Do You See Him?

We've been preaching through this fourth gospel, the gospel written last of all four,

by probably the youngest of the apostles, John.

We're on track to pause in the gospel of John for a little bit over the summer,

and I have some different ideas of what series we'll do over the summer.

And then we'll come back, I think we'll be in John 14, which from 14 on, it's really the passion.

It's the prayer, the Last Supper, his final teaching, his time in the garden,

and then we'll finish the gospel of John around Christmas.

We'll finish the book of Ruth.

It's only four chapters, and we're already done with up to three.

And so after one or two more in Ruth, we'll be bringing in another short Old Testament book.

So that just gives you an idea of what to expect in the months ahead.

I have found myself different times just praying,

Lord, whatever happens, I would love the opportunity to preach through the whole book of John.

And I'm like, don't take me sooner if you'll let me, because it's so rich and so good.

And honestly, every week I feel like no matter how well we try to proclaim,

it falls so short of his glory.

But just as we sung, this is God himself took on flesh,

and he's fulfilling the mission the Father gave him to do,

and he's teaching and revealing that.

So as we hear this story, we're going to read all of John 9.

Just keep that in mind.

That's what we're hearing.

It is God taking on the flesh, fulfilling the mission for which he was sent.

As I read John 9, remember this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

And his disciples asked him,

Rabbi, who sent this man or his parents that he was born blind?

Jesus answered,

It was not this man who sent or his parents,

but that the work 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 scent.

So he went and washed

and came back seeing.

The neighbors and those who had seen him

before as a beggar were saying,

Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?

Some said,

It is he.

Others said,

No, but he is like him.

He kept saying,

I am the man.

So they said to him,

Then, how were your eyes opened?

He answered,

The man called Jesus,

made mud,

and anointed my eyes

and said to me,

Go to Siloam and wash.

So I went and washed

and received my sight.

They said to him,

Where is he?

He said,

I do not know.

They brought to the Pharisees

the man who had formerly been blind.

Now it was a Sabbath day

when Jesus made the mud

and opened his eyes.

So the Pharisees again asked him

how he had received his sight.

And he said to them,

He put mud on my eyes

and I washed

and I see.

Some of the Pharisees said,

This man is not from God

for he does not keep the Sabbath.

But others said,

How can a man who is a sinner

do such things?

And there was a division among them.

So they said again to the blind man,

What do you say about him

since he opened your eyes?

He said,

He is a prophet.

The Jews did not believe

that he had been blind

and had received his sight

until they called the parents

of the man

who had received his sight

and asked them,

Is this your son

who you say was born blind?

How then does he now see him?

His parents answered,

We know that this is our son

and that he was born blind.

But how he sees now

we do not know,

nor do we know

who opened his eyes.

Ask him,

ask him,

he is of age.

He will speak for himself.

His parents said these things

because they feared the Jews.

For the Jews

had already agreed

that if anyone

should confess Jesus

to be Christ,

he was to be put out

of the synagogue.

Therefore his parents said,

He is of age,

ask him.

Verse 24,

So for the 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.

He answered,

Whether he is a sinner,

I do not know.

One thing I do know,

that though I was blind,

now I see.

They said to him,

What did he do to you?

And how did he open your eyes?

He answered them,

I have told you already

and you would not listen.

Do you want to hear it again?

Do you also want

to become his disciples?

And they reviled him,

saying,

You are his disciple,

but we are disciples of Moses.

We know that God

has spoken to Moses,

but as for this man,

we do not know

where he comes from.

The man answered,

Why,

this is an amazing thing.

You do not know

where he comes from,

and yet he opened my eyes.

We know that God

does not listen to sinners,

but if anyone

is a worshiper of God

and does his will,

God listens to him.

Never since the world began

has it been heard

that anyone

opened the eyes

of a man born blind.

If this man

were not from God,

he could do nothing.

They answered him,

You were born

in utter sin,

and would you teach us?

And they cast him out.

Jesus heard

that they had cast him out,

and having found him,

he said,

Do you believe

in the Son of Man?

