Introduction
In the Gospel of John, chapter 9, the Lord Jesus heals a man born blind and teaches about spiritual blindness, which is true blindness. The events surrounding this healing can be divided into five sections: the Lord Jesus heals a man born blind, the neighbors question the man about his healing, the Pharisees question the man and his parents about his healing, the formerly blind man worships the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus teaches about spiritual blindness.
Meditating on the teachings of this story and analyzing the viewpoints of the people involved toward the Lord Jesus, we can discover for ourselves what it truly means to give glory to God. Specifically, we begin with verse 24, where the Pharisees label the Lord Jesus as a sinner and ask the blind man to give glory to God. Then, in verse 25, the blind man states that the Lord Jesus cannot be a sinner since He had miraculously healed him.
John 9:24 Therefore they called a second time the man who had been blind, and said to him, Give glory to God, we know that this Man is a sinner.
Here, the religious leaders themselves have blasphemed against the beloved Son of God. The Lord has helped the blind man, but the religious leaders have told people that the one who helped this man is a common sinner; however, the man has been healed by God the Father, and there was no one else who made him well.
25 He, therefore, answered, If He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that, being blind, now I see.
The beloved Son of God has opened not only the physical eyes of this man but his heart as well. For this blind man, regardless of who or what He is, he has received mercy, and his sight returned to him. Therefore, if they have told him that the beloved Son of God is a sinner, for this blind man, this accusation has no meaning because he has already experienced the Lord’s mercy.
What Does It Mean to Give Glory to God?
Capturing the Pharisees’ statement in our minds, the question for us is what does it really mean to give glory to God, and among those involved in this story, who truly gave glory to God? In this story, three types of people give glory to God in three different ways: specifically, we consider the Pharisees, the parents of the blind man, and the blind man himself.
First, in John 9:28-29, we look to the Pharisees’ way of giving glory to God.
28 And they reviled him, and said, You are a disciple of that One, but we are disciples of Moses.
As the leaders have answered to this ordinary person, you are a commoner, go to be the disciple of the beloved Son of God, but we are learned (trained, schooled, we know, we are not commoners), and we are Moses’ disciples.
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses; however, we do not know from where this One is.
With Moses, it has been recorded that God spoke with him, but for the beloved Son of God, people do not know who He is; is He just a common Man, or is He a prophet? But, they would rather put Him as a prophet than put Him as God’s beloved Son.
So, the Pharisees, what did they understand by giving glory to God? For them to give glory to God meant rejecting the Lord Jesus and seeking to destroy Him. They were seeking the glory from men, as other Bible passages tell us. Their traditions blinded them, and they failed to recognize the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. They looked to the Lord Jesus as being a simple man, not the Son of God. For us these days as followers of the Lord Jesus, we should also be aware that many so-called Bible scholars and church leaders fall into the Pharisees’ category by seeking their own glory.
Second, in John 9:19-23, we look to the parents of the man who was blind.
19 and they asked them, saying, Is this your son, of whom you say that was born blind? How therefore does he now see?
The Pharisees, who were the leaders of the people, wanted to ensure that this was not a fabricated story about the man born blind and who had received sight; however, they were expecting that this was not a genuine account of the blind man’s experience.
20 Then his parents answered and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know; question him, he has maturity; he will speak for himself.
The way the parents answered also indicated to all readers that the blind man had become a healthy person, but he was no longer a child under their care. When the body’s condition has returned to good health, the parents also believe that their responsibility towards the grown-up child has ended because this person is no longer a child but a grown man.
22 These said his parents, because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed together already, that if anyone should confess Him Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
We can all notice from this verse how fearful the people were of the religious leaders. If the leaders have already agreed that they don’t accept the beloved Son of God, nobody can accept Him either; if someone accepts the beloved Son of God, that person will be cut off from all the help they can give.
Everyone who went to the synagogue must listen to them, so if they have told you not to help a person, they all must obey, which is why people feared them. All the money they received from people became for themselves because people, by the law of God, had faith and brought in all the wealth they had beyond the need and gave it to the synagogue. The religious leaders would be the ones distributing the help to the people, which was why they had a voice in control. They exploited the basic needs of humans as a means of controlling everyone.
“Feared the Jews.” When it comes to this term (Jews), the Bible means about the leaders that have received the position to rule in all things about worshiping God.
