16 April 2025
Scripture
John 9:1-25 (NLT)
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
“Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”
His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”
“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
“Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”
His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”
“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
Luke 4:18 (NLT)
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,
Matthew 5:14 (NLT)
You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
Romans 8:29 (NLT)
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
The Light of The World in The Darkness
The Man Born Blind
In John 9:1-3 we read of a man who was blind from birth and of his life-changing encounter with Jesus. The disciples asked Jesus whether his condition was a result of his own sin, or the sin of his parents. Jesus responded, “This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him”.
In one simple sentence Jesus redirects the disciples’ attention from sin to freedom, and from man to God. Jesus doesn’t affirm either of the disciples’ propositions and instead proposes His own – this isn’t about sin, this is about the works of God.
Jesus then spat in on the ground, made mud from His saliva and told the man to go and wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam, and he was completely healed! (John 9:6-7)
An amazing, instantaneous supernatural miracle! A man blind from birth–who has never experienced what it is like to see out of his God given eyes – has His eyes opened by the God who created him!
Jesus’ life and ministry reveal a God that has sent his Son into the world to “recover the sight of the blind” (Luke 4:18) and a God who “did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). Despite the sinfulness of humanity which blinded us from God – God did not give up on his beloved creation that was exclusively made in His image.
The Light of the World
Just before Jesus heals the blind man, He says “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me… While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:4-5). This phrase reminds us of when Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14).
Jesus came into the world as the true light of mankind, just as light casts out all darkness, so too did Jesus cast out the powers of darkness wherever he went while He was on earth. But in His own words he makes clear that the time of His light was appointed, and now He has passed on this mantle of light to us, His followers.
But Now I See
At the end of this story, the religious leaders approach the healed man and demand from him the identity of his healer. The man responds with, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25).
This testimony has echoed throughout the centuries with Christians experiencing the same freedom by encountering Jesus. Jesus first revealed the heart of the Father and brought light into the world through his life, now it is our turn to reveal the true heart of the Father to a world that does not yet know Him, and shine our God-given light into this darkened world. We – the global Church – are now God’s chosen instrument of revival.
This Easter, as the light of the resurrection shines through the darkness of the cross, let us embrace our divine mandate: to shine our God-given light into a world desperately in need of the One who died for our sins, was buried and three days later rose again victorious!
More post from Planetshakers Easter Devotional
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