Because Jesus is the Light of the World

Outline

4 main characters and their response to spiritual blindness

I. Jesus: The One Who Sees and Gives Sight to the Blind

A. Jesus accomplishes what the Father has given Him

John 9:4 - We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

B. Jesus corrects their misunderstanding of sin and sickness

John 9:2-3 - And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

C. Jesus is the Light of the world

John 9:5 - While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.

John 9:38 - And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him…

D. Jesus came to call people to decide what they will believe about Him

John 9:39 - And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

II. The Parents: The Ones Who are Blind and Choose to Remain Blind

A. They confirm that a real miracle occurred

John 9:20 - His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind…”

B. They lied about their knowledge of Jesus

John 9:21 - …but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.

“It is unreasonable to think that they did not know who had performed the healing, even though there is no indication that they were present at the cure itself.” (D.A. Carson, John, PNTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991)

C. They were motivated by their place in the synagogue not their blindness

John 9:22-23 - His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

III. The Pharisees: The Ones Who are Blind, but Think They Can See

John 9:40-41 - Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

A. Blindness is hypocritical

John 9:16 - Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

B. Blindness refuses to believe the facts

John 9:18 - The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight.

John 9:24 - So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”

John 9:28 - They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.”

C. Blindness blames others

John 9:34a - They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?”

D. Blindness makes rash and unjust decisions

John 9:34b - So they put him out.

IV. The Blind Man: The One Who Knows He Is Blind and Subsequently Sees

A. Initial faith

John 9:7 - “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.

B. Initial testimony

C. Bold stand for Jesus

John 9:27 - I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?

D. Trust for his salvation

John 9:35-38 - Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.

Baseball Cards: How many of you are into baseball? I played baseball as a kid all the way through high school. As a kid I collected baseball cards. I have a box of my baseball cards here. When I came to Faith it didn’t take long before I began a friendship with Steve Rund. If you know Steve, you know that he also likes collecting/selling baseball cards. One day I showed him my box of cards – he took them home to look at them. I thought the cards were well kept – I mean I kept them in a box.

Steve came back to me with the cards and basically said why are all the corners of the cards folded, looks like they were not taken care of. He basically gave me a hard time about the condition of the cards. I thought they were in good shape. Steve gave me a different perspective.

It is nice to get a different perspective on things from time to time.

Today – we will be in John 9. This is where Jesus heals the blind man. If you have been to church for a while – no doubt – you have heard this story. You may be so familiar with it that you don’t think you have to listen today. You may have read it so much that you think you can preach this sermon today. I want to challenge you not to let the familiarity of John 9 keep you from hearing the word of the Lord today. I have never preached this passage to you. You just might get a different perspective if you are willing to listen.

Enjoying Life in His Name – a study through John’s gospel. Today - Jesus is the Light of the World.

We will Learn from the 4 main characters Jesus, the parents, the Pharisees, and the man born blind.

The most important person in the story: Jesus.

I. Jesus: the one who sees and gives sight to the blind

John 9:1-3 “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Blind men and people with physical illnesses were considered a burden to society. Most are left by family and end up begging for food and money in the streets. They are looked down upon as among lowest class in society. They have no wealth, power and generally no respect.

Jesus was an exception. We read He saw a man who was blind from birth. He didn’t see a beggar, He didn’t see someone poor, He saw a man.

Do you have trouble seeing people without judging them?

My guess is that someone here today is wondering if God sees them. Are you in a tough place right now? Everything is not going the way you want it to go. Church – listen – God sees you! He sees you as a man. He sees you as a woman.

In seeing this man…

Jesus accomplishes what the Father has given him

In this miracle, Jesus takes all the initiative. The blind man did not come to Jesus and say “I hear your awesome and you can do some pretty cool miracles – how about healing my blindness?” NO - Jesus saw him and went to Him.

Side Note: Church – the lost will not wait until we come to them. We must engage people so that we can tell them about Jesus.

John 9:4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

Meaning - We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.

You will never hear anyone describe Jesus as someone who lollygagged. He was on a mission to do the work of the one who sent Him.

Jesus had a teaching moment with the disciples.

Jesus corrects their misunderstanding of sin and sickness

Don’t you think it is a rather odd thing to say - Hey Jesus “I was just wondering…who sinned?”

People thought that if you were suffering it was because you sinned.

Jesus changes it up a bit – he wants them to think differently about this situation. He gives a third option - This man is not blind because he sinned. This man is not blind because his parents sinned. Jesus says this man’s pain has a purpose. This man’s suffering has a purpose.

Blindness happened so that the works of God might be on display. From time-to-time God will choose to show his power on the platform of suffering.

Has your faith ever increased because you have seen how others deal with pain and suffering? We share videos of this type of thing happening all the time. We have seen the videos where people are suffering from loss, sickness and they are finding ways to have enjoy life in His name. *Today you watched a video…

Now before healing the blind man, Jesus explained…

Jesus is the Light of the World

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

Who I truly am will never be more apparent then it is right now. I am the light of the world. I am here with you. Jesus is saying – watch me, learn from me, and believe me.

