Light true sight and becoming more blind

All right, so we are back into the Gospel of John

and we'll continue through this through the rest of our holiday time.

John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, there are Bibles up on the back desk up there

if you want to grab one.

But keep it open to John chapter 9

John 9 · chapter mention

because we'll be working through that as I speak.

Before I actually even get into it though

and start talking about the passage,

I'm going to make an observation about life

that I think we can all pretty readily and easily see,

perhaps even in ourselves.

Things like, have you noticed how a successful businessman

sees his first million as a start

and continues to work long hours

even though they're well into the category of rich?

A billionaire even will continue to work long hours.

A politician will go to battle for a lost cause.

A world record holding athlete

will train and train and train again

to beat their own record,

pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion,

to the point of body failure.

Putting themselves to the absolute limit

in order to beat their own record.

Why do we do this?

Why do we have this drive,

a drive that actually pushes us to move further,

to get that promotion,

to work harder,

to excel more and more in the different areas of life?

Where does this drive come from?

Well, in an article by Tony Schwartz

in the New York Times in May 2015,

he actually says this,

we want desperately to matter,

to feel a sense of worthiness.

Once our basic human needs are met, he said,

the biggest stressor that psychology has managed to throw up

or the biggest threat to me,

the most likely thing to produce the hormone cortisol,

which is a stress chemical

that starts your heart racing and all that sort of stuff,

the biggest stressor beyond eating, drinking, shelter,

is my social self,

my social acceptance,

my esteem,

my status.

Or you could say my pride,

my dignity,

my respect.

And because of this drive,

and because it's so strong,

we apply ourselves to achieving this end of esteem and status

with incredible vigour.

Why?

To feel good about ourselves,

but more for everyone to look at us

and wish that, well, they were like us too.

There's some kind of comparison that goes on here too.

It's not just me and myself competing against myself

and trying to better myself.

I'm trying to lift myself up compared to you.

There's a comparison going on in which we judge each other.

As Christians, we do this all the time.

You know, even as Christian parents,

we don't want our kids playing with the rough kids.

Oh no, we want them playing with the good kids.

We send them to good schools

so that I can actually mix with those good kids.

We encourage them toward a good education,

push them to work hard,

get a good job.

We try to steer them away from the wrong partner

when that time comes.

We even spiritualise it.

We expect spiritual obedience

to lead to blessing.

And you know you do that

because as soon as something rubbish

comes into your life,

you go, why God?

Why do we even ask that question?

We expect spiritual obedience

to lead to blessing.

And we see blessing in terms of success.

And we see success

as the results of our effort.

Into that scene

and that mode of thinking

enters a man born blind.

Why was he born blind?

Well, there were theological answers

to that question already floating around.

Accepted answers.

They're implied by the question

that the disciples asked Jesus in verse 2.

His disciples ask him,

Rabbi, who sinned,

this man or his parents,

that he was born blind?

Cause and effect.

Someone must have sinned

because he was born blind.

But who?

Worst case scenario,

the man himself

while he was still in the womb.

How did this work?

Well, they thought, it appears,

at least this is one of the ways

that this might have happened,

was that an unborn baby

might actually participate

in the sin of their mother.

So if the mother sinned,

because the baby was present in the womb,

then that child sinned along with the mother.

So best case scenario,

the people who are all,

you know,

looking at this sinner,

this blind man on the side of the road.

Best case scenario,

people looking at this blind man

and blaming his parents.

Worst case,

they're looking at him

and judging him personally,

thinking he is personally responsible

for his blindness.

But either way,

in their minds,

sin leads to suffering.

It's as easy as that.

So,

this blind man was a sinner

from a family of sinners.

So this family

were on the edge

of the respectable sphere of life,

the respectable social set.

That's how people viewed them.

But Jesus,

in his response,

cuts right across

the cause and effect view

with his answer.

If you look in verse 3,

Jesus answers,

It was not that this man sinned

or his parents,

but that the works of God

might be displayed in him.

Sin can lead to suffering,

and we can see that in John 5.14.

You can look these up later.

Just write them down.

1 Corinthians 11.30,

they're examples.

A specific sin

can lead to specific suffering.

Jesus doesn't take this

off the board completely,

but he does take it

off the board

as a general principle

that you can then apply

to everyone you see

that's suffering.

