A wonderful contrast is presented in the ninth chapter of John between the simplicity of faith and the bewildering windings of unbelief. A man who had been born blind had had his sight given to him by Jesus, and the short work that this man made of all the sophistries and arguments of the Pharisees, showed that Christ's miracle had given him clearness of mental as well as physical vision. The spirit which rested upon Jesus, making Him "of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord" (Isa. 11:3), was the same spirit by which He was anointed for the "recovering of sight to the blind" (Luke 4:18). Christ's work for man is not a partial one. All manner of blindness is the work of Satan, and "for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." As Jesus, with His disciples, passed the blind man, they asked Him, saying, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
We may learn from these words why any sickness or infirmity is allowed to come upon men. It all comes because of sin, but not in any spirit of vengeance or retaliation. The object is not to punish, but in order that the works of God should be made manifest in us. This appears clearly in the case of the blind man. The works of God were finished from the foundation of the world (Heb. 4:3, 4), and one of those works was to cause the light to shine out of darkness. What made the light shine in the beginning? We have the answer in John's record, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." But in being the light of the world, Jesus was working the works of Him that sent Him; therefore, we know that when God said, "Let there be light," the light shone because God Himself is light.
That same light is not only for the eyes but for the spiritual sight also. The same "God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. 4:6) And in both cases, the operation is performed in the same way. God Himself is light, therefore He shines. Whoever sees the sunlight sees the light which shone out of darkness, and so sees the shining of God. "The heavens declare the glory of God." But whoever recognizes the shining of God in the light opens his heart to the same shining, and it shines in his heart as spiritual light. But God is a Spirit, therefore is spiritually discerned; so that whoever worships Him in spirit and in truth, sees as much more in the shining as the spirit excels the flesh in the ability to discern God. While the natural eye can only see the brightness, the shining into the heart gives "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Thus is realized the blessed truth that it is Jesus Christ who is the light of the world. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:6, 7) All this was given to men when the light shone out of darkness in the beginning, for the works were finished from the foundation of the world, but because of unbelief men failed to enter into the rest which the completion of God's works secured to them; therefore it was necessary, over and over again, "that the works of God should be made manifest." Just as God commanded the light to shine out of darkness, by letting the shining of His own life appear, so in all His works He was simply revealing Himself. The work of creation was simply the fuller manifestation, to created intelligences, of His own existence. Therefore all that Christ had to do to work the works of God was to live the life of God.
All His wonderful works were simply the revelation of that life. So when He gave sight to the blind man, He simply showed what He was, the light of the world. Thus only can we work the works of Him who has sent us into the world, as He sent Jesus Christ. The Jews said to Jesus, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:28, 29) To believe on is to receive. Let Jesus abide in you, and you, too, just as He did, will do the works of God. Be sure that He dwells in your heart by faith,--and you may be sure, for He stands at the door of every heart and knocks for admittance,--and the works of God will certainly appear. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." (John 1:12) In giving the light to the world God gives Himself, but men ignore the gift, so that it becomes necessary for Him to manifest it more emphatically. He does not withdraw the gift because His goodness is contemptuously despised, but seeks to impress men with the value of that which He bestows. Therefore men are permitted sometimes to experience the horrors of darkness, that they may be led to appreciate more highly the inestimable blessing of light. The man in this lesson was born without sight that he might one day see with joy the light which his countrymen would blind their eyes to. Had it not been for his many years of blindness, he, like them, might have despised the light of the world; but, as it was, the wonderful work of God was made manifest in him.
Notice how the stubborn unbelief of the Jews entrenches itself behind the unanswerable question, "How did Jesus make the blind man to see?" They could not deny the fact, although they sought to do so, but again and again, they brought up the same difficulty, which was no difficulty at all. "How was it done?" (See verses 10, 15, 19, 26) It was the same with Nicodemus, "How can a man be born when he is old." No man can know how God works. If we were infinite, we would know how the world was created, and how the Son of God became a babe, and rose again from the dead, but not being infinite, we cannot tell how any of God's works are done. We cannot tell how the grass grows, and we cannot tell how God can dwell in human hearts, but we may know that He does it. We may be like the man in the lesson: "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see." We cannot know how God shines into our hearts the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ, but since He has so shined unto all, and only the minds of those that believe not are darkened (2 Cor. 4:3, 4), everyone may know surely that He has so shined; and that whereas we were blind to that wonderful light, now we see.
The faith that God asks of men is reasonable, for it deals with facts. God does not ask us to exercise what some people understand by faith, a mysterious form of mental exercise which is supposed to be able to evolve something out of nothing. He just asks us to accept existing facts, to rest on the works which were finished from the foundation of the world. It is unbelief that is unreasonable. If some clever satirist had attempted to depict the follies of unbelief, he could not possibly have heaped more ridicule upon it than the Jews, who figure in the ninth chapter of John, heaped upon themselves forevermore when they sought to overthrow the simple fact that Christ had given sight to the blind. As a lesson in how not to believe, it stands unsurpassed. If any wish to escape the clearest evidences of truth, they may be recommended to this example, and to the arguments employed on this occasion.
Observe how thoroughly the ground was covered. First, the Pharisee asked how the miracle was done. When told of the means employed, they pronounced the miracle impossible because the Healer was out of harmony with their conceptions of God, and the proper observance of the Sabbath. Then when the man expressed his belief that Christ was a prophet, it suggested doubts of his veracity, and they refused to believe that he had been born blind. Having agreed to excommunicate whoever should confess that Jesus was the Messiah, they next questioned the man's parents, but these, although declining to commit themselves as to the work of Christ, were clear that their son had been blind and was now able to see. Assuming a deep piety, and recognizing at last that the miracle was beyond question, they again saw the man and endeavoured to inspire in him a holy horror of the sinner who had restored his sight. But sinner or no, he had a decent gratitude to his benefactor, and queried why they should so anxiously concern themselves unless they intended to become Christ's disciples. "Then they reviled him." The light that had shone into this man's life was Christ Himself, and this was made manifest, for this man spoke with the clearness and wisdom that Christ Himself displayed. Then the Pharisees used their last, crowning argument, and excommunicated the man. The light was revealing itself in him, but they hated the light, and banished it from them.
If any man chooses darkness rather than light and desires to know how to encourage and strengthen unbelief, let him be like the Jews. Refuse to acknowledge any fact, however indisputable, unless the means can be explained to your satisfaction. Believe nothing that you cannot understand. When others, in their simplicity, believe the Word of God and find in it healing and power, refuse to accept their testimony unless they can explain how it was done. If this does not shake their confidence, then revile them. It is probable that they will not be affected by this, and, if not, as far as your power extends, excommunicate them. There will always be plenty to side with you, indeed you may safely reckon on a majority of the disputers and the wise of this world, and when you finally discover yourself with the "unbelieving" (Rev. 21:8, 22:15), on the wrong side of the "wall great and high," which surrounds the city of God, you may find a last consolation in the reflection that the redeemed inside the city cannot explain how it is that they are there.
--March 2, 1899