Small Group Lesson February 18th: John 9

John Chapter 9 - “From Blindness to Sight”

In this chapter, Jesus encounters a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples immediately ask a question we often ask in our own suffering: “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” They want a cause. They want someone to blame. But Jesus shifts their focus from blame to purpose: “This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

How often do we look at hardship through the lens of punishment instead of possibility? We see loss, delay, illness, disappointment—and we assume failure or fault. Yet Jesus reveals that even long-standing pain can become a platform for God’s glory.

Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud, places it on the man’s eyes, and tells him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. The method seems strange. The command requires obedience. The man could have resisted, questioned, or doubted. Instead, he goes, he washes, he sees. Sometimes we forget that a miracle can be just on the other side of simple obedience.

What follows is just as powerful as the healing itself. The Pharisees interrogate the man. They challenge the miracle because it disrupts their rules. They pressure him to deny Jesus. But this once-blind beggar stands firm. His theology isn’t polished. His arguments aren’t complex. He simply says, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.”

That testimony still carries weight today. When Jesus opens our eyes—spiritually, emotionally, relationally—we may not have all the answers. We may not be able to explain every doctrine. But no one can take away what Christ has done in us. A transformed life is undeniable evidence.

The chapter ends with a sobering contrast. The physically blind man sees clearly—both physically and spiritually—while the religious leaders, confident in their sight, remain spiritually blind. Jesus says that true blindness is not the inability to see, but the refusal to admit we need sight. Pride blinds, yet humility sees. What a contrast to how the world tells us to live!  “Upside down thinking” is how I remember a pastor once describing a kingdom perspective verses a worldly existence.

John 9 invites us to ask: Where am I still blind? Where am I assuming I see clearly without asking Jesus to search my heart? It also comforts us with this truth: no condition is too lifelong, no darkness too deep, no label too permanent for Christ to transform. Whatever season we’re walking through, remember this: Jesus is still in the business of opening eyes. He still turns mud into miracles. And your story—no matter how ordinary or broken it feels—can display the works of God. May we have the courage to obey when He speaks, the humility to admit when we cannot see, and the boldness to declare, “I was blind, but now I see.”

Discussion

-            What hardships have you battled or are currently in the midst of?

-            How has God met you during this time, to promote your healing and his glory?

-            Has this experience challenged you to live differently, if so how?