A Lowly Beggar

John chapter 9 verses 1 to 12. As he went along he saw a man blind from birth.

John 9:1–12

His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.

Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes.

Go, he told him, washing the pool of Siloam, this word means sent.

So the man went and washed and came home seeing.

His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked,

Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?

Some claimed that he was.

Others said, No, he only looks like him.

But he himself insisted, I am the man.

How then were your eyes opened, they asked.

He replied, The man they called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes.

He told me to go to Siloam and wash.

So I went and washed and then I could see.

Where is this man, they asked him.

I don't know, he said.

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.

Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath.

Therefore, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.

He put mud on my eyes, the man replied.

And I washed and now I see.

Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.

But others asked, How can a sinner perform such signs?

So they were divided.

Then they turned again to the blind man.

What had you to say about him?

It was your eyes he opened.

The man replied, He is a prophet.

They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received the sight until they sent for the man's parents.

Is this your son?

They asked.

Is this the one you say was born blind?

How is it that he can now see?

We know he is our son, the parents answered.

And we know he was born blind.

But how he can see or who opened his eyes, we don't know.

Ask him.

He is of age.

He will speak for himself.

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders,

who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.

That was why his parents said, He is of age.

Ask him.

The second time they summoned the man who had been blind.

Give glory to God by telling the truth, they said.

We know this man is a sinner.

He replied, Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know.

One thing I do know, I was blind but now I see.

Then they asked him, What did he do to you?

How did he open your eyes?

He answered, I've told you already and you do not listen.

Why do you want to hear it again?

Do you want to become his disciples too?

Then they hurled insults at him and said, You are this fellow's disciple.

We are disciples of Moses.

We know that God spoke to Moses.

But as for this fellow, we don't even know where he is coming from.

The man answered, Now that is remarkable.

You don't know where he comes from.

Yet he opened my eyes.

We know that God does not listen to sinners.

He listens to the godly person who does his will.

Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.

If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

To this they replied, You were steeped in sin at birth.

How dare you lecture us.

And they threw him out.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out.

And when he found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man?

Who is he, sir?

The man asked.

Tell me so that I may believe in him.

Jesus said, You have now seen him.

In fact, he is the one speaking with you.

Then the man said, Lord, I believe.

And he worshipped him.

Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind.

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, What, are we blind too?

Jesus said, If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin.

But now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Shall we just pray?

Lord, we come before you now.

We thank you for the means to meet together in an online way.

And despite the fact that we are distanced physically, we can still gather together around your word, which unites us.

We thank you for the people who make it possible for these sermons to go ahead and for the skills that you give them.

And we thank you for these words, that your son came so that the blind might see.

Lord, would you open our eyes to what you are saying to us today?

We ask that Alistair's sermon will speak to us all, that your words through him will teach us, encourage us, and point us to Christ in whom salvation is found.

We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Alistair, and I have the privilege of being the assistant pastor here at Brunsfield.

And it is my joy this morning to open up John chapter 9 to us.

John 9 · chapter mention

But let me just start with a little bit of an observation.

I'm sure some of us have really enjoyed the good weather that we've been having during this time of lockdown,

particularly in the months of April and May.

The sun has been shining, the shorts and the t-shirt have been on,

and maybe you even enjoyed a walk in the park, or you enjoyed soaking up the sun in the garden.

But my wife Sabina and I have found something quite interesting about the sun during this lockdown period.

So during our normal Scottish weather of overcast clouds and grey-tinted skies,

we can look out our windows and see clearly the wind blowing the trees to and fro.

We can look down and see our neighbours running to get out of the rain.

But during the sunny days of lockdown,

we've realised that our windows aren't actually as clean as we thought they were.

The sun has revealed that our windows are full of dirt and dust.

Now without the light revealing this dirt, we would be none the wiser.

But when the light shines on the windows, it reveals the extent of dirt that's there.

The sun reveals things.

But at the same time, the sun can be blinding.