Oh, there's got to be

a sin behind it.

There are lots of reasons

for suffering.

This one,

says Jesus,

isn't about sin.

This man wasn't born blind

because of sin.

Not a specific sin,

at least.

And as Alex kind of pointed out,

there's a,

you know,

what do we do with it then?

Why was he born blind?

Well, it's possible

that when Jesus says,

but that the works of God

might be displayed in him,

it's possible that he's saying,

well,

he was actually born blind

so that I could actually

heal him at this point

and show God's glory.

It's also possible, though,

that Jesus is actually saying,

you're looking at this whole thing

the wrong way.

The whole thing,

the whole paradigm

that you're viewing the world through

is wrong.

The whole paradigm

that you're viewing me

and my ministry through

is wrong.

They are looking to condemn

when they should be seeing,

as Jesus does,

an opportunity to save.

If you look at John 3,

John 3:16

verses 16 and 17,

for God so loved the world

that he gave his only son

that whoever believed in him

would not perish

but have eternal life.

Then verse 17,

for God did not come into the world

to condemn the world

but to save the world through him.

Jesus didn't come into the world

to condemn the world

but to save the world.

They're looking at this whole thing

the wrong way.

What God is doing right here,

right now in Jesus' ministry

should be about saving,

rescuing,

pulling people out of the darkness

into the light.

That's exactly what this healing will do.

It will reveal God.

This healing is symbolic.

It's a signpost pointing to God at work.

So the next question that comes up

is how was he healed?

And it gets a little bit of attention here.

Again, Alex pointed that out.

John records that Jesus spat on the ground

and made mud with the saliva

in verses 6 to 7.

Then he anointed the man's eyes with mud

and said to him,

Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,

which means scent.

Why the mud?

Who knows?

That's the best I can come up with

to answer the question

that Alex posed for me to answer.

No idea.

I do suspect though

with the amount of irony

and the amount of insults

and things being thrown around

in this particular account,

I do suspect

that Jesus does it

to push the buttons

of the Pharisees.

And I can't prove that.

But then again,

the other theories around it

are equally unprovable,

you know,

speculative.

One thing we do know though

and one thing that does get an explanation

is the pool.

The pool is significant.

John tells us

that its name means scent

where Jesus is the scent one

in this gospel.

It's an important name

in the context

of what God has been doing

throughout history

and it's an important name

in the context

of what's actually been happening

very recently

in the gospel.

So in John 7,

John 7:37–39

verse 37 to 39,

we're right at the end

of the Feast of the Tabernacles.

And in 7,

verses 37 to 39,

Jesus actually interrupts

this water-pouring ritual

at the end of that feast.

He gets up and shouts,

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.

Now the water

for that particular

water-pouring ceremony

was drawn

from the pool of Siloam.

So yet again,

Jesus is diverting their attention

from the things of the past

that they're celebrating

to say this is the time

of fulfillment here and now.

But further,

if we go back

to Genesis 49,

which is the passage

where each of the sons of Jacob

are actually being blessed.

In Genesis 49, verse 10,

Genesis 49:10

we read,

the scepter shall not depart

from Judah,

nor the ruler's staff

from between his feet,

until tribute comes to him,

and to him shall be

the obedience of the peoples.

Now your versions probably

have an alternate translation

at the bottom.

For the until tribute comes to him

actually literally reads

until Shiloh comes,

where Shiloh is Hebrew

for sent.

This could be Jesus' way

of actually explaining

who he is

in the whole breadth

of biblical theology,

of Bible history.

He is the eternal ruler,

the one who the scepter

would not depart from,

that Judah has been awaiting.

Jesus uses this miracle

to reveal that God's work

over thousands of years

all connects into him

and his arrival.

It places Jesus

right at the centre of it.

These revelations about Jesus

are just waiting to be seen

and pondered

and understood,

much in the same way

that the understanding

of this blind man

grows gradually

about who Jesus is

throughout this account.

But we're getting ahead

of ourselves,

let's just stick with

where we are now.

And the fact is here

that the neighbours

of the blind man

cannot get over

the miracle that happens.

How could this happen?

It was such an unbelievable thing

they couldn't even agree

that the healed man

before them

was actually

the blind beggar they knew,

their next door neighbour.

And I love this part

of the events

because it asks

all the questions

I want to ask

about that miracle.

