John 9:1-41

Father of my children, as well as my very own mother this morning.

Glad to have both of those precious women here.

! I'm glad for each of you moms.

We see you and the hard work you're doing.

It's a picture of God's grace in your life and to our church

and for your husband and your children.

We're glad for each and every one of you.

We have some ground to cover today.

We're going to look at the entirety of John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

And so I'm just going to get right to it.

I'm going to read the chapter.

And then we'll go back and work through its content together.

So let's begin John chapter 9, beginning in verse 1.

John 9 · chapter mention

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

And his disciples asked him,

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

Jesus answered,

It was not that this man sinned or his parents,

but that the works 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 signs?

And there was a division among them.

So they said again to the blind man,

What do you say about him since he has 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?

His parents answered,

We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.

But how he now sees we do not know,

nor do we know who opened his eyes.

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 the Christ,

he was to be put out of the synagogue.

Therefore his parents said,

He is of age.

Ask him.

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?

How did he open your eyes?

He answered them,

I have told you already,

and you would not listen.

Why 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 you would 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?

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 guilt remains.

Okay,

there's a lot of text to cover here,

and we're not going to look at every single word

and every detail found in this chapter,

but I promised you,

at the beginning of our study,

that I was going to follow the chiastic structure

through John.

All of chapter 9 is chiasm.

I'll make a couple of other comments about that later,

although not massively significant.

This probably, as a text,

could be broken up into three sermons.

I'm going to move pretty quick past some of it

to not keep us too long today,

but I think that the main thing

being communicated to us here by John

would be lost,

you know,

the forest for the trees,

so to speak,

if we spend too much time in this chapter.

So let's look first,

before I give you an outline,

at the first seven verses

and talk just a bit about the setting,

where do we find ourselves in the narrative,

and the miracle that's performed.

So we see right away in verse 1

that Jesus passes by a man.

He's just left the temple

where the Jews were looking to stone him.

He hides himself,

and he escapes.

At the time,

we're not totally sure,

although we find out later in the text

that it's on the Sabbath.

So some days have passed.

We don't know exactly how many

from the concluding words of chapter 8.

How many doesn't really matter,

but John's setting for us

that this is happening on a Saturday,

on the Sabbath.

We see Jesus send the man

that he heals to the pool of Siloam,

which is located in Jerusalem.

So they're still in the city,

or they're very near the city,

perhaps on the outskirts of the city.

Now, do you recall a mention

of the pool of Siloam

in our previous study?

Now, this is the first time

that we see the name of the pool

in John's Gospel,

but you may remember my explanation

of the Feast of Booths

in chapter 7,

and the carrying of water

from this pool to the temple

as part of their ceremonial tradition.

This is where that water originated from

that paraded through the city

to the temple

for that water ritual

performed at that feast.

You may remember

that it was in that setting,

John records,

chapter 7, verse 37 and 38,

on the last day of the feast,

the great day,

Jesus stood up and cried out.

Remember, there's all of this

water ceremony going on.

He says,

If anyone thirsts,

let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me,

as the scripture has said,

out of his heart

will flow rivers of living water.

So that's where they're at.

On the Sabbath day,

encounter this man

as he passes by him,

performs this miracle,

sends him to this particular pool

in the city.

It bears some significance.

And his disciples ask him

in response to seeing this man,

rabbi, teacher,

who sinned,

this man or his parents,

that he was born blind.

Misunderstood Bible text

and poor rabbinical tradition

had many first century Jews

believing that all disablements

were directly tied

to either the sin of an individual

or the sin of their parents.

To be sure,

all ailments are a result

of the fall generally,

and some sins carry with them

consequences,

but not in the systematic way

the disciples are assuming.

This man born blind,

they want to know exactly

what did he do

or exactly what did his parents do

for this to be the case.

A lot could be impacted here,

but Jesus is making

the necessary correction

for our text today.

He says in response,

it was not this man sinned

or his parents.

Had they sinned?

Of course they had.

But that the works of God

might be displayed in him.

He's not blind

because of his particular sin

or their particular sin,

but that the works of God

might be displayed in him.

I could spend all morning

talking about verse 3.

What a profound pronouncement this is.

Not ultimately the point of the story,

but what Jesus is saying here

is that there's divine sovereignty

in this man's disability

disability that is purposed

for the glory of God.

Divine purpose

for the glory of God.

F.F. Bruce in his commentary on John

says this,

quote,

This does not mean

that God deliberately caused

the child to be born blind

in order that,

after many years,

his glory should be displayed

in the removal of the blindness.

To think so

would again be an aspersion

on the character of God.

