Blindness and the Miracle of Sight (John 9:1-12, 35-41) (3/15/26)

Our sermon today is on the blindness and miraculous

grace of sight here during this Lenten season.

Let us pray together. Our God and our Father,

we come before you this Lord's Day in this Lenten

season and we thank you for how you have always

provided for us. And so we ask you now to grant

us ears that truly hear, minds that understand,

and hearts that fully obey you. joyfully obey

you and in so keeping let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable

in your sight for the sake of our dear Savior

Jesus Christ amen as we prepare here today I

just want to make mention to you in preparation

for the Lord's Day we do send out the lectionary

readings and I want to encourage you to read

the lectionary in your preparation for the Lord's

Day. So if you're not on our email list, I would

encourage you to get with us and we'll share

that information with you by midweek. Our gospel

reading today, we'll be looking at that in some

detail. We'll read two portions of John 9 to

remind us of a few things before we begin today.

Now Jesus passed by and he saw a man who was

blind from birth. And his disciples asked him,

saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,

that he was born blind? Jesus answered, neither

is this man nor his parents sinned, but that

the works of God should be revealed in him. I

must work the works of him who sent me while

it is day. The night is coming when no one can

work. And as long as I am in the world, I am

the light of the world. When he had said these

things, he spat on the ground and made clay with

the saliva. And he anointed the eyes of the blind

man with clay. And he said to him, go and wash

in the pool of Siloam, which is translated scent.

So he went and washed and came back seeing. Therefore,

the neighbors and those who had previously seen

that he was blind said, is this not he who sat

and begged? Some said, this is he. Others said,

he is like him. And he said, I am he. Therefore,

they said to him, how were your eyes open? And

he answered and said, A man called Jesus made

clay and anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go

and wash in the pool of Siloam, and wash. And

so I went and washed, and I received sight. Then

they said to him, Where is he? And he said, I

do not know. Dropping down to verse 35, we see

this. Jesus heard that they had cast him out,

and when they had found him, he said to him,

Do you believe in the Son of God? And he answered

and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe

in him? And Jesus said to him, You have both

seen him, and it is he who is talking to you.

Then he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped

him. And Jesus said, For judgment I have come

not into this world that those who do not see

may see, and that those who see may be made blind.

And then some of the Pharisees who were with

Him heard these words and said to Him, Are we

blind also? And Jesus said to them, If you were

blind, you would have no sin. But now you say,

We see, therefore your sin remains. These are

the words of Almighty God. Receive them in your

hearts. There are three things that I would like

you to think about as we go through this passage

in some detail today. First of all the blind

man simply obeyed the blind man simply obeyed

Second beware the grace of God did not fit the

paradigm of the Pharisees Beware the grace of

God did not fit the paradigm of the Pharisees

and finally The blind man had simple courage

with gratitude under worship. The blind man had

simple courage with gratitude under worship.

Now I want you to imagine with me a young man

awakens to another day in his life. And unlike

you and me, he cannot appreciate the beauty or

joy of a sunrise. He is blind. His daily routine

is to get up and make his way to the temple This

man born blind is not only cut off from sight

But he is also unable to enter the temple Because

of this blindness he is considered ceremonially

unclean and therefore cannot draw near to God

So he's left outside the temple walls begging

He's hoping that the worshipers who come to the

temple will be generous as they enter into the

house of God and The blind man on this particular

day is very very optimistic You know, he doesn't

know yet that he's gonna encounter Jesus. That's

not why he's optimistic No, he's optimistic because

worshipers have come all over the realm for the

feast of the tabernacles We know that three times

a year that God commanded the believers in God

to go to the temple and worship and have feasts.