For example, you can be driving down the motorway, going 70 miles per hour,

and suddenly that one cloud moves out the way, shooting that sunbeam directly at your eyes.

And it takes you a second to pull down the sun flap or put on your sunglasses.

The sun can both reveal and it can blind.

Now we all know this.

It's not any rocket science.

But it's very relevant for the passage that we're looking at this morning in John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

Because in this passage, Jesus is reiterating the truth about himself that he mentioned in John 8 verse 12.

John 8:12

Where Jesus said this,

And Jesus says the same thing in our passage for this morning in verse 5.

I am the light of the world.

This seems like a small detail in quite a long passage.

So why am I drawing attention to it now?

Well, because the identity of Jesus as the light of the world is fundamental to our understanding of this passage.

This chapter tells us when the light shines,

some people are made to see,

whilst others are blinded.

The light is the same,

but the reactions to it,

the effects of that light are very different.

Just as the sun can both reveal and blind,

so too does Jesus,

the light of the world,

when shone into the darkness,

reveal the truth to some

and blind others.

Jesus says that himself in John chapter 9 verse 39.

John 9:39

For judgment I have come into this world,

so that the blind will see,

and those who see will become blind.

So we're going to see in this passage

how the blind receive sight,

and how the seeing are made blind.

We're going to be jumping in and out of the passage this morning,

so it would be great if you have your Bible open in front of you

to follow along.

So the first thing we see in this passage

is the blind receive sight.

The blind receive sight.

In verse 1,

we see that Jesus is walking along,

and he sees a man who's been blind from birth.

And Jesus' disciples ask in verse 2,

Rabbi, who sinned?

This man?

Or his parents that he was born blind?

The disciples assume,

like many people did at that time,

that sin and suffering are connected.

And that is a right assumption to make to an extent.

The Bible says that our bodies,

our world,

and everything in it has been stained,

and broken by sin.

So in general terms,

sin and suffering are connected.

But when we move from the general principle

of suffering and sin,

and apply that same truth

to individuals,

and to very specific

and bad situations,

and say that they result from a specific sin,

we're going beyond what the Bible teaches.

In many cases,

we don't know why we suffer.

And God's intention

is hidden from us.

But we cannot,

and we should not,

conclude that every suffering

is a result of a specific sin.

That is a dangerous road to take.

And it can hurt many people.

And it is simply not what the Bible says.

In most cases,

suffering is not the result of a specific sin.

Sometimes we might not even know

the reason for our sufferings.

There is no point on us speculating.

That's true in the case of this blind man.

His blindness was not a result of sin.

But Jesus tells us the purpose

behind this man's blindness in verse 3.

Jesus says,

Neither this man nor his parents sinned,

but this happened so that

the works of God might be displayed in him.

The purpose of this man's blindness

was so that the works of God

may be seen and revealed.

That's what Jesus has come to do.

To reveal the works of God.

That is what he says in verses 4 and 5.

Jesus has come into the world,

and whilst he is still with them,

with his disciples,

this light must be shown to the entire world.

Jesus sees this man who is physically blind,

and through an amazing miracle in verse 6,

he puts mud and spit on his eyes,

sends him to a pool to wash,

and he is healed.

What a wonderful miracle.

This blind man can suddenly see

for the first time in his life.

His whole life has been completely changed.

He was a beggar.

He had no possibility to work.

Bound to a life on the street,

asking for money,

depending on other people.

No hope of getting better

until Jesus comes

and turns his life upside down.

Imagine for a second that walk home.

Imagine his joy,

being able to see for the very first time.

He can look up and see the sun,

which up until now has only warmed his face.

He can see the birds flying,

the trees swaying in the breeze.

He can see his parents' face

for the first time.

Suddenly, the world takes on a whole new light

because his eyes have been opened

and he can see.

He would have been skipping home with joy.

So that's the physical side of it.

But there is also a spiritual revealing of sight

that happens to this man.

As we journey through the passage,

he understands more and more of who Jesus is.

And then we see another miracle.

