Jesus and the blind man, John 9

For I know I'm gonna sing! So this is Acts chapter

Acts 4:20

4, verse 20. The book of Acts is by its longer

name known as the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

And it is the early story of the young church

after Jesus has lived and died and rose again

and remained with them for 40 days and taught

them the basics of the church and got everything

started and then sent them on their way to be

witnesses to all the earth. And then there is

an incident in Acts chapter 4 where Peter and

Acts 4 · chapter mention

John are on the way to the temple to worship

God. And they see a man sitting there who has

been crippled since birth. And he begs every

day at the temple those who are coming into the

temple to worship. He begs them for any coins

that they will give him. And that's how he is

sustained and has survived ever since he was

old enough to do so. And Peter and John don't

have any money. So they look at the man sitting

by the side of the temple there with what they

call the beautiful gate. And they say to the

man, Peter in particular says to the man, Silver

and gold have I none, but such as I have, I give

unto you. Get up and walk. And lo and behold,

the man who had been crippled since birth gets

up and walks. And then he's in the temple dancing

around and everybody sees it. And so, of course,

this stirs up quite a ruckus. And they begin

to talk about the name of Jesus. And the Sanhedrin

calls them in and says, What are you doing? You're

stirring up a ruckus. Causing almost a riot.

Talking about this Jesus fellow, which we all

know was killed. And then we've heard the rumors

of his coming back to life and all that. We haven't

heard from him for a while now. Now you're causing

all this trouble. Finally, they decide to tell

Peter and John not to talk about Jesus anymore.

So they have them beaten. They say, don't talk

about this Jesus anymore. This is Peter's reply.

He says, we cannot stop telling about the wonderful

things we have seen and heard after they were

beaten. They go out after that day. They go home

to the other apostles and worshipers of the young

church. And they're all praising God and thanking

God that they were allowed to be beaten like

Jesus was beaten. That's tough. That's tough

teaching to be serving Jesus and talking about

Jesus and getting beaten for doing so. I don't

want to do that, really. I don't want to go through

that. But at the same time, I can totally resonate

with this verse, which says we cannot stop telling

about the wonderful things we have seen and heard.

So we're going to try to memorize it briefly.

It's very simple. We're just going to break it

down into a couple of three pieces. And then

by the time you're done, you'll mostly have it.

Then you've got about two weeks to finish it

off by the end of June. And you will have memorized

the memory verse for the month of June. So it

starts out like this. It says we cannot stop

telling. And we'll just do that part together.

Would you say that with me one time? We cannot

stop telling. That's very easy, isn't it? And

if you got only just that, you would have almost

the meaning of the whole verse. And the second

part is about the wonderful things. So we'll

do from about to things. We'll say that together.

About the wonderful things. And now all the way

from the beginning, from we to things. We cannot

stop telling about the wonderful things. And

the last part is we have seen and heard. We'll

do that part separately. We have seen and heard.

And the whole thing then from we to heard is.

We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things

we have seen and heard. Look at that reference

there. It's Acts 420. I'll give you a little

trick on how to remember the reference. Let's

see it. We'll say it one more time. We'll take

it off the screen and we'll try it from memory.

Say it one more time. We cannot stop telling

about the wonderful things we have seen and heard.

And with it off the screen, it is... We cannot

stop telling about the wonderful things we have

seen and heard. Now here's something interesting

for the mathematicians in the room. I'll help

you remember the reference real easy. Notice

that right there, ax4. The word ax has exactly

four letters in it. A -C -T -S. four letters,

A -C -T -S, four, and then see four, and then

if you're counting down from four to zero by

even numbers, it goes four, then two, then zero.

So X has four letters in it, X, four, counting

down, two, zero. So you can remember the reference,

so when you get home, you want to look up the

verse, and you finish off memorizing it, it's

X, four, two, zero, if you're counting down.

So that's pretty easy to remember the reference.

And the verse again was, we cannot stop telling

about the wonderful things we have seen and heard.

Pretty cool, huh? Alright, well that's done.

