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Scripture Reading: John 9:1-11, 35-41; 10:26-29; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor. 4:4
John 9:1-11 and 35-41 say, “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but he was born so, that the works of God might be manifested in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed his eyes with the clay, and He said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is interpreted, Sent). He went therefore and washed and came away seeing. The neighbors then and those who previously saw him as a beggar said, Is not this the one who used to sit and beg? Some said, This is he. Others said, No, but he is like him. He said, I am the one. They said then to him, How then were your eyes opened? He answered, The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. I went therefore and washed, and I received my sight...Jesus...found him and said, Do you believe into the Son of God? He answered and said, And who is He, Lord, that I may believe into Him? Jesus said to him, You have both seen Him, and He is the One speaking with you. And he said, Lord, I believe; and he worshipped Him. And Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, We are not blind also, are we? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would not have sin; but now that you say, We see; your sin remains.”
John 10:26-29 says, “You do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give to them eternal life, and they shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
Acts 26:18 says, “To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”
Second Corinthians 4:4 says, “In whom the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine on them.”
John 9 presents the seventh kind of people whom the Lord Jesus contacted on the earth, the blind. On the one hand, the eight kinds of people whom the Lord Jesus contacted refer to eight different kinds of people in humanity. On the other hand, these eight conditions can be found in every person. The first five kinds of people are one group, and the last three kinds of people are another group. The first five kinds of people are the moral, the immoral, the impotent, the hungry, and the thirsty. The last three kinds of people are the sinful, the blind, and the dead. The five conditions of the first group show that man needs the life of the Lord Jesus for regeneration, satisfaction, and strengthening. The three conditions of the second group show that man needs the Lord’s life to resolve three great problems: sins, blindness, and death. Every person has these three problems. In the preceding chapter we have seen how the life of the Lord Jesus solves the problem of sins. In this chapter we will see how the life of the Lord Jesus solves the problem of blindness, the inability to see.
In John 9 the Lord Jesus met a man who was blind from birth. According to verses 39 through 41, the spiritual significance of being born blind is that man has no knowledge of God or of spiritual things from his birth. Blindness is the inability to see, the losing of one’s sight. Everyone can see with their physical eyes from birth, but man’s inward eyes are blind and unable to see God and spiritual things. The Lord Jesus said that this was the condition of the Pharisees. Several matters demonstrate that man is born blind.
Man is born blind, because he does not know God. Before we were saved, we may have said that there is no God. However, it is not that there is no God but that we could not see God due to our blindness. Man is born blind, because he does not understand the meaning of the universe. He does not know how the universe came into existence, the condition of the universe, or what will be the end of the universe.
Man is born blind, because he does not know his origin, course, or destination. Man does not know where he came from, where he is today, or where he is going. This is a matter of being blind. People think that they know many things. Some have academic degrees; they know philosophy, science, and principles and laws. However, they do not know their origin, their present condition, or their destination. This proves that man is blind; he cannot see his actual condition. He does not know the meaning of his human life, and he does not know what his relationship is with God.
Man is born blind, because he is ignorant of the mysteries of God. Spiritual matters, such as God’s plan of salvation, His incarnation and life on earth, His desire to be man’s life and to be mingled and joined with man, are beyond human comprehension.
Man is born blind, because the Holy Bible is foreign to man. The Bible is God’s revelation. It makes known God’s intention. However, a person cannot understand the Bible before he is saved, because the eyes of his heart are blind.
There are three necessary conditions in order to see an object. If we want to read a book, for example, we must open it. Without opening the book, we cannot see the printed words. This opening is a “revealing.” To reveal an object is to remove the veil in order for us to see it. However, a mere opening is not sufficient. Even though a book is opened, we will be unable to see the printed words if it is dark. Hence, we need light to shine upon the page so that we may see. This is the second condition. The third condition is that our eyes must be opened to see. If we do not have our sight, we will not be able to see. Therefore, in order to see something, there should be an opening, light, and vision. These three conditions result in seeing.
The same principle applies to spiritual seeing. In order for us to see the true meaning of a spiritual matter, we first need the revelation of the Bible. Second, we need the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. God sends the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and guide us to understand the truth. Third, we need spiritual eyes. When we have these three conditions, we can understand spiritual things.
