When we come to this
point in the Gospel we mark a further step in the
apprehension of Christ. You will see how, in what seems
to be a very matter-of-fact way, the narrative goes on -
"And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his
birth." We have frequently observed, that the things
which occurred in the life of our Lord were not just
happenings, mere incidents, the details of which go to
make up a story, but that they come within the compass of
a sovereign purpose. Just as there was a spiritual link
between the multitude being fed in the wilderness, and
the Lord Jesus being given as the Bread of Life, so the
principle operates in this event.
This case of a man born
blind is marked by features which carry us well out of
our depth. Undoubtedly there were a great many blind men
in that part of the country at that same time, but this
one, with special purposes in relation to a Divine
thought, was brought just then into the path of the Lord
Jesus. The mystery encircling his case is far too
profound for us. The question of the disciples brought
out an almost stunning disclosure. "Rabbi, who did
sin, this man, or his parents, that he should be born
blind?" Whether they were the victims of
superstition, or whether they were thinking of that part
of the Mosaic law which spoke of sins being visited upon
children unto the third and fourth generation, the
question drew out this statement which we cannot fathom,
but which leads to a tremendous issue in spiritual value.
"Neither did this
man sin, nor his parents; but that the works of God
should be made manifest in him." Thus you see there
was an object in this man's condition, and that object
governed a sovereign movement by which he came in the
path of Christ at that moment. The whole context bears
that out and throws a tremendous amount of light upon it.
The
Mystery of Israel's Blindness
We note the significant
fact which goes to the root of the whole subject, that
amongst all those who were blind in those parts at that
time, this man was born blind. Probably a more rare thing
than the other. It is not without significance that this
particular instance was one of blindness from birth. That
represents in principle the whole truth of Christ's
coming as the Light. It is taken by the Word of God as
settled, never argued but taken for granted, that the
race is by nature in blindness, in darkness, that, at
best, the natural man cannot see the Kingdom nor the
things of the Spirit. We saw that with Nicodemus; with
all his natural and religious enlightenment, all his
intellectual equipment, all that he was in himself by
nature, the Lord said to him: "Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." So
that the old birth is a birth without sight, and the new
birth is a birth with sight. Man by nature at best is
unable to see that which relates to the Kingdom of God;
man is born blind. Let us remember that this as a
spiritual birth was meant, in the first place, to be
brought home to Israel or Judaism. It is one of those
germ truths which are so much more fully developed in the
letter to the Romans. Israel's blindness is proverbial. A
whole tragic history is wrapped up in that blindness.
There came One Who could and would have given them sight,
but they believed not that they were blind, and proved
their blindness by crucifying the Lord of Glory.
From the specific
application to Israel the truth is expanded to the race,
and becomes of universal application. This universal fact
is referred to many times in later New Testament
writings. But as we proceed with the story we are made
aware that this blindness, though surely not in the
directive will of God, but the relative, is connected
with the works of God. "We must work the works of
him that sent me, while it is day." "...That
the works of God should be made manifest in him."
The works of God, then, are related to the natural state
of man in his blindness. God's works are to bring him
into the place of spiritual enlightenment and
understanding.
Christ
and the Sabbath Again
There are two other
elements here to be noticed. This thing was done on the
Sabbath day. Because it was done on the Sabbath day, it
roused this fury amongst the Jewish elders. All the
trouble which followed was largely related to that, or at
least that was the pretext, it was done on the Sabbath
day. The works of God bring those who by nature are blind
and in the dark into spiritual enlightenment and
understanding, and are connected by the Lord Jesus with
the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is seen all the way
through to be a matter of Christ Himself. That is the
heart of this chapter; we shall come to that presently.
Christ is God's Sabbath: that is, all the works of God
are completed in Christ. God comes to His rest in His
Son, and looks upon all things in Christ with good
pleasure, saying: It is very good. The "It is
finished" of Calvary was the establishment of the
spiritual truth of the Sabbath rest in the Lord Jesus;
and coming into spiritual enlightenment and
understanding, is a matter of coming into the finished
work of God in Christ. Or to put that another way, a
coming into an apprehension of Christ as the One Who has
finished the works of God.