And this is the feast of the tabernacles. It's

one of the mandatory times of feasting. In Deuteronomy

16, we see it says this, seven days you shall

keep a sacred feast to Yahweh your God in the

place where Yahweh chooses, because Yahweh your

God will bless you in all your produce and in

all the work of your hands so that you surely

rejoice. One of the reasons this blind man was

very excited perhaps on that day was because

we know that over 100 ,000 people would swell

into the city, not counting the 60 ,000 that

already lived there. So they almost tripled in

size. People are everywhere. They've come to

worship and feast and tabernacle and booths made

of trees. And as God's word instructs us, they

would have had money that they were bringing

to feast with. And one of the things that they

point out with that feasting is that you are

to be generous. If the person beside you has

none, invite them to your table. Share, drink,

be merry, eat well, celebrate God's goodness

to you. So he's excited. that all these people

would be there and be generous. Now Jesus, we

learned in chapter 8, slipped into Jerusalem

unnoticed and went to the temple. And Jesus taught

in the temple where he declared the doctrine

of the one who sent him, God the Father. The

Jews and the religious men of the temple argued

with Jesus, especially concerning his good works

on the Sabbath. The Pharisees and chief priests

even attempted arrest Jesus, but the temple guards

would not arrest him because of the words with

which Jesus spoke. He spoke as one who had authority,

unlike their own leaders. On the day of our text,

Jesus returns to the temple and thwarts the Pharisees

and chief priests at every turn. In fact, Jesus

says to them, if God were your father, you would

love me, for I proceeded forth and came from

God, nor have I come of myself, but he sent me.

Why do you not understand my speech? Because

you are not able to listen to my word. You are

of your father the devil, and the desires of

your father you want to do. He was a murderer

from the beginning and does not stand in the

truth, because there is no truth in him. When

he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources,

for he is a liar. and the father of it. But because

I tell you the truth, you do not believe me."

Now Jesus will continue to challenge these religious

leaders in Judea and Jerusalem, but they will

cling to their religious views, not to honor

God. But as we were reminded last week, remember

last week we thought we learned about or were

were reminded of, Jeroboam, who was elevated

into leadership by God and who desired to cling

to his own power and authority for himself and

his children. And so what did he do? He was afraid

that during these three feasts that all the people

of his kingdom would go down to the temple and

worship God. And so what did he do? Man, I don't

want him to do that. That's going to take the

kingdom away from me. And so he perverted worship

and brought in idolatry. And he didn't just build

one idol, he built two so that people could travel

and go any direction and not be able to worship

the Almighty. And so too now, the chief priests

and the Pharisees cared more for the retention

of their power and desired to kill Jesus. And

chapter 8 ends with this very tense scene. It

says, then they took up stones to throw at him.

That's Jesus. But Jesus hid himself and went

out of the temple, going through the midst of

them, and so passed by. It's not that Jesus was

like hiding in the sense he just got up, walked

out, there's crowds, swelled everywhere. And

certainly God prevented them from being able

to throw those stones at him. But you know what

happens at this time, right? We see all this

great tension. Then all of a sudden. As Jesus

leaves the temple, he passes by and he sees this

blind man. And his disciples see the blind man

as well, and they ask Jesus, who sinned, this

man or his parents? And like Job's friends, the

disciples held to a view that if hardships, especially

the ones that made one unclean and unable to

draw near to God, meant that either the parents

sinned or that man sinned. As if a child... could

sin in utero. We're all born in sin, but he hadn't

yet committed the sin against God. And Jesus

answered, neither this man nor his parents sin,

but that the works of God should be revealed

in him. John 1 tells us that Jesus is the light

of the world and that the darkness could not

comprehend it. And then we see a little further

down. This unimaginable thing that Jesus came

to his own and his own did not receive him Go

down a little farther and John 1 We see this

the wonder of grace But as many as received and

to them he gave the right to become the children

of God To those who believe in his name who were

born not of blood nor of the will of flesh nor

the will of man but of God So what did Jesus

do with the blind man? He spat upon the ground

and made clay and anointed the blind man's eyes.

Jesus says to the blind man, go and wash in the

pool of Siloam, which means scent. So Jesus sees

the blind man. He does this thing that we think

is pretty strange, although we see him do it

several other times. And he anoints the blind

man's eyes and he sins that man. down to the

Pool of Siloam. Now the Pool of Siloam, we don't

know exactly where Jesus encounters the blind

man, but it's about 70 yards downhill through

those crowds. Through those crowds. So it wasn't

a quick walk, it wasn't an easy walk. There are

all kinds of people and on top of that he can't

see. But what does the blind man do? He simply

obeys. Jesus speaks, and unlike so many in and

around the temple, the blind man does not delay.