Not only has this man received his sight,

but at the very end of the passage,

in verse 38,

we see that he receives spiritual sight.

The identity of Jesus is revealed to him

and he worships.

Well, this isn't a light bulb, isolated moment

where he suddenly sees Jesus

and falls on his face in adoration.

He comes to the conclusion of who Jesus is

by miraculously receiving his sight

and by coming up against severe opposition.

So in verse 7,

the man washes at the well and is healed.

He goes home

and his neighbors are confused

because they've only ever known him

as the blind man.

And so they ask in verse 10,

how then were your eyes opened?

He responds,

the man they called Jesus

made me,

made some mud and put it on my eyes.

He told me to go to Siloam

and wash.

So I went and washed

and then I could see.

Currently,

he sees Jesus as a man.

But as we travel through this chapter,

this blind man

is met with opposition

from religious leaders

and he's growing in his understanding

of who Jesus is.

In verse 11,

he calls Jesus a man.

In verse 17,

he says that Jesus is a prophet,

a spokesperson

sent from God

to deliver his message

and to do his works.

And then,

in verse 33,

he says that Jesus is from God.

This man's eyes

are being opened wider.

He's beginning to see more clearly.

And it comes to a conclusion

in verses 35 to 38.

In verse 35,

Jesus goes out

searching for this man.

Now,

do you see

the amazing grace,

the abounding love

and compassion

that Jesus has

for this man?

This man has just been

kicked out

from the Jewish community,

excommunicated

from the religious establishment

that he's known

his whole life.

And Jesus seeks him out

in his pain,

in his confusion

and finds him.

Jesus has compassion

for the whole person.

He brought physical healing.

But Jesus

is also interested

in this man's

spiritual state

before God.

For this man

to truly

receive his sight,

he must believe

in Jesus

and follow him.

Jesus,

full of compassion,

searches for

and finds this man.

And asks him

in verse 35,

do you believe

in the son of man?

A name that

speaks of Jesus'

identity as God

and his identity

as the one

who will judge

the world.

The blind man,

having never seen

Jesus up until

this point,

asks,

well,

who is this

son of man?

And Jesus says

in verse 38,

you have now

seen him.

In fact,

he is the one

speaking with you.

This man has received

his physical sight,

but now

he understands

who Jesus is.

He grasps

what exactly

has happened

to him

and who it is

that stands

before him.

And he receives

spiritual sight.

upon realizing

who Jesus is,

this man cannot

help but have

the right response

to Jesus.

He responds

in adoration,

confesses Jesus

as Lord

and worships him.

If you're a Christian

this morning,

this should be

our response

every single time

we ponder the person

of Jesus Christ,

who displays

the wonderful

works of God

to the world.

We should worship

him in adoration.

Maybe you're familiar

with this passage.

Maybe you've read it

a hundred times.

Maybe you've become

numb

to the wondrous

works of God

that Jesus displays.

Well,

I'd encourage you

to look at this passage

and to look at Jesus

afresh

and marvel

at his wonderful

works.

Rejoice in the fact

that you too

have

received

spiritual sight.

That the

wonderful works

of God

have been revealed

to you.

We see who Jesus

truly is.

Rejoice that we've

been brought out

of the darkness

and into the light.

We worship

a Savior

who is

compassionate

and who

pursues

people

and who

calls us

to be lights

in the world.

Therefore,

we too

should pursue

people with

compassion.

Help

practically

where we can

in situations,

but we should

always be willing

and ready

to share

the good news

of Jesus

so that they

too

can receive

spiritual sight.

That they

can recognize

Jesus

and respond

to him

in worship.

Friends,

that is the

right response

to Jesus.

The journey

that this blind

man has been

on is the

same journey

that many

of us

have been

on through

already in

life.

we heard

about Jesus

maybe from

an early

age,

maybe as

an adult,

and we

read stories

of what

he did

and what

he taught,

and maybe

we thought

that he

was a good

guy,

a good

moral teacher.

