To Give Sight to the Blind (John 9:39)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 24 December 2023. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

Well, Christmas is almost upon us. The most wonderful time of the year is finally here. It is often seen as a chance to catch up with loved ones, to put aside our differences, and come together in peaceful harmony and festive cheer. Christmas is supposed to bring people together. And yet, have you noticed that it can sometimes do the opposite? That Christmas can sometimes end up being quite controversial? Earlier this week, the BBC ran an article entitled: ‘Three Christmas Traditions that divide the nation.’ And I reckon that these traditions not only divide our nation, but also divide all of us here this morning. And so, as we begin, I want to do a bit of a social experiment. I want to see how controversial, how contentious, these three Christmas traditions from the BBC article are for us all. [(1) Will you be opening your presents before your Christmas dinner tomorrow? (2) Will you be serving Yorkshire puddings with your Christmas dinner tomorrow? (3) Will you be taking decorations down before the New Year?]

Christmas is supposed to bring people together, and yet it is sometimes a source of division, a cause of controversy. Now those examples are obviously silly ones. No matter how strongly we feel about Yorkshire Puddings, or taking down our decorations, we aren’t going to fall out, divide and separate over such traditions. And yet, in our passage this morning, we are going to see that Christmas actually will divide us in a much more serious, significant way.

This year at Grace Church, in the run up to Christmas, we have been considering some of the reasons Jesus gave for his birth in Bethlehem. Throughout his ministry, Jesus himself explained why he came to earth. In John 10, he declared, ‘I have come that they may have life.’ In John 6, he said, ‘I have come to do the will of my Father.’ In Luke 19, he explained he came, ‘to seek and to save the lost.’ [...] However, this morning, we come to this one in John 9, which in many ways feels like the least ‘Christmassy’ of all his sayings. For in John 9:39, ‘Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Why did Jesus come? What is Christmas all about? Well, in 9:39, Jesus explains that Christmas is all about judgment.

You know when Jamie first asked me to preach on this passage, I sarcastically thanked him for giving me such a festive verse to speak on. Afterall, it can feel a bit strange to preach a sermon about judgment on Christmas Eve. The idea of judgment doesn’t seem very jolly. Maybe you are visiting with us this morning, come here for a festive pick-me-up, to sing a few carols and get into the Christmas spirit. Well, if so, you probably didn’t expect to hear a sermon on judgment! Perhaps on joy or hope, yes, but not judgement. And yet, we can’t get away from the fact that this is what Jesus said. One of the reasons Jesus himself gave for Christmas was that it would bring judgment.

Far from bringing us all together, Jesus says here that Christmas divides us. Divides us not just in silly ways, over decorations and dinner, but in a much more serious way. For here we see that Christmas cuts humanity us in two, causes some to be rewarded and others punished. Christmas cures some and condemns others. That is what Jesus tells us: ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Christmas brings both illumination and condemnation. Yes, it gives light to some, but it also removes the sight of others. Those are the two things we will think about together this morning: (1) Christmas provides illumination (it gives sight to the blind); and (2) Christmas pronounces condemnation (it removes light from the proud).

1.     CHRISTMAS PROVIDES ILLUMINATION

What does Jesus mean when he says that Christmas provides illumination? That his coming will open blind eyes? Well, did you notice that his statement in 9:39 is really just a summary of the story of the entire chapter? For this reality of the blind receiving sight and the seeing becoming blind is exactly what we read of throughout John 9. It can be seen from the way the chapter begins, for in 9:1 we hear of Jesus encountering a blind man. However, this isn’t just a man who has lost his sight, through age or an accident, as terrible as that would be. No, this is a man who was born blind. This man has never been able to see. All this man has ever known is deep, unending, darkness.