He doesn't get caught up into debate. Now, he

may have heard of Jesus, we don't know, but it's

likely. And yet, not knowing who he is, he's

the prophet, he's the son, he doesn't know. He

simply obeys. He goes, and he comes back seeing.

For so many who claim Christianity as their own,

they hear God's words and they delay. We delay

obedience in so many ways. We debate and listen

and often pause and hear scoffers. We question

among ourselves. We hear only what our itching

ears want to hear and ultimately we don't receive

the grace of God because we delay. we simply

disobey. Now let me say about delayed obedience.

Children, are you listening? Are you listening?

When your parents or authorities speak to you,

you should obey right away. Children, are you

listening? You obey right away, and you do it

joyfully. Ah, but parents, how are you catechizing

your children? When you hear God's word, Do you

joyfully obey right away? Are you angry because

God has put you in a circumstance and you know

the right thing to do? And what do you do? You

delay. Do you become impatient with what God

is doing in your life? Do you delay with ingratitude?

Or do you obey joyfully right away? Simple obedience.

joyfully. So this blind man, he simply obeys.

He goes and he washes, and the grace of God is

given. The blind man returns to the temple, and

all those who had seen him begging probably very

often wondered if it was the same man, and he

declares, I'm he, it's me. Astonished, they say,

how were your eyes opened? And he responded,

a man named Jesus came and he anointed my eyes.

with clay. He made clay and anointed my eyes

and go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So I went

and I washed and I received sight. They want

to know where Jesus is and the man doesn't know.

These men take the man to the Pharisees because

his sight had been given to him on the Sabbath.

How? Because Jesus worked. He spat on the ground.

He made mud and he went up and put it on his

eyes. They asked that man Again the Pharisees

ask him and he retells a story Some of the Pharisees

begin to question Jesus being from God because

they think he violated the Sabbath Since the

earliest days of his ministry Jesus the son in

whom the father is well -pleased Has pointed

out that man was not made for the Sabbath. We

are not to be a slave to the Sabbath but that

the Sabbath is for man to be blessed by God and

for men to bless others with Sabbath rest. Now

Jesus we're told in Mark 2 is called the Lord

of the Sabbath and he is continuously forgiving

sins and healing people of sicknesses and infirmities

especially those people ceremonially unclean

and unable to draw near to God. These self -righteous

Pharisees cared more for their extra religious

rules That they had added for the Sabbath than

the people who would be forgiven and healed and

restored to temple worship people of God Don't

be like Jonah the reluctant prophet who drags

Right to Nineveh put him through a lot of hardship.

All right, God I'm gonna do what you tell me

to do and he goes out and he preaches By golly

those dirty rotten sinners they repent How awful

they get their bad sinners they they need to

get what they've got coming Don't be like that

Jonah You see there was no room in the Pharisees

and chief priests paradigm for the grace of God

They desired to cling to the darkness Even though

they had been given the words of God the culture

of God and the covenant of God For what purpose

to be the priests to the world? To them was given

to lead and to provide Sabbath rest to all men

You know, there's a great irony here. They fought

so hard to find cause against Jesus. They totally

ignored the evidence of the grace of God found

by the former blind man. The Pharisees seek every

means to discredit the miraculous grace of God

in their midst. They call the man's parents to

prove that he was in fact born blind. And the

parents acknowledge that this is their son who

was born blind, but instead of joy for their

son's sight and the fact that he now has been

restored to the temple. They create a plausible

done deniability by saying their son is of age

and he can testify for himself And we learn that

they that that why they did this because they

feared the Jews for the Jews had already agreed

That if anyone confessed that Jesus was the Christ

that those people would be put out of the synagogue

So the man he's called back and we know They

say that we know Jesus is a sinner and he answered

and said whether he's a sinner or not. I do not

know One thing I know Though I was blind now

I see simple boldness simple obedience simple

statement of fact This man doesn't understand

what the conspiracies are he doesn't live in

the world of the movers and shakers and plotters

The man points out to the questioner their fullest

their fullest grasping about as if they're blind

They deny the obvious Because if they know anything

at all they know that they are superior to the

average person this formerly blind man and most

certain Jesus The man is given his sight Excuse

me the man given his sight responds calmly with

the facts Since the world began, it has been

unheard of that anyone open the eyes of one who

was born blind. If this man were not for God,

he could do nothing." Totally enraged, these

Pharisees point back to the idea that this man's

a sinner. He was born completely in sins. So

how dare you present the truth to us? Saints

of God, God has called you before the foundations

of the world to be his You are here today because

the grace of God has been given to you that his

works may be revealed in you Dearly beloved do

not be concerned concerned about those who conspire

against Jesus God's will will be done And why?