He answered,

And who is he, sir,

that I may believe in him?

And Jesus said to him,

You have seen him,

and it is he

who is speaking to you.

He said,

Lord, I believe,

and he worshipped him.

Jesus said,

For judgment

I came into this world

that those who do not see

may see,

and those who see

may become blind.

Some of the Pharisees

near him

heard these things

and said to him,

Are we also blind?

Jesus said to them,

If you were blind,

you would have no guilt,

but now that you say

we see,

your sin remains.

This is the word

of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God,

indeed.

You may be seated.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Guide us, O God,

by your word.

O Holy Spirit,

by your light alone

can we see.

In your truth alone

can we find freedom

from sin.

And in your will alone

can we discover peace

through Jesus Christ,

our Lord?

Lord,

Lord,

I ask now for your help.

I ask that the words

of my mouth

will be pleasing

in your sight

and that the meditations

of our hearts

will bring you joy.

We confess that you are

in heaven

at the right hand

of the Father

and you are interceding

for us.

And we pray,

Lord,

by your spirit,

through your word,

that you will speak

and that the seed of truth

will be planted

in our hearts

and that it will not

return void

but will bear much fruit

and be multiplied

in our lives

as the fruit of the Spirit.

We ask this for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Beloved congregation

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

in John chapter 9

John 9 · chapter mention

we read the story

of a man

who was blind

from birth

and Jesus brought him

to see God

and to worship him.

So my question

for you today is

do you see him?

The story is a simple

and straightforward one.

The man is there

sitting in the dust.

Our Lord Jesus

approaches,

observes.

Jesus makes him to see.

The man sees Jesus.

Jesus,

the man is interrogated

by the Pharisees

and the man

confesses,

you are Christ.

You are the Son of Man,

the promised Messiah

that would come

and the man

worships Jesus

and those observing

are divided.

That's the story.

What I've tried to do

for today

is not to

walk through the story

but to really

see what is

it that we are

to learn here.

See John

told the story

in such a way

in the very language

he used.

He's teaching us

the gospel.

He's teaching us

the message

that Jesus proclaims

that I came for judgment

and he's using

these main characters

the blind man

and the Pharisees

and the dialogue

between Jesus

and each one of them

to reveal the gospel.

So I've just prayed

that the Lord

would help make

the gospel truth

very clear

and that you would

see how this theme

is evident.

It just emerges

off of these words

and that at the same time

I won't lose you.

So I'm going to focus

more on the people

and the dialogue

than the flow

of the story.

I'd like to begin

first by pointing out

how Jesus

saw that blind man

in his blindness,

in his darkness.

Jesus is reinforcing

what he's already

declared in the

Feast of Nations.

I am the light

of the world.

Now the feast is over.

He's still in Jerusalem.

We know this

because the man

goes to wash

in the pool of Siloam

right there in Jerusalem

but he's not in the temple.

Did you catch the setting?

Look down at verse 22.

The setting here

is the synagogue.

The Jews had threatened

that if anyone says

this man Jesus

who everybody's

starting to follow

and he's doing

these mighty signs

if you say he's the Messiah

you will be kicked out,

excommunicated

from the synagogue.

Well today archaeologists

have found the remains

of about four different

Roman Empire

time synagogues

and historical records

show there are probably

a synagogue

in every single city

in the whole Galilean region

and many synagogues

in Jerusalem

and because Jerusalem

is the big capital

some synagogues

were public

like this one.

Other synagogues

were more exclusive.

It almost became

like for our trade

we have our own synagogue

and certain rules

for membership.

This is a public synagogue.

Look at verse 1.

Jesus sees the man there.

In verse 1

as he passed by.

So this blind man

wasn't even necessarily

something the disciples

or the Pharisees

saw coming.

This is a man who

those neighbors

that lived there

they knew him

from childhood.

They knew this man

very well.

Maybe you've got

a route you run

to work

and you know

on that street corner

there's going to be

that person holding

that sign

and you can picture them.