But as

his light

is revealed,

as we see

his miracles,

we hear more

about his

teaching,

we must

conclude

that he

is sent

from God.

Some

confess

Jesus

as a

prophet,

but if

we stop

there,

we have

completely

missed the

mark.

Because

once we

hear about

how Jesus

died

on the

cross to

make

forgiveness

of sins

possible,

and how

he rose

triumphant

from the

grave,

and that

he is now

seated at

the right

hand of

God the

Father,

we cannot

come to

any other

conclusion

than Jesus

is Lord,

and we

must humble

ourselves and

worship him.

Have your

eyes been

opened this

morning,

or are you

still blind

to the

identity of

Jesus?

If you're

not a

Christian this

morning,

I would

urge you to

investigate

this.

look into

this

eyewitness

account of

the life

of Jesus

and wrestle

with what

is really

happening

here.

Jesus is

not just

a good

guy.

He is

not a

moral

teacher.

Jesus is

the light

of the

world,

who can

open the

eyes of

the blind

both

physically

and

spiritually.

the blind

receive

sight.

Have you

received that

sight this

morning?

Jesus is

the light

of the

world,

who opens

the eyes

of the

blind.

And the

second thing

we see in

this passage

is that

those who

are seeing

are blinded.

The seeing

are blinded.

the man is

taken to

the Pharisees

in verse

13 and

it is here

that we

realize the

extent of

spiritual

blindness

that is

found among

the religious

elite of

this day.

To be

spiritually

blind means

to be

oblivious to

the things

of God.

It means

that someone

can be

presented with

the works

of God,

can be

told about

the identity

of Jesus

and can

have the

good news

explained to

them and

yet they

continue to

reject God.

That is

the spiritual

blindness of

the religious

leaders here.

The Pharisees

hear in

verse 15

how this

man was

blind but

now he

sees because

Jesus put

mud on

his eyes.

But instead

of rejoicing

at the

wonderful work

that God

has done,

they conclude

in verse

16 that

Jesus is

not from

God because

this miracle

happened on

a Sabbath.

They even

dare to

call Jesus

a sinner.

He is

the only

perfect one,

the sinless

son of

God but

they refuse

to admit

that.

They are

blind.

The Pharisees

in this

next little

section

question the

man and

his parents

and they

conclude

that this

blind man

is a liar

contrary to

all the

evidence

and they

conclude that

Jesus is

a sinner.

They are

given all

the evidence

they need

to see that

this miracle

is authentic.

They have

the neighbor's

testimony,

the testimony

of the blind

man that he

was born

blind and

now he

sees

and they

hear from

this man's

parents and

still they

refuse to

acknowledge what

is before

their very

eyes.

Why?

Because

although they

see they

are spiritually

blind.

Adam and in

their denial of

the facts the

religious leaders

turn back to

the man in

verse 24 and

say give glory

to God by

telling the

truth.

we know

this man is

a sinner.

The irony of

that verse is

beyond measure.

They are

urging this

man to

glorify God

by calling

God's son a

sinner.

They are not

telling the

man to give

glory to God

by thanking

God for this

healing.

They are

saying tell

the truth

before God.

But they

don't want the

truth.

They want

to hear

what they

have already

concluded in

their minds.

And just as a

side note,

if you're not a

Christian and

you're tuning

into this,

have you

reflected on

why it is

you believe

what you do?

If you don't

believe the

gospel, do you

know exactly

what it is

that you're

rejecting?

Can you say

with a good

conscience that

you have

earnestly looked

at all the

evidence?

And you

don't believe

it?

Or are you

rejecting something

that you

haven't properly

wrestled with

yet?

And this

blind man

who now

sees,

realizes that

these supposed

men of God

aren't willing

to recognize

the truth that

is very clearly

before them.

And he ends

this meeting

with a conclusion

in verse 33.

If this man

referring to

Jesus were

not from

God, he

could do

nothing.

And this

sends the

Pharisees into

a rage.

