DISCOVERY OF THE FACTS
1. Receiving Sight, vv. 1–7
What was the condition of the man who is the subject of this chapter? Was there any hope for him? Of whom is he the type? What fact is mentioned in the first verse that opens a door of hope for this otherwise hopeless case? What was our Lord’s feeling as He saw the blind man? The feeling of the disciples? Is there any connection between sin and suffering? (John 5:14; Mark 2:5.) Is there any other purpose in sickness than that of the chastisement for sin? (v. 3; 2 Cor. 12:7.)
Did our Lord mean to teach that neither this man nor his parents had ever sinned? (1 John 1:8, 10.) What did He mean to teach? What was the purpose of this man’s long protracted affliction (v. 3)? For what do our infirmities and distresses afford an opportunity? (2 Cor. 12:9.) Ought we then to regret these? (2 Cor. 12:10.) When do they bring glory to God? Why is it that “the works of God” are not more frequently “manifested in” us in our infirmities of soul and body? (Mark 6:5, 6.)
What did our Lord tell His disciples was His and their business in view of man’s needs (v. 4, R. V.)? By what word did He emphasize the imperative nature of that business? What fact did He mention that made it important that He and they be about this business at once and always? Does that reason hold for us today? Comparing the 2nd verse and the 4th, what do we find to be more important in our Lord’s estimation than speculating about the origin of evil? When is the world’s darkest night (v. 5)? When is the darkest night for the individual soul?
Having briefly rebuked the heartless theologizing and lack of active sympathy of the disciples, what did our Lord proceed to do at once? Had this man sought the Saviour’s help? Why then did He give it? Does He wait for us to ask Him to bless us before He blesses? Ought we as His followers to wait for the miserable to come to us and seek help? What was the purpose of the command: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”? (2 Kings 5:10, 14; Mark 3:5; Luke 17:14.) What does “Siloam” mean? Of whom was it then a type? (John 10:36; Ro. 8:3; Gal. 4:4.) Where then must we go and bathe if we wish sight for our blinded eyes? (John 8:12.)
Did the blind man have faith? How did he show it? What is the true way of showing it? The result? Why is it some of us don’t “come seeing”?
2. Witnessing, vv. 8–12
What did the cure of the blind man occasion? What will Christ’s work in a man always occasion among those who behold it? Was there agreement among the beholders? Why not? When Christ performs a work today is there perfect agreement among those who behold it? Why not? What did all this talk and disagreement afford the man an opportunity to do? How did he show his manliness? Did he gain anything by his testimony (vv. 34, 35–38)? What question was put to him? Did he avoid it? How did he speak of our Lord? Later in the day what did he call Him (v. 17)? Still later as what did he recognize Him (v. 38)? How do you account for this rapid growth of faith? What desire did the man’s testimony awaken in the hearts of those who heard (v. 12)?
3. Suffering, vv. 13–34
What was the next thing done to the man? What was the object in bringing him to the Pharisees? (v. 22; 11:46, 47, 57; 12:42.) What question was put to him there? Did he dodge it even there? What was the effect of his testimony upon the Pharisees (v. 16)? Was the man at all daunted by the opposition his testimony had created? What was his opinion of his great Friend? Could the Jews account for the facts by their theories? Can skeptics account for the facts today by their theories? What did the Jews attempt to do as they could not reconcile the facts with their theories (v. 18)? What do skeptics today try to do with facts they cannot explain? Did they have much success in denying the facts?
What was the testimony of the parents? Was it a willing testimony? What kept the parents back from a full and glad avowal of their faith that our Lord had healed their son? What did they gain by their cowardice? Was it of much consequence to be cast out of the synagogue? What did the parents lose? (vv. 35, 38; Matt. 10:32, 33.)
What did the Pharisees tell the man to do (v. 24, R. V.)? Could he give glory to God without giving glory to Jesus? (John 5:23.) What did the Pharisees say they knew? What did the man say he knew? Which had the best of it so far? Why has the man whom our Lord has saved and who knows He has saved him always the best of the infidel even though he is not nearly so good a reasoner?
What does the man next proceed to do (vv. 26, 27)? What did the Pharisees in their response claim to be? Were they really Moses’ disciples? (5.46" class="scriptRef">John 5:46.) Whose disciples were they? (John 8:38, 44.) Did the man give up his faith in our Lord because the leaders refused to endorse Him? What did he do (v. 30)? According to their own Bible and their traditions what did the fact that He opened blind eyes prove Jesus to be? (Is. 29:18, 19; 35:1, 5; Matt. 11:5.) What proof did the man bring forth that Jesus was not a sinner as they asserted (v. 31)? What did he say were the conditions of answered prayer? Was that true doctrine? (1 John 3:21, 22.)
What further argument did he bring up to show his extraordinary character of Jesus and that He was from God? Could the Pharisees answer him? What two things did they then do? What did they sneer at? Was the idea of his teaching them to be sneered at? Is it ever wise to sneer at any one, no matter how lowly, who wishes to teach us? By being loyal to Christ what treatment did he get from men? What treatment will the one who is loyal to Christ always receive from men? (2 Tim. 3:12; John 15:19, 20.) Do we lose anything by that? (2 Tim. 2:12.)