The
Works of God
The other thing is this
remarkable statement in the correct translation, which is
not in the Authorized Version - "We must work the
works of him that sent me, while it is day." That is
undoubtedly the correct translation. It is not "I
must," it is "we must," and that, being
the accurate translation, carries with it something of
great importance and value. The Lord links with Himself
His Own in the works of God for the enlightenment of
those who are blinded and in the dark. He is saying in
effect: We, these who are My co-workers, co-partners,
must work these works in relation to that blindness and
darkness, to bring into spiritual enlightenment and
understanding. Paul entered into those works of God under
commission. You remember he tells us what the Lord said
to him, as to his commission: that he was to go, and that
he should stand before rulers, kings, Gentiles, and that
the object was: "...to open their eyes, that they
may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan unto God...." He was one of the workers
together with God in opening eyes, that they might turn
from darkness to light, and he did it by the Spirit. In
our spiritual life we are enjoying the good of all that.
You will remember his words in the Ephesian letter 1:18:
"...that... the Father of glory, may give unto you a
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may
know...." And then he tabulates some of the things
they might know by way of having their eyes enlightened
with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. We, beloved,
are called into the fellowship of God's Son in this
ministry, and we come right into that little fragment of
John 9:4: "We must work the works of him that sent
me, while it is day," and the works of God are:
"...to open their eyes." Thus they are
connected with man's state by nature, of his being born
blind.
What
the Knowledge of God Is
Now, in connection with
the truth of spiritual enlightenment and understanding,
it does not come by the presentation of truth. We may
have heard much of the truth, and may be well informed in
the doctrine, but we may yet be without spiritual
understanding. Understanding does not come by a
presentation of the truth. Understanding comes by a
definite act of Christ in our hearts. It is a work which
is done. An apprehension of Christ is not merely along
the lines of formulated doctrine. An apprehension of
Christ is by reason of a living touch. He touched, He
anointed his eyes. It is a living touch. It is an
anointing of those inner eyes. There are deeper depths
here to which we might go, and these may be touched as we
proceed. But recognize what has been said. I want to
emphasize, because of Israel's history which comes to its
culmination in this chapter; the end of this chapter is
the culmination of Israel's history as a blind people,
because there was no inward faculty of spiritual
understanding, and yet they had all the oracles of God.
You look at such a tremendous passage as Deut. 29:4:
"But Jehovah hath not given you an heart to know,
and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day."
You know that all the Law had been given; a tremendous
presentation of Divine things had been handed to Israel
at this point. They had come by a way of wonderful
manifestations of God; the very full, rich history of God
manifesting Himself in word and in deed, making Himself
known to them. Now Moses was closing his career; in a
very little while he would sing his song, as in the later
chapters of this book (Deuteronomy), and would be buried
by God. Gathering all that up, all that history of God's
manifestation to them, He said this remarkable thing in
chapter 29 verse 4. Leaving the question of God's
responsibility in the matter, Moses was simply taking
account of the fact that after all they were not seeing,
after all they were not hearing. Hearing they did not
hear, seeing they did not perceive; having had presented,
they did not know in their hearts. Now that history went
on and on and on, centuries after Moses, and culminates
here in John 9. With all that followed Moses, all the
centuries of the monarchy, all the ministry of the
prophets, in John 9 they are still blind; they have all
this mass of truth but no understanding, no eyes to see,
ears to hear, nor hearts to understand. Well might the
book of Proverbs put understanding at a high price.
Understanding is put above the price of rubies. It is a
tremendous thing is spiritual understanding. It comes in,
note, at length, by a living touch with the Lord Jesus,
and is a priceless thing. Israel had to obey commands;
they did not have understanding. The feature of the new
covenant is not obeying commands given us from without,
it is having inward revelation of the Lord. "But
this is the covenant that I will make... I will put my
law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I
write it." The revelation of God is Christ within.
