Sight Giver

Good morning, church.

Glad to have you here on the live stream.

It's good to see you all and be seen by you all this morning.

Our sermon text today is John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

Go ahead and turn there if you have a Bible with you.

I'm going to pray for us, and then I'll read John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

Let's pray together.

Father, as the psalmist prayed, we pray this morning that you would open our eyes,

that we may behold wondrous things out of your word.

By your spirit, we pray that you would allow us to see with the eyes of faith

the wonder and truth of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

And in seeing him, Father, may we worship him this morning.

And in worshiping him, may we become more like him.

And in becoming like him, would we know true and lasting joy.

Father, we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, let me read for us John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

And he, that is Jesus, passed by.

He saw a man blind from birth.

And the 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, Jesus 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 sent.

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 don't 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 him,

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 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.

Now, one thing I do know, 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 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?

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.

So, there you are,

sleeping in comfortably on a Saturday morning,

when suddenly,

mom or dad,

or your spouse,

or your roommate,

walks into the room,

pulls back your Ikea room darkening curtains,

and says with a smile,

Time to get up!

And the light that comes flooding through the window

into your comfortable, sleepy Saturday morning

is so bright,

so sudden,

so overwhelming,

that for a moment,

you can't see a thing.

You are, as they say,

blinded by the light.

Jesus, again, in our passage,

calls himself, in verse 5,

the light of the world.

And as we see,

as this passage unfolds,

that this light that Jesus is

has a two-fold effect.

On the one hand,

Jesus causes the blind to see.

But on the other hand,

like the curtains being torn open

on your lazy Saturday,

Jesus also causes the seeing

to become blind.

And at the heart of the passage

is this question.

Coming face-to-face with Jesus,

will we humbly admit

our spiritual blindness

and receive sight?

Or will we proudly say

that we see just fine

without Him

and so remain blind?

So this is our outline.

This is our sermon today.

Jesus makes the blind to see,

and He makes the seeing blind.

So let's look at the first part

of that then.

Jesus being the light of the world,

because He's the light of the world,

the blind are made to see.

Now in the first seven verses

of the chapter,

John recounts Jesus' healing

of this man born blind.

But notice how the disciples,

notice how the disciples

want to explain

the man's disability.

How do they do that?

Well, they say there must be,

there must be some particular sin

that caused this.

Either this man himself

sinned in the womb,

which some Jews at the time

believed could be possible,

or maybe they think

his parents sinned in some way,

and that's why he's blind.

But notice that Jesus

rejects this line of thinking.

Now of course,

sickness and disability

and death

were not how God

created the world to be.

all of those things

flooded into God's good creation

because of the fall.

So in a very general sense,

we can say that sickness

and disability and death

and brokenness and decay,

all of those things in the world

are a result of sin in general,

capital S sin, the fall.

But to point to a particular

individual instance of sin

as a cause of a particular

individual instance of suffering,

Jesus says,

no,

that's not how this works.

Notice what he says.

He says,

it was not that this man sinned

or his parents,

but

that the works of God

might be displayed in him.

In other words,

this man's blindness

was not a sign

that he was a greater sinner

than other people.

No, in fact,

this man's blindness

was going to be

the very place

where God's glory

shone through his life.

Now, pause there

for a moment with me.

Do you hear what Jesus is saying?

Our places

of greatest weakness

and vulnerability,

that's where God's glory

just might shine

through our lives

the brightest.

I wonder,

where do you feel

weak

or vulnerable

or low

this morning?

Maybe like the man

in this passage,

it's a physical limitation

or disability,

or perhaps it's

an emotional weakness

or vulnerability.

Maybe it's something

in your history

or in your family.

Rather than ignoring

or denying

that reality

in your life,

rather than being

constantly afflicted

with the shame

because of it,

Jesus says,

that's where my glory

will shine through.

Right there.

Right where you know,

right in that place

where you admit

that you don't have

it all together,

right there

in your weakness.

That's where my beauty

will shine forth.

But at first,

it gets a little messy,

doesn't it?