We can only begin to imagine the suffering this man experienced. Not only has he never looked on faces of family and friends, never been able to appreciate the colours of creation, but in a time before any kind of modern medical assistance, this man would have been unable to work or care for himself. Every day was a struggle, performing even simple basic tasks seemed impossible. That is why we are unsurprised to read in 9:8, that he used to go about begging. After all, what else could this man do to survive? Indeed, the life of this blind man was so hard, so pitiful and painful, that the people who saw him wrongly concluded that his daily existence was a punishment from God, that he must be suffering because of his sin, or due to his parent’s wrongdoing. They simply had no other way to explain such suffering! What other answer could they give when confronted by such agony? And yet, when Jesus looks upon this man, he gives a very different answer. For responding to the disciples in 9:3, he explains: [READ]

One of the great comforts Christianity provides, is that it tells us there is a purpose in suffering, a reason behind everything that ever happens to us in this world. Christianity tells us that there is a God who is big enough, good enough, wise enough, to deal with even the worst forms of suffering. To take even the most painful experiences we can pass through and work them for our eternal good and his endless glory. There is no sin serious enough, suffering severe enough, that God cannot use to bring about his purposes and plans. Indeed, he can even use the crucifixion of his own son, the torment and torture of Jesus on the cross, to bring about the salvation of this world!

Now elsewhere Scripture does say that sometimes suffering is a punishment from God for our sin. And yet, here we see in John 9, that physical suffering is not always the result of personal sin. For sometimes our suffering, our weakness, is simply the way by which God will work in us, through us.

You know this week, Sarah and I had the chance to go along to RHS Wisley’s Glow light show for the first time. If you have lived in the area for a while, I am sure you have been to it, or heard of it. It really was very impressive, with Wisley gardens covered in bright colours and lights criss-crossing the sky. However, there is a reason that the event only takes place in the evening. For before it gets dark, those lights are much less impressive. It is only when they are set against the darkness of night that you can see the brightness of the lights.

And the same is true in our story. Because this man was born blind, lived all his life in deep darkness, he provides the perfect black background against which the bright light of Jesus can be seen. For in 9:5, Jesus declares that he is ‘the light of the world’ and miraculously gives sight to this man. This man’s eyes are opened for the first time, light floods in, colour becomes clear, voices he had long heard are now linked to faces he could finally recognise. This man, who had only ever known darkness, now knew brightness. Because Jesus came, he could see. Christmas caused the lights to come on for him, Christmas provided illumination.

And yet, what we see in John 9, is that the coming of Jesus not only restored his physical sight, but also gave him spiritual sight. Did you notice this as we read it earlier? This man instantly sees with his eyes, and yet gradually throughout the passage, it seems his spiritual vision also becomes clearer as well. For when the crowd ask who healed him, he says in 9:11, ‘The man they call Jesus.’ Jesus is just a man that he met. And yet, when the religious leaders begin to question him, his vision of who Jesus is develops. His sight of Christ becomes much clearer. For he calls Jesus a prophet in 9:17, and concludes in 9:33, that based on this miracle, he must be from God. He starts to see Jesus as a prophet, as a man sent from God. But then, at the end of the passage, after he’s been rejected by the religious leaders, put out of the synagogue, he meets Jesus again. He sees that he is the Son of Man, and so in 9:38, believes in him and begins to worship him. By the end of the story, Jesus is not just a man sent from God, but the Son of God who is worthy of worship. This blind man not only has his physical sight restored, so able to see creation for what it truly is. He also has his spiritual sight restored; is able to see Christ for who he is truly is.

Grace Church, there are all kinds of wonderful lessons we can learn from this man in John 9. For example, we see here that being persecuted by the authorities, cut out from our community, and even abandoned by our families, can actually result in spiritual growth, not decline. It was through the questioning of the crowd, the distancing of his family and the persecution of the Pharisees, that this man gradually grew in his understanding of who Jesus is. And so, friends, we see here that the opposition of this world is one of the ways that God can gradually open our eyes more and more. That a culture or context where it is increasingly difficult or dangerous to speak about Jesus, to follow our faith, can actually be one of the ways that God strengthens our sight, deepens our faith, causes us to grow in spiritual understanding. Driving this man out of his community, only ended up driving him closer to Jesus.