God has given us the Bible, and He reveals every spiritual matter to us through the Bible. In the Bible God has revealed His purpose, the meaning of the universe, the meaning of man, the relationship between God and the universe, the relationship between God and man, man’s condition, man’s destination, the way for man to receive God’s salvation, how man can be accepted by God, how to be in God’s will, and how to be mingled and united with God. All these matters are explained in the Bible. Furthermore, the Spirit operates to enlighten man. When a person reads the Bible, the Spirit is there to shine in him. However, most people still cannot understand the Bible, nor can they see the spiritual matters contained in the Bible, because they lack spiritual eyes. Man has the Bible, and the Spirit is working, but man still cannot see spiritual things, because he is blind.
Man is not only blind inwardly; he is born blind. The representative in John 9 was blind from birth. This means that man’s inner blindness is a matter of birth, a condition by nature; it is not a matter of sin. Therefore, when the disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” the Lord Jesus answered, “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents” (vv. 2-3). Blindness is not a matter of sin but a matter of nature. Therefore, regardless of whether someone has sinned, regardless of whether he has committed many sins or a few sins, regardless of whether he is bad or good, and regardless of whether he is a robber, a prostitute, a gentleman, or an upright person, he is born blind inwardly and is unable to see by nature.
In verse 3 the Lord spoke of the works of God being manifested in him. This means that man is blind from birth concerning spiritual matters because he is short of God’s work. Regardless of whether someone is good or bad, his inner eyes cannot be opened if God has not worked in him. Without the Lord Jesus working in him, a noble gentleman with the highest morality is as blind inwardly as the most evil person. An evil and wicked person does not know God, and the most moral person likewise cannot understand God, because man is blind from birth and does not know God by nature. Hence, man needs God to work and open his inner eyes so that he can see.
The natural man does not and cannot understand the things of God, because man is blind. We should never think that being intelligent, wise, noble, or moral enables us to see the things of God. It is possible to have a thorough understanding of the world, human relationships, intellectual matters, international affairs, and the world’s situation but still be blind and ignorant concerning the things of God.
Someone who is blind from birth has never seen light. A blind man, therefore, is in darkness. Likewise, the Bible, the church, many preachers, and many spiritual publications are spiritual lights that can enable people to comprehend the things of God. Many people, however, still cannot understand or see spiritual things. This proves that man, being blind from birth, is in complete darkness.
Someone who is born blind is also poor. The Gospel of John says that the blind man was a beggar (v. 8); he was very poor. Revelation 3:17 and 18 show that poverty is connected to blindness. Spiritually speaking, a blind person is poor. Someone who cannot comprehend spiritual things and who does not know God is spiritually destitute. Someone may be rich in the knowledge of the world and may have accumulated earthly riches; however, when we discuss spiritual things with him, we sense that he is a beggar who has nothing spiritually.
People are poor in spiritual things because their eyes are not open. Such people have a particular need. They need their eyes to be opened so that they can see. Spiritually speaking, nothing is more crucial than having one’s eyes opened. When the Lord Jesus sent Paul, His disciple, to go forth and preach the gospel, He first charged Paul “to open their eyes,” and then “to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18). Turning from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance is based on one’s eyes being opened. The opening of man’s eyes is the basis of all spiritual matters. The blind are unable to understand spiritual things, and they cannot receive them. When someone sees a spiritual matter, he has received it.
The Lord Jesus must come to be man’s light in order for his spiritual eyes to be opened. After saying that the man was blind from birth in order that the works of God might be manifested, the Lord Jesus said that He was sent by God to do the works of God; the Lord Jesus was sent to open people’s eyes in order for them to see (John 9:3-4). Then the Lord Jesus said, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (v. 5). This means that His opening of people’s eyes so that they might see depended on His coming to be their light. Man’s ability to see depends on the Lord Jesus being the light of the world. In order to recover the sight of man’s inner eyes, the Lord Jesus must enter into man to be his light. When He, the light, enters into man, He enlightens man, and man’s inner eyes are opened.