Jesus heals this man

in a very curious way.

Now, think about it.

Jesus,

and we've seen this

in the gospel so far,

Jesus could have just

spoken a word

and this man could have seen.

But instead,

what does Jesus do?

He spits on the ground,

he makes some mud,

and then he smears it

in the man's closed eyes.

What is going on here?

Now, some have thought perhaps

that Jesus is intentionally

provoking another Sabbath

controversy with the Pharisees.

As we find out in a few verses,

all of this is happening

on the Sabbath day.

And again,

according to Jewish tradition,

things like kneading

or anointing or healing,

these things,

they weren't allowed

on the Sabbath

according to the passed down

sort of religious traditions.

So perhaps Jesus wants

to force the issue

of his identity

yet again

with the religious authorities

by healing this man

in this sort of strange way.

Or maybe the reason

Jesus heals this way,

some have thought,

is because he's actually

hearkening back

to the Genesis account.

Do you remember?

God created humanity

from what?

From the dust of the ground

in Genesis 2.

So perhaps here,

Jesus is sort of reenacting

this creation story

as if to say

that he is the creator

come to restore

and recreate

his fallen world.

He created humanity

out of the dirt

of the ground

and now he's going

to recreate us

out of the dirt

of the ground.

It's hard to know

exactly what Jesus

had in mind,

but I think two things

here are pretty certain.

What Jesus does here

first is very personal

and it's,

as we said,

a little messy.

in order for Jesus

to bring this man

from blindness to sight,

in order for this man's

place of greatest weakness

to be the place

where God's glory

flood through his life,

the man has to be open

to the uncomfortable touch

of his master's hand.

The man has to be willing

to humble himself.

And what we find

is he is.

Mud in his eyes,

he goes to the pool

and he washes

and he comes back seeing.

And the question put

before us, friends,

is the same thing.

Are we willing

to humble ourselves

before Jesus

even if it means

getting a little messy

in the process?

Even if the way

in which Jesus

wants to do

his unique work

in our life

isn't what we expected

and isn't quite

what we might explain.

Now, as we consider

what that might mean

for us to bring

even our deepest weakness

and vulnerability

to Jesus,

to see that those

are the places

where his glory

might shine

through the brightest,

notice two things

about this passage.

Notice two applications

here, as it were,

of our first big point.

First, notice,

notice the compassionate

urgency of Jesus here.

Look again at verses

four and five.

Jesus says,

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,

as long as I am in the world,

in the world,

I am the light of the world.

Now,

I want us to see

the heart

of the Savior

in these words.

He sees us

not just in our

physical blindness,

but in our

spiritual blindness.

He sees us

in our desperate need.

And what does

Jesus do?

Does he hesitate?

Now, think about it.

It would have been

very natural

for Jesus

to hesitate

here in chapter nine.

After all,

it is

Sabbath day.

And in John chapter seven

and eight,

right before this scene,

Jesus has just gone

another ten rounds

with the religious authorities.

And they literally

want to kill him.

And here he is,

still in Jerusalem

after the Feast of Booths,

having just gone

toe-to-toe

with the religious authorities

yet again.

And now,

the disciples,

you can almost feel them

looking at Jesus

and saying,

really, Jesus,

are you going to do this

on the Sabbath again?

Can we just let the dust

settle down a little bit?

Can we let things

cool off?

And come back,

like, tomorrow

and heal this guy?

But no.

Our Savior knows

that his mission

must, he says,

be performed.

His earthly ministry

was just a few

short years.

Soon, Jesus would face

betrayal,

arrest,

and execution.

The night

was coming,

he says.

Now, yes,

after that night

would come the new day

of his resurrection,

his ascension on high,

his outpouring of the Spirit,

yes,

his mission would advance

through the Spirit-filled church,

and we would do

even greater works

than these,

but even so,

we have to keep in mind,

brothers and sisters,

that the night is coming

when no one can work.

This age is not going

to last forever.

God will come

to judge his world

in perfect justice,

and the time for turning

will be no more.

