Looking for the Works of God - John 9:1-12

I recently read a story about a couple that was buying hotdogs at a convenience store at a Florida beach. I don’t know why someone would go to the beach and proceed to buy a hotdog, but this isn’t my story. Apparently this couple cut in line, complained loudly about everything, how expensive everything was, how long the cashier was taking to ring them up, etc. Finally, they got their hotdogs and as they walked out of the convenient store, a seagull swooped down and snatched the husband’s hotdog out of his hand. Apparently his wife was in such shock she proceeded to drop hers!

Those stories are often quite satisfying aren’t they? It’s what some refer to as “instant karma.” They immediately reap what they sowed.

These stories also reveal a fundamental belief that there is a direct correlation between what you do and the outcomes you receive.

It’s easy to believe that the couple got their hotdogs snatched away by seagulls because of how rude they were. But our passage really challenges the pervasive belief in karma, or what we often say, “what goes around comes around.”

And many professing Christians believe in a version of karma too. They believe the pain, and suffering of today is God’s punishment for some sin you committed in the past.

Jesus clearly teaches that the struggles you face in life are not always punishment for a particular sin. Sometimes there are clear temporal punishments for the sin. If you commit a crime, don’t be surprised if you go to jail. But life isn’t always that straightforward is it? There’s no hard and fast rule that clearly explains why we suffer. It’s not always obvious is it?

Job is the classic example of this. Job lost everything because God was testing him. We know that because Scripture reveals it to us, but it’s painfully obvious that Job didn’t understand why he was suffering.

And so many of you, even here today, have faced or are currently facing inexplicable hardship, and Jesus reminds all of us that what we deal with today is not necessarily punishment for yesterday’s sins.

This passage breaks down into three simple parts: first, the disciples raise a theological question (vv. 1-2). Second, Jesus gives them a theological correction (v. 3), and lastly Jesus gives a theological demonstration (vv. 4-12).

In case you need to remember where we are in the gospel of John, Jesus is probably still in Jerusalem. He’s gotten away from the Jews who he argued with and sought to kill him.

A Theological Question (vv. 1-2)

And apparently, wherever they were in Jerusalem, they passed by a man that was blind from birth. We don’t know how they knew he was blind from birth, but that’s what John reveals to us in this passage.

So there’s a blind man that’s been blind all his life in front of them. And so, the disciples are looking at this man and they ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

In other words, they’re asking Jesus, who’s to blame for this man’s blindness? Who’s sin resulted in his blindness? There was some rabbinic teaching that taught, an infant was capable of sin even in his mother’s womb. So did he commit a sin in the womb?

Or perhaps his parents committed some sort of heinous sin that resulted in his blindness? After all, the Scriptures do say things like, “The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation (Numbers 14:18).”

So as silly as their question may appear to our modern ears, there was a precedent. They weren’t just pulling something out of thin air. There was a real reason they were asking the question.

It’s a genuine theological question that they’re raising: whose sin caused this man’s blindness? And the disciples are making an obvious assumption: they assume there is a particular sin that lies at the root of this man’s blindness. In the disciples' minds' that’s a given. They just want to know who sin it was!

Their thinking really displays the pervasive Jewish teaching that exaggerated the importance of the sins of the parents and one’s own personal sins in relation to their particular circumstances.

Again, we read of this in the book of Job! Job loses everything and eventually his friends show up and demand that he repent of his sins! But Job maintains his innocence to his friends! He’s sitting there going… I didn’t do anything wrong!

This way of thinking is so superstitious. I almost can’t say the word, ‘superstitious’ without thinking of a line from the show The Office, where the main character, Michael Scott says, “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious…”

This way of thinking is pervasive isn’t it? It’s karma. If you do something bad now, something bad will happen to you later. There's also a good version of this belief: paying it forward. You do something nice or good for someone else and then something good will happen to you. You might call that good karma.

It really reveals a clear theological temptation that we all face: we want to reduce everything, including life itself to a transaction. If I do this, then I will get that. And many professing Christians even believe this way. If I do this, God must give me that.

Isn’t that essentially what the prosperity gospel teaches! If you do this (which typically involves giving money to something) then God must bless you.

This is also how many Christians reflect upon the current circumstances of their life! They believe that they’re experiencing hardship because of a particular sin they committed years ago.

Jesus showed the disciples that that thinking is flawed, but we’d all be lying if we said we’ve never thought something like that! You see, the faulty thinking revealed in the disciples' question to Jesus is still pervasive today. It’s still relevant even now. They’re essentially asking, “do particular sins always result in a personal hardship?”

A Theological Correction (v. 3)

If someone asked you, “Am I suffering because of a sin I committed several years ago?” What would you say? How would you answer that question?

I think I know how I would probably answer that question. I would say, “It’s not necessarily because of one particular sin that you’re suffering, rather, it’s the result of fall. It’s because of sin in general.”