And we're on to one more song. Praise the Lord.

Is that one that I have to do the flipping around

in? Is it? I don't know. I changed it because

you didn't want me trying the other one. The

voice is not quite ready for that next song.

Well, we're going to pray that I'm bringing it.

I think it's got the voice back. I'll do the

clicking the best I can. Father in heaven, we

thank you that in the midst of our trials, in

a difficult place, in a difficult day, in a difficult

way, in a difficult place. So we have to kind

of explain things to them. And there are many

amazing stories. And, you know, God works through

stories, not just in the Bible, but in your life,

too. You know, we were looking at that verse.

Tell about the wonderful things that God has

done. allows us to go through all kinds of situations,

but while he's doing that, he has a greater purpose

in mind. He's got something that he wants to

get through to us. You know, God cares very deeply

for us, and he's always trying to get our attention.

The problem is, we as Americans are pretty busy,

and we've got lots of things filling our heads,

and sometimes we kind of miss what God wants

to do. I just want you to look at the story of

your own life and the stories, there's many stories.

Each one of us could sit down. If I sat down

with any one of you, you could probably tell

me 30 stories from your life. Different things

that have happened, different situations. And

in some of those stories, we can find out how

God is at work. So that's why we look at the

stories of the Bible. So I'm going to pray real

quick and then let's take a look at this short,

this is a pretty short one. Lord, We come before

you and we bow down before you. We don't always

understand what's going on in our lives. And

so we have to come to you and ask, Lord, show

us what's happening. And Lord, we also thank

you that you have many stories in your word.

And we ask that if there's any part of this story

that is relevant to our lives, that you would

show it to us. That we might leave here a little

bit different than when we came. And I thank

you, Lord, for the many stories that you have

used to change my life. And I ask that you would

be at work right here today, right now. We pray

these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so

this first little part is just sort of an introduction.

So we're going to actually start right here in

the picture. were bringing their little children

to Jesus to have him touch them and bless them.

And Jesus' closest followers told the parents

not to bother him, but Jesus said to his followers,

let the little children come to me and do not

stop them. For the kingdom of God, belongs to

those who are like little children. Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, anyone who does not receive

the kingdom of God like a child will never enter

it. Well, that's interesting. Then, a little

bit later, Jesus called His 12 closest followers

together and He told them this. He said, we are

going on a journey. We're going to go to the

city of Jerusalem. And when we arrive there,

everything that the prophets said about me will

come true. I will be handed over to the soldiers.

I will be mocked. treated shamefully and spit

upon. I will be whipped and killed, but on the

third day, I will rise again. Now Jesus' followers

heard His words, but they did not understand

at all what He was saying. And so they began

their journey, and as they traveled along, they

came to a nearby town. And there, sitting beside

the road, was a blind beggar. And when he heard

the commotion of the people traveling on the

road, he asked someone what was happening. And

they said, Jesus is passing by. When the blind

man heard this, he started shouting loudly. Jesus,

descendant of David, have mercy on me. The people

who were ahead of Jesus tried to quiet him down.

But he shouted even louder, Jesus, descendant

of David, have mercy on me. Well, Jesus heard

him, and he ordered that the man be brought to

him. And when the man was brought to him, he

said, What do you want me to do for you? And

the blind man said, I want to see. Jesus said,

Alright, you can see. Your faith has healed you.

And immediately, the man was able to see, and

he followed Jesus, praising God. Everyone who

saw this praised God as well. This is a story

from God's Word. Alright, so this is kind of

like three little stories wrapped up into one.

And the stories are maybe somehow connected.

But the first story is about the parents bringing

the children to Jesus. The second story is about

this journey, and Jesus tells his followers ahead

of time what's going to happen. And then the

third story is about this blind man. So this

isn't going to be like preaching like you hear

in a church. I'm going to ask you, is that you

got to go? No. No? Okay. So as you look at the

story, what do you like about the story? Which

part of this do you like? So when I ask a question,

that means you guys need to do a little work.

