John 9 The Light of the World (Part 2) | Tim Miller

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I. Introduction. 
A. Blindness and my experience  B. Transition from chapter eight
C. Main two themes 1. Light of the World  2. Good Leaders 

II. The Healing of the Blind man (9:1–12)
A. Blindness and Ancient Views 1. Ancient Nations 2. Greek philosophers wrote about blindness as a curse of the gods. 3. In Biblical times, “To be overtaken by blindness is the ultimate disaster because with it comes total  dependence on others.” 4. The religious Jews likely believed this as well, putting a biblical spin on the issue (Exodus 34:7b:  “who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the  children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation”).

B. The Disciples’ Question (1–2)   1. They assumed there was a tight connection between sin and this man’s malady  2.  In asking this, the disciples reveal they would qualify as Job’s counselors. 

C. Jesus’ Response (3–5)  1. Direct Answer   a. He explicitly denied the direct correlation of particular sin and this man’s ailment. b. Instead, he offers an alternative explanation: God allowed the man the blindness that God’s  work might be displayed in him.   2. Explanation of the Answer and His coming actions   a. Jesus is the light of the world. It is day when He is present.  b. When Jesus is gone, the light is gone. It will be darkness when He is gone.  c. This explanation ties together the last chapter with this one  Jesus has explained that he is the light of the world in chapter 8. He shows He is the light of  the world in chapter 9. This is a metaphor that explains Jesus’ upcoming actions: Jesus’ light opens the eyes of the  blind man. In sum, Jesus is saying, “This man was born blind and put in this exact spot at this exact  time for me to demonstrate that I am the light of the world.”  d. Jesus is also anticipating his coming death  The time of darkness when “no man can work” is the period between Jesus’ death and the  coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.  During this time, the light in the world had been snuffed out.   The implication is that the Spirit would likewise be a light (cf. His identification as the  sevenfold torches, which are the Spirit before the throne in Rev 4:5).  e. In sum, Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question did two things:  It revealed that they were mistaken about the nature of sin and judgment.  It revealed that God planted the man there with that malady for Jesus to do the work of  God and shine light.  In the words of Carson, What Jesus was about to do was not “just a  miracle; it is a sign, the work of the Father, mediated through the sent one, to shed light on  those who live in darkness.”

D. Jesus’ Healing (6–7)  1. Jesus’ Actions  2. Jesus’ Words  3. The man’s Obedience
E. Reaction of His Neighbors (9:8–12)   1. The Neighbor’s responses  2. The Man’s Response
III. Investigation of the Pharisees (9:13–34)  
A. The First Interrogation (9:13–17) 
B. The Parent’s Testimony (9:20–23)  
C. The Final Interrogation (9:24–34)

IV. Light and Darkness (9:35–41)
A. Jesus’ Discussion with the Man (35–38) 1. The man has made an infant step, but Jesus seeks him out to ground him in the faith. 2. His question appears odd because of the title “son of man.”
B. Jesus’ Assessment (39) 3. The man’s response, “Who is he” is genuine. He knows Jesus is a righteous servant who God listens to, but is He the actual Messiah?  4. Jesus