The Innocent for the Guilty

All right, well, we're picking up this morning where we left off last Sunday in the story of Jesus.

Last Sunday, we heard how Jesus healed a man who had been born blind.

He enabled that man to see, and it was a sign that he is the light of the world,

the one who enables us to see and to understand what's really going on in life.

And we heard last Sunday how the man's neighbors reacted to that miracle.

Some of those who had known him when he used to be blind and a beggar.

But this morning, we're going to find out what happened when the religious leaders found out about this.

We're reading in John 9, verse 13.

John 9:13

John 9, verse 13.

John 9:13

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.

Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath.

Therefore, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.

He put mud on my eyes, the man replied, and I washed, and now I see.

Some of the Pharisees said,

This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.

But others asked,

How can a sinner perform such signs?

So they were divided.

So John lets us know that the day that the man was healed was a Sabbath day.

And as I read this, I can't help but be sad.

Are these Pharisees happy?

That this man who had never seen before had his sight restored?

Are they excited that an amazing miracle of God has taken place?

No.

Instead, because it's the Sabbath day, some of them are asking questions about how Jesus did it.

Not because they want to know the source of his power,

but because they're looking for something in the way that he did it that they can use against Jesus.

And the man tells them how Jesus did it.

He made mud.

He put it on my eyes.

And what's the next thing they say?

Verse 16.

This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.

He did work on the Sabbath.

Making mud, that's work.

Isn't that sad?

These are not just people who don't believe in Jesus.

These are people who have their very hearts set against believing in Jesus.

They're trying to make a case that he's not from God,

because he made mud on the Sabbath day.

But, to the credit of some,

some of these religious leaders,

there were some there who realized that this isn't right.

Some of them asked,

how can a sinner perform such signs?

Only God can open the eyes of a man who has been born blind.

Would God grant or allow or work such a wonderful miracle through this man

if he was sinning in the very act of doing it?

That doesn't make sense.

So they were divided.

There was disagreement between some of them.

And at the very heart of all this is the accusation or the question

of whether Jesus is a sinner.

Whether he is a sinful man.

Let's remember what Jesus said to them back in chapter 8, verse 46.

He said,

Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?

Do you remember that?

To the whole crowd gathered in the sanctuary.

Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?

And if not, then why don't you believe me?

So Jesus has already challenged them to point out

anything that he has done that is wrong.

Any sin he has committed.

And so far, they've been unable to do so.

But you can see how now

some of these Pharisees are looking for

anything that they can

to discredit Jesus,

to show him to be a sinful man.

And it's like they don't even notice,

some of them,

that he just healed this blind man.

He can't be from God.

He just broke the Sabbath.

Making mud.

That's work.

At least by their interpretation of things.

Verse 17.

Then they turned again to the blind man.

What have you to say about him?

It was your eyes he opened.

The man replied,

He is a prophet.

They still did not believe that he had been blind

and had received his sight

until they sent for the man's parents.

Is this your son?

They asked.

Is this the one you say was born blind?

How is it that now he can see?

We know he is our son,

the parents answered.

And we know he was born blind.

But how he can see now

or who opened his eyes?

We don't know.

Ask him.

He is of age.

He will speak for himself.

His parents said this

because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders

who already had decided

that anyone who acknowledged

that Jesus was the Messiah

would be put out of the synagogue.

That was why his parents said,

He is of age.

Ask him.

So they doubted.

They were skeptical

that this miracle had really happened.

And in some sense,

I don't blame them for being skeptical.

I mean, except by a great miracle of God,

this would never happen.

A man born blind healed?

His sight given to him

for the first time in his life?

Some of them had some theories.

Maybe he wasn't really born blind.

Or maybe this is a different guy

than the one who was born blind.

And there's a bit of a mix up here.

But the parents confirm that,

yes, he is our son.

And yes, he was born blind.

And all these years,

he hasn't been able to see.

But they didn't want to say

any more than that.

John tells us that

the plotting and the scheming

of the Pharisees

has now come to a new level.