Spiritual blindness, the inability to see spiritual matters, is the issue not only of losing one’s inward sight; it is also the issue of being inwardly dark. Darkness is the same as blindness. Blindness prevents people from seeing, and darkness also prevents people from seeing. Therefore, in order to restore man’s sight, the Lord Jesus must come as light to enlighten man and dispel the darkness in man’s heart. It is for this reason that the devil, the ruler of the world, always tries to prevent people from believing in the gospel of the Lord Jesus; the devil blinds the eyes of their heart so that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine on them (2 Cor. 4:4). The devil is clearer than man concerning the gospel. He knows that if a person believes in the gospel, the Lord Jesus as the light will enter into him to illuminate him. Therefore, the devil uses many schemes to frustrate man from believing in the gospel of the Lord Jesus and thus keeps man in darkness. The devil works in man to counter the work that the Lord Jesus desires to do in man’s heart. The Lord Jesus wants to be the light of man to illuminate man inwardly so that the eyes of man’s heart might be opened to see. As the light of the world, only the Lord Jesus can dispel the darkness in man and heal the blindness within man so that man may have sight. Only the Lord Jesus can solve the problems of darkness and blindness in humanity.
After saying that He would work the works of God, which is to open man’s eyes, and that He was the light of the world, the Lord Jesus spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay (John 9:6). He did this to open the eyes of the blind man and to give him sight. Then He told the blind man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam (v. 7). Although this seems insignificant, it is very significant. If we consider the context of what the Lord Jesus said in these verses, we will understand their spiritual meaning. There are four crucial steps in this portion.
The first crucial step is related to the spittle, which was something out of the Lord Jesus. In this portion spittle signifies something that comes out of the Lord Jesus, or we may say that it proceeds out of His mouth. Therefore, spittle signifies the words that proceed out of the Lord Jesus’ mouth (Matt. 4:4). John 6:63 says that the Lord’s words are spirit and are life. Hence, spittle also signifies the Lord’s words of life.
The second crucial step is related to the clay, which signifies man. The Bible says that man was made of clay (Job 33:6; Isa. 45:9; cf. Rom. 9:21). Therefore, the Lord’s making clay of the spittle signifies that His word enters into and is mingled with men of clay.
The third crucial step is related to anointing the eyes of the blind. In the original text the word anointed in John 9:6 is related to the anointing of an ointment. This refers to the Holy Spirit as an ointment coming to anoint man. When the word of the Lord Jesus enters into man and is mingled with man, the Holy Spirit must come and anoint man. Man must let the Holy Spirit move in him in order to anoint his blindness.
Hence, if we want our inner eyes to be opened, we must take these three steps. The first step is for the word of the Lord Jesus to enter into us. The second step is to let the word of the Lord Jesus mingle with us. The third step is to let the Holy Spirit anoint us. After we read the Bible and spiritual publications or after we listen to a message, we should spend some time to ponder over what we have read or heard. Then the Lord’s word will mingle with us, and the Holy Spirit will simultaneously anoint us through His moving and anointing. In John 8:12 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” It is possible to read this verse several times but not have the reality of this verse, because we have not allowed this word to enter into us and be mingled with us. However, if we read this verse and spend a few minutes to meditate on it, this word will mingle with us, and the Holy Spirit will anoint us. As a result, we will be enlightened to realize that we were previously in darkness but have now been enlightened by the life of the Lord Jesus. These three steps, however, are not sufficient. There is a fourth step.
The fourth crucial step is related to going and washing in the pool of Siloam. The word Siloam means “sent,” and it also means “obedient.” Obedience involves believing. Hence, going and washing indicate believing and obeying. If the blind man had not gone to the pool of Siloam to wash off the clay after being anointed, the clay would have blinded him even more. Likewise, if we do not believe and obey after hearing the Lord’s word and being anointed by the Holy Spirit, we will become blinder. Let us consider John 8:12 again. Here the Lord Jesus said, “He who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness.” Suppose someone has heard and understood this word but has neither believed nor obeyed it. He may say that this is merely the Lord’s reasoning and may question how people living in the world today can be delivered from darkness. Such a thought indicates that he is not willing to “go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” As a result, he will become blinder.
Some people seem to be clear when they do not read the Bible, but they become confused when they read the Bible. This is the result of not believing or receiving what they have read in the Bible and of not obeying the work of the Holy Spirit in them. These people allow the Lord to anoint their eyes with the clay mingled with spittle, but they do not “go, wash in the pool of Siloam”; that is, they are unwilling to be sent and to obey. In the end they become blinder.
The Lord ordered the blind man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. There were many places with water in the land of Judah, so why did the blind man have to go and wash in the pool of Siloam? This was to test whether he would obey. When the blind man obeyed, his eyes were opened. When the Lord gives us a command, He is also testing us. We may consider the Lord’s command to be irrelevant, but our eyes will be opened if we obey.