And picture growing up

in Jerusalem

for all these years

you would know

very well this man.

And just notice

the words John uses here.

As Jesus passed by

the synagogue

he saw

a man

blind

from birth.

We don't have

any words

from Jesus

this early on

in the story.

But there's

the young disciple

John

the young apostle

observing his master

his rabbi

and it

it struck him

Jesus

saw

the man.

And you

you know

when your loved one

when something

grabs their attention

you might be

mid-sentence

in a conversation

whoop

something to suck

their attention

and they're

they're

fixated on that now.

The very next words

are the disciples

asking well

why did this happen?

Was it his sin

or his parents sin?

Verse 3

Jesus

didn't rebuke them

for asking that question.

Why?

In fact

he used that

to teach them.

In verse 3

Jesus says

it was not the sin

of this man

nor the sin

of his parents

but this man

is blind

that the works

of God

might be displayed

in him.

We all have things

that have happened

in our life

and as kids

we hear this

probably every week

what did I do

to deserve this?

You know

we have that same thought

we have things

that have happened

in our life

and as human beings

in a broken world

we have to ask

Lord

why

did this happen?

Jesus does not

rebuke the disciples

for asking him

Lord why?

Please teach me

because

the enemy

wants to slip in

in that moment

and he wants

to accuse Jesus

he wants to accuse

God to you

he wants to say

God is either

far away

and uncaring

or if God

is close enough

and aware

that he

is ignoring you

or that he's

powerless

to help you

we start every

service here

by reading

from Psalm 124

our help

is in the name

of the Lord

who made heaven

and earth

he is all powerful

he is most mighty

and he is

our help

he is near you

now he wants

to teach us

he wants to teach

us through all

the brokenness

that it's that

the work of God

might be displayed

and it's

it's trusting

his providence

to reveal that

and unfold it

in his time

there will be

things we will

never understand

or be able to

explain on earth

but there will

be one day

one day when

every knee will bow

and every tongue

will confess

and all will

declare

God has acted

justly

he has done

what is just

now

I also think

that

John is emphasizing

how Jesus

observed this man

and he's

he's talking

what's on Christ's mind

is I am the light

of the world

he's still teaching

that

so our Lord

has compassion

on this individual

sees him

but he also

sees the

the glorious

spiritual truth

of the gospel

in this man

because that's

the play

for the rest

of the chapters

that the Pharisees

have physical sight

but they're

spiritually blind

and this man

who was born

blind from birth

is given

spiritual sight

so that's

what's really

at play

throughout this

whole chapter

in verse 34

this man

is described

by the Pharisees

look at verse 34

they say

you were born

in utter

sin

that is true

but that's not

the reason

for this man's

blindness

Jesus says

what the Pharisees

refused to

confess

is that they too

were born

in utter sin

and you and I

we're the

we're the fruit

and the seed

of Adam and Eve

and the curse of sin

is upon all of us

we are all born

in utter sin

we are all born

spiritually

blind

as one Puritan

said

a Christless

and unregenerate

state is represented

as darkness

and blindness

in all of scripture

this is what

Jesus is opening

the eyes of his

disciples

and of the blind man

and of those

who would believe

to see just that

and this is so true

for us isn't it

Romans 1 21

before we had

Christ

and the Holy Spirit

opening our eyes

we knew God

and that

we know

we're created

there's a creator

but Romans 1

Paul writes

that we did not

honor him as God

nor give thanks to him

listen

we became

futile

in our thinking

and our foolish

hearts

were darkened

our hearts

were blind

to God

in our natural

unregenerate state

you and I

we would stumble

through life

and so

spiritual darkness

is no less real

than physical

darkness

or blindness

well these Pharisees

knew that a person

blind from birth

must

be

unacceptable

in the eyes

of a holy God

is so deeply

blemished

Deuteronomy 15

21 said this

of animals