They can't seem to turn the tables

against Jesus

in conversation with him

in front of the crowds.

And he's continually exposing them

in front of the people.

And so they implement a new policy.

Anybody who acknowledges

that Jesus is the Christ,

that he is the Messiah,

will be put out of the synagogue,

excommunicated,

kicked out.

In other words,

we've made our judgment

about this man,

and he is not the Messiah.

And if anybody crosses us,

there will be consequences.

Verse 24.

A second time,

they summoned the man

who had been blind.

Give glory to God

by telling the truth,

they said.

We know this man is a sinner.

He replied,

Whether he is a sinner or not,

I don't know.

One thing I do know,

I was blind,

but now I see.

Then they asked him,

What did he do to you?

How did he open your eyes?

He answered,

I've told you already,

and you did not listen.

Why do you want to hear it again?

Do you want to become

his disciples too?

Then they hurled insults at him

and said,

You are this fellow's disciple.

We are disciples of Moses.

We know that God spoke to Moses,

but as for this fellow,

we don't even know

where he comes from.

The man answered,

Now that is remarkable.

You don't know

where he comes from,

yet he opened my eyes.

We know that God

does not listen to sinners.

He listens to the godly person

who does his will.

Nobody has ever heard of

opening the eyes

of a man born blind.

If this man were not from God,

he could do nothing.

To this they replied,

You were steeped in sin at birth.

How dare you lecture us?

And they threw him out.

So they go after the man again,

and you can almost hear it

dripping from their words.

An accusation that this blind man,

this man who was blind,

is a liar.

Give glory to God

by telling the truth.

In other words,

stop lying to us.

We know that you've been lying to us.

We know that this man,

Jesus,

is a sinner.

Again,

they've made up their minds

about Jesus already.

The man who was blind

seems to answer

quite humbly at first.

I know very little

about the man

who did this for me.

I can't tell you

about his life.

I can't tell you

about how he has lived.

All I know

is that he healed me.

But that's not good enough

for the Pharisees.

They ask him again,

well, how did he do it?

And you get the sense here

that this poor man

is sick and tired

of telling his story

to them again

and again and again.

He knows that they're

just looking for something

to discredit the miracle

or to discredit Jesus.

And it's almost as if

something inside of him

just snaps.

I've already told you,

he says.

Why are you asking me again?

And he throws in

this little dig of his own.

You guys seem so interested

in this.

Do you want to become

his followers too?

You can hear the sarcasm

in his words.

And they don't like

that one bit.

It says at this point

that they began

to insult him.

Oh, we already know

that you are

this man's follower.

We aren't going to

follow this man.

No, we're followers

of Moses.

We know that God

spoke to Moses.

But as for this guy,

we don't even know

where he comes from.

And I love how the man

who was blind

answers him,

answers the Pharisees here.

He says,

now that is remarkable.

You don't know

where he comes from?

And he opened my eyes.

What is the man

amazed at here?

I think he's amazed

at their inability

to read the clear sign.

I mean, isn't it obvious?

Look what he did to me.

It's a miracle.

This kind of thing

has never been done before

by anyone.

If this man was a sinner,

God wouldn't have done

this through him.

Isn't it obvious

that he is from God?

Like, what more do you need?

And this conversation

ends

with the Pharisees,

I think,

showing their true colors.

What an arrogant statement.

You were steeped

in sin at birth.

How dare you lecture us?

It's a pretty loaded statement.

They're basically saying,

well, who are you

to tell us

what we should believe

about Jesus

on the scale

of religious authority,

on the scale

of righteousness?

You're at the very bottom.

And why do they say

that he is utterly sinful

from birth?

Because he was born blind.

This kind of goes back

to the conversation

that Jesus had

with his disciples.

We talked about this

the other day.

His disciples asked him,

Jesus,

who sinned

that this man

was born blind?

And Jesus said,

wrong question.

Wrong assumption.

It wasn't this man

or his parents

who sinned.

That's not the reason.

But now we see

that the Pharisees

are the prime example

of this kind of self-righteous

and arrogant religious pride.

