(Jhn) 9:4, 39 CJB “As long as it is day, we must keep doing the work of the One who sent me; the night is coming, when no one can work. Yeshua said, “It is to judge that I came into this world, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”

The man in John 9 had never seen. He wasn’t a man who once had sight and lost it. He was born blind. That physical condition gives us a powerful picture of our spiritual condition and why Jesus opens blind eyes. We aren’t born spiritually seeing and later become sinners. We are born sinners who need to be reconciled to God.

David understood this when he wrote, “True, I was born guilty, was a sinner from the moment my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:7 CJB).

The blind man couldn’t make himself see. No amount of effort, education, religion, or determination could produce sight.

Neither can we cure our spiritual blindness.

We need Jesus.

We Were Born Blind

Jesus specifically says the man’s physical blindness was not the result of a particular sin committed by him or his parents (John 9:3). He wasn’t teaching that physical disabilities are always punishments for someone’s personal sin.

However, the man’s condition provides a vivid illustration of a larger biblical truth.

We are born into Adam’s fallen race. We don’t become sinners the first time we sin. We sin because we are sinners by nature.

Therefore, our greatest problem isn’t that we need to become better men.

We need to be born again.

Just as the blind man needed someone outside himself to give him something he did not possess, spiritually blind men need God to give them life and sight.

Those Who See Must Help Those Who Don’t

Sandwiched between the man’s condition and Jesus’ explanation of spiritual blindness is an urgent statement:

“We must keep doing the work of the One who sent me.”

There is work to do while it is still day.

Men around us are spiritually blind. Some are successful. Others are broken. Some are religious. Others want nothing to do with religion. Yet every man has the same fundamental need: reconciliation with the God against whom he has sinned.

Those of us whose eyes have been opened have been given a mission.

We cannot make a spiritually blind man see. But we can lead him to the One who can.

That’s why sharing Jesus cannot be an optional part of our Christianity. We know the cure for man’s greatest problem.

Jesus Opens Blind Eyes

At the end of the story, Jesus explains the deeper reality behind the miracle:  “It is to judge that I came into this world, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”  John 9:39 CJB

The man who knew he was blind eventually saw Jesus for who He truly was and worshiped Him. Meanwhile, the religious leaders who believed they could see rejected the Son of God standing directly in front of them.

That’s the danger of spiritual blindness.

A blind man who knows he is blind will seek sight. A blind man convinced he can see sees no need for a Savior.

Jesus is God’s answer to our blindness.

The eternal Son of God became man without ceasing to be God. He lived the sinless life we have failed to live and offered Himself on the cross as the sacrifice for sinners. Then He rose bodily from the dead, demonstrating His victory over sin and death.

Jesus isn’t one possible way back to God.

He is the way.

Through repentance and faith in Christ, sinners receive forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

This is why Jesus opens blind eyes is more than the story of one miracle.

It’s the story of every person who comes to Christ.

We were born blind.

Jesus gives sight.

And those who now see have work to do.

Run Today’s Play

Think of one man you know who needs Jesus.

Write down his name.

Pray specifically today: “Father, open his eyes to see Jesus.”

Then act.

Call him. Invite him to coffee. Share what Christ has done for you. Ask him what he believes about Jesus. Better yet, read John 9 together and talk about the difference between the blind man and the religious leaders.

You cannot open his eyes.

That’s God’s work.

But you can lead him to the One who can.

The night is coming. There is work to do while it is still day.