Is it the same person

or was it just a mistake?

No, it's the same person.

Well then, wow,

how were your eyes opened?

He says,

Jesus made mud

and told me to wash

at Siloam.

At this point,

the neighbours know

that you spit on the ground

and make mud

and rub it in someone's eyes.

That does not heal

a man born blind.

They know the pool

of Siloam

and whilst it's used

in specific rituals,

it is just water.

They know it

to be just water.

So for them,

the significance lies

in who did this?

And so they ask

that question,

where is he?

Where is this Jesus?

And the man born blind

goes, well,

I don't know.

He doesn't even know

what he looks like

at this point.

But in all of this,

things have changed

for the man born blind.

He was the man

who used to sit and beg.

He was this outcast sinner.

But through this encounter

with Jesus,

he's becoming someone new.

But there's no Jesus

to explain exactly

what's going on.

And something this big

needs explaining.

So,

they do what anyone would do.

They go to the spiritual authorities,

they know.

They didn't have Google,

so they went to the Pharisees.

And the big question they had

was who is responsible?

Even though they go

and delve into all the details

of the actual miracle

and how it happens,

what they're really trying

to do is determine

is this from God or not?

Who is responsible?

This miracle was too big

to ignore.

And this is kind of

the thought that's going around

in the friends of this guy's head,

neighbours of this guy's heads.

Who could possibly do this?

Who is responsible?

So,

in verse 13,

they brought to the Pharisees

the man who had formerly

been born blind.

And now we discover

that it was a Sabbath day

when Jesus made the mud

and opened his eyes.

So,

the Pharisees again asked him

how he received his sight

and he said to them,

he put mud on my eyes

and I washed

and I see.

Now,

the Pharisees,

in terms of understanding

the law

and the things of God,

they were kind of

at the top of the pile.

They're the spiritual elite

in this community

and embedded in this exchange

is the information

that the Pharisees need

to make their decision

from their perspective.

Who is responsible?

Well,

straight away,

a number of them

start to think,

not God.

Jesus can't be.

He can't be

from their God

because he doesn't keep

their rules

about the Sabbath.

Now,

note here,

there is no rule

in God's law

against anything

that Jesus did

at this point.

What they're referring to

is the extra laws

that they'd added

to the law.

So,

it was their rules,

not God's rules,

that Jesus had broken.

Rules that they had added

to establish

and to make clear

their own personal value

to prevent them

from sinning anymore.

Initially,

there was some disagreement

among them.

Some of them were saying,

well,

he's a sinner

and others were saying,

well,

how can a sinner

do things like this?

But ultimately,

they were using

different lenses

at this point.

Some began

with their own

Sabbath rules

and others began

with a miracle

and worked in

to try and work out

who it was.

And they desperately

needed to resolve

this division

because it was

dividing them.

And they couldn't

have that.

It represented

a break in their ranks,

a break in how

they actually achieve

and understand

personal value

to be achieved,

how they maintain

their pride,

their dignity,

their respect,

their status

over everyone else

in their society.

If they depart

from the law

at this point

and their additions

to it,

then they diminish.

And if Jesus

becomes a competing

voice,

then they lose

ground in their

community.

So the Pharisees

review the evidence

but notice that they

review the evidence

not unbiased.

They're very biased

the way they review it.

They ask the man

his opinion

in verse 17.

Who do you think

he is?

Straight back.

He's a prophet.

Now things really

have escalated

because if this is

allowed to stand,

then Jesus really

does begin to

compete with them.

And how can they

compete with a man

who can heal

a man born blind?

So they bring in

some other people

to try and bolster

and check things out

and make sure there

are no loopholes here.

They bring in their

parents in verses

18 to 23

and they say,

is this your son?

They say, yes.

Was he born blind?

Yes.

How does he now see?

We don't know.

Now John gives us

some important context

at this point.

In verse 22 to 23

he explains that

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.

the Pharisees

were already known

to be against Jesus

and the parents

were already

on the outside

because they were

perceived as sinners.

The fact that their

son was born blind

was a point of shame

for them

because this was

the prevailing theology.

Sin leads to suffering.

Admitting it again

in public life

is being drawn

into what would have

been a very public trial

was just rubbing

their noses

in the fact that

they were on the outside.

It's equivalent

to just being shown

up as sinners

again and again.

