Since the world began it was not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
--This was quite true at the time.
In 1728, Dr. Cheselden, of St. Thomas’s Hospital, for the first time gave sight to a man who had been blind from his youth up, and since then couching has been several times performed on those who were born blind. With regard to this man note
I. THE PECULIARITY OF HIS CASE.
1. It was not the case of want of light; that might have been remedied. There are millions who have no light, and while we cannot give men eyes we can give them light. There are children of God who walk in darkness and are immured in Doubting Castle. May it be ours by explanation and example to illumine them.
2. This was not a case of accidental blindness. Here again man’s help might have been of service. Persons who have been struck with blindness have been recovered. We can do much in cases where blindness is traceable to circumstances, e.g., to prejudice, which might be removed by a wise and tender statement of the truth.
3. The man was blind from his birth. His was a blindness of nature which, therefore, baffled all surgical skill.
(1) Since the beginning of the world no one has opened the eyes of one afflicted with sin. Man’s understanding is blind because
(a) His whole nature is disordered. His other faculties act upon his mind and prevent it operating in a proper manner.
(b) His natural pride and self-reliance revolt against the gospel.
(c) He judges spiritual things by the senses, and with as much success as a man who measures the heavens with a foot rule.
(d) He is at a distance from God and consequently does not believe in Him. If we lived near to God our understanding would be clarified by its contact with truth.
(2) Some imagine that they can open the sinner’s blind eye
(a) By rhetoric. As well hope of sing a stone into sensibility. Sinners have been dazzled a thousand times by the pyrotechnics of oratory and have remained as blind as ever.
(b) By argument; but reason alone gives no man the power to see the light of heaven.
(c) By earnest gospel appeals; but how many in our congregations are proof against these!
II. THE SPECIALTIES OF THE CURE. Not of this man’s only.
1. It is usually accomplished by the most simple means. It is very humbling to a preacher to find that God cares little for him or his sermon, and that a stray remark of his in the street is what God has blessed. Souls are not usually converted by bodies of divinity and theological discussions. When David put off Saul’s armour and took the sling and the stone he slew the giant. We must keep to the simple gospel plainly preached. The clay and the spittle were not an artistic combination, yet by these and a wash in Siloam eyes were opened.
2. In every case it is a Divine work. No eye is ever opened to see Jesus except by Jesus. Blindness of soul yields only to the voice which said, “Let there be light.”
3. It is often instantaneous, and when the eye is opened it frequently sees as perfectly as if it had been always seeing, though in other cases it is gradual.
4. It brings new sensations, and therefore should surprise us. Do you remember the first sight you had of Christ? There is fixed in the memories of some of us the first time we saw the sea, or the Alps, but these were nothing, It is not surprising that young converts should get excited.
5. It is very clear to the man himself. Others may doubt but not he.
6. The restored faculty is capable of abundant use. The man who could see the Pharisees could by and by see Jesus. Once give a man spiritual sight and he has a capacity to see Divine mysteries.
III. THE CONDITION OF THE HEALED MAN.
1. He had strong impressions in favour of his Healer. First He was a prophet, then the object of worship. No man has his eyes opened without intense love for Jesus, and without believing in His Deity, and worshipping Him as the Son of God.
2. He becomes from that moment a confessor of Christ, the first of his class. If the Lord has opened our eyes we shall not hesitate to say so.
3. He became an advocate for Christ, and an able one, for the facts which were his arguments baffled his adversaries. You will never meet infidelity except with such facts.
4. He was driven out of the synagogue. One of the worst things that can happen as far as this world is concerned is to know too much. If you will bravely keep abreast of the times you may be tolerated, but if you get ahead of it you must expect ill-treatment.
5. Christ found him. What a blessing to lose the Pharisees and to find the Saviour! What a mercy when the world casts us out! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
