Who Do You Say I Am - Gospel of John - 5/17/26

Devotional

Day 1: Mud and Morning Light

Jesus spat on the ground, mixed dirt with saliva, and smeared mud on the blind man’s eyes. The man didn’t argue about the method. He obeyed—walking to Siloam, washing, returning with sight. Neighbors gasped. Pharisees interrogated. But the miracle stood: a lifetime of darkness shattered by one encounter. [06:05]

Jesus used spit and dirt to show His authority over brokenness. He didn’t need rituals or approval. The mud wasn’t magic—it was a mirror. It revealed the man’s helplessness and Christ’s power to rewrite stories deemed hopeless.

You face situations where logic fails and control slips. Jesus asks you to trust His unconventional methods. What if your crisis is clay in His hands? Where do you need to obey His “go wash” command even when it makes no sense?

“He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.’ So he went and washed and came back seeing.”
(John 9:6-7, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to open your eyes to His power in areas where you feel helpless.
Challenge: Write down one situation you can’t control. Pray over it before bed tonight.

Day 2: White Sheep, Dirty Snow

The Pharisees sneered at the healed man: “You were born in sin!” They missed their own filth. Like sheep that looked clean until snow fell, their self-righteousness blinded them to their need. Jesus warned, “Your guilt remains” when you deny your brokenness. [19:05]

Spiritual blindness isn’t ignorance—it’s arrogance. The Pharisees knew Scripture but didn’t know their hearts. Jesus confronts our comparisons: measuring ourselves against others instead of His holiness.

You polish résumés, hide failures, and curate social feeds. But Jesus sees the grime beneath the gloss. What if today you stopped justifying your flaws and admitted, “I need cleansing”? How does your “goodness” look against Christ’s perfection?

“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
(John 9:39, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one area where you’ve trusted your own goodness instead of grace.
Challenge: Delete one social media post or conversation today that exaggerates your righteousness.

Day 3: The One Thing I Know

The healed man stood firm: “I was blind, now I see.” He didn’t debate theology or defend Jesus’ Sabbath habits. He testified to the irreversible change—his empty begging bowl proof of God’s power. [12:59]

Your story doesn’t require eloquence, just evidence. The man’s testimony was uncomplicated: Jesus intervened, and nothing was the same. Doubters dissect methods; disciples declare miracles.

What’s your “one thing”? Maybe you’ve escaped addiction, found peace in grief, or broke a generational chain. Share it plainly. Who needs to hear, “I was ___, but Jesus ___”? What undeniable change has He wrought in you?

“He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’”
(John 9:25, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for one specific way He’s transformed you. Say it aloud.
Challenge: Text someone today: “I used to be ___, but Jesus ___.”

Day 4: Born Blind, Born Seeing

“Who sinned?” the disciples asked. Jesus reframed their assumption: “This happened so God’s works might be displayed.” The man’s blindness wasn’t punishment—it was a platform for glory. [10:36]

God doesn’t waste wounds. He uses lifelong struggles, sudden losses, and societal labels to showcase His power. The man’s eyes weren’t healed despite his blindness but because of it—his weakness magnifying Christ’s strength.

You’ve begged for relief. What if your pain has purpose? How might God use your waiting, your disability, your unanswered prayer to reveal His character? Will you let your story become His spotlight?

“Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”
(John 9:3, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to show you His purpose in a current struggle.
Challenge: Write “God’s glory in my story” on a sticky note. Place it where you’ll see it hourly.

Day 5: Guilt or Grace?

The Pharisees clung to rules; the beggar clung to Jesus. Cast out of the temple, he met the Savior face-to-face. “Lord, I believe,” he said—not to a system, but to the scarred hands that made mud. [14:50]

Two responses: self-righteousness or surrender. The Pharisees’ guilt remained because they trusted their résumés. The beggar’s shame vanished because he trusted his Redeemer.

