Mensa Otabil - Born Blind (10/24/2025)
Welcome to a brand new week and to a new study as we look at the life of Jesus Christ and an encounter he had with a blind man. This week, we will focus on John chapter 9, starting with the first two verses.
Now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. His disciples asked him, saying, «Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?» Jesus used this encounter with this visually impaired person, a blind man, to teach about spiritual blindness and the need for us to open ourselves to God and to his grace. This miracle is a lesson in action; Jesus is using the miracle to teach a lesson. There are a few things we want to start with as we observe these two verses from John chapter 9.
The first thing I want you to note is the phrase, «Jesus passed by.» It seems like a very casual statement, as if Jesus is just going on his way. It may appear that Jesus doesn’t know what he’s doing, but everything about him was intentional and purposeful. So, although it may seem like a little stroll or walk, there is purpose in this movement. That is the first thing I want you to know: even when we think what he’s doing has no purpose, there is an intention behind it.
The second thing I want you to note is that Jesus saw him. In many of the miracles of Jesus, people reach out to him, but in this particular miracle, the blind person doesn’t reach out to Jesus. Instead, Jesus is the one who initiates the recognition; he notices that the man is blind. The man is not calling for help, nor is he praying for assistance, but Jesus sees him. There are a couple of lessons we can learn from this. Many times, we teach that until we ask God for help, he doesn’t help us, and that is the general rule. However, there are exceptions to that rule. There are times when God helps us even when we’re not looking for help. There are times we pray, and we pray wrongly, yet God still answers. There are moments we don’t pray at all, and God still reaches out to us.
So, Jesus saw him; he took the initiative. As he moved by, he saw him. The one that I want you to pay attention to is the question the disciples asked him: «Who sinned?» The disciples also saw the blind man, and somehow they knew the man had been blind from birth; probably he was a well-known blind man. The question they asked the Lord Jesus is, «Whose problem is it? Is it the man himself or his parents?» The Jewish society believed that when people got into trouble, it was because they had sinned or God was punishing them, or something was wrong. Most of us believe that too: when something is wrong in someone’s life, it must be that they did something wrong. That is how Job’s friends thought about Job’s life, and so they asked Jesus the obvious question: «Whose fault is it?»
Many times, when people get into trouble, instead of helping them, we want to find out whose fault it is. We want to identify the cause, as if finding out who caused it will solve the problem. How is he going to heal the man, whether his father or his mother caused the blindness? It’s not going to help him. Jesus doesn’t get into that, and we will find out tomorrow how Jesus responded to this question. It is interesting that many times we try to assign blame for people’s situations. Sometimes people go through hardship not because they’ve done anything wrong; it may just be that something has gone wrong in their lives. It is not their fault, and it’s not from their parents; it’s just something wrong.
That is what we learn from Jesus in these opening verses of John chapter 9. Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, I know you take notice of me. Thank you that you do not pass me by. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» I just want to assure you that God will not pass you by; he sees you, and he will help you. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.