This sermon was originally preached by Pastor Joshua Moore on March 15th, 2026. You can watch it here.
Before I read the passage this morning, I want to tell another story. The story of a man named John Newton.
Newton was born on July 24th, 1725 in London. His mother was a pious, godly woman. His father was an unbelieving, seafaring man. At just six years old, Newton’s mother died. One biographer writes of Newton: “Left mainly to himself, Newton became a debauched sailor—a miserable outcast on the coast of West Africa for two years; a slave-trading sea-captain until an epileptic seizure ended his career.”
Newton as a boy of just 11 years would begin to venture out onto the seas with his father. He made several voyages to the Mediterranean before he was 18 years old. At 18 years of age he entered the Navy, against his will. Richard Cecil, a friend and biographer of Newton wrote, “The companions he met with here completed the ruin of his principles.” He was an ungodly man of the worst sort. He once wrote of himself in those days, “I was capable of anything; I had not the least fear of God before my eyes…”
Not until one fateful night while out on the seas for over a year, he awoke in the night to a violent storm. Richard Cecil writes that his room began to fill with water. He got up and began to run for the deck, but the captain stopped him and had him go and fetch a knife. The man who went up in his place was immediately washed overboard. That night during the fight of his life, Newton began for the first time to look to God. (See John Piper, The Roots of Endurance, pages 40 to 49.)
The story of his conversion is remarkable and later not only would he become one of the era’s great pastors, he would build lasting friendships with men like William Wilberforce, John Wesley, and George Whitefield.
But arguably what Newton is most famous for is a hymn. The words in that hymn are maybe the most famous words of any hymn in the English language:
“Amazing grace!—how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”
Those last words in that line come almost exactly out of our passage today in John 9 which tells us the story of a man born blind—a man who could never see—until he encountered Jesus.
We are going to see today in our passage that this is not just this man’s story, or John Newton’s story, but this is the story of every true follower of Jesus.
Background
Last week, we read the story of the woman of Samaria (John 4) and her encounter with Jesus at Jacob’s well. Those of you who heard that sermon will remember me saying that this is not just a story about a random woman and Jesus, this is the story of the Church.
The story we are reading about this morning is not just the story of a man born blind; it’s not just John Newton’s story; but it’s the story of every follower of Jesus. I hope we will see this as we go through together.
The story begins with the disciples walking along the road and they see a man who had been blind from birth. From what we gather later in the passage, his blindness would have been well known because he frequented certain locations and begged; asking people for food or money.
So they are walking along and they see him and this prompts a question which we see in verse 2:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”
Good question. That’s a really good question. I hope you are asking questions like that. I hope that during this trial of losing our church building for a season, that you are asking questions like these and wrestling with deeper things. As I said last week, I don’t think this is just a major inconvenience for everyone. I think that God wants to get our attention and he wants us to ask questions and wants to seek understanding.
I think questions are a good thing. Parents with little children… I am one of those. Let’s not rebuke our children when they ask hard questions. I know it’s not always easy. You’re just trying to sit down and have a peaceful meal, eating a hamburger, and they are asking questions about all kinds of things. Where does meat come from, mommy? How many cows are there in the world? Do cows talk to each other? And all kinds of questions.
If you are a family that reads the bible and talks about God regularly, I’ll bet they’ve asked you some real zingers about God and Jesus. Encourage it. It’s good.
We like to avoid hard questions because they create conflict, if not externally, internally. But this question asked by the disciples in our story today is not actually what creates the conflict in our story. Jesus simply answers the question, heals the man, and then moves on. Verse 3: ‘Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”’
But notice verse 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.”
Why is Jesus mentioning work?
Sabbath Day
It is not until verse 14 that we are told that this was a Sabbath day. This is the origin of the conflict that is introduced here in John 9: the perceived violations of the Sabbath Day. Let’s continue reading on.
‘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.’
The next few verses tell us that others began identifying the man as the blind man who would beg and they wanted to know how he had been healed. Verse 13 tells us that they took him to the Pharisees and this is where the conflict emerges. Now why would the people do this? Why would they observe this healed man and then take him to the Pharisees? Most likely it is not done with evil motives. Scholars seem to think that they probably took him to the Pharisees because they were astounded at what had happened and they wanted to try and get some answers. The Pharisees were some of the teachers of the law and considered experts in the Jewish faith and traditions, so the people looked to them for answers.
Verse 15 tells us that the Pharisees began asking them how it happened. When the explanation is given, some of the Pharisees respond by saying, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
Wait, what?
If you are like me you re-read the story and you don’t see any work happening? Okay, let me look at the event again. No mention of a shovel. I don’t see any trenches being dug. I don’t see any stone-cutting happening. No one is planting a vineyard or building a wine-press. Where’s the work?
During this time period the Rabbis were compiling a comprehensive body of oral traditions that would eventually come to be known as the Mishnah, which later on would form the backbone of the Talmud, which is the foundational text for modern Judaism today. One of the items covered was the Sabbath and the kinds of work that were forbidden. By the end of the second century they had formulated 39 different types of work that were forbidden. Among them would have been kneading dough. Because Jesus here performed an action that resembled kneading by mixing clay and water, he had, in their view, violated the Sabbath.
This incident was similar to the story of the man by the Pool of Siloam that Jesus healed. After he was healed, Jesus told him to pick up his bed, walk, and go home. The Jews confronted the man for carrying his mat because “carrying” was another class of work that was forbidden on the Sabbath Day. When a person leaves their home they are permitted to carry nothing but the clothes on their back.
Jesus, obviously, did not follow these traditions and in other places where similar conflicts arose between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, Jesus often calls them the “traditions of men.” Jesus distinguished between the commands of God and the traditions of men.