And so,

Jesus,

knowing that the time

is short,

acts with compassionate

urgency.

And consider

what that cost him.

Another miracle of mercy

on the Sabbath day.

Another bold assertion

of his sovereign authority.

Another burst of light

into the darkness

of a world

that does not comprehend it.

Jesus knows

that doing works

like this

will lead him

straight to the cross.

And does he hesitate?

Does he let the dust settle?

No.

He spits in the dust,

picks it up,

and rubs it right

in the guy's eyes.

He opens his eyes

and the blind see.

You see, friends,

what will eventually happen

in the Gospel of John

is that Jesus

will let the darkness

of the world

fall on himself.

The darkness

of human hatred

and evil,

the darkness even

of divine wrath

for our sin.

He will let the darkness

fall on himself

so that we can step

into the light.

So that we,

the blind from birth,

can at last see.

Do you see now

that you can trust

this Savior?

trust him,

trust him even

with your weakness,

even with your vulnerability.

Do you see

that you can humble

yourself before him

and find yourself

humbled before

a loving,

strong,

and gentle Savior?

you can admit your need

and you can admit

your blindness

and you can let him

spread some proverbial mud

on your eyes

and you can hear him say,

wash,

and then you can come back

seeing.

Friends,

this is Jesus,

full of compassion,

full of urgency

to save the lost,

to save us,

to save you.

But notice second here,

as Jesus opens

the eyes of the blind,

notice,

notice the wonderful

boldness

of this man

who is so humble.

In verses 8 through 33,

the sort of long

middle section

of chapter 9,

notice all that

this healed man

has to face

from those around him.

Notice first,

notice first his boldness

or his assurance

through it all.

First,

as he faces

the confusion

of his neighbors.

Wait,

they say,

you can't really

be the same person.

Now,

you know,

people might say

the same of you

after you become

a Christian

or after the Lord

does a deep,

humbling,

healing,

changing work

in your life.

People will expect you

to be the same old person

you always were

with the same old habits

and the same old tendencies.

But the reality is,

is humbling yourself

before Jesus

means that you will change

and that will cause

confusion

to the people around you.

And yet,

notice how the man responds.

He says,

no,

it's really me.

Jesus did this.

Second,

the man overcomes

not just the confusion

of the neighbors

but the suspicion

of the religious authorities.

Now,

quite naturally,

the neighbors

take the healed man

to the local synagogue leaders.

That was a pretty common thing to do.

This seems like a big deal,

they think.

This guy just got healed.

Let's take him

to the people we trust

and know

and let's let them

sort this out.

This is kind of a big deal.

Let's go.

But,

all that many of them

are concerned about

is whether or not

the traditions

have been kept.

And in keeping

the traditions,

they're worried about

keeping their own power

in place.

But again,

the healed man

has this deep assurance

and deep boldness

that their suspicions

of him and of Jesus

can't shake.

He says,

Jesus must be a prophet.

He must be someone

sent from God.

And you can see

as this passage

is unfolding

that the healed man's

faith is deepening

as he undergoes testing.

It was Jesus,

he says.

Who is Jesus?

He must be a prophet.

He must be someone

sent from God.

Third,

the man overcomes

not just the confusion

of his neighbors,

not just the suspicion

of the authorities

in his life,

but he overcomes

even the fear

of his parents.

That is,

this man doesn't succumb

to the same fear

as his parents do.

And what is that fear?

It's a fear

of being cast out

or being excluded

or being excommunicated

from the synagogue.

The synagogue

was sort of the local place

of worship for Jews

in the town.

And why

were they afraid

of being excluded

or cast out

or excommunicated

from the synagogue?

Well, because

some synagogues

had already started

casting people out

if they confessed

that Jesus

is the Messiah.

Now, we know

that this wasn't

a widespread policy

during Jesus' lifetime.

It wasn't the fact

that every synagogue

had sort of instituted

this rule,

but it does seem like

some local congregations

in Jesus' day

had started

to take a definitive stand

on this man

from Nazareth.