And that’s true, right? The fall is the primary reason for why life is generally so hard. I suspect many of you would give a version of that same answer. It’s not your sin, it’s because of original sin.

But Jesus goes in an entirely different direction, doesn’t he? Look at what he says in verse 3: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The first thing that Jesus does in his answer is correct their assumptions. It’s not his sin or his parents’ sin. All the rabbinic teaching about babies sinning in the womb and children being transactionally punished for the sins of their fathers isn’t entirely right.

Jesus tells them, “it doesn’t necessarily work that way.” He corrects the assumption that a particular sin is the root cause for difficult life circumstances. He corrects that error.

And once he’s corrected that error, you’d expect, or at least, I’d expect him to dive into a theological treatise on the nature and extent of the fall and original sin. How we all sinned in Adam and how that sin now impacts every aspect of life.

It’s the perfect opportunity for Jesus to explain how the fall has impacted all of humanity and how it relates to this poor man who’s been blind from birth.

The second half of verse 3 is what makes Jesus’ statement so profound. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Jesus was about to demonstrate God’s power through that blind man.

I like what Matthew Henry said, “...[afflictions] are sometimes intended purely for the glory of God, and the manifesting of his works. God has a sovereignty over all his creatures and an exclusive right in them, and may make them serviceable to his glory in such a way as he thinks fit, in doing or suffering; and if God be glorified, either by us or in us, we were not made in vain.”

And even though we don’t have access to the secret things, that is, for what precise reason everything happens, we must trust that it serves God’s glorious purpose because it’s directed by his sovereign hand. Suffering is not without purpose or meaning!

As perhaps confusing and incomprehensible as this might sound to our finite minds, God receives glory even in the midst of trials. It’s difficult to understand, and yet, it is what the Scriptures plainly teach us.

1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

There is a false teaching that is pervasive in the church that teaches if you become a Christian your life will automatically improve. Prosperity preachers preach an exaggerated version of this, but there’s a version of it in our evangelical circles.

It’s the problem with well-intentioned movies, like “Facing the Giants.” I think they’re motives were pure in trying to make a positive movie, which is certainly good when compared to what’s generally out there. But it communicated a serious theological error.

If you saw the movie, in the beginning the coach’s life was bad, his marriage was on the rocks, his football team was terrible, and then he committed himself to the Lord and suddenly, his marriage dramatically improved, his football team became great, and by the end of the movie someone even gives him a new truck!

In other words, everything about his life was terrible, and then, once he became a Christian, his life suddenly became amazing!

But that’s not a reflection of what God’s word teaches. God’s word teaches that Christians may face trials of various kinds, we may suffer, and face hardships, and never know exactly why! But we can always trust that it serves the ultimate purpose for God’s glory, even though we may not fully understand it.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

This is what’s promised for Christians! There’s purpose and meaning in suffering!

And in this passage, Jesus reveals to us exactly why this man was born blind, and a particular sin didn’t have anything to do with it.

The man wasn’t born blind as a form of punishment or torment. He wasn’t born blind because he sinned in his mother’s womb or because his Father committed some heinous sin.

Rather he was born blind for this exact moment! The purpose of this man’s blindness was about to be revealed in and through his miraculous healing.

A Theological Demonstration (vv. 4-12)

And so let’s turn our attention to the miraculous healing in verses 4-7.

Jesus said, “4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 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 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.”

Obviously what Jesus did here is amazing, but what I really want you to see is that this miracle is rich with symbolism.

Let’s zoom out for a second and think about what’s in front of us. First, you have the blind man minding his own business. There are other examples in the gospels where people are healed because they approach Jesus or even touch Jesus, but that’s not the case here. This blind man doesn’t seek Jesus out.

Rather, Jesus seeks him out. Jesus takes the initiative here. He goes out of his way to heal the blind man.

Also consider the fact that the man had been blind from birth. His situation wasn’t that he had some sort of terrible accident that resulted in his blindness, rather, he was blind from birth.

This is important to remember because for his entire life, he had only known the darkness. All of his life he had only known darkness.

Now keep these elements in mind and reread verses 4-5. Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus is referencing himself and his followers and the kingdom works they should perform as long as he is in the world. “Night” would come for his followers would come at the crucifixion. But, “As long as [Jesus is] in the world, [he is] the light of the world.”

He also referring to himself using God’s Covenant Name, “I AM” or “Yahweh,” although it’s less emphatic here.

But what I really want you to notice is that Jesus is playing upon the same themes of light and darkness.

But bear with me and zoom out again, and put verses 4-5 in the context of Jesus’ response to his disciples. They asked Jesus “who sinned Jesus?” Jesus said, “It wasn’t him or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed…”

Then he continued in verse 4 and said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day…”

The other day, I was in downtown Roanoke and I saw a man lying on the sidewalk and there was a group of people around him, someone looked like he was doing CPR - it looked like a serious situation.

