John

The passage is slightly longer, but I thought it was worth hearing the whole of John 9, which is where we are up to in the gospel.

! So let's hear God's word.

As he 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 spat 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 neighbours and those who'd 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 are 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'd 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 doesn't keep the Sabbath.

But others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such things?

And there was a division among them.

So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he 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'll 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.

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 told you already and you wouldn't listen.

Why do you want to hear it again?

Do you want to become his disciples?

And they reviled him, saying, you are his disciples 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 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.

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, but 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.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, help us to see this afternoon.

To see who Jesus is.

And what it means to follow him.

And we pray in his name.

Amen.

It is very warm, isn't it?

So, thank you for being here.

And we'll try and get through as quick as we can.

The main thing that I want you to see in this passage this afternoon

is that behind discouraging opposition, there is an encouraging reality.

Behind discouraging opposition, there is an encouraging reality.

Now, if you're familiar with the Gospel of John,

as we read out the story in chapter 9,

and as we hear about this miracle that Jesus performs,

you might be getting a bit of a sense of déjà vu,

like we've been here before.

Because the account of this miracle of Jesus healing this blind man

is a bit like another miracle that has happened in John chapter 5,

John 5 · chapter mention

four chapters earlier.

There is a similarity between two miracles.

There is a supernatural work of Jesus Christ.

There is a healing in both accounts.

There is a pool of water that is involved.

And the healing is done on the Sabbath,

both in chapter 5 and in chapter 9.

The first in chapter 5 was a lame man,

and this time it's a blind man.

Now, often when things are repeated in the Gospels,

we've got to see the significance of them

by looking at the differences.

Why is John 9 here?

What is different about this miracle

compared with the miracle in chapter 5?

And there is one crucial difference.

Back in chapter 5,

Jesus performs the miracle,

and he faces discouraging opposition.

He is interrogated by the religious leaders.

But in chapter 9,

that is not the case, is it?

It is not Jesus who is interrogated.

It is the man who receives the blessing and healing.

It is the blind man who is in the limelight.

In fact, for a long portion of John chapter 9,

John 9 · chapter mention

Jesus is not in the scene at all, is he?

He's there until verse 7,

and then he sort of disappears,

and then he returns near the end in verse 35.

And so the narrative focuses on this man

who is blind and then receives his sight.

As the opposition ramps up to Jesus in the Gospel,

we see that it's not just Jesus himself

who faces the discouragement of the religious authorities,

it is Jesus' followers,

and those who are touched by him.

And that's the case today, isn't it?

More often than not,

in most opposition to Christian things,

Jesus is targeted through his followers.

And that is the case here.

This man, he is blind,

and he is bullied,

and he is barred from the temple.

He is badgered by the Pharisees.

And it seems like, doesn't it,

Jesus touches his life,

and then he is taken up in this whirlwind

of aggression and opposition against him.

As soon as he's associated with Jesus,

he is on the back foot.

And he doesn't know what's going on.

He's interrogated.

And it looks like he fumbles around for answers.

He says,

I don't know how Jesus did this.

All I know was that I was blind,

and now I can see.

And being a Christian,

being a follower of Jesus,

can look like that, can't it?

It can be very discouraging.

We can start to feel a little bit sorry for ourselves.

So much opposition.

So many questions.

So many accusations.

But what I think John wants us to see here,

is that there is another side to this man.

And there is another side

to the discouraging opposition

that follows with Jesus' face.

There is an encouraging reality underneath it all.

Because actually,

it is very easy to get this guy all wrong.

To just look at him at first glance

and feel sorry for him.

when really he is not who he appears to be.

There is more to be encouraged about with this man

than there is discouragement.

And that goes for the same in the Christian life.

Now, three things about him.

First of all,

he is the blind man who sees.

He is the blind man who sees.

And of course,

that's the great irony of the story, isn't it?

Of the passage.

He is the only man,

in this whole account,

whose eyes do not work properly.

And at the same time,

he is the only man in the story

who can see.

He can and has seen things

that the sighted people in the passage cannot.

