Sometimes we think that only Christians of the modern ages have theological issues that are difficult to figure out. "What happens to a person after he/she dies?" "Will we have a body when we are resurrected?" "What will actually occur in the judgment?"
To think that only modern Christians have theological questions is simply not true. As Jesus and his disciples were walking in Jerusalem, the disciples saw a blind man. For a long time it was the view of most Jews that suffering was a punishment from God for sins committed by the person or the person's parents (see Exodus 20:5, etc.). Thus, when someone with an obvious defect was seen, it was assumed that the person or his/her parents were guilty of a sin, and he/she was enduring God's punishment.
When the disciples saw the blind man, they asked Jesus who sinned, him or his parents--a theological question. Jesus' answer troubles us. He responded, "Neither sinned. This adult male is blind in order to display God's work." This man had been blind from birth! He spent years in a blind existence so God could use that moment!
After Jesus' discussion with his disciples, he healed the man from his blindness. Jesus made a paste from his spit and the clay, put the paste on the blind man's eyes, and told him to go to the pool of Siloam [no small request!] and wash the paste off. The blind man went, washed, and returned seeing.
This miracle caused a tremendous reaction. A man who had never seen from his first day of life began to see. Such an incredible occurrence demanded an explanation! Such things simply did not happen! First, the neighbors reacted. Some said it was the man. Others said it was a different man who looked like the blind man. All the time, he kept saying, "I am the man who was blind!" The neighbors asked, "Then how do you explain the fact that you can see now?" He told them what happened--what a cure for blindness! The neighbors wanted to know where the man was, and all the former blind man could say was, "I do not know."
Second, the neighbors took the former blind man to the Pharisees. This all occurred on a Sabbath day. The Pharisees again asked how this happened. The result was a division among the Pharisees. Some said the one who did this obviously was not a man of God because he failed to respect the Sabbath. However, others said, "How can a sinner do such acts?"
Those who doubted the former blind man's story called his parents. They confirmed the man was their son, and he had been born blind. However, they offered no explanation of how he was able to see. All they said was he was a man and old enough to speak for himself.
The Jewish leaders who did not believe Jesus to be the Christ already agreed that any Jew who believed Jesus was the Christ would be barred from synagogue attendance. That was a significant consequence! The synagogue was an important source of Jewish news [Sanhedrin rulings and High Priest decrees], of Jewish help, as well as study of scripture [remember people did not own copies of scripture]. To be denied access to a local synagogue was a "big deal" that could radically influence a Jew's life!
The disbelieving Jews came to the healed man a second time ordering him to give God credit for his miracle. Then he knew they were unconcerned about him. To him, one thing was obvious--the man who healed him was not a sinner! God did not work in this manner through sinners! When they again asked him to tell them how he got his sight, he sarcastically asked if they wanted to be the man's disciples. When they accused Jesus of being a sinner, he asked them why God would respond to the request of sinner? The angered men dismissed the healed man as a sinner [he was born blind!], and they were insulted that he would try to teach them! The end result: they barred the healed man from the synagogue.
Jesus, upon hearing the man was barred from the synagogue, found the man and confirmed his identity as the Christ.
Jesus cared about the man, not merely about using the blind man's illness to illustrate God's power. Jesus was not content just to use the man's blindness. It was important for him to encourage the healed man as well. The first blessing was that the man received his sight. That was a temporary [but wonderful] blessing. The second blessing was that the man knew the Christ. That was a permanent blessing that reached beyond the man's death.
Too often we are more impressed with what a person can do for "God's cause" than we are with what God can do for the person. May we, as God's people, ever be interested in the person and not just in what the person can do!
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 2