So you like the part about the children, the

trip, or the blind man? What do you like about

the story? I like the part where the blind man

gets to see my mother. Amen. Where the blind

man gets to see. Because of his faith. Because

of his faith. That's pretty powerful, isn't it?

It's huge. Now, you mentioned that he has faith,

and Jesus mentioned that he has faith. Where

do you see the blind man's faith in that story?

Jesus asks him what he wants. He can say all

kinds of things, but he goes right. For the heart

of the matter, it has to be so he can see. Which

is, by the way, a huge miracle. I mean, doctors

today, if you're blind, there's not much they

can do to help you to see. Yeah. I mean, that's

a big request. So you're right. He asks for a

big thing. That was my thought. That was my right.

That was your right. Okay, well, you can take

these stories home and think about them. I got

it. All right. Glad you came today. So where

else do you see this failure? He won't keep quiet,

will he? They keep trying to quiet him down.

No, he says, Jesus, descendant of David, have

mercy on me. Why does he keep calling out for

Jesus? He knew. He knew enough about Jesus and

his past of what he had done because it had traveled

throughout. That's what he knew. He heard stories

about this guy Jesus that could heal people.

Now if you were sick and you heard about some

miraculous healer, wouldn't you do whatever you

could do to get there? I know I would. So this

guy is determined. And he can't see, so he can't

get up and walk to where Jesus is. All he can

do is make a noise. Jesus, descendant of David.

When he says descendant of David, what does that

tell us about his faith? That's an interesting

thing to say. See, the Jewish people were waiting

for a promised Savior, and that Savior was going

to come from a certain family. It was going to

come from the family of a great king named David.

And so when he's yelling out, Jesus, descendant

of David, and David lived about a thousand years

before Jesus. So they've been waiting a long

time for this promised Savior to come. And this

guy, by shouting out, Jesus, descendant of David,

he is saying, Jesus, I believe you are the one

that was promised a thousand years ago. I believe

you're Him. I believe you're the promised Messiah.

He's declaring his faith in a loud voice. It's

pretty amazing. He's saying, Jesus, you're the

one we've been waiting for. Come and help me.

So yeah, this guy's faith is all over the place.

I think that's a huge observation. How about

you ladies? What do you like about the story?

Does anybody like the part about the children?

What do you like about that? What does that tell

you about Jesus? His disciples were saying, you

know, don't bother Jesus. Don't bring your little

kids over here. He's got more important things

to do. He's an important teacher. So who did

Jesus care about? Jesus cares about everybody.

Yes. Jesus cared about even little kids. Most

people just sort of tune them out. They're doing

their thing. They're making a noise. They're

running around. They're getting into things.

How old is he? He's probably into everything,

right? So a lot of people think, oh, kids are

just a nuisance. But Jesus said, what did Jesus

say? He said, Let the little children come to

me and do not stop them. Because the kingdom

of God belongs to those who are like little children.

What makes a child a child and an adult an adult?

What's the difference between a kid and an adult?

Other than size. Time? Like been alive longer?

Okay, they've been alive longer. Yeah, that's

a good one. What makes a... Adults teach, children

learn. Yeah, that's a good one. So if you're

going to be like a child, you've got to be willing

to learn, right? And children typically love

everything. However, they're taught not to love.

They're taught the prejudices. They're taught

the hatred. Children are innocent. They're born

innocent. They're born full of love, and that's

what they do. Well, they are... You know, children...

I'm not sure all children... I'm not sure children

are born innocent, because what's the first word...

that a child learns? Well, maybe after mama and

dada, what's the next word they learn? No! They

don't just say no, they say no! You ever seen

a kid that had that look on their face? And then

the next word they learn is mine! So, no and

mine. But in the sense that they don't fully

understand right and wrong, they're not trying

to be bad, they're just... They have kind of

a wide -eyed innocence. They listen to things.

They learn. What else makes a child... A child

is dependent, right? You tell your 7 -year -old,

hey, it's time to go out. You're 7 years old

now. It's time to go out and get your own apartment.

