Divinity of Jesus - Week 4
- May 4
- 11 min read
Here is the thing about light. We take it for granted until we do not have it.
Have you ever been in a power outage at night? Total darkness? Suddenly you are walking into walls, looking for your phone, trying to remember where you left things.
Light is not a luxury. Light is orientation. It is how you know where you are and where you are going.
You do not realize how much you depend on light until it is gone. The second the lights go out, everything familiar becomes a hazard.
Spiritually speaking, a lot of people are walking into walls. Not because they are bad people, but because they are in the dark. And Jesus is about to show us what it looks like when the light shows up.
Now - before we get into chapter 9, I want you to think about something for a second.
We talk a lot about being saved and being lost. And I think we throw those words around so much that they have lost some of their punch. But think about this: people can be lost and not even realize it. You can be wandering and genuinely believe you know where you are going. That is the danger of darkness. You cannot see that you are off course.
Being lost does not always feel like being lost. Sometimes it feels just like ordinary life.
And what does it mean to be saved? It means you have seen the light of Jesus. You have accepted Him as your Savior. And eternity rests on that. This is not a small thing. This is the whole thing.
Now while you are turning to John chapter 9, let me set the stage by rewinding to chapter 8, verse 12. This is where Jesus makes the declaration:
John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Hang onto that verse because Jesus is about to go real-life application on the scene.
He does not just preach it. He proves it.
And the place where He proves it is John 9. A man born blind. A miracle. And the most dramatic spiritual standoff in the Gospel so far.
I AM the light of the world is only recorded in John's Gospel. That is worth pausing on. John is the one making sure we do not miss it. And the light He is claiming to be is not a metaphor for good advice. Light, to the Jewish people, was no small thing. Light represented salvation, knowledge, and the presence of God Himself. When Jesus says I AM the light, He is claiming to be equal with God. He is claiming to be the source. Not a reflector. The source.
He is not a night light. He is the sun.
1. Jesus Brings Physical Healing to the Blind (vv. 1-12)
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 spit 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 disciples see a blind man and their first instinct is to figure out who is at fault. Whose sin caused this? His? His parents'? They want to solve the theological puzzle before they do anything about the actual person in front of them.
We do that, do we not? We see someone struggling and we start trying to figure out how they got there before we ask how we can help.
And Jesus essentially says - that is not the question. Stop looking for someone to blame. The question is: what is God going to do in this?
Then He does something strange. He makes mud. He anoints the man's eyes. He sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam. And the man - who has never seen anything in his entire life - goes. He washes. And he comes back seeing.
Deep Dive
"I Am the Light of the World" - Again: Jesus repeats this declaration in verse 5, right before He heals the man. He does not just claim the title - He performs what the title means. He is connecting His identity to His action. The claim and the miracle are inseparable.
The Mud and the Method: This is the only healing in the Gospels where Jesus makes mud and applies it. Some scholars connect this to Genesis 2:7, where God forms man from the dust. Jesus is, in a sense, re-creating this man's sight - performing a creative act that echoes the original creation. He is not just healing. He is making something new.
The Pool of Siloam: The word Siloam means "Sent." John does not include details casually. The pool's name is a nod to Jesus Himself - the one sent by the Father. The man goes to be washed in the place of the One who was sent. He participates in the mission of Jesus through his own obedience.
Application
Stop Assigning Blame, Start Asking Better Questions: The disciples were so busy asking 'whose fault is this?' that they missed the miracle waiting to happen. This week, think of one situation in your life or in someone else's where you have been stuck in the blame question. What changes when you swap it for the God question - not 'who caused this?' but 'what does God want to do here?'
Obedience Precedes Sight: The blind man went. He washed. He did not see before he obeyed - he obeyed before he saw. That is often how faith works. We want to see it clearly before we take the step. But the step comes first. Is there something God has been asking you to do that you have been waiting to do until you fully understand it? Consider taking the step.
John 9:8-12
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."
I want you to see this man's testimony. It is simple. It is honest. And it is exactly right.
He does not have all the theology worked out. He does not have a systematic answer for every question they throw at him. He just knows what happened to him. I was blind. There was a man named Jesus. He made mud, put it on my eyes, told me to go wash. I went. I washed. Now I see.
That is still what a genuine testimony looks like. You do not have to have a seminary degree to share what Jesus has done in your life. You just have to know the before and the after.
I do not understand everything about Jesus. But I know what happened when I encountered Him. That is enough. That is a testimony.
2. Spiritual Blindness Is Exposed (vv. 13-34)
Let me summarize a few verses here before we move into 35-39
What happens next is one of the most painfully ironic scenes in all of John. The man who was born blind - who has never once seen anything - becomes the clearest-sighted person in the entire chapter. And the people who can see? They prove they are completely blind.
The Pharisees get word of the healing and immediately start an investigation. They interview the man. They interview his parents. They call him back in. They interrogate him a second time. And after all of that - after a man testifies repeatedly that he was blind and now he sees - their conclusion is: Jesus is a sinner, and we do not believe you.
They saw a miracle and chose paperwork.
They threw him out. And that is where Jesus finds him.
John 9:35-39
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you." He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind."
Here is the twist in this story. The man born blind - he can now see. Physically and spiritually. He believes. He worships.