"For God... hath shined in our hearts, to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ." That is the new covenant, which is no
longer for the believer a matter of: Thou shalt, and,
Thou shalt not. The Christian is not put under law in the
sense that he is bound to do this and that, or may not do
this, and may not do that. No, the believer is, if truly
a child of God, governed, not by an outward system of
permissions or prohibitions, but by an inward law of
Divine understanding of the Lord's will on the basis of a
living fellowship with Him. It is a blessed thing to see
believers giving a manifestation of the fact of their
having in their own hearts a knowledge of the Lord, of
knowing what the Lord would have them do. That they do
not do things because it is expected of them by others,
and do not refrain from doing certain things because of
what others would say, they are knowing the Lord in their
own hearts. That is the proof that they have come into
living fellowship with the Lord Jesus, that they are no
longer under the Mosaic economy but under the regime of
the Holy Spirit indwelling. Israel blindly - that is, so
far as their spiritual sight was concerned - followed the
commandments and laws. The child of God intelligently
follows the known will of God. This light is connected
with Christ as the Life. That means it is a living thing.
It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which
brings life and peace, and that is the way in which we
know the mind of the Lord about any proposed thing. Life
and peace, if our fellowship with Him is right; life and
peace in our hearts. That is our light. If in any
proposed course, before the Lord, we have neither life
nor peace, we may suspend that course for the time being, and we shall find
that our so doing will be justified. The Lord no longer
says to us directly on matters: Yes, you should do
so-and-so; and: No, you should not do so-and-so. He now
speaks by spiritual laws, not always by verbal phrases,
and His speech, the speech of the Spirit, is to spirit
first, interpreted afterward by the mind. He speaks in
our hearts, and the language of the Spirit is life,
peace, rest, or to the contrary.
Now what is needed at
this point, is a recognition of what it is that comes to
us by a vital touch of Christ upon our spiritual eyes;
that is, the content of the light that comes to us. Well,
so comprehensive is the answer to that, that, without
exaggeration, it would keep us here for a very long time
because it embodies everything that will ever come to us
in our relationship to the Lord.
Christ
- The Answer to Every Problem
One matter that will
come is God's eternal thought concerning man; our place
in the original intention of God. That is not a small
subject in itself. The answer to the question: "Why
am I?" "What have I a being for?"
"Why the human race?" That is revealed in the
person of Christ. If you apprehend Christ, you have
apprehended that. The Incarnation is the answer to the
enquiry as to the reason of man's existence. See Christ
the Son of Man, and you see what God's thought was for
man, and what God's intention is to have concerning man.
That is an apprehension of Christ that answers the
deepest question of the human heart: "Why am
I?" "Why the race?" Christ the answer! But
that original thought of God was interfered with as first
projected, and we see anything but Christ in the race. We
see an awful distortion, an awful misrepresentation; but
God has not abandoned His thought.
And the second
revelation comes in, how? Not now out of nothing but out
of a ruin will God get His intention; and we are
introduced to the great theme of redemption. How? The
answer to that second question How? is, Christ. He is
made unto us redemption. The apprehension of Christ is
the answer to the question - How? in all this wreck, this
ruin of the race. A living apprehension and understanding
of Christ answers that. How will God do this thing? Look
at Him, apprehend Him by faith, and it is done in you,
God has done it. "Wherefore if any man is in Christ,
there is a new creation" (R.V. margin). The seed of
the creation wholly conformed to Christ is planted in new
birth.
Then the further
question arises. Having apprehended Christ as the answer
to the How? we are still up against the problem of the
imperfection of our lives. We are not already perfect,
neither have we already attained. By what means shall we
attain and be made perfect? Christ is the answer.
"...Christ in you, the hope of Glory." Christ
in you, apprehended by faith, is the basis of your
conformity to His image. "...until Christ be formed
in you." How are we conformed to the image of His
Son? The answer is Christ as a living reality within by
His Spirit.
