later tells His disciples that it is good for them that He is leaving because the Holy Spirit will come in His place. We have the light of God shining in our hearts (2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Peter 1:19). So let’s do God’s work.

 

The work of God didn’t look all that magnificent in this case. Jesus spit on the ground, made mud/clay, put it on the blind man’s eyes, and commanded him to wash in the pool of Siloam, the pool of the Sent One (a name worth noting!). The process wasn’t pretty.

 

But the work of God was plain. The blind man did this and returned with his sight restored! Jesus is the One who makes God’s work possible and does God’s work. No man can make God’s work possible. Only God can make God’s work possible. Other men may do God’s work as God enables us, but Jesus is God. He is the light, the day, so that men can do the works of God. Let us hold fast to Him so that we can do God’s work!