And they'd lived

under the weight

of this theology

for years

at least since

their child was born.

They were sinners.

They knew there was

no way back.

Just a daily reminder.

No wonder they caved

when they were pressed

to make an opinion

about,

form an opinion

about Jesus.

So at this point

they come back

to the man born blind.

Come back to the man

in verses 24 to 34

and there's a really

interesting exchange here

and right in the middle

of it things take

a huge turn.

They come back

to the man

and they say

give glory to God.

Now just so you know

what that means

it's basically saying

now tell us the truth.

Give glory to God

is a kind of

I guess

a sort of

phrase

that equated

for what we would call

being under oath

in court.

that's all it's about.

So he's saying

tell us the truth

and there's no question

there's just a statement.

We know this man

is a sinner.

No question.

Just their verdict

on who healed him.

In a nutshell

they're saying

God is not in it

and what they're

trying to force

this man to do

is to make a choice

between them

and Jesus.

Well

the man responds

he says

look I have no idea

about whether he's

a sinner or not

but one thing

I do know

that though I was blind

now I see.

The man bypasses

the sin debate

and gets back

to the point

if you are right

then please explain

how he healed me.

And they can't

their own theology

suggests that

Jesus must be of God

because only people

who were in God's favour

could do these things

and as we read

through what the man

says back to them

he's actually really

quoting their theology

back to them.

We know that

in verse 31

we know that God

does not listen to sinners

but if anyone

is a worshipper 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.

He's quoting

their theology

back to them

and they are stuck.

They have no way

to deal with this.

Only a truly godly man

could do this miracle.

And they ask him again

they try and point

towards the sin

behaviour in Jesus.

Ah, but how did he make

you know

how did he heal you again?

Ah, he made mud.

Ah, he doesn't actually

say that

but that's what

they're trying to

draw out.

He answers them

at that point

look I've told you

already

and you wouldn't

listen.

Why do you want

to hear it again?

Do you also want

to become his disciples?

I've got to suggest here

that this is actually

mischief making here.

He's starting to realise

these guys

are just so stuck

in their ways

they're not prepared

to see

what's right

in front of them.

This man was born blind

but now he could see.

He has met Jesus.

He has been healed.

He has listened to people

try and rubbish Jesus

and has only convinced him

of the truth.

And so he chose Jesus.

Do you want

to become his disciples too?

The Pharisees

could only respond

by coming back

to their rules.

They kept judging God

by their expectations.

Their standards.

Their way of life.

The law was their way of life.

It was how they built

their self-esteem.

Their pride.

Their reputation.

So often it's the same

for us.

Our conduct

is what we rely on

to build our reputation.

But this Jesus

told them the truth.

Their way

wasn't working.

Any sin

was a sign

of slavery to sin.

Jesus says

in chapter 8.

The law

was a diagnostic tool

not a rescue plan.

Jesus

is the rescue plan.

Let me say this again.

The law

is not a diagnostic tool.

Is a diagnostic tool

not a rescue plan.

You cannot resolve

the issues

that we face

as human beings

from the outside in

with a rule oriented approach.

You just cannot do it.

I know as a parent

of my children

I saw my sister

do this

when I was visiting her

over Christmas time

with her kids.

Her kids are a bit

younger than ours.

But I can remember

what it was like

to try and impose

rules on your kids.

You don't hit each other.

That's one of the rules.

That's a fair rule

as a parent

to impose on your children.

And so when one of your children

hits another child

well you've got to deal

with it don't you?

And so you have a rule

to deal with that as well.

Okay you must say sorry.

And so you get one

the child that hit

to say sorry

to the child that was hit.

And even the child

that was hit can tell

that they're not really sorry.

But frankly as parents

we've done our job

haven't we?

One child hit another

we've got them to say

sorry job done.

Really?

No chance.

We cannot regulate

the issues that we face

by going from the outside in.

Everyone needs saving.

Jesus is that saviour.

But these men

they were in the business

of limiting

and concealing their sin.

They added to the law

to try and limit

and cover over

what was going on.

They built up

these walls around them

of law

to try and look respectable.

But in their hearts

they were the same

as everyone else around them.

because of their method though

they didn't want a Messiah

who would reveal their sin.

So they said no

to God

with us.

Emmanuel.

