Opening Prayer

Dear Jesus, you are the light of the world. Open our eyes today to see how much you love us. Amen.

Scripture: John 9:1-41

One day Jesus and his friends saw a man who had been blind since the day he was born. He had never seen anything — not the sun, not his parents’ faces, not the sky. The friends asked Jesus, “Why was this man born blind? Did he do something wrong, or did his parents?”

Jesus said, “No — nobody’s sin made him blind. He is blind so that God’s work can be shown in him.”

Then Jesus did something strange. He spit on the ground and made mud with his hands. He put the mud on the man’s eyes and said, “Go wash in the pool called Siloam.” The man went and washed — and for the first time in his whole life, he could see.

The religious leaders were angry. They said Jesus was bad because he healed the man on the Sabbath day, when people were supposed to rest. They asked the man over and over again what happened. They tried to get him to say Jesus was a sinner. But the man said something amazing: “I don’t know about all that. One thing I do know — I was blind, and now I see.”

They got so angry they threw the man out of the synagogue. But then Jesus came looking for him. Jesus found him and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man said, “Who is he? Tell me so I can believe.” Jesus said, “You’re looking at him right now. It’s me.” And the man said, “Lord, I believe!” — and he worshiped Jesus.

What This Means

Think about never seeing anything. Not the color of your mom’s hair. Not your dog. Not a sunset. Nothing but darkness, every single day, from the moment you were born.

That’s what this man’s life was like. And everybody thought it was his fault — or his parents’ fault. “Somebody must have done something wrong.” That’s what people always think when bad things happen. But Jesus said no. Nobody did anything wrong. This man was blind so that God could do something wonderful.

And then Jesus did something that should remind us of the very beginning of the Bible. He took dirt and made something with his hands — just like God took dust and made Adam. Jesus wasn’t just fixing broken eyes. He was creating new ones. He was showing everyone: “I’m the one who made the world, and I’m still making things new.”

Here’s the really surprising part. After the man was healed, the religious leaders — the people who studied the Bible their whole lives — couldn’t see who Jesus was. But the blind man? He went from knowing nothing about Jesus to worshiping him as Lord. The man who couldn’t see anything ended up seeing the most important thing of all. And the people who could see everything ended up the most blind.

That’s how God works. He doesn’t pick the smartest or the strongest. He picks the ones who know they need help.

Let’s Talk About It

Eberley: The blind man called Jesus different things as the story went on — first “a man,” then “a prophet,” then “from God,” and finally “Lord.” Why do you think his understanding kept growing? What helped him see more clearly about who Jesus was?

Eberley: The Pharisees had studied the Bible their whole lives, but they couldn’t see who Jesus was. What made them blind — even though their eyes worked fine?

Sonja: What did Jesus use to heal the man’s eyes? Why do you think he used mud instead of just saying a word?

Sonja: How do you think the blind man felt when he opened his eyes and saw things for the very first time?

Dahlia & Freddy: Could the man see before Jesus helped him? What happened after he washed his eyes?

Remember This

Jesus finds us when everyone else pushes us away.

Closing Prayer

Thank you, Jesus, for finding us — even when other people don’t want us around. Thank you for opening our eyes to see you. Help us to say with the man who was blind, “Lord, I believe!” Amen.

Memory Verse

“I was blind, and now I see.” — John 9:25