And so we could go on
and on seeing what Christ is, and what enlightenment
concerning Christ brings by way of answering all
questions. This is what I mean by the content of
spiritual sight, spiritual enlightenment and
understanding. It is no small thing to have your eyes
opened, and there is a progressiveness about this which
has no end. We shall go on seeing more and more in
Christ, not only to the end of this short span, but
yonder where vision is perfect, we shall be exploring the
meaning of Christ throughout the eternal ages, ever
coming upon some fresh meaning of Christ. That is my hope
in my present despair. I come to a fragment of the whole
Scriptures such as "John"; I do not know how
many times I have read it, sought to explain it; I begin
again and I find I know nothing about it. Coming into a
realm like this you say: Oh, that someone would give us
some light about this! I know I shall have to start
"John" all over again, and every time there
will be a fuller unveiling of the Lord Jesus, and I know,
if I have my three score years and ten here, it will
still seem so at the end. Our hope is we shall understand
the Scriptures up there. We shall see Him as He is; but
now, through a glass darkly. There are many things I want
to know, but it is a great thing to have the beginning.
It is a precious thing to have our eyes opened. To be
here in this very small way, with a little measure of
spiritual sight, looking into the Lord Jesus, is a great
thing to our hearts. It is a blessed thing for the
enrichment of our lives. You know how much stronger you
feel, when the Lord has given you a little bit of light
you did not possess before. Spiritual sight is a very
real thing, enlightenment and understanding. It is a
blessed gift of God in the Lord Jesus, and it comes by
this vital touch of His upon the inner faculty.
The
Law of Spiritual Enlightenment
Now I must hasten on to
touch the law of spiritual enlightenment and
understanding. I do see that there are the deep things
here, which might not yield a great deal of profit, even
were we to stay with them. Such matters as this clay
which the Lord made, and with which He anointed the eyes
of this man. There seems to me to be a suggestion in that
in keeping with the meaning of the body of Christ. The
Father prepared Him a body in which to do His work, and
all Christ's Calvary work was done in a physical body;
and our taking by faith, in the Spirit, of the body of
Christ symbolized in the loaf, is meant to be to us a
spiritual ministration of what that body represents as a
humanity triumphant; bringing us into fellowship with His
triumphant humanity, making a link between us, in spirit,
and His humanity which has gone through in victory. The
apprehension of the absolute triumphant humanity of the
Lord Jesus by faith is something for our hearts. And this
clay seems to carry that same significance; that it is
the touch, as it were, of the humanity of the Lord Jesus
upon us. It is a vital link between Him, and what He is
as the Meal Offering, the fine flour giving virtue to our
spiritual man.
You will remember the
Meal Offering of Leviticus represented the perfect
humanity of the Lord Jesus. This had to be presented to
God as an offering. It represents the spiritual
apprehension of the human perfections of the Lord Jesus
in His body while here on earth, and a link with God is
formed by that means, and spiritual values result to the
offerer. Do you follow that? Well now, there is something
in a spiritual touch of the perfect humanity of Christ in
truth, in spirit, upon our lives; a living touch with Him
in what He is as Man triumphant over death. I said that
there were deeper matters that needed a good deal more
exploring, but I suggest that to you, as something that
may perhaps be enlarged with your enlarging spiritual
understanding. I see something very precious. I am thrown
back upon the initial question: Why eat the flesh and
drink the Blood of the Son of Man? Why? "This is my
body which is given for you." Why? This is not the
body now with sin resting upon it, as when He was made
sin, and bore our sins in His Own body on the tree. It is
the body which has triumphed over sin through death. He
gives us that, and says: "Take, eat";
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink
his blood, ye have not life in yourselves." Why?
Why, if it is not to bring us in spirit in our human life
into fellowship with Him in the triumph of His humanity;
to make possible a human life here triumphant; to make
His triumphant humanity a living principle for us in our
human lives? Is not that the principle? And so the
virtues of the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus are
made vital factors for our spiritual growth, development,
and a touch of that upon our hearts carries with it the
value of life and light. Now if I have got you out of
your depth forgive me, but ask the Lord that, if there is
anything there for you, He will show you.