That is why Jesus says about him in verse 39,

if you look there,

I'd come for people like this,

people who do not see,

that they may see.

Do you know,

in those days,

to be blind,

like this man,

to be blind from birth,

would have been a massive disadvantage

to you in life.

Maybe this man was sat outside the temple,

as often was the case,

waiting for handouts.

And to be disabled in your eyes

was as good as really an early death sentence.

And to all intents and purposes,

this guy is a lost cause,

isn't he?

He is the man with the worst prospects in the world.

He's got every reason to be discouraged.

He cannot see.

But the work of Jesus means

that this man is not what he seems.

He is surrounded by the fully sighted,

fully trained students of theology.

He looks like the loser, doesn't he?

But we're told, actually, it's the opposite.

Notice what Jesus says to him at the end in verse 37.

And these are really huge words.

He talks about the Son of Man.

That is a code for God's chosen king

sent into the world.

And he says to this man,

in verse 37,

you have seen him.

And it is he who is speaking to you.

And he said, Lord, I believe.

And he worshipped him.

Do you see, the physical healing of his eyes

is a demonstration of a deeper sight

that Jesus has given to this man.

To see who Jesus is.

And to believe in him.

And to worship him.

There is much to discourage this man.

But the encouraging reality

is that Jesus has given him vision

of something better than everyone else

is capable of seeing.

Going around on the tube,

I don't know if you've seen or heard

the guy who whistles on the underground.

Maybe you've heard about him before.

He's not an official busker.

He doesn't have one of those

designated busker patches.

But he's a really good whistler.

He's got a great tone.

And his thing is hymn tunes.

He whistles hymn tunes

about the Lord Jesus.

So you're in the stream of people

in the underground corridors.

And whistling over the kind of noise

is this music from this guy.

But as you get closer,

there is something else unique about him.

He is totally and utterly blind.

This guy can't see a thing.

And he sort of rhythmically

rocks backwards and forwards.

And he whistles hymns to Jesus.

And you know,

he couldn't care less.

And you realise that this blind man,

he can see something

that nobody else in the corridor can.

There is much to discourage him,

isn't there?

He is disadvantaged.

He's at the bottom of the pile.

Well,

this man is out of place in the world.

And you pity him

and you feel sorry for him.

But the blind man is not who he seems.

Last tune I heard him whistling

was,

crown him with many crowns.

The lamb upon his throne.

The blind man sees.

And followers of Jesus

are ridiculed and pitied and resented.

They're discouraged,

aren't they?

But they are not what they seem.

They are people who used to be blind,

but they've come to something more valuable.

They've come to see something

that nobody else can see.

They've come to see Jesus.

Because he has met with them

and opened their eyes to him.

So you're a follower of Jesus.

You get up in the morning,

you switch the radio on,

you listen to their conversation,

you go to work,

you walk through healing,

you go shopping,

you wash your car,

talk to the neighbours.

And all of the while,

there is this sense, isn't there,

that you can see

more than meets the eye in the world.

That this world is ruled by King Jesus,

the Son of Man.

And I can see now that there is a God

who sent him to bring me to himself

and to give me sight.

And underneath the discouragement

and opposition,

there is a vision

and a sight that transports believers

out of the difficulty,

in a sense,

to see the Lord Jesus

in his glory.

He is the blind man who sees.

Secondly, though,

he is the bullied man

who is strong.

He is the bullied man

who is strong.

Now, the other way

you can get this guy wrong

is that he just seems overwhelmed

by the pressure, doesn't he?

He seems overwhelmed

by the discouragement.

And the middle section

of John 9

has a series of increasingly

aggressive interrogations.

So, in verse 8 to 12,

it starts off with the neighbours.

They get called in, don't they?

After he's given sight.

And they ask him,

how were your eyes opened?

And then the theological professionals

jump in,

the Pharisees,

and the questions

get more and more aggressive.

And then the parents

get brought in

and they're interrogated as well.

And the vigour

of the opposition

gets more and more intense.

And by the end of it,

the Pharisees,

all they've got is insults.

In verse 34,

you were born in utter sin,

they say to him.

You can scan through

some of the accusations

that they throw

at one of Jesus' followers.