how much would be true

how much more would it be true

of God's image bearers

if an animal

is lame

or blind

or has any

major blemish

whatsoever

you may not sacrifice

that animal

to the Lord

your God

can you picture

a little lamb

on a farm

and the shepherds

raising a lamb

and that lamb

just runs into trees

and can't make it around

that lamb

is never going to get

to be taken

to the temple

as a sacrifice

but God says

it's for lambs

like that

it's for blind men

like this

that I'm going to send

the perfect lamb

of God

without blemish

because God

will be glorified

when he justifies

sinners like that

it's so that

the works of God

will be displayed

can you already

start to see

in this amazing

little story

the glory of God

in the face

of Jesus

Jesus saw the man

who was born blind

and Jesus sees you

Psalm 33

Psalms 33:13

verse 13

says this

the Lord

the Lord

looks down

from heaven

he sees

all the children

of men

Jesus saw

the man

in his blindness

and Jesus sees

you

in your situation

right now

while our Lord

did not only see

this man

our Lord then

spoke to him

and prepared him

for healing

prepared him

to be saved

with his words

while the man

was blind

his word

came to this man

I want to draw

that second point

for us as well

that God

prepares you

for healing

by speaking

he prepares you

through his word

see our apostle here

apostle John

stresses how

you can't see Jesus

until he first

speaks

the blind man

sitting there

in the dust

he would have heard

Jesus say those words

in verse 3

it's not his sin

that made him blind

this would have been

the first time

he heard that notion

and nor was it

the sin of his parents

and he may actually

have more information

to know

well I know my parents

did this and this and this

while I was in my mother's womb

you're saying it wasn't

their sin

he's heard this good news

now

the Lord is preparing him

the blind man

would have next heard

Jesus say

in verse 4

we

speaking to his disciples

we

must do the works

of him

who sent me

while it is still

day

can you see the blind man

almost sitting up

a little straighter

hold on

he said it wasn't my sin

now he said

we must do the works

to display the glory

of God

something good

is going to happen

the blind man

would not have known

what Jesus meant

by the next thing

he said in verse 4

the night is coming

and think about it

to the blind man

you can't really tell

the difference

between day and night

it's all darkness

but what Jesus

was about to do next

would teach him

and teach his disciples

and teach all those

that had gathered

around

because the next words

that Jesus speaks

are revealing

before he speaks

though

look in verse 6

the blind man

sitting there

would not have seen

Jesus spit on the ground

or make mud

with the saliva

he would have heard

Jesus speak

then he would have felt

he would have felt

Jesus touching his eyes

putting mud

on his eyes

and then the Lord

addresses the blind man

for the first time

one on one

speaking to him

and it's a command

the Lord commands

the blind man

to obey him

look at verse 7

go wash

in the pool

of Siloam

do you see

the significance here

the pool of Siloam

this is where

the waters came

in that underground

aqueduct

to protect Jerusalem

from ever

being without water

if it were

surrounded by the enemy

and besieged

Siloam

our text says here

means

what does it mean

sent

Jesus told this man

get up

wash off the mud

that I put on your eyes

in the waters

of scent

the waters

of the scent one

let them cleanse you

and you will be healed

the blind man knew

in verse 32

that never

since the world

began

has it been heard

that anyone

opened the eyes

of a man

born

blind

and now

Jesus is speaking

this glorious news

to him

we read

that the man

obeyed

and he came back

seen

is that your testimony

as well

there you were

in utter darkness

and sin

the Lord

spoke to you

through his word

the Lord

addressed you

he touched

your eyes

he caused you

to behold him

have you seen

the Lord

in this way

do you see him

now

you can't see

Jesus

until you first

hear him

speak to you

and he will

speak to you

in any way

that he want

I'm reminded

of a contrast

here with

Saul of Tarsus

who Jesus

renamed Paul