4. Receiving Jesus Himself, and Worshiping, vv. 35–41
When men cast him out who sought him out? If men throw us off for our loyalty to our Lord, who will always take us up? What question did He put to the man? Was that important? (John 20:31; 3:36.) What was its purpose? With what spirit did the man receive it? What was all he asked as a condition of believing on “the Son of God”? Is it difficult to show one who is really willing to believe? Whom did He show him? What had our Lord first opened the man’s eyes to see? What did He now open his eyes to see? Which was the better vision? What did the man do when he got that vision? Did he do right? (Heb. 1:6.) What will we do if we get a real view of Jesus? Who must give us that view? (1 John 5:20.) To whom will He thus manifest Himself? (John 14:21.)
CLASSIFICATION OF TEACHINGS
1. Our Lord
(1). What He was:
Divine, 35, 38; human, 11; the light of the world, 5.
(2). What He did:
Saw the needy, 1; had compassion on the needy where others saw only judgment for sin, 2, 4. 6; felt the one duty of life was to work the works of God, felt that the time was short and that each opportunity must be improved without delay, 4; did not wait for His help to be asked, 6; required the obedience of faith, 7; gave sight to one hopelessly blind, 1, 7; sought out the one men cast out for His sake, drew the castaway closer to Himself, revealed Himself more clearly to the man after he was cast out by men, 35, 37.
(3). How He was treated:
Hated by the Pharisees, 15, 34; maligned by the Pharisees, 24; disowned by those He had benefited, 20, 22; believed in by the man to whom He had given sight, confessed by him, 38; worshiped by him, 38.
2. The Man Who Received Sight
(1). His original condition:
Never had seen, 1; beyond help, hopeless, 1, 32; without human sympathy, suspected and despised, 2, 34; a beggar, 8; his need only an opportunity for God’s grace, 3.
(2). What happened to him:
Our Lord saw him, 1; came to help him; pointed out the simple way of healing, 6, 7.
(3). What he did:
Put faith in Jesus, asked no questions, did as he was told, 7.
(4). What he got:
Sight, 7.
(5). What he did after our Lord had blessed him:
Frankly confessed his previous wretched condition, 8, 9; testified of his salvation and for his Saviour, 10, 11; to the curious and doubting, 8, 10; to the enemies of our Lord, 15; fearlessly, 15, 33; fully, to the exact facts, 11; briefly, pointedly, 11, 15; remained loyal to our Lord in face of bitter opposition, 15, 17; stood firmly in face of all man’s sophistry by the one fact of experience, 25; rebuked the powerful enemies of our Lord and exposed their insincerity, 27.
(6). What he suffered:
Brought before the enemies of our Lord, 13; reviled, 34, 28; cast out, 34.
(7). His compensation:
Sought out by the Saviour, 35; received a fuller revelation of Him, spiritual sight, 35, 38.
(8). His steps to spiritual vision:
Ready and eager to believe in the Son of God if He should be revealed, 36; saw, 37; believed, worshiped, 38.
(9). His theology:
“Whereas I was blind now I see,” 25; Jesus “opened my eyes,” 30; “God heareth not sinners,” 31; God hears any man who worships Him and does His will, 31.
(10). Progressive conception of Jesus:
A man, 11; a prophet, 17; a sinless One, 31, 32; a messenger from God, 33; the Son of God, 35, 38.
3. The Pharisees
Heard the facts that should have led to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, 13, 15, 19, 21; tried to obscure the significance of the facts by theological sophistries, 16; tried hard to disprove the facts, 18, 26; willfully shut their eyes to the significance of the facts they could not disprove, slandered the Son of God whom they would not receive, 24; claimed to be Moses’ disciples, while rejecting Him of whom Moses wrote, 28; haughtily rejected the teaching they sorely needed, reviled and cast out the loyal witness for Christ, resorted to vituperation and persecution when argument failed, 34; willfully blind, 41; condemned to perpetual blindness, 39; without excuse, 41.
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R.A. Torrey (1856 - 1928)
An American evangelist, pastor, educator, and writer. Called by D. L. Moody to head Bible institute in Chicago (now Moody Bible Institute). Dean of Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Pastorates included Chicago Avenue Church (now Moody Memorial) and Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles. Worldwide evangelistic meetings with Charlie Alexander. Founded Montrose Bible Conference, PA. Wrote more than forty books.Torrey held his last evangelistic meeting in Florida in 1927, additional meetings being canceled because of his failing health. He died at home in Asheville, North Carolina, on October 26, 1928, having preached throughout the world and written more than 40 books. Torrey-Gray Auditorium, the main auditorium at Moody, was named for Torrey and his successor, James M. Gray. At Biola, the Torrey Honors Institute honors him, as does the university's annual Bible conference.
Reuben Archer Torrey was an American evangelist, pastor, educator, and writer. Held evangelistic meetings around the world with song leader Charlie Alexander. Called by D.L. Moody to head the Bible Institute of the Chicago Evangelization Society (now Moody Bible Institute); Dean of Bible Institute of Los Angeles; pastorates included Chicago Avenue Church (now Moody Memorial Church) and Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles.
Besides his obvious gifts in all these areas, he was also a man of prayer, a student of the Bible, and an outstanding personal soul-winner. It is said that he daily read the Bible in four languages, having a good working knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. Some students of church history feel he did more to promote personal evangelism than any other one man since the days of the apostles. His prayer life has seldom been equaled in the annals of Christendom.
Reuben A. Torrey wrote some forty books and his practical writings on the Holy Spirit, prayer, salvation, soul-winning, and evangelism are still favorites of many Christians.