That the works of the living triune God may be

revealed first in His church. When we stand firm

as this man, we know this. We were just like

this man. We were poor, blind wretches. But Jesus

comes to us, and we have an encounter that we

didn't know was coming. When we baptize our babies,

those children don't know what's coming. If you

were saved as an older person, you don't know

that day. One day you were going along and Christ

came in your life. You didn't see it coming.

He pursued you. He gave you sight. He gave you

understanding. He gave you hearing. Listen, we

can rest in His mercy and grace no matter the

pressure, the persecution. or the denials of

the greatest society in our society. And we may

even be cast out of society. On a Sabbath day

some 2 ,000 years ago, a man born blind who begged

at the temple gates had what he thought was a

chance encounter with Jesus. He didn't know who

Jesus was. He did not know how this day would

change his life. God gave him sight to see his

beautiful creation, and God give him sight and

wisdom unto true understanding. The Pharisees

and the chief priests and scribes are just as

the prophet Isaiah said of the people of his

time before the day of the Lord. And this is

Yahweh speaking to Isaiah telling him to tell

this to these people. Go and tell this people,

keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep

on seeing. but do not perceive. Make the heart

of this people dull and their ears heavy, and

shut their eyes." After all the hubbub and public

debate, Jesus heard that the man was cast out.

He goes and finds him. He seeks him out, and

Jesus asks him, Do you believe in the Son of

God? And the man responds, Who is he, Lord, that

I may believe? And Jesus said, You have both

seen him, and he is the one talking to you. What

is the man's response? He says I believe and

he worshiped Jesus the seeing man responds with

gratitude and all and the action of worship simple

obedience and action beginning with worship Now

Jesus continues and speaks judgment for judgment

I've come into the world that those who do not

see may see, and that those who see may be made

blind. Now notice this contrast here, because

in the next verse it says that some of the Pharisees

who were with him, with the blind man, right?

They're walking around. All right, maybe this

guy, Jesus, is going to come back around. We're

going to catch him. We're just going to follow

this blind man around, or former blind man. And

they asked Jesus this, are we blind also? And

Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would

have no sin. But now you say, we see, therefore

your sin remains. This Lenten season, we must

put off our pride and arrogance. Ask God to reveal

our sin. Ask God to give you true sight of yourself.

We must have a humble and contrite heart before

the Lord, living in gratitude. That God has chosen

us to reveal his works in us No matter the circumstances

we find ourselves in see that's our problem That

that our gratitude and our whole life gets gets

turned up because we say why is God doing this

to me? instead of Why is God doing this for me?

It is God's grace to us and the world and for

his glory. Remember our epistle reading from

today? Ephesians 5, for if you were once darkness,

but now you are in the light. Walk as children

of the light, for the fruit of the Spirit is

in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding

out what is acceptable to the Lord. People of

God, rejoice, for we were in darkness, but now

by the grace of God and Christ Jesus, We not

only see the light, but because of His works

revealed in us, we are the light. Be encouraged,

because Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy

out of Isaiah 60. And then you shall see and

become radiant, and your heart will swell with

joy. Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, we

thank you for redeeming us by the work of your

Son, Jesus Christ. Help us, we pray, to see our

sin, repent, and rejoice. Help us, we pray, to

simply obey right away, even at... circumstances

that may be hard so that you may reveal your

work in us we ask all this for the sake of Jesus

who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit forever

and ever amen let us continue our worship here

by the giving of our tithes and offerings goodness

we have these gifts to share. Accept and use

your tithes and offerings for your glory and

for service in your kingdom. Blessed be God forever

and ever. Amen.