They're basically saying,

yeah, well,

we know

why you were born blind

in the first place.

It's because you were

utterly sinful

from the moment

you were born.

Right from the start.

So don't you dare

try to teach us.

And they threw him out.

Cast out.

Excommunicated,

I think,

is implied here.

The true colors

of the Pharisees

are coming out

more and more.

And this is why

Jesus called them

children of the devil.

Well, what can we take

from all this?

There is a good turn

to what's happened

that we're going to look at

next Sunday

with this blind man.

But this morning

we're here to partake

of the Lord's table.

That's our focus.

And one of the things

that we see woven

through this whole section

is this accusation,

this question

of whether Jesus

was a sinner.

Whether he is

a sinful man.

The Pharisees,

they're desperate

to prove

that Jesus is a sinner.

They want a reason

to put him to death

while maintaining

their religious face.

they've stumbled upon

one of the greatest

miracles ever done.

But they're blinded

by their pride

and evil desires

and they refuse

to acknowledge

the truth

that this wonderful sign

Jesus did

points to.

And ironically,

it's the man

who was born blind

and has lived blind

all of his life

up until this day

who is seeing

things clearly.

He doesn't know

Jesus personally

but he's able

to read the sign

correctly.

And he sees

that whoever

this man is

he must be

from God.

God would not

work miracles

through him

if he was a sinner,

if he was an

unrighteous man.

And so John

by telling this

true story

invites all of us

to consider

for ourselves

is Jesus

a sinner?

Is Jesus

a man

who stands

guilty before God

like all the rest

of us?

Or is he

truly innocent,

righteous,

and pure?

Is Jesus

being arrogant

and self-righteous

when he calls

out to the crowd?

Can any of you

prove me guilty

of sin?

Or is it

possible that he

stands apart

from the rest

of us

as the sinless

son of God?

The one

human who is

without sin.

How would we

know?

God has given

us clear signs

like this one.

Restoring the

sight of this

blind man

through Jesus.

Something only

God can do.

And the man

is right.

God would not

endorse,

he would not

work his

wonders through

someone who

claims what

Jesus does

if his

claims were

false.

If he was

deceiving.

If Jesus,

or is Jesus

a sinner like

the rest of

us?

The clear

testimony of

God is no.

He is not a

sinner.

He is my

son.

He is the

one I sent

into the

world.

And there

are many

scriptures that

talk about

this.

It's how the

story goes.

Think about

Judas.

The one who

betrayed

Jesus.

What did he

have to say?

After betraying

Jesus, he went

back.

He said, I

have sinned.

I have

betrayed

innocent blood.

He knew

Jesus was

innocent.

Then there's

Pilate.

Three times,

he comes back

to the people.

I find no

basis for a

charge against

this man.

He's innocent.

innocent.

And then he

washes his

hands.

Even Pilate's

wife knew

Jesus was

innocent.

She told

Pilate, don't

have anything

to do with

that innocent

man.

For I have

suffered a

great deal in

a dream because

of him.

Peter knew he

was an innocent

man.

He walked

three years

with Jesus.

And he wrote

this in his

letter.

He committed

no sin.

And no

deceit was

found in

his mouth.

The devil

knew he

was a

sinless

man.

And he

made his

best effort

to change

that, if

he could,

by tempting

him in the

wilderness.

But of

course, Jesus

did not

give in.

In Hebrews

Hebrews 4:15

chapter 4,

verse 15,

we read

that Jesus

is our

high priest.

Christ.

And he

is able to

empathize with

our weaknesses

because he

has been

tempted in

every way,

just as we

are.

Yet, the

author of

Hebrews says,

yet, though

he was

tempted, he

did not

sin.

Not once.

Paul, in

his letter to

the Corinthians,

2 Corinthians

5.21,

God made

him who

had no

sin to

be sin

for us.

he knew

no sin.

He had

no sin.

Hebrews

7.26,

referring to

Jesus again

as our

high priest,

he says,

such a

high priest

truly meets

our need,

one who

is holy,

blameless,

pure,

set apart

from sinners.

