The Man Born Blind

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

John 9:1-49

As Jesus and his disciples were walking along, they saw a man who had been blind since he was born. The disciples wanted to know if the man or his parents had sinned to cause this man to be born blind. Jesus told them that no one had sinned, but he was blind so that glory could be given to God when he was healed. Jesus made some mud by spitting on the ground and then rubbed it on the blind man’s eyes. He then told the blind man to go wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam. This is what the man did and when he came home, he could see! People who had known the man for a long time began to question if this really was the same man. The man insisted that he was. When they asked how he could now see, he told them what Jesus had done for them. When they asked where Jesus was, he told them he did not know.  The people brought the man to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were very upset because all this had taken place on the Sabbath.  A disagreement broke out among the Pharisees about how Jesus could have done this, and if this man really had been blind. The Pharisees asked the man’s parents about the events, and the parents told the Pharisees that this was their son, but they did not know anything about what had happened with his eyes. The parents told the Pharisees to talk to their son for themselves because he was old enough to answer them.  The Pharisees believed the man was full of sin since his birth and so they threw him out of the temple.  When Jesus heard the man had been thrown out of the temple, He found the man and revealed himself to the man and the man believed in Him.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• Blindfolds
Directions:
1. If possible, blindfold the kids before they enter the classroom.
2. Give the children directions to find their seats for the story.
3. Tell them the story while they are blindfolded.
4. Have the children remove their blindfolds at the end of the story so they can see you, just as the man could finally see Jesus.
5. Ask the children what it felt like to be blind the entire time. Ask them if they did anything wrong to deserve being blindfolded the whole time. Ask them why they were allowed to remove their blindfolds. Make the correlations between these questions and the story.

Memory Verse:

John 9:39b

I have come into this world, so that the blind will see.
Jesus Connection:
At the end of this passage (verses 35-41), Jesus asks a simple question: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” If we answer yes, we have eyes to see like the man who was healed. If we answer no, then we are like the Pharisees who are blinded by the guilt that their sin brings on them. We must believe in Him, because He is coming to judge the world for blinding sin.

Song

Open The Eyes of My Heart 

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You
(2x)
To see You high and lifted up
Shinin' in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy

Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy,
I want to see you

Games/Activities

Blindfold Challenge

Supplies Needed:
• Blind folds
• Blocks
Directions:
1. Set a pile of blocks in front of each child before blindfolding each of them.
2. When you say go, have the children race to see who can build their tower the fastest/tallest
3. Play multiple times, changing the winners objective for each round. (ie: set number of blocks the fastest; tallest tower while timed.

Crafts:

Blind Man Mask

Supplies Needed:
• Paper plates
• Hole punch
• String
• Colors
• Other decorations
Directions:
1. Give each child a paper plate. Allow them to draw and decorate the back side of the plate.
2. When the child finishes drawing, punch holes on each side of the plate and tie string through the holes to hold the plate to the child’s face. (Do not cut eye holes! This is a mask to make them blind!!)

Coloring Page