There was no better illustration than to take a man whose entire world has been dark and give him light.

-I wish John had recorded more in v. 7 (he came back seeing). He could see the people he loved for the first time.

• But John does not want to draw our attention too closely to the man.

• Can we do that in our sickness? Point people to Jesus.

Jesus is the most important person in the story.

• Everyone has to decide what to think about him: the blind man, the neighbors, the Pharisees. And the parents had to decide. Lets talk about them for a minute…

II. The parents: the ones who are blind and choose to remain blind

In many ways, the parents are the saddest part of this story. They enter the story in v. 18. We learn three things about them.

They confirm that a real miracle occurred

John 9:20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;

“Yes it was our son. Yes he was born blind. Yes, apparently he can see now.”

They thought it was safe to at least acknowledge this. Admitting that he was their son and that he was blind from birth wasn’t that risky. But notice …

They lied about their knowledge of Jesus

John 9:21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.”

Did they really not know? Really? The entire neighborhood knows!

The parents lied about their knowledge.

• If your son was just healed of blindness – wouldn’t you want to know who did this.

• Sadly - No record that they are rejoicing at their son’s healing.

Why?

They were motivated by their place in the synagogue not their blindness

Normally it is unwise to judge a person’s motives. But the Bible tells us their motives in v. 22-23.

John 9:22-23 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

They did not want to be involved in the middle of this because they were afraid of the Jews. Here is where the actions of the parents are saddest.

• They knew that Jesus healed their son, and they knew that if they gave him credit, they would be put out of the synagogue.

-Being a follower of Jesus costs something. The parents were not willing to leave the synagogue behind in order to follow Jesus.

What are you willing to hang on to? What would you rather have then follow Jesus?

• Their son, blind from birth, was healed. Now they want nothing to do with the story because Jesus is too risky.

Ok – enough of the parents – let’s check out…

III. The Pharisees: the ones who are blind but think they can see

The blind man says to the Pharisees – Jesus healed me – you may have heard of him. Maybe you are looking for him to come…Maybe you have seen him. Jesus put some mud on my eyes and told me to wash it off in the pool. The former blind man said – I went to do that - I did what He asked me to do even though it made absolutely no sense. I did what He asked me to do and I washed and then I could see.

And of course, the pharisees are curious. So where is this guy? He said, I don't know. I didn't see which way He went. I was to excited about seeing for the first time ever!!!

In v. 13-18 The blind man was in front of the Pharisees. They point out that it was the sabbath when he was “healed” It was the sabbath when Jesus mad clay patches. Pharisees – see it must not be from God – he worked on the sabbath. Some wise people in the crowd said v.16…
“But others were saying, How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was dissension among them. Underline “Others” That is who we need to be when people are trying to tell you to believe something that is contrary to what the Bible tells us. “others” were people of discernment.

The blind man didn’t know who he really was “And he said, “He is a prophet.”

The pharisees still struggling to believe – called in his mommy and daddy for questioning.

Here is what they really want from the blind man.

²⁴ So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”

Yes – they just called Jesus a sinner.

I mean they were saying He does not keep the Sabbath. Well technically He didn't keep their version of the Sabbath. Technically He didn't really break any of God's written law.

Jesus didn't fit in their God box. Many of us have a God box and Jesus is operating outside the boundaries of the God box. Therefore, He cannot possibly be from God.

Should you even have a God box? God has no boundaries, and he could never fit inside any version of a box you can come up with.

The Pharisees believe that they see things clearly. Their judgments are spot on because they know the facts. But they are spiritually blind.

When people cannot support their position through facts and reason, then they have nothing left but to yell at you, intimidate you. We see something similar here.

Blindness is hypocritical

Jesus previously confronted the Pharisees on this very point. They perform circumcisions every Sabbath day. Jesus heals one man and they go ballistic.

• That is why he calls them hypocrites.

Jesus keeps the Sabbath by doing good. In this case, freeing him from both his physical and spiritual blindness.

Blindness refuses to believe the facts

It is perfectly clear that the Pharisees have no interest in believing the facts because the facts do not square well with their own blindness. The facts don’t fit in their God box.

Blindness blames others

Blindness makes rash and unjust decisions

John 9:34a They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?”

• When you don’t like the message, shoot the messenger.

John 9:34b So they put him out.

They did to him exactly what his parents feared – removal from the synagogue. This man was excommunicated for telling the truth.

He was excommunicated because he defended Jesus’ miracle that he was blind and now he could see.

That is how blindness works. Instead of evaluating the facts carefully, blindness makes rash decisions.

That brings us to the 4^th character in the story…

IV. The blind man: the one who knows he is blind sees

Can I just say - When you get healed by a nurse that is great. When you get healed by a doctor that is great. The man was born blind and had the honor to be healed by no other than the Son of God.

We don’t have any more information except what is written here. We don’t know if the blind man willingly let Jesus put spit/clay on his eyes. We just know it happened..

What happens next is truly a great picture.

Jesus says now that I have made mud patches for your eyes v. 7 “Go, wash in the pol of Siloam” (translated sent). So, he went away and washed and came back seeing.”