Rumors were spreading

about him.

People were getting

enthusiastic.

Some local synagogues

had to draw a line

and they declared

that he is not

from God

and anyone

who thought otherwise

would be cast out,

excommunicated

from fellowship

in the synagogue.

Now,

that's no small thing.

Imagine being

cut off

from the sort of

locus of your community,

your family,

and your sense

of belonging

to God

and God's people.

Not being allowed

to come and participate

in the teaching

and the rituals

and the practices

and the songs

that really make you

who you are

as a Jewish person

in the first century.

It's hard for us

to find a good analogy

for that today,

you know.

If you can't come

to church on Sunday,

your whole world

doesn't fall apart,

right?

I think it would be

sort of like losing

our job today

as I thought about it.

Just think of how much

identity and belonging,

not to mention

financial provision,

we get from our jobs.

Now, if confessing

Jesus as the Messiah

meant an immediate

loss of your job,

you'd be afraid, right?

Well, if you can feel

a little bit of that fear,

then you can sympathize

a little with this guy's parents.

They're faced

with a really hard decision.

And so what do they do?

In fear,

they dodge the question.

Ask him.

He's of age.

We don't know

what happened.

And so they bring

the healed man back in.

And does he cave

to the fear?

No.

Something so profound

has happened

to this man

that even the fear

of being thrown out

of the synagogue

doesn't shake him.

You have to love

the moment when they

start interrogating him again.

And he says in verse 27,

I've told you already

how he healed me

and he would not listen.

Why do you want

to hear it again?

Do you want to become

his disciples?

I think that's the definition

of pluck, right?

Like having that kind

of audacity

and boldness

in the face

of what really is

a sort of devolving situation.

What would give this guy

such courage?

What would give him

such assurance?

Well, it was his life-changing

encounter with Jesus.

Verse 25,

One thing I do know,

that though I was blind,

now I see.

All the confusion,

all the suspicion,

all the fear

can't shake that one thing.

Though I was blind,

now I see.

J.C. Ryle,

an old pastor

from the 19th century,

writes this

in his reflection

on this passage.

He says,

There's no kind of evidence

so satisfactory as this

to the heart

of a real Christian.

His knowledge

may be small,

his faith

may be feeble,

his doctrinal views

may be confused

and indistinct

at present,

but Christ

has really

wrought

a work

of grace

in his heart

by the Spirit.

He feels

within him

something

that you cannot

overthrow.

I was dark

and now I have light.

I was afraid

of God

and now I love him.

I was fond of sin

and now I hate it.

I was blind

and now I see.

And then Ryle

goes on and he says,

Let us

never rest

till we know

and feel

within us

some real work

of the Holy Spirit.

Let us

not be content

with just the name

and the form

of Christianity.

Let us desire

to have true

experiential

acquaintance

with it.

Feelings

are no doubt

deceitful

and they're not

everything in religion,

but if we have

no inward feelings

about spiritual matters,

Ryle says,

it's a very bad sign.

The hungry man

eats

and feels strengthened.

The thirsty man

drinks

and feels refreshed.

Surely the man

who has within him

the grace of God

ought to be able

to say,

I feel its power.

And friends,

to the extent

that you humble yourself

before Jesus,

the light of the world,

bringing to him

not just your strengths,

but also your profound weakness,

admitting to him

and to others

not just your abilities,

but also your profound inability,

to that extent,

you will feel

his power

as you worship him,

as you pray to him,

as you walk with him

through your life

through trial and suffering.

And after the trial,

do you notice what happens

in verse 35?

After this guy

just gets put through

the wringer of confusion

and suspicion

and fear

and accusation

and cast out

of the synagogue himself,

what happens?

Jesus comes and finds him

and meets him again.

Jesus seeks him out,

has fellowship with him,

brings him into a fuller

and more robust faith.

brothers and sisters,

do not fear

adding your voice

to the voices of those

who are giving testimony

to the power

and the goodness of Jesus.