But the Pharisees - the educated, the religious, the ones who were supposed to be able to see - they are the ones who are actually blind. They saw the miracle and their first response was to find a way to discredit it.
Here is what I want you to hear. You can be in church every Sunday. You can know the right verses. You can use all the right language. And still be missing Jesus completely.
Religious activity is not the same thing as sight.
Knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus are two very different things. One will keep you busy. The other will change your life.
Deep Dive
The Excommunication: When the Pharisees "cast him out" (v. 34), they are performing a formal act of synagogue exclusion. This was social, religious, and economic death in first-century Jewish life. The man loses everything for telling the truth. Jesus finds him immediately afterward. What the religious institution casts out, Jesus picks up.
"That Those Who Do Not See May See": Jesus says He came for judgment - but not the kind we typically picture. This is a diagnostic judgment. The light does not create blindness; it reveals it. Those who admit they cannot see are the ones who get healed.
Those who insist they can see are the ones who stay blind. The Light of the World does not dim for anyone. He just shows you what is actually there.
The Man Worships: The Greek word used here is proskuneo - the same word used for worship of God throughout the New Testament. This is not gratitude. This is not respect. This is worship. And Jesus receives it without correction. This is a significant Christological moment. A man who now sees clearly recognizes exactly who Jesus is and responds appropriately.
Application
The Interrogation Test: The blind man's testimony got sharper under pressure. By the second interrogation, he is practically preaching to the Pharisees. Hard questions about your faith can do that - they either expose a faith that was only surface deep, or they strengthen a faith that is real. When someone questions your faith this week, do not run from the question. Let it sharpen you.
Religious Routine vs. Actual Sight: Take an honest inventory this week. Are there areas of your spiritual life that have become routine - things you do because that is what you do - without any actual encounter with Jesus underneath them? The Pharisees had all the forms of religion and none of the sight. What would it look like to trade performance for presence?
3. True Sight Comes Only Through Jesus (vv. 40-41)
John 9:40-41
Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains."
This is the closing verdict of the whole chapter. And it is one of the most quietly devastating things Jesus ever says.
If you admit you cannot see, there is hope for you. Blindness you acknowledge can be healed. But blindness you refuse to admit - that is the dangerous kind.
The person who knows they are in the dark is already reaching for the light switch. The person who insists the lights are on when they are not? That person walks into walls indefinitely.
The Pharisees said, 'We see.' And Jesus said, then your guilt remains. They claimed clarity they did not have. And in doing so, they closed themselves off from the only One who could actually give them sight.
Jesus is the light of the world. And He comes with both a diagnosis and a cure.
The diagnosis: you have blind spots. All of us do. None of us see perfectly. We all have areas where our vision is distorted - by pride, by hurt, by years of self-protection, by sin we have made peace with.
The cure: stop saying 'I see' when you do not. Open your hands. Open your eyes. And say - Lord, show me what I have been missing.
Deep Dive
The Two-Part Saying: Jesus draws a legal distinction here. Without the law, there is no transgression. But the Pharisees had the law, had the prophets, had every advantage - and still refused to see. Their refusal was not innocent ignorance. It was willful rejection. The more light you have access to, the greater the accountability for what you do with it.
Light Brings Exposure, Not Just Comfort: This is where the metaphor of light takes a harder edge. Light does not just help you see beauty. Light exposes what has been hidden. That can be uncomfortable. But it is necessary. Colossians 1:13-14 tells us He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. That transfer requires us to let the light in - including into the rooms we would rather keep closed.
Psalm 119:105 in Context: The psalmist says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Jesus embodies this. He is the living Word, the walking lamp. The healing of the blind man is the Psalm come to life. The man did not receive information - he received a person. And that person gave him sight.
Application
Name Your Blind Spot: Most of us know, somewhere underneath, that there is an area we have avoided letting God into. It might be a relationship, a habit, a grudge, a fear. This week, instead of avoiding it, name it. You do not have to have it figured out. You just have to bring it into the light. Tell God: here it is. I have been saying 'I see' in this area, but I do not. Open my eyes.
The Admission Is the Beginning: The blind man did not argue about his condition. He simply went where Jesus sent him. His healing started with obedience, not with understanding. What is one step of obedience you have been postponing because you wanted more clarity first? Consider taking it this week.
GOSPEL CONNECTION
The man born blind never asked Jesus to heal him. He was just sitting there - in his usual spot, doing what he always did - when Jesus passed by.
That is the gospel in miniature. We were not looking for God. He found us. He put on skin and came into our darkness. He acted - on a cross, in a resurrection - so that those who could not see could finally see.
The blind man's healing cost him everything. His community rejected him. His religious standing was gone. He was cast out. But the One who cast out his blindness came looking for him when everyone else turned away.
Colossians 1:13-14
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Light gives clarity. Light brings exposure. Light brings freedom. And the Light of the World gives you access to the Father.
He did not come to give you advice about the darkness. He came to end it.
If you are here this morning and you feel like you are still in the dark - Jesus is not waiting for you to find your way. He has already come looking. The question is whether you will let Him open your eyes.
The invitation is the same as it was for the man at the pool. Go. Wash. Come back seeing.