It does mean

that God overruled

the disaster of the child's blindness

so that when the child

grew to manhood,

he might,

by recovering his sight,

see the glory of God

in the face of Christ

and others.

Seeing this work of God

might turn

to the true light

of the world.

God reigns in all things

for his good purposes.

He didn't smite the man

that he might then heal him,

but rather used this tragedy

in his life

for his glory.

The tragedy of this man's life

and all the very tragedies

of your lives,

however major

or minor,

are not outside

the sweep

of God's control.

right?

So,

Jesus goes on.

We must work

the works of him

who sent me

while it is day.

There's a work

to be done here.

Night is coming

when no one

can work.

There'll be a

final judgment

when the work

will cease.

And he says,

as long as I am

in the world,

I am the light

of the world.

So after saying

these things,

he spits on the ground,

makes mud

with saliva,

and he anoints

the man's eyes

with the mud

and says to him,

go wash

in the pool

of Siloam,

which John inserts,

which means

in the Hebrew,

sent.

So,

he went

and washed

and came back

seeing.

Note the obedience

of the man

and the complete

healing

in verse 7.

total obedience,

total sight.

There's a lot

of charlatans

in our day

that claim

to have

the gift

of healing

and somebody's

knee is a little

bit achy

and then it's

not achy

anymore

after the fact.

Beware of this.

Obedience

and then

total sight.

His sight

is

restored.

But why mud?

I think

the thing

that happens

here begs

the question.

Jesus certainly

could have

simply spoken

and the man

would have

been healed.

We've seen

this elsewhere.

Jesus wasn't

bound by any

formula

to enact

his power.

I thought that

blindness required

this kind

of action.

So,

why

did he make

mud

with saliva?

And oh,

do the guesses

abound.

some odd

guesses out

there about

this.

I'm going to

give you two

reasons that I

believe sufficiently

answer the

question and

are clear

and I think

textual.

Number one,

he is

creating

contractions

for the man

to go wash

the mud

off.

This is the

Sabbath and

the Jews

have missed

the point of

the Sabbath

and heaped

up extra

laws in

self-righteous

effort.

All of

these hedge

laws that

required all

of this

particular

activity or

lack

thereof.

Do you

recall at the

beginning of

chapter 5 when

Jesus first

visits Jerusalem

in John's

narrative,

he heals a

man who had

been paralyzed

for 38

years.

Much of

his life.

Everybody

knew the

man to be

a paralytic.

Where?

At a pool.

The pool of

Bethesda.

When?

On the

Sabbath.

In the same

way, he

heals a

man known

by everybody

to have an

ailment on

the Sabbath.

John records

in chapter 5

beginning in

verse 16,

and this was

why the Jews

were persecuting

Jesus.

Because he

was doing

these things

am working.

this is why

the Jews were

seeking all

the more to

kill him.

Because not

only was he

breaking the

Sabbath, but

he was even

calling God

his own

father, making

himself equal

with God.

The controversy

really starts

there, and it's

carried all

throughout.

It's reached

this white

hot fever in

chapter 8, and

then even as

Jesus escapes

being stoned,

because it's

not yet time

for him to

die, and

that's not

the way he

was meant

to die, he

goes off, and

he continues

to poke

the bear.

Jesus is

God.

He is the

Lord of the

Sabbath, and

in perfect

obedience to

the Father, he

is having this

blind man with

mud on his

eyes travel

through Jerusalem

to a significant

location to be

healed on the

Sabbath.

He's sent to

a place that

people would

see him and

know that

Jesus had

healed him.

God's

love.

A second

reason that

I think is

helpful to

us, John

Piper said

this in a

sermon on

this text,

quote, the

second reason

for the mud

is to show

that God

usually uses

means in

doing his

wonderful works

in this

world.

Jesus could

have simply

spoken, and

the man's

eyes would

have been

opened.

But most

of the wonders

of God in

the Old

Testament were

brought about

by the use

of human

means.

God is

decisive in

the victory,

but he

uses means.

He doesn't

need the

horse, but

he uses

the horse.

Ponder this

in the bigger

picture of

life for a

moment.

What this

means is that

God does not

despise the

physical world

he has made.

he uses the

means of

food to

sustain life.

He uses the

means of

sex to

beget children,

and he

uses a

thousand

remedies to

bring about

healing from

sleep to

penicillin,

from vitamins

to radiation,

from sunshine

on the skin

to cough

syrup for

the throat.

And I

will interject

here on

Mother's Day,

essential oils

and tinctures

of various

kinds.

Back to

Piper.