Similarly, here in John 9, we see the power of a personal testimony. Did you notice that? When the Pharisees start to ask this man questions that he can’t understand, arguing about the technicalities of Jesus healing on the Sabbath, this man basically just shrugs his shoulders and says in 9:25: [READ]. When baffled by their complex questions, unsure how to answer their many objections, this man relied on his personal experience, with Jesus, he points to the very real change that Christ has made in his life. Which strengthens him under pressure, and infuriates and frustrates his opponents, for no matter what they say, they cannot avoid the fact that this man is changed, that this blind man can now see. And brothers and sisters, the same can be true for us when we face opposition. Teenagers, you don’t need to worry if you can’t answer all the questions your teachers or your friends at school throw at you. For the reality of a changed life, the difference that Jesus has now made in you, can have a greater impact in your classroom than a perfect answer every could. And your personal experience of Jesus is far more persuasive than any point or argument that anyone could ever bring against your faith. This man had only ever known darkness, but now he saw light. And no pressure or persecution, no question or problem, could ever convince him otherwise. Once Jesus turns the lights on in your life, in your heart and mind, there is nothing, no one, who can put them out.

Like this man in John 9, Christians have been given eyes to see Jesus. However, if you are here this morning, and you not yet following Jesus, not yet believed in who he is and bowed your knee in obedience and worship to him.  Then you are like this man not after his healing, but before it. For the Bible makes clear that we are all born blind, not physically blind, but spiritually blind. We are all born as sinners, opposing God. We are unable to see creation for what it really is, the work of God, we are unable to see Christ for who he truly is, the Son of God. As Jesus explains in John 3:3, unless you are born again, reborn by the Holy Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of God. That means you are blind to the things of God, blind to the goodness of God. Like this man, you live in darkness, without spiritual light. And yet here in John 9, Jesus declares that he came to be that light, came to give you sight, if you believe in him. If you, like this man, realise who Jesus really is and bow your knee in worship before him. That is what Christmas is all about. That is what Jesus came to do. He came to open blind eyes, to be a light in this dark world, to provide illumination. Just as the wise men followed the light of that star to Bethlehem, and [...]

2.     CHRISTMAS PRONOUNCES CONDEMNATION

Sometimes the same event has different effects on different people. Think about a football match. For example, when Man United lost to West Ham yesterday, that single event had different effects on different people. If you are a West Ham supporter, you were overjoyed. But if you are a Man United supporter, as I know some of you are, you were much less thrilled. The same event had two different effects on different groups of people. We see this in nature too. The same fire you can use to melt wax, will also harden clay. The rising of the sun each morning can cause birds to begin their song, and drive bats back into their caves. The same event, but two different effects.

And in John 9, we see this is also true of Christmas. That the coming of Jesus, the birth of the baby in Bethlehem, means different things for different people. For some, like this blind man, it means being brought out of darkness and into light. But for others, it means the opposite. Rather than lights coming on, they are turned off. Rather than the fires of spiritual understanding being lit, they are snuffed out. For in 9:39, Jesus declares he came to not only open the eyes of the blind, but to harden the hearts of the proud, Jesus came to blind those who think they can see.

Again, this is played out in the chapter. For John 9 not only records the story of a blind man gradually having his sight restored, it also records the story of how other people gradually lose what little sight they had. The main bulk of the chapter is taken up with a series of increasingly ridiculous and frustrating conversations, that essentially involve lots of different people refusing to accept the obvious, the blindingly obvious: that Jesus is sent from God. First, from 9:8, John tells us about how the neighbours of this man can’t work out what happened. Later, in 9:22, we hear how the man’s own parents refuse to openly acknowledge what happened, for fear of being driven out of the synagogue. However, the main characters that are stumbling around in the dark, are the Pharisees, the religious leaders. These are the very people who should have had the most light, the keenest sight, should have been able to recognise Jesus for who he really is, see the work of God in the healing of this man. And yet, instead of seeing it, they become increasingly blind to what is happening, are unable to see or understand what is really going on.

In 9:16, they argue about whether it was possible for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath. In 9:22, they declare that anyone who calls him the Messiah will be put out of the synagogue, cut off from the Jewish community. And later from 9:28, when this man sarcastically mock their blindness, point out that they seem to be determined to come to any conclusion except the blindingly obvious one that Jesus is the Messiah, they insult him and throw him out just as they threatened. And so, by the end of the chapter, we are left asking ourselves, who the blind man in this story really is! For the man who was once blind is the only one who seems to see things as they really are, and the ones who have no physical problem with their sight, become blind to who Jesus really is and what he came to achieve.