I am about to drop some knowledge on you here. Listen church.

Jesus tells the man born blind – Go. Go away from me. Go and wash in the pool.

This is great – the blind man walks by faith and not by _____? (sight) Literally. He does what God wants us to do. The blind man chose to trust someone he could not see.

The blind man went to the Pool and did what Jesus said and he washed his eyes and suddenly he could see. If you put your faith and trust in Jesus – My guess is that you are going to start seeing differently!

This man was born into darkness, like the rest of mankind, but Jesus shined His light upon his darkened heart. Although he benefited from the miracle, it wasn’t intended only for him. The man was healed and became a walking billboard, a trophy of God’s grace. His pain would be the platform upon which he would preach the gospel. His suffering was the means by which God would draw others to Himself.

The most important person in the story is Jesus, but the one who gets the most press is the blind man. He is the only one in the story who is blind, knows it, and acknowledges it.

Initial Faith

Jesus said Go and he went. He washed. He saw.

Unlike his parents and the Pharisees, this man is willing to take a step of faith. They could physically see but they could not spiritually see!

But that is not where this story ends.

Initial Testimony

This man’s testimony is quite simple “I was blind, and now I see.” He just told people what Jesus did for him.

This man thought that his healing was of God, from God – but didn’t understand all the details.

Bold stand for Jesus

The story takes a turn. Instead of the simple testimony that Jesus healed him, he finds the nonstop questioning irritating. v.33 “if this man were not from God he could do nothing” He spoke this to the pharisees.

At v. 26 the man realizes that they are looking for agreement not a statement of the facts. They want to give him a teleprompter to read from. They want to control what he says. We can’t have you telling your version of what you think happened. Church – when God does something for you – tell your version – I was blind and now I see.

He boldly proclaims, “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” (v. 33).

Trust for his salvation

I don’t believe in the beginning when mud was being applied to his eyes that he knew that it was Jesus.

But it wasn’t until after he was kicked out of the synagogue that Jesus revealed his identity to the man.

John 9:35-38 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.

Some things are hard to explain.

In baseball - The fact that a batter can hit a ninety-five mile an hour fastball is unexplainable. If you break down the amount of time that it should take him to locate the pitch, decide whether or not to swing, and move the bat into position, he simply shouldn't have enough time before the ball crosses the plate. But we've all seen it happen. So what do you do with this? And more importantly, what do you do with Christianity when it seems to be both unexplainable and undeniable at the same time?

Jesus is accused of being a sinner and the blind man says - I don't know if he is or not. He says, look, I don't know everything. I don't understand everything. I don't have to be able to explain everything to believe what's right before my very eyes. I don’t have to understand everything.
And here's the good news. Neither do you. And maybe this is where you've been hung up. You want to understand everything before you believe anything.

Isn't it true that you and I don't hold to this standard in other areas of life?

Do you know how a 400,000 lb. 747 airplane can leave the ground?

Do you believe in love? Can you explain it?

Do you believe in energy? Can you explain it?

Do you believe in consciousness? We can't explain that either.

your Heavenly Father who's way bigger than your God box says, let's just take a baby step and believe. You don’t need to know the 5 happy hops to heaven – just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And perhaps along the way, you'll understand more.

The blind man says, Okay, let's just start with what I do know. I can't answer all your questions. I don't know if He's a sinner. Don't ask me any theological questions. Here's what I know. I was blind but now I see. In case you missed it - Let me go over that again for you guys. I was blind but now I see.

For some of you sitting here today you might be in the same place as this blind man. You might say “I can't explain it all. I don't understand it all. All I know is this. There was a season in my life when I was at the end of myself. There was a season in my life when I hit a wall. There was a season in my life when I was controlled by an addiction. There was a season in my life that I was so lonely, I was suicidal. There was a season of my life where I had come to the end and I had no place else to go and I cried out to God, I got on my knees, I can't explain it. I can't show you any verses to validate this. All I can tell you is this. Something happened. And for some of you, it happened instantly. And for some of you, it happened gradually. But something happened and you were blind and now you can see. You've never been the same.

And when people hear your story, you acknowledge there are some gaps and yeah, but you would not go back to where you were for anything and only by the grace of a living, personal God who has invited you to call Him Father are you where you are today.

All you know is this. You were blind. Now you can see. Today you walk by faith and not by sight.

Conclusion:

Back to my baseball cards. Steve did give me a different perspective on my baseball cards. I though they were in decent shape and he enlightened me. One other thing that Steve did for me. He said, “I did find one card that I thought was somewhat valuable – Ryan Sanberg, so I put it in plastic to protect it.” He protected what he thought was valuable.

The pharisees wanted the blind man to change his story. The story that the blind man was telling didn’t fit into their God box.

You and I need to be able to protect our faith. We need to know our God and then we can’t let people try to persuade us to believe something else. What we have in our faith is very valuable. We need to protect it. This mad in John 9 did just that – he was healed and his faith began to grow. He boldly proclaimed what he was sure of – I was blind and now I can see.