And lest

you think

this removes

the mystery

of God's

wonderful work,

consider boring

down through

layer after

layer after

layer of

physical causes

for why

antibacterials

work against

strep.

Forty or

fifty layers

down into

the molecular

subatomic

activities of

the smallest

particles or

non-particles,

there comes a

point where

there is no

explanation inside

this closed

material system.

The final

explanation is

always God.

And if our

hearts are alive

and humble

and worshipful,

we will not

stop until we

see God at

the bottom

of everything.

End quote.

So this

miraculous thing

happens and it

happens in a

particular way to

incite the

controversy that

we're going to

see more of

in this chapter

and on to

the day of

the Lord's

crucifixion,

but also that

we might see

that there's

means at

play.

Now for the

rest of the

text, let's

look at four

categorical

characters.

So here they

are.

Number one,

the confused.

Number two,

the fearful.

Number three,

the proud.

And number

four,

the believer.

First, the

confused.

Verses 8

through 17.

The neighbors

and those who

had seen him

before as a

beggar were

saying,

is not this

the man he

used to sit

and beg?

Because he

was blind,

he begged

for his

income.

Some said,

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 open?

So we see

this confusion

about the

blind man

from the

neighbors.

So he

goes on to

explain in

verse 11,

the man

called Jesus

made mud

and amoyed

to my eyes

and said

to me,

go to

Siloam

and wash.

Rehearsing

this pattern.

So I

went and

washed and

received my

sight.

They said

to him,

where is

he?

He said,

I do

not know.

So then

we see

this confusion

about the

location of

Jesus,

which I

believe John

is using

to highlight

the confusion

of the

Pharisees.

He's like

building this

confusion

pattern

leading up

to verse

13,

where they

bring to

the Pharisees

the man

who had

formerly

been blind.

And this

is where

John tells

us in

verse 14,

it was the

Sabbath day

when Jesus

made the

mud and

opened his

eyes.

First century

Jewish readers

would have

gone,

oh,

he's got

a problem

now.

So now

the Pharisees

asked the

man,

and he

said to

them,

he put

mud on

my eyes

and I

washed

and I

see.

His

explanation is

getting more

condensed.

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.

Their

reasoning

begins

with the

Sabbath

must

be

kept

in a

particular

way.

They

miss

the

point

of

the

Sabbath.

Their

presupposition

is wrong

and so

their

conclusion

is wrong.

This

man

is not

from

God.

He

can't

be

sent

from

God

if he

doesn't

keep

the

Sabbath

the

way

we

believe

the

Sabbath

should

be

kept.

But

others

of the

Pharisees

said,

how

can

a

man

who

is

a

sinner

do

such

signs?

Is it

even

possible

that

if

a

sinner

categorically

a

sinner

John

records

and there

was a

division

among

them.

And we

see this

John

does

this

throughout

his

narrative

pressing

to us

putting

before us

constantly

in our

reading

of it

who

is

Jesus?

What

are you

going to

do

with

him?

He

makes

such

astounding

claims

about

himself.

He

does

miraculous

works

that

are

recorded

here

for

us.

You

may

be

a

person

who

rejects

the

Bible

entirely

as

God's

word,

but at

least

accept

it

as

a

historical

account.

Very

few

academically

honest

people

will

deny

that

this

is

not

a

good

historical

record.

If

you

can't

believe

that

the

Bible

is

a

historical

book,

then

you

can't

believe

any

historical

work.

There's

so much

more

evidence

that

this

is

in

fact

a

good

sound

record

of

what

happened

in

history.

So

you've

got

to

do

something

with

this

Jesus.

We've

said

again

and

again

the

trilemma.

He's

either

a liar,

he's

a

lunatic,

or

he

is

in

fact

Lord.

And

so

there's

this

confusion

amongst

the

Pharisees.

What

do

we

do

with

him?

He's

either

from

God

or

he's

not

from

God.

So

in

verse

17

they say

again

to

the

blind

man

what

do

you

say

about

him

since

he

has

opened

your

eyes.

They

look to

him

for

some

judgment

to

settle

their

dispute

and

he

responds

he

is a

prophet.

At

this point

I say

that not

even the

formerly

blind

man

fully

grasps

who

Jesus

is.

Perhaps

some

unfolding

revelation

to him

but he

doesn't

quite

understand

yet

but he

at least

believes

that he

is sent

from

God.

So

there's

some

confused

individuals

in the

text.

We

then

secondly

see

some

fearful

people

in the

text

verses

18

through

23

we

find

in

these

verses

the

center

of

the

chiastic

structure

of

this

entire

chapter.