At the start of our sermon, we saw how Christmas is contentious, can divide us in all sorts of ways: we differ over the contents of dinner, the timing of decorations, the opening of presents. However, here in John 9, we see that Christmas, the coming of Jesus, divides us in a much more serious and significant way. For some of us here this morning will believe in Jesus, and some will not. Those of us who are Christians, really do believe that that baby born in Bethlehem was the Son of God, the Saviour sent into the world to pay the penalty for our sins on the cross and offer us eternal life, through faith in him. And yet, I know many of you here today do not believe that. Perhaps for you, Christmas is just a nice story, or part of family tradition, or simply an excuse to focus on the bright side of life. If that is you this morning, then can I urge you to consider whether you are acting like these Pharisees, refusing to see the blindingly obvious, accept the clear conclusion, that Jesus is God’s Son sent to save the world. How else can you explain the healing of this man, along with the other biblical accounts of Jesus’ messages and miracles? Or how else can you explain the difference that Jesus makes in the lives of the Christians in your family? I wonder, are you refusing to believe in Jesus this Christmas? Refusing to believe that he is the light of the world!

These Pharisees in our story rejected Jesus, refused to believe in him. And so, are guilty, will be judged for that. That is what Jesus goes on to explain. After he declares that he has come for judgement, to remove the sight of those who can see, we read in 9:40: [READ]. These Pharisees had no excuse, they could see Jesus perfectly fine, but they closed their eyes, refused to believe in him. And so, Jesus says they are guilty, and will be judged for it. Rather than Christmas curing them, it will condemn them. Instead of Jesus’ coming bringing them eternal joy, it will result in their eternal judgement. And it will be the same for you this morning, if like these Pharisees, you fail to have faith in Jesus, to follow him.

Christmas is rightly known as a season of joy and gladness. Good food and time with family, giving and receiving gifts, what is there not to love? Perhaps you have lots of happy memories of Christmas’ past, exchanging gifts with loved ones, or enjoying Christmas time with your family growing up. Christmas can bring us such joy! I trust you will have a joyful time this year. And yet, we see here in John 9, that if we reject the real reason for Christmas, do not believe in that baby in Bethlehem, then rather than bringing you joy, Christmas will ultimately bring you judgment. One day you will curse every Christmas you ever celebrated, regret every Carol you ever sung, friend, your memories of Christmas’ past will haunt you, for they will stand in judgement over you. They will provide evidence of your guilt, will act as the final nail in your coffin. For despite hearing about the person of Jesus, you would not believe him. The cure for your sinful condition was being celebrated all around you, but you would not take it. You were told about the light of the world, and yet you decided to stay in darkness. And the Bible say that you will be left in that deep darkness forever.

This morning, we began our service with that famous prophecy in Isaiah 9, which we often read around Christmas. It tells us how the people walking in darkness have seen a great light, that unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And yet, just before the prophet tells us about those wonderful promises of light in Isaiah 9, he tells us of the terrible reality of darkness in Isaiah 8. Oh yes, we often focus on the coming light in Isaiah 9, but we must not forget the deep darkness of Isaiah 8, where we are told that those who do not respond to God’s Word will have ‘no light of dawn’ – that the dawn of day will never come for them. Instead, we read from Isaiah 8:21, ‘Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upwards, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.’ The Bible says that that is the destination for all who refuse to believe in Jesus, who stay in the darkness of sin and refuse to come into the light: distress, darkness and fearful gloom forever. It is the place that the Bible calls Hell. Oh yes, Jesus explained at the start of the chapter, that this blind man was not suffering because of his sin. But at the end of the chapter, he explains that these Pharisees will. For they are guilty and will be judged. And the suffering that they will experience as a result, the punishment of God for their sins, will be far greater and long lasting than anything this man ever experienced. For they faced blindness forever, eternal darkness. The coming of Jesus, Christmas itself, would condemn them.

Friend, if you are here this morning, and are not yet following Jesus, we pray that it would not do so for you. It need not do so. On the cross the light of the world went into our darkness, he himself was snuffed out. Born of his mother at Bethlehem but judged by his Father at Jerusalem. Christ was condemned on the cross, bore the curse of sin for all who will believe in him. Suffered darkness for all who will walk with him in the light. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, who [...]. May Christmas bring you joy, not judgment.