Amazing Grace Baptist Church, Hamburg
Bible study material on John 9:1-7
Introduction
John 9 records one of the few great miracles of Christ that John has reported. It tells us how Jesus gave sight to a man who had been “blind from his birth.” Here, as elsewhere in the Gospel of John, we find some rich spiritual lessons from the narrative. Jesus had already explained who he was to his followers through similar miracles.
The Uniqueness of Jesus
Often Jesus would use a physical object, a person, or a setting to explain a certain spiritual aspect of his life and purpose. For example:
1. While sitting by Jacob’s well and talking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus explained that he could give her “living water” (4:10).
2. After feeding over 5000 people with two small loaves of bread, Jesus explained that he was “the bread of life” (6:35).
3. At the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering the time when Moses struck the rock in the wilderness and it brought forth water for the Israelites, Jesus told the people, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (7:37).
4. Again, at the Feast of Tabernacles, another symbolic act took place. Remembering the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites, Jesus told all the people, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (8:12).
Some spiritual lessons from John 7:1-7
1. The man has the characteristics of the lost sinner
He was blind (Ephesians 4:18; John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6). The unsaved, even though intellectual like Nicodemus, can never see or understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).
2. He was begging. The unsaved are poor in God’s sight, though perhaps rich in the eyes of the world. They are begging for something to satisfy their deepest needs.
He was helpless. He could not cure himself. Others could not cure him.
3. The cure shows how Jesus saves a sinner
He came to the man in grace. Jesus could have passed him by, for it was the Sabbath and He was supposed to rest (verse 14). While the disciples argued about the cause of the blindness, Jesus did something for the man.
4. He irritated the man. A speck of dirt irritates the eye. Imagine how cakes of clay must have felt. But the dirt in his eyes encouraged him to go wash. It is just so with the preaching of the Word. It irritates sinners with conviction so that they want to do something about their sins (Acts 2:37).
5. He cured the man by His power. The man proved his faith in the Messiah by being obedient to the Word. “Religion” today wants to give men substitutes for salvation, but only Jesus can deliver from the darkness of sin and hell.
6. The cure glorified God. All true conversions are for God’s glory alone (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14, 2:8-10).
7. The cure was noticed by others. His parents and neighbors saw a change in his life. When a person is born again – others see the difference it makes (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Questions
1. Why are we sometimes quick to attribute the suffering of people to their own sins or the sins of their family members?
2. Comment on Jesus’ use of sign and symbol to heal the blind man in relation to the use of prophetic signs and symbols in contemporary time.
3. How could we relate the healing of the blind man in John 9 to our salvation experience?
Amazing grace Baptist Church, Hamburg 