The
Living Christ or Dead Tradition
I come now, briefly, to
the law of spiritual understanding, and it will not take
very long to point it out and deal with it. What does
this chapter, or the general context, show to be the law
of spiritual enlightenment and understanding? Well, you
need to read the whole story through again; the start in
the opening of this man's eyes, and all that was
subsequent to it, or issued from it, and you will see
that one thing governs this whole matter; because Christ
was doing this thing as a sign; remember that; a sign in
the midst of blindness, spiritual blindness, the
blindness of Israel all round. This man received his
sight. It was a sign. It was meant to relate to that
situation. What was the issue raised for this man in the
terrific conflict which followed. Oh, what a battle arose
over this man! Why, his parents were very soon dragged
into it. They had the scare of their lives and
compromised, and would not say what they knew, would not
be frank and honest, because afraid of the consequences.
At length this man was put out of the synagogue,
excommunicated. Why? It was Christ or tradition. That was
the issue. The whole question was as to whether Christ
was going to be the Lord, or whether He was going to be
lorded over, and dominated by dead tradition. Here, as we
have seen, were all the oracles of God. Here was all the
form of doctrine, here the tradition of the elders, here
those set, fixed, ecclesiastical rulers in relation to
it, holding it to themselves and giving their own
interpretation; without life, without light, and yet
holding the truth. And then Christ, on the other hand,
Who had it all, but also that which they did not have,
the life and the light. Hear Him: "It was said...
but I say." In no instance was it a contradiction of
Moses, but an interpretation of Moses. You look at the
context, and you will see that what Christ said was
getting at the inner principle and not merely the outward
phraseology. Moses said: "Thou shalt not kill... But
I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the
judgment...." Not a contradiction, but an
interpretation. That is getting at the principle. The
principle of murder is anger. And if you have got the
principle, you are just as guilty of the issue as though
you had committed it. It is there in principle. It is the
living authority of Christ which is in question, and the
law of spiritual enlightenment and understanding is the
absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ as over mere tradition;
it may be religious heredity, training, upbringing. If
these two things clash, and if our traditions, and our
acceptances, and our religious systems, are not in
fellowship with Christ as life and light, or for one
moment get in the way of a living walk with God; if going
on with the Lord Jesus means that these things should be
left behind, well, our spiritual understanding and
enlightenment hang upon that issue. Many a person has not
gone on into the fuller revelation, and come to an inward
rich knowledge of the Lord, because they have stuck to
the old traditional life, and will not break with it;
because they have allowed man to dominate their
conscience and understanding, instead of coming direct to
the Lord. It is not now, What saith the Rabbi, tradition,
or Moses? It is: What saith the Lord to my own heart? And
the whole issue in this chapter for this man was whether
the Lord Jesus was going to be his Master, or whether he
was going to break with the Lord Jesus, and turn back to
the Pharisees, to the old school again. The law of his
enlightenment was there. You may say he was enlightened
before that issue arose. Yes, but it is the sign. You
have to see the Lord was doing something more. The end of
verse 34: "And they cast him out," would be
chapter 10, verse 1: ''Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but
climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a
robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the
sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by
name, and leadeth them out." How? Because they hear
His voice! The whole question of the Lord's sheep comes
in, when they thrust this man out. Those whom men cast
out, the Lord takes up, and forms of them His Own flock
on the basis of knowing, hearing, understanding His
voice. That from which they have come out does not hear,
see, or know; that is the realm of darkness. This man was
cast out, and it was not until he was cast out, that the
Lord sought him and started leading him, in principle.
Now you have to have the Lord's application of the truth.