You’ll choose today: perform or kneel. Lists of good deeds or confession of need. What checklist have you made your savior? What prideful “I’ve got this” must you trade for “He’s got me”?

“Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’”
(John 9:41, ESV)

Prayer: Repent of one way you’ve relied on your own morality this week.
Challenge: Tear up a to-do list today—replace it with “Jesus, I need You” written in your planner.

Sermon Summary

John puts a man blind from birth in Jesus’ path to show what everyone brings into the world: spiritual blindness and helplessness. Jesus’ disciples assume a cause-and-effect between someone’s sin and someone’s suffering, but Jesus refuses that grid. The text says the man’s condition exists “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Jesus then works while it is day, announces himself as “the light of the world,” stoops low, spits, makes mud, anoints, sends, and the man returns seeing. The strange method is not the point. The person is. The man’s eyes open because the Light is present.

The story then turns from sight to witness. Neighbors argue identity. The healed man keeps saying the simple, stubborn truth: “I am the man.” Asked how it happened, he answers with what he knows and nothing more. Jesus did it. The Pharisees drag him in, offended that a Sabbath and their categories have been crossed. The text says division rises. Some say Jesus cannot be from God because of the Sabbath. Others ask how a sinner could do such signs. The man stands in the middle and holds his ground: “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

John then shows the polarizing effect of light. The religious elite cast the healed man out. Jesus hears, finds him, and asks for faith. The Son of Man stands in front of him, and the man believes and worships. Jesus says his coming brings a revealing judgment: those who know they do not see can be given sight. Those who claim to see remain blind. The Pharisees’ confidence in their goodness becomes the thickest darkness. Their comparison game collapses when the backdrop shifts from other sinners to Jesus’ perfection. Against that snow-white standard, every sheep looks dirty. Control proves to be an illusion. Rescue requires admitting lostness.

The text finally presses a choice. The blind beggar recognizes need, receives mercy, and becomes a witness. The Pharisees protect status, reject mercy, and remain blind. The miracle announces a Person, not a technique. The story hands every listener the same line the healed man used: not all answers, but an undeniable testimony. “I was blind, now I see.”

Key Takeaways

1. Desperation exposes control as illusion [04:49] Desperate moments strip the myth of self-sufficiency and make room for grace. When control falls through the fingers, sight can begin. God often uses helplessness to surface what faith clings to and to relocate trust from self to the Savior. That is not cruelty but mercy. [04:49]
2. Miracles unveil spiritual blindness, not tricks [08:52] Jesus does not perform party tricks. He uses a physical healing to surface a deeper condition that every soul carries from birth. The method stays messy on purpose so the Person stands clear, and the sign points past eyesight to heart sight that only the Light of the world can give. [08:52]
3. A simple testimony carries holy weight [07:59] The healed man does not argue categories he cannot control. He tells the one thing no one can take: “I was blind, now I see.” Honest encounter outruns borrowed answers. A life changed by Jesus anchors witness when questions multiply and certainty runs thin. [07:59]
4. Goodness can block the doorway to grace [16:04] The Pharisees’ confidence in moral polish keeps them outside the very mercy they police. Comparing with others feels clean until Christ becomes the backdrop and hidden stains show. Grace begins where self-trust ends, and forgiveness lands where guilt is finally named. [16:04]
5. Compare against Christ, not people [19:05] Sheep look white until it snows. Righteousness looks solid until Jesus stands near. Holiness is not a sliding scale but a Savior. Looking to him exposes need without crushing hope, because the one who reveals sin is the one ready to forgive and heal. [19:05]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:15] - Sunshine and lifted spirits
[00:35] - Family updates and celebrations
[01:05] - New team members arriving
[01:21] - Kids wing expansion plans
[01:51] - Opening John 9
[02:10] - Naming desperation and helplessness
[03:10] - Locked keys and learned dependence
[04:49] - Control is an illusion
[05:10] - Reading the healing narrative
[06:05] - Mud, Siloam, and sight
[07:07] - Sabbath controversy and division
[07:59] - “I was blind, now I see”
[08:52] - The deeper issue of spiritual blindness
[10:36] - Suffering and the works of God
[13:53] - The polarizing effect of Jesus
[14:50] - Belief, worship, and judgment
[16:04] - When goodness becomes the obstacle
[18:42] - Sheep, snow, and true comparison
[20:37] - Not the process, the Person
[23:09] - Blind beggar or Pharisee
[24:17] - Seeing need to find hope
[25:44] - A Person, not a formula
[26:02] - Closing prayer and praise