Verse 16,

they say Jesus is not from God.

Verse 19,

they say that the miracle

is not possible.

Verse 24,

Jesus is a sinner.

He's morally questionable.

Verse 26,

they ask him for more details

to try and tie him up

in a contradiction.

Verse 29,

they again ask about

Jesus' origins,

where he's come from.

They throw heresy

after heresy

after accusation

after accusation

at him.

They attack

Jesus' follower

to try and discredit

Jesus.

But what is interesting

is that parallel

to the increasing

venom

of the opposition

is the increasing

clarity

of the man's

answers.

When the opposition

was light,

he's more vague,

I think.

But as it

hots up,

he is more clear

and more emphatic

in his answers.

Now when the neighbours

ask him,

he just tells them

the facts,

doesn't he?

He says,

look,

this is what happened,

he healed me.

And they ask him,

where's he gone now?

And he says,

well,

I don't know.

Slightly vague.

But as the opposition

mounts,

the blind man

is given,

he gives concise,

clear,

confident answers.

The Pharisees

ask him

later,

what do you say

about him?

And he says

in verse 19,

he is a prophet.

And by the end,

he is giving

actually quite

sophisticated,

confident answers.

His defensiveness

and his fumbling

has turned

actually into

an attack

on the Pharisees.

Did you hear

the tone

in verse 27?

He says to them,

do you want

to be his disciples

as well?

He's got them

pegged,

hasn't he?

He's being sarcastic

there.

Verse 31,

it's an amazing

thing that you

don't know

where he comes

from and yet

he opened my eyes.

He has

an awareness

and a vision

of what is

going on

and who

they are.

As the

opposition

increases,

his insights

into the

situation

improves

and clarifies.

The bullied

man is

strangely

strengthened,

isn't he,

in his convictions.

It's as if

Jesus'

enemies

carry on

the sort of

eye-opening

work

in his

absence,

in opening

his eyes

to the

truth.

And by

attacking him

they actually

encourage and

help him.

You've got to

feel sorry for

the Pharisees,

haven't you?

They just

can't win.

Perhaps they

think, you

know,

Jesus isn't

here,

this guy is

an easy

target now,

isn't he?

And, you

know,

we can pick

off Jesus'

followers like

fish in a

barrel.

And all

through church

history it's

kind of been

the same,

hasn't it?

people have

hurled heresy

after heresy

after false

accusation

after false

accusation at

the followers

of Jesus.

But I think

this passage

teaches us,

and I hope you

know what I

mean when I

say this,

it teaches us

to say thank

you Lord for

heretics.

Since many

of the clear

and glorious

things that we

understand about

God and about

the Lord Jesus

and his work,

and the

Bible,

the things

that we've

formulated over

the centuries

in the

creeds and

confessions,

the great

statements and

doctrines of

faith have

been forged

and hammered

out over

centuries in

response to

what?

Heresy

and opposition.

As opposition

mounts,

clarity and

confidence and

strength comes

to the church

strangely.

And so behind

the discouragement

is the

underpinning

reality of

God's

sharpening and

blessing Jesus'

followers with

clearer understanding

of his word and

his work.

The blind,

discouraged man

who sees,

the bullied,

discouraged man

who is

strengthened.

And lastly and

thirdly, he is

the barred man

who belongs.

He is the

barred man who

belongs.

One of the

other differences

between this

miracle and the

similar miracle in

chapter 5 is

that the guy who

is healed there,

you'll notice,

he returns to

the temple and

he praises God.

He receives

strength in his

legs and he's

able to go back

and worship.

He can go back

into the

structures of

the organised

religion.

But this time

that doesn't

happen at all,

does it?

Look at verse

34.

They say to

him, you were

born in utter

sin and would

you teach us?

And they cast

him out.

Now it shows

again how brave

he's become,

doesn't it?

He suffers the

fate his parents

wanted to avoid

by not getting

involved.

They knew that

that could happen,

that they might

be thrown out of

the synagogue,

John tells us

quite clearly.

And so John is

brilliant in his

irony here,

isn't he?