Never since before

the world began

has it been heard

that anyone opened

the eyes of a man

born blind.

To paraphrase

the man that was healed

is saying

are you guys crazy?

Throughout all of this

the man just keeps

growing in his faith.

He just keeps seeing

Jesus more clearly

and the Pharisees

have no answer

so they cast him out.

They stuck with their plan.

Why?

Because this miserable sinner

was going too far.

In verse 34

they answered him

you were born

in utter sin.

They put him back

in the category

that Jesus is rescuing him from.

And they just

close ranks on him.

Their world

revolved around

a plan that relied

on their efforts.

Jesus was threatening

to turn their world

upside down.

He was giving hope

even to outcasts

to sinners.

And they were under

the illusion

that they were in control.

People really believe

that they can influence

things that are

out of their control.

This is actually

a scientifically proven fact.

in the 1970s.

This is a long time ago now.

The 1970s.

A researcher from UCLA

called Ellen Langer

actually demonstrated this.

She demonstrated

a principle

that she called

the illusion of control.

Let me give you

a simple example

of one of her

research projects.

She got people

to invest in the lottery

and study their expectations

as they invested

in the lottery.

And she found

that people

who buy a lottery ticket

where they choose

the numbers

believe they are

more likely to win

than those

who were assigned

random numbers.

If we have

any involvement

in a process

we begin to think

much more strongly

that we actually

have some element

of control.

We're more likely

to win.

Even though

it's all random.

This belief

is so strong

that advertisers

and sales people

have been using

this trade in us

to manipulate us

for decades.

The law offers

an illusion of control

and Jesus offers

the painful truth

and yet with it

he offers us hope.

But we won't

come to him.

We won't see

that hope

unless we see

the truth.

What do you see?

In these events

the man born blind

was back where

he started

perhaps even worse off.

He was kicked

out of the synagogue.

He was branded

a sinner.

When Jesus

hears what happened

he sought him out

and he filled in

the missing pieces

for him.

Jesus answered

the man's

burning question

about who

is behind

all of this.

He explains

who healed him.

He actually

does it

a little bit

cryptically

but he says

do you believe

in the son of man

where the son of man

was from the vision

of Daniel.

It was the revelation

of God in human form.

Do you believe

in the son of man?

And he answers

and who is he sir

that I may believe

in him?

Not wanting a

description of what

the son of man is

but an identity.

Point him out

and I will go to him.

Jesus said to him

you have seen him

and it is he

who is speaking

to you.

The man responds

in faith

Lord I believe

and he worshipped

him.

He knew what it

was to be a sinner.

He was still

seen as a sinner

by the spiritual

leaders of

his community.

He knew

the incredible

burden of the law.

All his life

he had lived

under the weight

of sin.

He was born blind

but for the first

time he could

see.

Some of you

may know a man

called Charles

Wesley.

Charles Wesley

was a good man.

He knew the

Bible well.

He studied it

daily.

He lived his

life by it

for years.

He was one

of the leaders

of a Christian

movement called

the Methodists.

He was

admired,

almost feared

for his

zeal.

He could

actually quote

these words

and I'm going

to quote

from a hymn

called

And Can It

Be.

He actually

wrote this

hymn once he

understood it,

once he could

actually see

who he was.

He spent his

life trying to

purge himself

of sin and

he did such a

good job of it.

He was seen

as one of the

best Christian

men around.

But it

wasn't until

he could truly

see,

until he could

truly see

Jesus that

he wrote

these words.

Has

been

since

the

quickening

ray

I woke

the dungeon

flamed with light.

My chains fell off.

My heart was free.

I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

Friends, can you see?

Can you see this Jesus?

Let me pray.

How can it be that we should gain an interest

in our Saviour's blood?

Lord, the fact that he died for us

who caused his pain,

pursued us to the point of death.

What amazing love.

Lord, we ask the question,

how can it be that you, my God, should die for me?

But we thank you so much

that this was your rescue plan.

We're sinners in need of salvation.

Thank you, Lord, for rescuing us.

And Lord, for those of us here who haven't yet

seen Jesus this way,

haven't actually recognised the salvation that he offers,

Lord, I ask that you would show yourself to them.

Show them not just the historical Jesus,

not just the Jesus of justification,

the one who died in our place,

but the Jesus we all desperately need.

I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.