you know

he was physically

able to see

he was like

the Pharisees

the Lord

wants to heal

them as well

and the Lord

spoke to him

and made him

blind physically

but in speaking

he opened

the eyes

of his heart

see it's almost

like Saul

Paul

and this blind

man

they're almost

the foil

of each other

and one

just sheds

the light

on the other

so God

can speak

in any way

that he wants

but I think

there's a third

point we need

to see here

that we should

expect our Lord

to speak

in the ways

that he's

ordained

the ways

that he's

promised

to speak

so yes

he can speak

to you

in the wilderness

in the mountains

a lot of places

but what has

God ordained

look at verse 14

the apostle

John highlights

how it was

the Sabbath day

when Jesus

made the mud

and opened

his eyes

well we've seen

this pattern

haven't we

our Lord loves

to heal people

on the Sabbath

and I believe

that's still true

he loves to bring

healing

on the Lord's

day

Jesus

made the blind

man to see

and he's used

a lot of different

methods to do this

in Matthew

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8

Jesus

spat

on the man's

eyes

in Matthew

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9

Jesus

simply touched

the eyes

of two blind

men

and made

them to see

theologians

help me

to observe

the reason

Jesus

varies up

and changes

up the

methods

of healing

the blind

he didn't

want anyone

being stuck

on this

is the way

we can go

out and heal

the blind

now

he didn't

want you

to be

stuck

on his

methods

he wants

to highlight

the message

behind that

he didn't

heal all

the physically

blind

but the

message

is that

he is

the light

of the

world

and you

can be

you can

be blind

you can

be blind

spiritually

even if

your eyes

see you

you need

him to

open the

eyes

of your

heart

that's

the message

that he

wants to

highlight

now look

at verse 4

Jesus says

we must

work

we must

work the

works

of him

who sent

me

while it

is

day

I believe

he's

he's referring

now to

the day

of the

Lord

that's been

long prophesied

the day

of the

Messiah

Zephaniah

Zephaniah 1:7

chapter 1

verse 7

is one

such prophecy

which reads

that the day

of the Lord

is near

Zephaniah was

saying it's

near

you've been

waiting all

this time

for the

promised

Messiah

now his

day is

dawning

the Lord

has prepared

a sacrifice

that's the

Lord Jesus

the unblemished

lamb

and he has

consecrated

his guests

so our

Lord Jesus

is inaugurating

the kingdom

the day

is here

he's

at work

and he's

still at

work

now

his

kingdom

is

inaugurated

spiritually

we are

the church

militant

not the

church

yet

victorious

as the

reformers

would talk

about it

one day

we'll be

with Christ

in glory

that's the

church

victorious

right now

we are

literally

underground

we are

scrappy

we are

the church

militant

but his

spiritual

kingdom

is real

and he

says we

we disciples

we church

must do

the works

of the

Lord

now

while it

is day

we sweep

in here

we set

up chairs

we prepare

meals

we host

one another

we will

be handing

out the

gospel

and little

cards

we're doing

the works

while it

is day

because the

Holy Spirit

is still

regenerating

the gospel

is still

going out

but in

verse 4

he also

gives a

warning

that night

is coming

when no

one can

work

see

Jesus

is bringing

the judgment

of the

kingdom

of heaven

all those

who oppose

God

all those

who hate

the gospel

they will

be receiving

the judgment

of God

when night

arrives

when the

Holy Spirit

is no longer

regenerating

when the

gospel

has been

fully

accomplished

when all

those who

have rejected

God now

will have

no more

hope

of salvation

the night

is coming

Zephaniah

1.8

prophesied

that as

well

on that

day

I will

punish

those

who fill

their

master's

house

with

fraud

the

great

day

of the

Lord

is near

near

and hastening

fast

night

is coming

Jesus

said

Zephaniah

it's a

day of

darkness

and gloom

a day

of clouds

and thick

darkness

they shall

walk like

the blind

they are

the ones

who will

walk like

the blind

because they

have sinned

against

the Lord

see the

result

of Jesus

coming

the light

of the

world

is that