The man is

excommunicated

from the church

for believing

in Jesus.

He is out.

And that was

a really,

really big thing.

To be thrown

out of the

synagogue,

it was to

lose your

standing in

society,

it was to

lose the

opportunity of

corporate worship,

it was to be

outwardly cut off

from God's

blessing.

But the guy

makes a choice

here.

It is a choice

between the

truth of who

Jesus is

and the

structures of

the church.

church.

Now normally

those two

things should

be in

harmony,

shouldn't

they?

But sometimes

they are

not.

And he's

got to make

a decision

here.

Will he

belong to

the synagogue

or will he

belong to

Jesus?

Will he

keep his

membership in

a church

that no

longer

worships

Jesus or

will he

leave?

And I

think he

makes a

clear decision

here.

And he

could have

been a bit

more strategic,

couldn't he?

he could

have toned

down his

responses to

the Pharisees,

maybe been a

little bit less

sarcastic, a

little bit less

offensive.

He could have

stayed in the

synagogue and

maybe changed

it from the

inside.

But this was

his gut reaction,

wasn't it?

And he

pushes the

Pharisees to

the point where

they bar him.

And it

must have

been very

discouraging

to be

thrown out

of the

place that

he loved

with the

people that

he loved

and wanted

to be

part of.

But what

happens is

actually a

very encouraging

reality underneath

it all.

Because in the

moment of his

rejection and

wrongful

excommunication,

Jesus communicates

with him.

And we get

this lovely

dialogue between

the man and

Jesus in the

last section,

don't we?

Jesus hears

that he's

been thrown

out and

he seeks

him out

and he

finds him

and he

confirms him

in belief

and he

consolidates

him in

his faith.

When he

gets barred,

Jesus says,

you belong.

Jesus tells

him who he

is and the

man believes

and worships.

And that is

so often the

case when there

are painful

decisions that

need to be

made.

When it's a

choice maybe

between a

church that

is not true

to the

gospel that

we love

being part

of and we

want to be

in that

community and

choosing Jesus

might mean

that we are

barred or we

bar ourselves

from that

church or

from that

religious

structure.

And we've

got to part

ways.

Just as we

close up,

I don't

think they

mind me

telling you

this,

but my

wife's

mum and

dad,

they were

in a

really

similar

situation.

They were

members of

a church

for many,

many years

and they

served there

and worshipped

there dutifully

and humbly.

But it just

became increasingly

clear that this

church no longer

taught the

gospel.

Ceremony and

outward religion

had taken

over and it

was a very,

very hard

decision for

them to make.

They would

be leaving

friends and

they would

be leaving

their place

in the

community.

That was

nothing compared

with what this

blind man

faced.

But in the

end they

made their

decision to

move to a

good gospel

preaching

church.

And at

first it was

tremendously

discouraging.

They'd

effectively

barred

themselves from

the familiar

things of the

old church

that they

loved.

church.

But let me

tell you that

the difference

for them

spiritually has

been night

and day.

Because now

they sit

under gospel

preaching,

they sit at

Jesus' feet

every week,

they were

barred but

now they know

they belong.

They belong to

Jesus and

they've met

with him and

they've seen

him and they

believe and

they worship.

as we

close.

It is often

isn't it in

the moments of

discouragement

where Jesus'

followers are

attacked with

the greatest

venom and

with the full

variety of

problems and

things that

can come

their way.

It is often

in those

moments of

discouragement

actually when

the greatest

vision and

the greatest

strength and

the greatest

sense of

communion with

God is

given.

Jesus'

followers,

if that is

you this

afternoon,

you are

going to

be accused

and you

are going

to be

opposed.

And heresies

will come

and they

will go

and you

will be

pitied and

you will be

at the

bottom of

the pile.

But the

reality is

that the

blind have

come to

see.

They've

come to

see who

Jesus is.

And with

discouragement

Jesus is

sharpening

and strengthening

your faith.

And he is

clarifying your

vision.

And especially

when you are

cast out

of family,

friendship groups

and even

of a bad

church,

in that

moment you

ought to

know that

you belong

to him.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Let's