Because of this we see in verses 13 through 34 that the Pharisees were divided about Jesus. Some are open to considering his claims while others see him as a sinner who has broken the law. So they argue and then eventually summon the man’s parents to testify about whether he was truly born blind. Round and round it goes.
Finally they kick the once blind man out of the synagogue. Basically because he says that Jesus has come from God. To summarize, the Pharisees cared more about their own traditions than they did about what God truly wanted of them.
And the result was that they missed Jesus. Where are you missing Jesus? Where are you clinging to things that keep you from seeing Jesus?
This takes right to the first thing to see this morning: Trials often reveal our spiritual blindness.
Trials Often Reveal Our Spiritual Blindness
At the start of the story, when the disciples asked Jesus that great question about why this man was born blind, Jesus’ answer was so that the works of God could be displayed. That’s not my summary of the situation. Those are the words of the Lord Jesus himself.
Last week we saw that Jesus was pursuing the woman at the well in her troubles (John 4). Remember I talked about how that was a divine appointment. He came to her in her troubles and met her right there. And that’s what we see here. Actually the man’s troubles were not finished after the healing here in John 9. The Pharisees boot him out of the synagogue after the ordeal, and I want you to notice what Jesus does again.
Jesus seeks the man out. Verse 35 says,
‘Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.’
The result of this whole ordeal is worship, for this blind man. The miracle was not the goal, worship was the goal.
But you know what, the same could have been true of the Pharisees. This situation challenged their understanding. I mean I put myself in their shoes and this is not an easy situation. Some people come with questions that challenge everything you’ve been taught and known. They are faced with a scenario that they cannot explain. That’s hard. But what ultimately led to their failure was not the difficulty of the situation, but their idols. They could not bring themselves to the same conclusion because they did not want to see the truth.
And the same is true of some of us here today. Some of us cannot see God because we don’t want to. Some of us cannot let go of some struggles or sins or problems because we do not want to. We are clinging to something. I want you to take a moment right now and ponder this in your heart. What is it in your life that you cannot let go of? Maybe you don’t know. What’s the thing that keeps you up at night? What’s the thing that gets you the most upset?
Our trials have a way of revealing these things to us. This moment for the Pharisees revealed that they could not let go of their need to be in authority, to be the teachers, to have all the understanding, to be right. So when they were clearly wrong they just explained away what they saw. Ironically it was the blind man who ended up seeing things more clearly than the Pharisees.
The lesson here is that we must become blind in order to see. We have to stop trying to constantly have all the answers. We must admit to God that we don’t know it all, that we don’t have the answers, that He must show us what is true and right. This often becomes most abundantly clear in our trials and pain. Our trials often reveal our spiritual blindness.
And this leads us to the second thing to see this morning: We must admit our blindness if we are to see Jesus.
Becoming Blind in Order to see Jesus
I had coffee with someone recently and we were talking about their spiritual journey. At the end of his story this person told me, “I’m not lost, I don’t feel any need for God. My life has meaning and purpose. I’m good.” But the person who has stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer can say the same thing. They feel fine. It often doesn’t manifest until it’s in the final stage and it’s too late. Basing your spiritual well being on how you feel is really dangerous.
The Titanic felt safe until it hit the iceberg. They fell asleep at the wheel. Because they thought it was invincible, they did not feel any immediate threat. And the result was catastrophic.
The Pharisees here in our passage assume from the outset that they are okay. They assume that they are in the right. Look at verses 33 and 34:
[The man who was born blind says to the Pharisees about Jesus] 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 [The Pharisees] answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
If you are to learn anything you must begin by thinking that you don’t have all the answers. Spiritually speaking, you must begin by thinking that your instruments—your mind, your heart, your reason—are all deeply flawed and broken. When your compass is telling you that you are going north, you need to doubt that, because your compass is broken. It doesn’t work. So stop relying on your own compass.
You and I need someone whose instruments aren’t broken to come and teach us—to take the wheel, so to speak. You need Jesus to teach you, to show you what true north is, because spiritually, you and I come into this world, blind, just like this man. And only Jesus can give us eyes that work correctly. The Pharisees, for all their learning and knowledge, proved themselves to be blind fools.
Do you believe that apart from Christ you are blind? Because if you don’t that is the very evidence that you are in fact blind. Verse 39:
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
We must admit our blindness if we are to see Jesus. If we don’t, we not only prove ourselves to be blind but we fall under God’s terrible judgment. This takes us to our third and final thing to see this morning: Jesus alone can remove our spiritual blindness.
Jesus Alone Can Remove Our Spiritual Blindness
Many of you know this. Many of you have had an experience like this man in our story today. When you can say, “I once was blind but now I see.” Many of you have a story like John Newton. You know what it is to be a wretched sinner, having no fear of God, no desire for him, whatsoever, and then suddenly, Jesus shows up and you’re changed. That’s my story. Looks different from this man here, but that’s basically my story.
What I want to say to you as we close this morning is this: the goal of this whole moment here in John 9 was not just a transaction. The goal was not just a moment in time that God would display his glory. The goal here, which becomes obvious in that final section, was that this man would come to know Jesus Christ and worship Him.
Notice how in our story this man moves from only knowing the name of Jesus in verse 11. To calling Jesus a prophet in verse 17. To finally, at the end of our story, worshipping him. The more he interacts with Jesus, the more he understands.
You may have had a powerful encounter with Jesus at one point in your life but do you have a relationship with Him? Do you daily come to Jesus, and worship Him? Are you in prayer? Are you opening up God’s word, saying, “Teach me, Lord! Without you I can do nothing. Without you, I am blind? You are my light, Lord. Without you, I will live in darkness.”
That’s the goal. Everyday, coming to Jesus. Everyday, depending upon Jesus. Over time, like this man, you will know and understand more and more.
Let’s come to him now, in prayer, together.
Amen.