And they

throw him out

of the

community.

The light of

the world has

been presented

to them.

And they are

being blinded.

As Jesus

says, this is

why he came

in verse 39.

For judgment

I have come

into the

world so

that the

blind will

see and

those who

see will

become blind.

And some

Pharisees hear

this.

And they ask

a very important

and very

telling question

in verse 40.

are we

blind too?

Jesus

responds, if

you were

blind, you

would not be

guilty of

sin.

But now

that you

claim to

see, your

guilt remains.

Jesus is

saying that

they've had

God's law.

They should

be aware of

their sin and

their need for

forgiveness.

But they

reject the

light because

they don't think

they need it.

They think

that their

religious deeds

will make them

right with

God.

They think

that they are

good enough.

They are the

very definition

of self-righteousness.

They think

that their

windows are

squeaky clean

when the sun

shines in on

them.

But it

isn't.

The

scriptures make

it abundantly

clear that man

cannot be

made right

with God

apart from

Jesus Christ.

The gospel,

the good news

of Jesus,

the light of

the world is

shining on

these men

and they're

being blinded.

The sun is

shining right at

them and they

just don't get

it.

They refuse the

light of the

world and they

want to stay in

their spiritual

darkness.

Friends, this is

what happens when

the good news of

Jesus is held

out to a

watching world.

Some turn in

belief and

rightly worship

God,

recognizing their

sin and utter

dependence on

Jesus for

forgiveness whilst

others are

blinded,

mistakenly

thinking that

they are good

enough to be

in God's

good books

and they

refuse to

acknowledge the

truth that

Jesus is

Lord.

Let me be

clear this

morning.

We can never

do enough

or be good

enough to be

made right with

God by

ourselves.

It is solely

through Jesus

Christ that

people find

forgiveness and

are made right

with God.

God.

This is

important for

Christians to

know because

our job is to

spread the good

news of Jesus

in the world and

leave the responses

to God.

He knows who

his people are.

He knows who

will respond to

him and who

will reject

him.

And as

Christians,

our response

always should

be to have

the same

reaction now

as we did

when we first

became Christians.

to bow down

in adoration

and out

and out

worship

of Jesus

for who he

is, the

light of

the world.

Christians are

called to be

lights in

this dark

world and

share the

forgiveness that

Jesus offers

to those who

walk in

darkness.

And if

you're not a

Christian this

morning, the

Bible says

that you're

spiritually blind,

the message

of Jesus,

the light of

the world

reveals that

reality in

your life.

The light

reveals the

problem, but

the light is

the solution

to that very

problem.

Because it

was Jesus

himself who

went to the

cross, bearing

the full wrath

and judgment

of God

so that

sinners, so

that spiritually

blind people

like you and

me can receive

sight.

And Jesus

rose from the

dead proving

that to be

true.

It is only by

confessing our

sin to Jesus

and crying out

to him for

forgiveness

that we receive

spiritual sight.

how will you

respond to

this light of

the world?

Will you

recognize Jesus

as Lord and

worship him?

Or will you

refuse and

continue to

walk in

darkness?

Think back to

the sun and

the power that

it has to both

reveal and to

blind.

Well, my

prayer is this

morning.

as the good

news of Jesus

has been read,

has been

proclaimed, as

the identity of

Jesus, as the

light of the

world, has been

made known, that

you would have

your eyes opened

and that you

would run to

him for

forgiveness and

worship him.

Let's pray

together.

Father, we

thank you that

you sent your

son, the light

of the world

that reveals

the reality of

our lives.

Father, forgive

us for the

times that we've

thought that we

can be made

right with you by

ourselves, that we

are good enough.

Lord, we confess

that we are not.

But we thank you

that you have

revealed the

truth and that

you sent your

son to die on a

cross, meaning

that we can now be

made right with you,

that we can be

forgiven and receive

spiritual sight.

Father, give us

boldness to

proclaim the

gospel and trust

you with the

results.

We ask this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.