Do not begin to apply it in any mechanical way. I am
emphasizing the principle of this, not how you are to
apply it. The principle is this, that there are two
lordships. There is the lordship of lifeless tradition, a
religious order and system of things, which may have had
a right and proper origin in God, but has now been taken
up by man, possessed by man, used by man, interpreted and
applied by man, and that dominates. On the other hand
there is the living, personal Christ for the individual
life, to be the Governor of the heart in all questions of
spiritual life. Which of these two is going to be Lord? I
say, if such a position does hold, that these two things
are two different things. We may well thank God when
these two things are found to be as one. That is, Christ
may be livingly Lord within an ordered arrangement here;
but if things are as they were in this case, Christ as
One Lord, and religious tradition as another, then there
is an issue, there is a crisis. I see, in applying the
principle, that so much of our knowledge of the Lord
depends upon our willingness to go on with Him, when such
a course means very often a break with, or, departure
from some old tyrannizing religious tradition. While we
remain in bondage to that, we are kept in a limitation of
spiritual knowledge. The law of revelation and of growing
in revelation is a personal, close, spiritual walk with
the Lord.
The
Cost of Spiritual Sight
But many will not pay
the price that is involved in that. It was a price for
this man. His parents, they come under a shadow. His own
family were not all too pleased that this man's way had
involved them in this issue. Undoubtedly they would be
glad that he got his sight, but they wished it had not
been quite in this way, and on this particular day, and
in this particular relationship; that he could have had
the blessing in some other way that would not have
involved so much difficulty with the authorities.
There is the beautiful
simplicity of this man that strikes you all the way
through. They argue with him, and talk about the Lord
Jesus as not being true, etc. He says: Why, here is a
strange thing, a man opens the eyes of the blind, a thing
never known since the creation of the world, and you say
that one who does a thing like that is wrong, is evil, is
bad. The man has got a beautiful knowledge of the Lord,
and he cannot understand that point of view. And when you
have light, you cannot understand the point of view of
people who take that attitude. But it cost him much.
There are few more
costly things than spiritual revelation. Spiritual
revelation will at once begin to cut off certain
relationships. A good many people will not go on with
you, when you get spiritual revelation; they cannot, they
have not got it. A good many people will take the
attitude, that you think you have got more light, and are
something superior, that you know better. You will,
perhaps lose open doors, spheres of old-time acceptance.
You come under suspicion. You will meet the open assault
of the powers of darkness and blindness. Your possession
of revelation in the apprehension of Christ will be
challenged from every quarter. It is a costly thing, and
sometimes you will feel like this man, that you have been
cast out, and are alone. Take heart if ever that comes
your way. It is at that point the Lord begins to look for
the man. "Jesus findeth him." Yes, put out, but
then led out, and the leading out is because:
"My sheep hear my voice." Led out and led in.
Now the great note, of
course, to strike in closing is this; that it was when
the man came to the fullness of the meaning of Christ,
the crisis arose for him, and all that followed came
about. He has gone through shadows, he has gone to a Man,
a Prophet, and at last, cast out, the Lord said to him:
"Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"
"and who is he, Lord, that I may believe on
him?" "Thou hast both seen him, and he it is
that speaketh with thee." The man capitulated to
that absolutely, and then he discovered the meaning of
his being outside. He was in the way of a wonderful
fullness. It is the great climax of revelation, when we
really get the spiritual apprehension of Who Christ is.
Not a great, good, wonderful Man Who works miracles, not
even the Great Prophet, but the Son of God. Everything
hangs upon that. That is the end the Lord has in view,
that we should know Him in the fullness of His Being. We
shall come to that through His humanity. We shall know
Him as Son of Man in the touch of the clay, but when we
have come by that way we shall come to know that He is
more than that, He is the Son of God.
I feel that in such a
range, and in so much detail, I may not have been as
clear as I would wish in bringing this truth before you.
Do not be worried about all the detail, but take two
single thoughts. The fact of the truth of spiritual
enlightenment and understanding as the Lord's will for
all His Own; inward, personal knowledge that relates to
the Lord Jesus, an apprehension of Him. The other thing
is the law, that we come out to the Lord Himself. We do
not allow anything to come between us and the Lord by way
of governing our spiritual lives; but go on with the Lord
Himself whatever the cost may be. To know Him in fullness
demands a personal walk with the Lord Himself, where He
is Lord, He dominates in all things, however hoary may be
the tradition. It is the Lord Himself Who must govern,
and thus we shall grow in understanding.