John 9 Verses 35-41 

John 9:35 “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. 39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? 41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” 

Prior to this meeting with the Lord, the man who was healed had been previously born blind and Jesus came along and made clay of spittle and anointed the man’s eyes. Then Jesus told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  The man believed the Lord and by faith did as the Lord instructed him.  As a result he came seeing.  Now at this point the man had never laid eyes on Jesus.  Up to the encounter above, the man believed the Lord to be a prophet sent from God who had healed him by the power of God.  With this encounter the man learned that He was the Son of God.  The man believed and worshipped the Lord.  There is a pattern of successive revelation and understanding that this man went through.  This is typical of God’s children as they begin the journey toward the knowledge of who Jesus is and what he has done.   

We are by nature spiritual blind, until the Lord works upon us causing us to be born of the Spirit and thus giving us spiritual eyesight.  At this time our knowledge is very limited.  After a while we begin to realize something has happened to us.  At this point we may have successive revelations of understanding as we come to the knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and that he by his power has healed us of our spiritual blindness.  A child of God’s growth in knowledge often is dependent on him hearing the true gospel of the grace of Christ and believing that good news.  Through our experiences, study of God’s word, hearing the preached word, etc. we increase in our knowledge over time.   

“And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?”  In this chapter we have a comparison between a man who was born blind and then was given eyesight and the Pharisees who thought they were the great guardians and revealers of knowledge.  These Pharisees thought they had eyesight, but truly they were spiritually blind.  Whereas, the man that was born blind was given sight.  When the Pharisees asked the question, “Are we blind also?” The Lord answered: “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” 

Anyone with a self-righteous superior attitude is spiritually blind, though he thinks that he is the bastion of knowledge.  In contrast a person who was before spiritually blind and given spiritual eyesight gives praise to God and magnifies God for his wonderful gift of spiritual sight.