Start paying the rent. He can't do that. He can't

do that. So Jesus is saying, if we want to come

to God and receive the kingdom of God, we've

got to be like a child. There's nobody that comes

to God and has it all together and says, God,

you owe me the kingdom of heaven. All of us.

When I get up in the morning, I praise God that

He saved me from my sins. And I need that every

single day. I don't have it all together. I'm

not some great, wise, wonderful person. If God

didn't have mercy on me, I wouldn't last ten

minutes. Think about that story in the middle.

Why is Jesus telling His followers about all

this stuff that's going to happen? We're going

to Jerusalem. Everything the prophets said about

me is going to come true. I'm going to be arrested

and handed over to the soldiers. I'm going to

be mocked. treated shamefully and spit upon.

I'm going to be whipped. I'm going to be killed.

And on the third day, I am going to rise again.

Why is He telling them all this? I think He told

them because... He needed to build our faith.

So by him knowing what was going to happen in

the future and revealing it to his disciples,

they would have kind of like a sense of entrustment

in him. When they see it actually happen, they're

going to know he's the real deal. This is the

plan. Is there anything that surprises you about

that? I mean, if you knew ahead of time that

if you went to a certain place, all this stuff

was going to happen to you, would you change

your destination? So what is this? Tell us about

Jesus. truly unselfish in His love and His devotion

for us. He wasn't shocked when He ended up on

the cross. It wasn't a surprise. It wasn't a

terrible accident. He knew exactly and precisely

what would happen. He knew that His death had

to be a sacrifice for our sins. There wasn't

any other way it could have been done. He knew

it. God had shown him what was going to happen.

And he said, this is what's going to happen and

we're going through with it. We're going ahead.

We're moving toward Jerusalem. It's not going

to be pretty. It's not going to be fun. See,

they didn't understand because up to this point,

Jesus had been pretty popular among the people.

He'd been doing all these healings and he'd done

all these good things. And so, you know, it seemed

like Jesus' popularity was quite high among the

crowds of people. Of course, the religious leaders

didn't like him. But the people loved him. You

know, you can see at the end of the story, everybody

is praising Jesus for the miracle that was done.

They were praising God, and Jesus is God. But

his disciples are like, what are you talking

about, Jesus? Things are going well. What do

you mean you're going to be arrested and beaten?

Killed. That doesn't make any sense. That didn't

make any sense to them. But Jesus is telling

them ahead of time, this is the plan. This is

why I've come. All the stuff that He tells them

that is going to happen to Him, what's the last

thing He says will happen? It's going to rise

again. Why is that important? Why do you think

that's important? It's important they were 90.

It swings back to the faith. Hang on. Hang on.

Friday's here, but Sunday's coming. God will

not be defeated. Jesus was not defeated even

by death. Nothing that we do, nothing that happens

in our lives, nothing that seems overwhelming

to us can defeat God. Is there any relationship

between the story about the children and the

story about the blind man? The blind man comes

innocent and trusting in a way. He's just taking

God at the word. Jesus is the descendant of David.

Jesus is going to heal him. He's coming like

a child. He is kind of like that little kid beside

the road. He can't do anything for himself. Jesus,

descendant of David, have mercy on me. Ironically,

he's the one that can see. He's the one that

knows who Jesus is in the whole thing. The disciples

aren't getting it. I mean, they understand some

things about Jesus, but the blind man is the

one that gets it. And then he comes to know Jesus

in a new way. I mean, even his expectations are

exceeded here. He gets complete healing. But

what does he do after the healing? He rejoices.

He says he followed Jesus, praising God. He got,

he received his sight, and he received the kingdom

of God like a little child. He's following. Now

he's following the king. If there's a kingdom

of God, there has to be a king, right? And that

king is Jesus. And now he's following the king.

His life is completely changed. He's gone from

dismal, I got nothing, I'm a blind man, whatever

little pennies people drop my way, that's all

I get for the day. And now he's following the

king of the universe. Wow. When I was about 15

years old, I had a real change. I had grown up

in a Christian family. I'd heard all these stories.