I

believe

that

John

is

presenting

to

us

a

new

category

of

respondent

to

Jesus'

miracles

and

claims.

We've

seen

throughout

the

narrative

so far

a

reject

or

receive

pattern.

There's

sometimes

some

confusion

but there's

reject

receive

reject

receive

reject

receive

but here's

a

new

response.

The

Jews

didn't

believe

he'd

been

born

blind

and

received

his

sight

but they

call

the

parents

so they

come to

believe it

when the

parents

come

they

ask

them

is

this

your

son

and the

report

back

is

yes

this

is

our

son

and he

was

in fact

born

blind

but verse

21

says

but now

how he

sees

we do

not

know

nor do

we

know

who

opened

his

eyes

ask

him

he

is

of

age

he

will

speak

for

himself

but

the

chiastic

center

is

verse

22

where

John

inserts

some

interpretive

help

for us

his

parents

did

know

who

had

opened

his

eyes

we

know

this

because

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

the

anointed

one

of

God

he

was

to

be

put

out

of

the

synagogue

they're

avoiding

the

question

altogether

because

they

can't

say

it

was

the

man

Jesus

who

healed

our

son

he

is

the

Christ

they're

saying

just

don't

ask

us

any

more

questions

our

son

is

old

enough

ask

him

he

will

speak

!

for

himself

being

expelled

from

the

synagogue

was

a

serious

form

of

religious

and

social

exclusion

since

synagogue

life

was

central

to

Jewish

community

identity

this is

where

they

would

have

held

the

teaching

the

temple

was

for

sacrifice

the

synagogue

was

like

outposts

of

God's

people

gathering

together

they

existed

all

over

the

place

this

one

likely

in

Jerusalem

it's

where

they

would

have

had

social

gatherings

being

put

out

of

it

would

have

meant

a

loss

of

social

standing

separation

!

from the

religious

community

economic

consequences

public

shame

being

treated

as

outside

faithful

Israel

essentially

it would

have

been a

loss

of

identity

to be

put

out

of

the

synagogue

my

reading

of

John's

parenthetical

reminded me

of Jesus'

parable

of the

soils

a

sower

goes out

to

sow

this is

Mark

chapter

four

as he

sowed

some seed

fell along

the path

and the

birds

came

and devoured

it

later

never

takes

root

this is

satan

coming and

snatching

away

that seed

so it

never

takes

root

other

seed

fell

on rocky

ground

where it

did not

have much

soil

and

immediately

it

sprang

up

since it

had

no

depth

of

soil

and when

the

sun

rose

it

was

scorched

and since

it had

no

root

it

rizzled

away

Jesus

tells us

later

that this

is

the ones

who endure

for a

while

and when

tribulation

or persecution

arises

on account

of the

word

they

immediately

fall

away

verse

seven

says

other

seed

fell

among

thorns

and the

thorns

grew up

and choked

it

and it

yielded

no

grain

Jesus

says

those

are the

thorns

people

who

hear

the

word

but

the

cares

of

the

world

and the

deceitfulness

of riches

and the

desires

for other

things

enter

in

and choke

the

word

and it

proves

unfruitful

and if

you're

familiar

with the

parable

you know

there's

a

final

seed

that

falls

on

good

ground

and

that

soil

are

those

who

hear

the

word

and

accept

it

and bear

fruit

thirtyfold

and sixty

fold

and a

hundred

fold

I don't

know how

to

categorize

this

man's

parents

if they

are

rocky

soil

or if

they

are

thorny

soil

but at

least

at

this

point

they

are

not

responding

to the

reality

that

Jesus

is the

Christ

because

they're

fearful

they do

not want

to be

put

out of

the

synagogue

and so

they

dodge

the

question

altogether

therefore

his

parents

said

verse

23

he

is

of

age

ask

him

there's

a

fearful

category

of

people

in

this

text

thirdly

there's

the

proud

verses

24

through

34

and

39

through

41

so

what

do

they

do

for

the

second

time

they

call

the

man

who

had

been

blind

and

said

to

him

give

glory

to

God

we

know

that

this

man

is

a

sinner

which

is

to

say

honor

God

by

aligning

with

the

truth

that

we

have

already

settled

in

our

own

minds

they

are

done

looking

for

what

truly

happened

they've

asked

him

once

they've

asked

his

parents

they're

back

to

him

now

just

saying

get

on

board

with

what

we've

said

is

true

but

he

answers

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

how

did

he

open

your

eyes

can

you

believe

that

the

question

is

being

asked

once

again

he

answered

them

I

have

told

you

already

and

you

would

not

listen

why

do