He doesn't

have to

offer

sacrifices

for his

own sins

like the

rest of

human

priests

had to.

because he

doesn't have

any sins

of his

own.

He is

pure.

The

apostle John

himself,

in his

letter,

wrote these

words,

1 John 3.5,

in him,

that's in

Jesus Christ,

is no

sin,

no wrong

doing,

no guilt.

In fact,

John tells

us the

reason that

Jesus came

was to

take away

sins,

to take

away the

guilt of

others,

for the

sins that

they have

committed.

So whether

Jesus is a

sinner or

not,

is very

important.

It's at the

heart of

what we

celebrate at

this table.

Because if

Jesus was a

sinner,

then his

death was

deserved.

And it

accomplished

nothing for

us.

God

was a

sacrifice.

He came

to be a

sacrifice that

would atone

for our

sins.

And for

him to be

that acceptable

sacrifice,

that acceptable

substitute,

we know from

tracing the

theme throughout

the whole of

the scriptures,

he had to be

spotless.

He had to be

without

blemish,

without sin.

Peter talked

about this

too in his

letter.

We looked at

this in

Sunday school.

He said,

for you know,

it was not

with perishable

things such as

silver or gold

that you were

redeemed from

the empty way

of life handed

down to you

from your

ancestors.

No, you

were redeemed

with the

precious blood

of Christ,

a lamb

without

blemish or

defect.

For us to

be redeemed,

for us to

be set free.

Someone had

to take the

punishment that

we deserved.

But not just

anybody could

do that.

He had to

be a human,

a man like

us, yet

without

blemish,

without

defect,

without any

sin or guilt

of his own.

This was the

only way.

This is

God's salvation

plan.

Peter said

this in

1 Peter,

1 Peter 3:18

3 verse

18.

Christ

suffered

once for

sins,

the

righteous

for the

unrighteous,

to bring

you to

God.

sinless

for the

sinner.

The

innocent

for the

sinner.

The

innocent

for the

guilty.

It was

the only

way that

we could

be justly

forgiven,

that we

could be

saved from

the wrath

of God

that we

deserve.

And so

it matters

everything that

Jesus is

not a

sinner.

The

Pharisees

were dead

wrong that

day.

And the

man who

had been

born blind

and was

healed,

he was

on the

right track.

And this

table means

everything to

us.

Because of

this,

the blood

that the

cup

represents

is of

infinite value

to us.

The body

of Jesus

that the

bread

represents

can truly

give us

life.

and it's

only because

Jesus

himself had

no sin

of his

own,

no guilt

of his

own,

that he

could atone

for our

sins.

And that's

what he

did when

he suffered

and died

on the

cross.

And Peter

tells us

that he

did that

to bring

you to

God,

to bring

me to

God.

Forgiveness,

relationship

restored.

And so

as we

come to

the table,

we're here

to celebrate

this.

We're here

to remember

the most

valuable and

precious things

in the

universe,

the body

and the

blood of

our Lord,

broken

and poured

out for

us.

So if

you're here

this morning

and you

have repented

of your

sins,

and you

believe that

he is

that spotless

lamb,

who took

the punishment

that you

deserve,

then I

invite you

to partake

together

with us.

I'm going

to pray.

We'll have

a moment

of reflection

and Charles

will come

and serve

the table,

but as you

receive the

bread and

the cup,

I'll just

ask that you

hang on to

it until

everybody has

been served

and then

we'll all

partake

together.

Let's

pray.

Lord

Jesus,

we stand

amazed as

we think

that you

lived a

sinless

life,

because we

know that

from our

vantage point,

that's

impossible.

That's all

we've ever

known right

from the

start.

We are

sinners.

We are

guilty.

And so we

stand in awe

of you for

that.

But most

of all,

we thank

you that out

of your

mercy and

grace.

You would

come and

trade your

life for

ours.

We can't

even comprehend

that kind

of love.

We say

thank you.

Bless each

one of us

in our

hearts as

we do

this in

remembrance

of you.

We ask

in your

name.

Amen.