I knew all about Jesus. But something happened

when I... I turned about 15. And I didn't want

to just accept it because my parents had told

me I wanted to really know for sure if God was

real. And I looked at the Bible and I said, you

know, in the Bible, God speaks to people all

the time. He's always talking to people. He's

doing things in their lives. He's very active.

And He doesn't change. God is God. If He's real,

Could I begin to know Him? Could I begin to actually

hear His voice? Could I begin to follow Him and

understand what that means? And then I began

to think, well, what could be more important

than that? I mean, I could go to college and

have a career, and I could become a very famous

person, I could become a celebrity, but that

would be nothing compared to actually knowing

the God who created everything. You can give

me the whole world, all the fame and the power

and the money and everything in the world, and

you give it all to me, and if I had a choice

with all that stuff or actually knowing God and

knowing Him forever, which would I choose? And

I'm like, well, that's a no -brainer. If I could

actually know God, then He can do anything with

my life. for the first time, talk to God like

He was a real person and say, Lord, if you're

there, show me that you're real. And I'll tell

you, one of the first things that happened, maybe

about a year later, I was about 16, just got

my driver's license. And I grew up in the Boston

area, a lot of curvy roads and crazy drivers

and nutty stuff going on. Got to always be paying

attention. And one day I was driving through

my town and it was around a curve. There was

a service station on the right. And I was kind

of distracted looking at something over on the

left. I wasn't really paying attention. And all

of a sudden, I started involuntarily to swerve

to the left into the wrong side of the road.

It's like somebody grabbed my wheel and swerved

over to the left. And as I turned to look to

the right, I saw a car was coming flying out

of the service station right at the side of my

car. And all of a sudden, I'm just 16 years old.

I'm just a new driver. This car looks like it's

going to hit me. But fortunately, nobody was

coming on the other traffic the other way. I

swerved over to the other side, and the whole

accident was averted. I just about got T -boned.

And I'm just a 16 -year -old kid. You can imagine,

my heart's going... I'm not used to driving,

and I almost got hit. But the weird thing about

it was I didn't swerve. And I heard the Lord

say to me, did you see that? I was watching over

you. And this has been right during that time

I was asking the Lord to show me if he was real.

The first thing I remember was that God helped

me in that situation. I've actually had other

traffic accidents and God didn't. swerve my car.

God doesn't always miraculously get you out of

every scrape. But, in that case, He said, did

you notice? Were you looking? That wasn't you.

You don't have reactions that fast. You're just

a new driver. I think God wants us to actually

know Him. and go through life in a kind of a

constant conversation with Him. That may sound

wacky, it may sound bizarre, but I think it's

supposed to be normal. I think that's the way

life should be. We've got a Creator. He calls

Himself our Heavenly Father. We're His children.

We're supposed to come to Him like children.

I think He wants to hang out with us. Every minute

of every day. Kind of guide us along the path.

And if we're children and we're willing to listen,

I think that is what the kingdom of God is all

about in the world. Looking to the king, listening

to his voice, being willing to do whatever he

says, and know him. Interesting little story

here, huh? Well, that's what I've got today.

And I thank you for participating and listening.

So let's pray. And I want to pray specifically

for you that God might open your eyes. Maybe.

Maybe even give you that initial curiosity that

I had at age 15. Hey, if there really is a God,

is He out there? Do you have any Father? I want

to thank you that you are our King, but also

our Father. You call yourself Father. And I know

that sometimes our earthly fathers haven't always

treated us right. But, Lord, You are a good,

loving Father. And You're watching over us. And

I ask, Lord, that maybe today You might spark

something by these stories. Maybe we could be

like that blind guy sitting beside the road saying,

Jesus, Senate of David, have mercy on me. Would

you talk with me today? Would you show me the

right way to go? Lord Jesus, I thank you that

you are calling to us. That you want us to know

you. To live a life with you. Thank You for this

story, Lord, and we pray that You would allow

us to think about it all day. And we pray these

things in Jesus' name. Amen.