23 Because of this, said his parents, He has maturity, ask him.
So, the parents of the man, what did they understand by giving glory to God? For them, giving glory to God meant fearing the people and synagogue leaders rather than fearing God and praying for guidance. They followed the traditions and agreed to deny the Lord Jesus because of their fear of judgment and condemnation and of losing their status; they did not fear God; they feared the leaders and the people around them. The Bible tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10) and that fear of man brings snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe (Proverbs 29:25). Therefore, we should watch ourselves not to fall into the same trap as the parents of this blind man did and accommodate the Word of God to suit the people around us and avoid conflicts with people and be accepted in a community or church for our wellbeing.
Finally, in John 9:30-41, we can examine the testimony of the blind man whom the Lord Jesus healed. His testimony is truly remarkable, and we should all look to him as an example in our lives.
30 The man answered and said to them, For this is amazing, that you know not from where He is, even He opened my eyes.
The common man has recognized the amazing work the beloved Son of God has done for him. For him, regardless of where the beloved Son of God comes from, the work has been done already, so he emphasizes the miracle work done on him.
As the common man has answered, give attention to what happened to him: now he is not blind, and that is a miracle already, and “you as a leader do not know who has this power of healing?” is his question. Think of the miracle work that the Lord Jesus has performed, and everyone should notice that He cannot be a common man anymore. With the power to do miracle work, He is no longer just a man, but He is to be put above all men.
31 We know that God does not hear sinners, but if someone is God-fearing and does His will, him He hears.
When praying to the God Most High, as a believer, pay attention to this verse. As the beloved Son of God has prayed to the Father, and the Father heard Him, He will hear all believers; when everyone covered by His beloved Son’s blood comes worshiping Him with their whole heart, He will certainly hear them.
“And does His will.” All true believers that worship the Father will know in their hearts, through the Spirit of His beloved Son, the Father’s will regarding what they should and should not do; every heart will feel that as well. Here, the verse emphasizes on the Spirit of the Son; the verse itself is according to listening: the Father will not listen to normal humans, but through the Spirit of His Son, the Father will hear a prayer done in Jesus’ name.
32 Out of the age, it was not heard that someone opened eyes of one born blind.
33 If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything.
This statement here is a true statement of a believer. This man has already in his heart connected with the beloved Son of God and has come to believe that He must come from God the Father Himself because a normal man cannot do this miracle work on his eyes.
34 They answered and said to him, You were completely born in sins, and do you teach us? And they cast him outside.
The dark mind will not hear the truth. This man, being born blind, does not mean that he was born in sin, but the ones who talk are the ones who live in sin. When the ear has been shut, and the eye has been blinded, not the physical eye but the spiritual eye, all their heart feelings have been blinded; by casting out the poor man, these leaders have discouraged the faith of this poor man as well.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out and, having found him, said, Do you believe in the Son of Man?
Let all readers give attention: the beloved Son of God Himself has asked this poor man and all the people at the same time, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Do not answer out, but meditate on the word “believe”: believe not just by the feeling or by the thought but believe deep down in your heart that the beloved Son of God in this place has called Himself “the Son of Man” because He has taken the human form and has used His life as a human (meaning Son of God in human form).
For “the Son of Man,” see also Comments John 5:25.
36 He answered and said, And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?
Let all believers take notice of this man’s faith, blind of the eyes, but not blind at heart. Give attention to what it says here: he is already willing to believe in the beloved Son of God; his heart has already opened to receive the beloved Son of God.
37 Jesus said to him, Also you have seen Him, and He is speaking with you.
The beloved Son of God has spoken directly to this poor man; unlike when He spoke with others, all believers can see the mercy of the Lord Jesus in this verse. The beloved Son of God has told this man, you did not only see Him, but you are talking with Him as well, so the Lord Jesus wants to comfort his poor heart with this word.
38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him.
Let all believers pay attention to how this poor man has believed, and now he is worshiping the beloved Son of God; he has confirmed his faith not only by saying, “I believe,” but he also has worshiped the beloved Son of God.
The beloved Son of God will never stop the sincere heart from worshiping Him, so if you worship Him with a true heart, the beloved Son of God will receive that worship with gladness and joy, as we all can notice with this verse.
39 And Jesus said, For judgment came I into this world, that those that do not see may see, and those seeing may become blind.
The beloved Son of God has told all humans in detail in this verse itself: because He has already been born as a human and knows what humans are going through, His judgment is fair. Because He, as a human, also knows the suffering humans are going through, the humans will not be able to argue with Him saying, “you are God and are in heaven, and you don’t know how it is to go through suffering”; instead, the beloved Son of God Himself can tell all humans you are humans, but I know more than you what suffering means. Your eyes are open, but you did not see what joy the Father has prepared for you; all you can think of are many good things, but you didn’t have it, and you think that it is the suffering you receive, blind at heart you are, that’s all, look around but use your heart to see not the eyes themselves, that is what the verse has told all readers here.
