JOHN 9
The LORD seems to have done miracles to meet human needs, but
all were a launching pad for proclaiming spiritual truth. Matt. 11:5 describes many of His
miracles. And chapter 9 is such a
one. He used this miracle as the basis
for a short sermon on spiritual blindness. 39-41.
The man in this chapter was born blind. When Jesus arrived on the scene of his life,
everything changed and the man was made to see.
The greatest miracle was not the opening of his eyes but the opening of
his heart to the Savior.
STAGES in this man’s growing understanding of who Jesus is:
1.
“A Man
called Jesus!” V. 1-13 About the only
thing that a blind man could do was beg.
There were likely many beggars, but Jesus chose this one. The LORD healed him on the Sabbath…upsetting
and deliberately challenging the religious leaders. V. 9
The disciples began a theological discussion
rather than viewing the man with mercy and desiring to minister to his specific
need.
As we analyze different disabilities, ALL
physical problems are the result of our fall in Adam. Romans. 5:12 But to blame
a specific disability on a specific sin committed by specific persons is
certainly beyond any man’s ability or authority. Only God knows why babies are born with
handicaps and only HE can turn those handicaps into something that will bring
good to the people and glory to His name.
v. 3-4…The man and his parents had sinned,
but Jesus did not say that one of these sins had caused the man to be blind NOR
that God made him blind so that the LORD could perform a miracle. Though the healing power was the same, our
LORD varied His methods lest people focus on the MANNER of healing and miss the
MESSAGE in the healing.
There is significance in the use of the
mud: A picture of the incarnation! 1st man made of dust, and the LORD
sent His Son as a real man. Siloam means
SENT…relate it to verse 4……’of Him Who sent Me.’
2nd reason for using the
mud…IRRITATION! Encouragement for the
man to believe and obey…irritation of the eyes…you seek irrigation to cleanse
them. Irritation = convicting work of
the Holy Spirit as He uses God’s Law to bring the lost sinner under
judgment.
The dialog began “Is this really the blind
man?” The religious leaders did not want
to face the fact that Jesus had healed the man, or even that the man had been
healed.
Four incidents of different ones asking, “How
were you healed. The Pharisees wanted to
get rid of the evidence, and the people were afraid to speak the truth.
They were all asking the wrong question…How
when they should have been asking Who?
Many times we want to understand the mechanics of a miracle instead of
simply trusting the Savior, who alone can perform the miracle.
Understanding the process even if we could is
no guarantee that we have experienced the miracle.
All the blind man knew to say was “A man
called Jesus.” He had not seen the LORD,
but had heard His voice. He did not know
where Jesus had gone. He had been healed but he had not been saved
at this point.
John wants
us to see the LORD Jesus as God, but he often balances it to let us remember
that Jesus was a man.
2. “He
is…He must be a prophet!” v. 13-23 By
making the clay, applying the clay and healing the man, Jesus had worked on the
Sabbath. The Pharisees should have been
praising but instead they were seeking evidence to prosecute Jesus. As they had investigated (which was their
position to do as religious leaders), they were deeply concerned. He was BORN BLIND – an accidental blindness
might have suddenly reversed but BORN BLIND!
They were saying…no one who breaks the Sabbath could possibly be a true
prophet of God. ONE ISSUE thinkers. The Pharisees did not realize that Jesus was
offering the people something greater than the Sabbath—the true spiritual rest
that comes from God. (Matt. 11:28-30).
When the
healed man declared Jesus a prophet…the
Jewish people would look on their prophets as men of God who could do
wonderful things by the power of God.
And they did not want to see Jesus given that kind of high
designation. V. 16…”not of God”.
Were they
suggesting that Jesus had swapped beggars and this was not the blind man? So, they called the parents…
The parents
admitted he was their son, but did not know how he could see. They evaded the correct answer and passed the
buck to “ask the son, he is of age.”
What was at
the root of all this interrogation and evasion?
THE FEAR OF PEOPLE! Proverbs
29:25 The fear of man brings a snare.
The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus…the parents were trying to avoid
a trap and all of them were only ensnaring themselves. The leaders failed to understand that Jesus
Christ had fulfilled all of the ceremonial law and was now bringing in
something new. In Moses, you have
preparation, but in Jesus Christ, you have consummation John 1:17.
3. “A Man
of God v. 24-34 (v.24) a form of
swearing in! (Josh 7:19)
The leaders
attempted to intimidate the healed man, but he was made of sturdier stuff … he had experienced a miracle and he was
not afraid to tell them what had happened.
He could not testify to
Jesus’ character, but this one thing he definitely knew, “I was blind and now I
see!”
Can you
imagine facing all this interrogation rather than running around looking at all
of God’s beautiful creation that you have never seen once in all your
life??????????
These
leaders were cautious and would call themselves conservatives. Rather they were preservatives!
A true
CONSERVATIVE takes the best of the past
and uses it, but he is also aware of the new things that God is doing. The new grows out of the old Matt. 14:52. A PRESERVATIVE SIMPLY EMBALMS THE PAST AND
PRESERVES IT. He is against change and
resists the new things that God is doing.
Had the Pharisees really understood Moses, they would have known Who
Jesus was and what He was doing. They
were judging after the flesh and not being discerning.
The healed
man could hardly believe that these religious leaders did not know Jesus and
did not want to become His followers.
Instead of
investigating the miracle, they should have been investigating the ONE Who did
the miracle and learning from Him. They
were rejecting the Stone that had been sent to them.
What a case
the man made: How many men were going
around Jerusalem healing blind men? Born blind…never had happened before that
one was healed…only God could do that so rather than Jesus being a sinner as
they accused, He was sent from God or He could not have done the healing.
Religious
bigots do not want to face either evidence or logic. Their minds are made up.
The
religious leaders officially excommunicated this man from the local
synagogue. BUT JESUS came for the
outcasts…
4. “The
Son of God.” V. 35 – 41 Jesus found the man and revealed Himself to him. (The man knew His voice.) The man reached another stage…knowledge of
Jesus Christ and his faith in HIM. It
was not/not is it today enough to believe that Jesus is
·
A man called
Jesus
·
A prophet
·
A man of God
“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. I John 5:1.
The healed blind man did not see and believe,
he heard and believed!
The rest of the chapter is the LORD
presenting a brief but penetrating sermon on spiritual blindness.
The REASON for the Lord’s coming was
salvation, but the RESULT of His coming was condemnation of those who would not
believe. The same sun that brings beauty
out of the seeds also exposes the vermin hiding under the rocks. The leaders were blind and would not admit
it…the light of truth only made them more blind. The beggar admitted his need, and he received
both physical and spiritual sight. No
one is so blind as he who will not see, the one who things he has “all truth”
and there is nothing more for him to learn v. 28, 34.
“If you were blind, you would be better off.
But you claim to see. Therefore, you are
guilty!” Blindness would at least be an
excuse for not knowing what was going on.
But they did know what was going on…they ignored the evidence to make a
right decision.
Jesus is the LIGHT. Only people who cannot see the light are
blind people and those who refuse to look, those who make themselves
blind….spiritually blind. The beggar was
blind both ways, but both his eyes and his heart were opened. Why?
Because he listened to the Word, believed it, obeyed, and experienced
the grace of God.
The leaders could have seen: change in the beggar, saw mighty works that
Jesus had performed…if they had only honestly examined the evidence, they would
have seen the truth clearly.
The beggar was cast out of the synagogue but
taken by the Good Shepherd and added to His flock!
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