3-15-2026

 “EYES TO SEE”

Text: John 9:1-41

Sunday March 15, 2026 – Lent 4

Trinity – Creston

       Grace, mercy, and peace is yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

       Our text for this Fourth Sunday in Lent is the Gospel lesson from John 9 that was just proclaimed.

Let Us Pray: Dearest Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to remind us to see you rightly and grow in the understanding of your works in our lives amidst the suffering that we see. Amen.

Dear Fellow Redeemed in Christ:

Those old blind eyes he’d had since birth. He’d never been able to see. But this Sabbath day, that was going to change. As Jesus was leaving the temple, he saw this man.

It didn’t matter that the man didn’t have the benefit of physical sight to see Jesus. What mattered was that Jesus saw him. Because you know what’s going to happen.

Jesus Gives the Blind New Eyes to See.

  I. Jesus gave the man born blind new eyes to see.

A. People are blind in different ways.

1. In the chapter right before, Jesus had engaged in a heated debate with the Jewish leaders.

a. Jesus told the Jews exactly who he was, the eternal “I am,” and they responded with unbelief. They tried to stone him (8:58–59).

b. They were spiritually blind, with old eyes.

c. So Jesus hid himself from them so they could not see him.

2. Jesus’ disciples saw the blind man the same time he did, but they could only see with old eyes (v 2).

a. They focus on the outward appearance and try to avoid suffering.

b. Like the religious leaders, they are blind to the One in their midst who has come to suffer and take away sin.

B. But Jesus makes himself visible by doing the works of God, the Creator making a new creation (vv 4–7a).

1. He makes mud for the man’s eyes, just as he once formed man from the earth.

a. Then he tells the man to go wash in the pool of Siloam.

b. “So [the man] went and washed and came back seeing” (v 7b).

2. In this healing, the blind man becomes a work of God—he becomes a seeing man.

3. But more importantly, he becomes the work of God who truly sees God—he is given faith in Jesus, the light of the world. Jesus gave him new eyes to see.

a. The blind man’s sight was only delayed so he would receive even greater sight: faith.

b. The man who was blind is now also able to do the works of God by serving as a witness to the Light in his confession to the religious leaders.

C. Now, contrast the man born blind with the religious leaders (vv 13–14, 17, 28–30, 34).

1. The man who was born blind—and discounted as a sinner—comes to see Jesus as he truly is.

2. At the same time, the religious leaders are blind to who Jesus is and willfully become even more blind by rejecting his words and his works.

3. This becomes clear at the end of the chapter (vv 35–38).

a. The man born blind now can see and can also truly see who Jesus is.

b. He believes in the Son of Man and worships him.

4. But then Jesus explains: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (v 39; vv 40–41).

a. The Pharisees know he’s talking about them, but they remain willfully blind by continuing to justify themselves; same old eyes.

b. This only proves just how blind they are and how they will finally come to reject the light of the world as they see him hanging on the cross.

II. Jesus gives us new eyes to see.

A. In what ways are we blind, seeing with old eyes?

1. Like the disciples, do we focus on the appearance of things when we see suffering? (Give examples of sufferings that distract us from faith.)

2. Like the religious leaders, do we try to justify ourselves when we are confronted by God’s Word? (Give examples of sins we try to excuse.)

3. If we confess that we are sinners, then we must also be ready to confess that we are blind.

a. We need the Light to reveal our sin.

b. We need God’s Word to correct us.

B. Thanks be to God: Jesus came into this world, that we who also could not see may see.

1. He is your Creator.

a. Just as he once created you, he is also re-creating you by his Word and Spirit.

b. Just as he once gave you your body and all your senses for life in this world, he is also giving you faith so that you may truly see him and have life with him.

2. He also tells you: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” for Siloam means Sent.

a. Jesus is the “One Who Was Sent.” He was sent by the Father to reconcile us to the Father by taking away the sin that separated us.

b. In other words, Jesus tells you to wash yourself in him, in the blood of his cross.

c. This washing Jesus gives you in Baptism and in his Word.

3. So you are given new eyes to see.

a. You believe in Jesus, the Son of Man.

b. You believe in the one speaking to you.

c. And you learn to see him as he truly is: your Savior—on the cross, in the Word, in the water, in the bread and wine.

C. Then, with your new eyes to see, you learn to see the works of God in your life.

1. Learn from Jesus and the man born blind to look past the appearance of suffering.

a. Physical blindness is not the greatest evil, and neither are the countless other crosses and trials that distract us from trusting God.

b. These will all pass away.

2. You have new eyes to see Jesus.

a. Faith in the Son of Man is the far greater gift than any physical healing.

b. You are a work of God, for you truly see the light of the world.

c. And you are now also able to do the works of God by serving as witnesses to the Light in your confession to the world.

Conclusion: Look, then, beyond the sufferings of this life to the final and ultimate healing. You have new eyes to see through the darkness of this world to the light of the world to come. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  Amen.