For a moment, I thought, “Should I help out?” But there was already like 5-6 people helping out, and I heard the siren of an ambulance and thought if I got in there, I’d be getting in the way.

We’ve all been in those situations where we look out our car window as we’re driving and say to ourselves, “that situation doesn’t look good… someone should really help them out!” Or, “I wonder what happened to them?” And we keep on driving.

I think Jesus is gently admonishing his disciples. He’s telling the disciples instead of looking at this man as a product of some sin, we should try to help him! We should step in. We should do something. But obviously only Jesus can help the blind man in any meaningful way. It’s why Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

What benefit is there to watching someone suffer while you speculate about their sin? If they’re really hurting and struggling don’t just watch them suffer - do something!

What a wonderful reminder for us in the church! Don’t watch someone suffer, seek to help them, but most importantly, point them to the Lord and giver of life! Point them to Christ!

Hopefully, you picked up on this, but this miracle is a metaphor for salvation! Because only Jesus can take someone that was born in darkness and let them see the light!

Jesus approaches the blind man and anoints eyes, which had only known darkness with saliva and mud, tells him to wash it off in Siloam (which means sent), and could see. His darkness was turned to light. Notice too in verse 4, that Jesus said he was “sent” by God in verse 4. And now Jesus, who was sent to be the light of the world, sends the blind man to a pool (called Sent!) to wash his eyes, so that he could see the light. Do you see that? Jesus was doing in this instance exactly what God had sent him into the world to do!

But what’s the deal with the mud and the spit?

It’s always brutal for parents to watch their kids play in the mud because they know what the clean up process is going to entail… it’s going to take a lot of spit to get them clean!

Just imagine for a second, Jesus saying to you “I’m going to heal you, but first I need to put this mud and spit mixture on your eyes…” I don’t know about you but if I was that blind man I might have never recovered my sight.

In all seriousness, the mud and spit is a little weird. And I don’t think anyone knows for certain why Jesus “anointed his eyes with mud and spit,” but I like what D.A. Carson said about this:

“Palestinian Jews, like people in many other cultures around the world, believed that human excreta (including urine, breast milk, saliva, menstrual flow, etc.) were all forms of (ceremonial), pollutant, ‘dirt’... by using spittle as part of his treatment Jesus is making a claim to have religious authority. The situation is not entirely unlike the healing of the man with leprosy: by touching him Jesus does not contract the leper’s uncleanness, but heals the leper of his disease (Mark 8:1-4).”

In other words, Jesus uses dirty elements like mud and spit, that represent uncleanness, in order to heighten the drama and beauty of it being washed away.

Ultimately, it’s a picture of the pollution of sin being washed away by the blood of Christ.

Jesus takes this poor blind man and heals him as a theological demonstration. Apparently, this blind man’s miraculous healing is so dramatic that his neighbors didn’t even recognize him.

They don’t even believe that it’s really him. He has to plead for himself: “No, it’s actually me!” The man called Jesus restored my sight! He told me to go wash in the pool of Siloam and I recovered my sight!

One of the remarkable aspects of these first 12 verses is that the disciples wanted to use the blind man as a theological object lesson in sin, sadness, depression, and pain.

And in the richest irony possible, Jesus uses that blind man as an object theological lesson but not in sin, sadness, depression and pain. Rather, Jesus uses the blind man to teach an theological lesson of God’s glory, grace, and hope that only comes through him.

Jesus is encouraging them and us to change our perspective. Instead of looking backward, Jesus tells his disciples to look forward!

Spending all your time dwelling on the fall, sin, and pain means you're just looking in the rearview mirror. You’re dwelling on the past! Instead, Jesus tells all of us, instead of looking through the rearview mirror, trying to assign a particular sin to our current suffering or circumstances, we should look forward and anticipate seeing the glory of God.

We must look for God’s glory, grace, and put all our hope in Christ believing that he will turn our darkness into light!

Ultimately, the reason for the blind man’s blindness is irrelevant isn’t it? Rather, his blindness was an opportunity for Jesus to display God’s glory and grace through him.

Let’s play a hypothetical game for a brief second: Let’s say that through some extraordinary means God confirms your fears, and yes, your grievous sin that you committed two years ago is the reason for your current trial.

What good does that information even do for you? In the midst of suffering are you really worried about how you got there? Of course not! It’s the wrong question to begin with, the question you need to be asking yourself is what’s going to get me through it? What will sustain me?

That’s a better question, and we know the answer! It’s the glory, grace, and hope of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what’s going to carry you through.

Instead of constantly dwelling on the past, may all of us look forward to the glorious future that awaits all of us in Christ. Let’s pray.