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 9:1-7 (ESV)
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Observation questions

What assumption did the disciples make about the cause of the man’s blindness, and how did Jesus redirect their focus?
Why do you think Jesus used mud and spit to heal the man instead of a more straightforward method?
How did the healed man respond when questioned by his neighbors and the Pharisees about his healing?
What two reactions did the Pharisees have to Jesus’ miracle, and why did it cause division?

Interpretation questions

Jesus said the man’s blindness existed “that the works of God might be displayed in him.” How does this challenge common cultural beliefs about suffering and divine purpose?
The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by making mud. Why do you think they focused on the method rather than the miracle itself?
The healed man repeatedly said, “I was blind, now I see.” How did this simple testimony expose the limitations of the Pharisees’ arguments?
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” What does this reveal about the relationship between humility and spiritual sight?

Application questions

When have you experienced a situation where you felt completely helpless or out of control, like the blind man? How did that moment shape your dependence on God?
The healed man’s testimony was simple: “I was blind, now I see.” What is one undeniable way Jesus has changed your life that you could share with others, even if you don’t have all the answers?
The Pharisees compared themselves to others and missed their own need for grace. In what areas of your life do you tend to measure your “goodness” against people instead of Christ?
Desperation “exposes control as an illusion” [04:49]. What habits or routines do you cling to for a sense of control? How could surrendering those to God deepen your trust in Him?
The sermon mentioned that “goodness can block the doorway to grace” [16:04]. How might pride in your morality or achievements keep you from fully receiving God’s mercy?
The blind man’s healing pointed to Jesus, not a formula. Are there areas where you’ve prioritized methods or rituals over relationship with Christ? How can you refocus on Him this week?

Sermon Clips

Our goodness can be the greatest obstacle in accepting Jesus as our savior. Our pride, our self sufficiency, our morality, all of that, we can we can look at that and go, well, I'm not like them. And Jesus is reminding the pharisees, and I think all of us, that in order to find hope and rescue, you have to know you're lost. You can't be rescued if you're not lost. You can't be forgiven if you don't understand you're sinful. [00:16:05] (41 seconds)

I don't know anything. His name's Jesus, but this is one thing I know and is irrefutable. I was blind, but now I see. You wanna talk about deep yet simple and profound? I was blind, but now I see. That what he is reminding us is in our desperation, not just his physical situation where he was physically blind and he can physically see. Jesus is teaching us there's a spiritual blindness that we need to have removed so we can spiritually see. [00:11:33] (41 seconds)

We need to come face to face with our own sinfulness so God can rescue us and give us hope. That's why we worship. That's why we praise. He didn't come to condemn us. He came to free us. He didn't come to bring judgment upon us. He came to give us life. So if you're a follower of Jesus, my hope is this, that we will be more like the blind man and just say, I don't know everything about the bible. I don't know all the theological answers, but Jesus has changed my life forever. [00:23:26] (41 seconds)

The third person is you. I think the crux of the story is we go navigate this. It implicates all of humanity and says this, who do you identify with? There's not a middle ground. There's not a, you know, a a gray area. It's one or the other. You're either the blind man that sees his need, is desperate without someone intervening. Jesus comes and heals him, or you're the pharisee who sees your goodness and is the barrier to your salvation. [00:22:47] (38 seconds)

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Who Do You Say I Am - Gospel of John - 5/17/26 - Barry Sisson