“That those that do not see may see, and those seeing may become blind.” As the verse before has told, the blind man has seen the Lord with his heart, but the rest of the people have seen the Lord with their eyes, but their hearts did not recognize Him; their physical eyes became blind as their hearts, opposite with the blind man, blind at eyes but seeing with his heart.
40 Out from among the Pharisees, those who were with Him heard these, and said to Him, Even though we are not blind.
With the Pharisees’ word themselves, that is a confession; they have eyes and ears, have seen the beloved Son of God and heard His teaching, but they are blind, both physically and spiritually.
41 Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you say, We see, your sin remains.
The verses before are referring to the blind man; the physical eye is blind, but he has seen the beloved Son of God with his heart; the Pharisees’ eyes themselves are not blind but did not accept the beloved Son of God and did not ask for forgiveness, and they never confess their sins, so that is the difference between the true physically blind and spiritually blind. The physically blind man has received forgiveness because he has already recognized and worshiped the beloved Son of God with his heart, and the blind man will be with the Lord in the end.
“But now that you say, We see …” If you are physically blind, you won’t see the work of God, and you will not be accountable for the sin when you disrespect the work of God on earth because your eyes did not see. But those who have complete eyesight have seen the miracle works of God each day, yet if they do not thank Him for His mercy and do not appreciate the love of God for this earth, they become blind at heart, and their sin will remain blocked inside their soul.
So what did the poor man understand by giving glory to God? For this man to give glory to God meant to recognize the Lord Jesus as the Son of God and worship Him. Here, in this man’s answer, we see his boldness and how he worshiped the Lord without caring that he would be cut off from the synagogue community and their help. We all should look up to him, follow his example, and be a true spiritual light to all around us regardless of hardships we might endure because of our testimony to the Lord Jesus.
Conclusions
In conclusion, meditating on this story and what the Lord Jesus says in John 5:39-41, we can see that being spiritually blind due to unbelief or fear of how people judge us prevents us from recognizing our Lord Jesus for who He is.
However, we might think that these days, we don’t have Pharisees and synagogues to be kicked out of, and we cannot fall into the situation of the parents of the blind man. Yes, these days, we don’t have the old-time Pharisees. Still, we have many so-called Bible scholars and church leaders who are worse than the Pharisees. They attack and try to destroy the Word of God in many evil ways: they write books about the Bible, teach false doctrines, and sell their books for a profit. Furthermore, these days, we may be tempted to be part of some popular trendy church culture and ignore the voice of the Lord in our hearts, whose calling is to be true to His Word and not to compromise it.
Therefore, we should check ourselves where we stand: do we stand with the Pharisees, do we stand with the parents of the blind man, or do we stand with the Lord Jesus? Do we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and worship the Lord Jesus as we are called regardless of the consequences, and are we bold in our faith as this poor man was?
Some people read the same Bible as we do and the same passages, but they interpret them differently for various reasons. In a nutshell, you could say that some are spiritually blind, as the Pharisees and the parents of the blind man in this story. They read but don’t want to see, and they hear but don’t want to understand, specifically when it comes to the work of the Third person of the Trinity of God, the Holy Spirit. However, for a faithful follower, the Lord Jesus will open their eyes and remove the veil of darkness, enabling them to receive faith in Him and believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We all must read the Word of God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not through the lenses of the world, science, or our minds.
The Lord called us to worship Him in the Spirit and truth, and we should keep this way. Are we afraid of people judging us for praying the way we pray in the Spirit and using the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our prayer? If we are, we are not better than the parents of this man who, because of fear, even rejected their own son who needed their support. Let us conclude with two passages of the Bible in Ephesians and 1 Corinthians.
In Ephesians 6:16-20, we read:
16 above all, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and unto this very thing, watching in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, 19 and on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
And in 1 Corinthians 14:13-15, we read:
13 Therefore, the one speaking in a tongue, let him pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Therefore, let us all pray to the Lord Jesus to open our spiritual eyes and receive His word as it is written, and apply all His teaching to our life, and give glory to the Trinity of God by baptizing in water through immersion and by seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit and seeking spiritual growth in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, let us all pray that we are not ashamed of testifying the Lord Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit to all those that the Lord God brings in our way.
Meditation Tasks:
- Let us pray to the Lord Jesus to open our spiritual eyes and ask to grow in the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, specifically for the baptism in the Holy Spirit if we have not yet received it.