those who

reject him

they are

getting

condemnation

that's the

result

so we

must expect

to hear

Jesus

right now

through his

word

in the means

he's ordained

his gospel

his gospel

goes out

from churches

around the

globe

every

Lord's

day

and his

people go

out into

the world

proclaiming

the gospel

personal evangelism

listening to

friends and

family members

and relatives

preaching the

gospel

his light

is going

out

we say

in our

in our

church documents

that

this is real

we believe

Jesus is

spiritually present

with us

with his

church

and our

souls delight

in the presence

of Christ

he is the

way the

truth and

the life

and we

believe that

we are fed

our souls

our spirits

are fed

through his

ordained means

of grace

and it's so

ordinary

it's as we

read

we pray

we sing

we preach

we taste

and see

the gospel

of Jesus

isn't that

so ordinary

but that's

what our

king has

commanded us

to do

and that's

what we

can expect

that's how

we should

serve him

that's the

way in which

he wants

to speak

to us

every

Lord's

day

that's the

pattern set

up by

the apostles

so even

John

witnessing

this

writing it

down

in Acts

2

he was

part of

that early

church

that devoted

themselves

to the

apostles

teaching

into the

fellowship

and the

breaking

of bread

in prayers

you see

how ordinary

it is

but we do

expect

Christ

to be

extraordinary

in our

ordinary

we do

the simple

work with

him

while it's

day

and we

let God

be

extraordinary

in our

midst

I want

to shift

next to

the Pharisees

because a

big part

of this

chapter

is the

dialogue

the

confrontation

with

them

see

they

investigate

this

miracle

that's

happened

and Jesus

gives this

word of

judgment

to those

who will

reject

them

reject

Christ

they

studied

his

miracle

in such

detail

which is

actually

further

proof

that it

really

happened

it was

four

different

times

that the

Pharisees

pulled

this

blind

man

aside

and

you

heard

by the

time

we

get

to

the

final

one

he's

like

how

many

times

do you

want me

to keep

telling

you

the same

story

do you

want to

become

his

disciple

also

when

we

read

in

verse

24

they

say

give

glory

to

God

it's

like

saying

come

here

man

you

can

see

you

can

walk

around

now

are

you

pretending

to be

the

beggar

that

was

blind

out

there

and

when

they

say

give

glory

to

God

it's

like

swear

an

oath

it's

promise

that

you're

going

to

tell

the

truth

it

was

a

Jewish

swearing

into

court

in

Joshua

Joshua 7:19

chapter

7

verse

19

this

was

commanded

that

if

a

person

is

going

to

bear

witness

more

than

one

witness

bring

them

all

in

and

let

them

give

glory

to

God

in

everything

that

they're

going

to

say

so

they're

trying

to

uphold

this

as

they

do

this

interrogation

but

these

judges

are

biased

they use

faulty

weights

and they

prejudice

the

entire

court

beforehand

by

saying

we

know

this

man

Jesus

is

a

sinner

before

what

happened

they're

already

trying

to

taint

everybody's

thoughts

that

Jesus

is a

sinner

clearly

so

whatever

he's

going

to

say

here

just

keep

that

in

mind

well

the

blind

man

he

could

not

deny

what

the

Lord

had

done

to

him

he

knew

what

was

at

stake

that

was

his

spot

that

was

his

spot

on

that

piece

of

dust

right

outside

the

synagogue

where

you

get

a

lot

of

foot

traffic

what

a

shock

his

life

is

never

going

to

be

the

same

and

they've

already

threatened

his

parents

everyone

you

will

be

excommunicated

in

their

community

this

would

mean

everything

in

your

life

is

going

to

change

now

economically

financially

you

are

going

to

be

hit

so

hard

it's

like

one

nation

putting

military

sanctions

on

another

but

this

blind

man

was

made

of

tougher

stuff

because

now

it

was

the

Holy

Spirit

that

conviction

Jesus

is

the

man

he

worshipped

him

he

believed

he

was

a

disciple

of

his

the

Pharisees

were

so

blind

look

the

Pharisees

knew

verse

16

that

a

sinner

could

not

do

the

type

of

signs

that

Jesus

was

doing

they

knew

that

and

in

verse

31

they

also

knew

that

God