It was not sufficient for the blind man to go to the pool of Siloam; he still had to wash away the clay, that is, to bury the clay in the water of the pool. Clay represents the self. The spiritual significance of going to the pool of Siloam and washing away the clay is to put the self to death by believing and obeying. This will open our inner eyes so that we will be able to see spiritual things.
Many people read the Bible, but they do not let the words of the Bible enter into them to mingle with them. Some people let the words of the Bible mingle with them, but they do not let the Holy Spirit operate and anoint them. A few may let the Holy Spirit operate and anoint them, but instead of believing and obeying, they preserve the self, the clay, and are unwilling to wash away the self. Therefore, their inner eyes are still blind, unopened. The self becomes a veil on their inner eyes. The self, the person of clay, is a veil that covers their eyes and takes away their sight.
Going and washing in the pool of Siloam signify believing and obeying. This is baptism. Baptism is included with believing and obeying. If you have believed in the Lord and received Him, the Lord says, “Good. Go and be baptized.” You should answer, “I will go.” This is to believe and obey. The Bible says that to be baptized is to bury our old man (Rom. 6:4, 6). Therefore, baptism puts the self to death; it does not preserve the self. This will open your inner eyes and enable you to see spiritual things.
We should not think that this interpretation is unfounded. This interpretation is based on our spiritual experience. Someone may listen to the words of the Bible, but the words will not benefit him if he does not let them mingle with him. Hebrews 4:2 speaks of this. The children of Israel heard the word of God, but they did not mix the word with faith; they did not allow God’s word to be mingled with them. As a result, the word that they heard did not profit them. After the word is mingled with us, we still need to let the Holy Spirit move and anoint us. Then we also need to believe and obey. Finally, we need to put the self aside, in the place of death, without any reservation.
A person may have heard the gospel many times but with no result. However, one day when he is reading the Bible, he may notice Mark 16:16, which says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved,” and this time it is as if the Lord Jesus mixed His spittle with clay and anointed his eyes. The word that has proceeded out of the Lord’s mouth is mingled with him, and the Holy Spirit works to anoint the Lord’s word in him. At this juncture he feels that he should be baptized immediately. He is very clear within that the Lord wants him to be baptized. This is equivalent to the Lord telling him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Then he decides, “Yes, I will go and be baptized.” However, even though he has made the decision, he begins to consider other matters and is unwilling to immediately obey by being baptized in the water. As a result, there is a long delay. While he delays, there is a speaking within him: “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Have you not decided to be baptized? Why are you still considering?” Nevertheless, he does not obey. During this time he is confused and befuddled when he listens to a message or reads the Bible. However, the Lord is not willing to let him go and questions him seriously, “Are you still unwilling to be baptized? How long will you wait?” If he obeys, he will be like the blind man whose eyes have been anointed with clay and knows that he must go and wash in the pool of Siloam. After he is baptized, he will be inwardly enlightened immediately. This indicates that the clay of his self has been washed away in the water. This is why his inner eyes are opened. From that day onward, the Bible will be open to him, and he will be able to listen to messages with understanding.
When the Lord’s word is mingled with you and the Holy Spirit anoints you, you should believe and obey and put the self in the place of death. If you want to preserve the self, it will be a lump of clay covering the eyes of your heart and preventing you from seeing. If you take the four steps revealed in John 9 by receiving the Lord’s word, letting the Lord’s word be mingled with you, allowing the Holy Spirit to move and anoint you, and believing and obeying by putting the self to death, your inner eyes will have sight.
The Lord Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man, and then He led the blind man to know and believe that He is the Son of God (vv. 35-38). Man must believe that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God in order to have eternal life. When man’s inner eyes are opened, he knows and believes that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. By knowing the Lord Jesus and believing that He is the Son of God in order to receive eternal life, the blind man became the Lord’s sheep and was able to hear the Lord’s voice and understand His word. In spiritual matters hearing is seeing. When a person hears and understands the Lord’s word, he sees the things spoken of by the Lord. Those who become the Lord’s sheep have eternal life and are kept by the Lord’s powerful hand and by the Father’s loving hand. They are secure forever. This also means that they are saved. Such a salvation is not a salvation from ordinary things. Rather, it is a salvation in which the Lord opens man’s eyes, gives man eternal life, and then keeps and protects him in His and the Father’s hand. Let us sing a hymn.