Like this man,

you don't need

all the right answers.

You don't need

years of training.

You simply need

to be able to give

joyful witness

to the work of grace

in your own life.

And the promise is

that through that trial,

Jesus himself

will meet you.

So this is the first

big idea of John 9.

The blind are made

to see.

If we admit

that we're in darkness,

Jesus will bring us

into the light.

But the second point

we see here in John 9

is this,

that those who think

they see

are blinded.

Friends,

spiritual pride

is a dangerous thing.

And we can actually

see it growing

throughout this passage

in the character

of the Pharisees.

First,

they sort of dispute

the healed man.

And perhaps

there's some openness.

You know,

we see that there's

some division

in their ranks.

And yet,

they refuse

to open their minds

and admit

that perhaps

they don't have

it all figured out.

Perhaps their traditions

aren't the last word.

Perhaps what God

desires

isn't a show

of great power

and skill

and learning.

Perhaps what God

desires most,

as the prophets

will say again

and again

and again,

is a humble

and contrite heart.

A humble admission

of weakness

and need

coming before

the God

of the universe.

Notice how

the interrogation

with this healed man

ends.

They say,

they answered him,

and they say,

you were born

in utter sin,

and would you

teach us?

You can just feel

the vitriol

coming out.

Would you teach us,

they say.

In other words,

they refuse

to be teachable.

What could

this uneducated,

until recently

disabled beggar

possibly teach us,

they think?

Friends,

beware

spiritual

pride.

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?

And Jesus said,

if you were blind,

you'd have no guilt.

In other words,

if you admitted

your blindness,

you'd be free.

But now that you say,

we see,

your guilt remains.

And that's where

the passage ends.

And that's where

we end.

At least our sermon.

With the coming of Jesus,

the curtains

have been flooding open.

The curtains

are being ripped open,

the light is pouring in,

and as the church

continues to proclaim

the message of Jesus,

the Spirit continues

to shine his light

into our darkness.

And the reality is,

is that we'll never

really see

until we admit

that we're blind,

until we become

humble

and teachable.

You know,

there's nothing wrong

with good education.

There's nothing wrong

with learning

and pursuing

religious knowledge

and pursuing

these types of things.

There's nothing wrong

with that.

In fact,

there's a lot of good

that comes of that.

And yet,

if that's the thing

that we're leaning on,

beware, friends,

that we don't become

just like the Pharisees,

unteachable,

hardened,

unable to admit

our vulnerability

and our weakness,

unable to confess

that we're not righteous,

but we're sinners.

You see, friends,

the cross of Jesus

levels us all,

does it not?

Before the cross,

we see that we are

all sinners.

That we are all

woefully short

of the glory of God.

Each and every one of us.

And yet,

what does the cross

also tell us?

That God loves

each and every one of us.

That we are all,

in His eyes,

precious,

valued,

loved.

And it's right there

in humility

before Jesus,

before the cross

and the resurrection.

It's right there

when we really

begin to see.

When we take hold

of Christ crucified

and risen,

that's when our weakness

becomes our strength.

Even if God

doesn't choose

to heal us.

That's when our foolishness

of worshiping

a crucified Savior

becomes real wisdom.

That's when our blindness

becomes sight.

when we take hold

of Him,

the light of the world.

Let's pray together.

O light of the world,

undimming

and unsetting,

O shine

each mist

away.

Banish the fear,

the falsehood,

and the fretting.

Be our

unchanging

day.

Spirit,

only you

can bring

true humility

to our hearts,

so we humbly ask

that you would do

that work this morning.

We are so proud.

We are so afraid

of admitting

weakness and need.

Please soften

our hearts.

Help us to see

our desperate

need of grace

and show us Christ.

Spirit,

let us see Him

standing even now

before our Father's throne,

looking upon us

in love,

ready to receive us,

bearing the wounds

of the cross for us,

casting out all fear.

Turn our hearts

to you, Lord,

this day,

this week,

and may we walk

in the boldness

that only humility

before you can give.

Amen.