[0:00] 1,075. Again, you're all very welcome this morning.
[0:27] And as we gather, we open up God's Word and we hear it explained and preached. And we look forward to Johnny coming in a moment to preach from the Word to our hearts and to our souls.
[0:41] And we're going to be looking this morning, continuing our series in the Gospel of John. We're going to be looking at chapter 9. So we're going to read verses 1 to 12. And then we're going to jump down and read 35 to 41.
[0:54] So John chapter 9, verses 1 to 12 and then 35 to 41. John chapter 9.
[1:05] As he went along, 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?
[1:18] Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus. But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
[1:30] As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
[1:41] After saying this, he spat on the ground. He made some mud with the saliva. And he put it on the man's eyes. Go, he told him.
[1:52] Wash in the pool of Siloam. This word means sent. So the man went and he washed. He came home seen. His neighbors, no one who had formerly seen him begging, asked, Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?
[2:09] Some claimed that he was. Others said, no, he only looks like him. But he himself insisted, I am the man. Now then, now how then were your eyes open, they asked.
[2:23] He replied, the man they called Jesus. He made some mud and he put it on my eyes. He told me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and then I could see.
[2:37] Where is this man, they asked him. I don't know, he said. Verse 35. Jesus heard that they had thrown him, that's the blind man who had been healed, out.
[2:49] And when he found him, he said, do you believe in the Son of Man? Who is he, sir, the man asked. Tell me so that I may believe in him. Jesus said, you have now seen him.
[3:03] In fact, he is the one speaking with you. Then the man said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Jesus said, for judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.
[3:22] Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and they asked, what? Are we blind too? Well, Jesus said, if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin.
[3:35] But now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. Good morning.
[3:53] Good morning. Nice to see you. Thank you, Ralph, for leading and thanks to the music team as well. And we do appreciate you so much.
[4:04] So thank you for helping us this morning and for all who do week by week. Let's keep our Bibles open. We're going to look at John 9 together.
[4:16] Let's pray. Father God, by the power of your spirit, open our eyes that we may see wonderful truths and treasures in your word.
[4:43] May we see Jesus clearly in all his beauty and wonder. And may we be satisfied in him alone.
[4:57] Help us, we pray. Amen. Well, when I've been abroad in more tropical climates, something startling happens at night.
[5:12] It may have been your experience too. When you turn on the light, the whole room moves. Great moths come out and they fly towards the light.
[5:27] And those dirty cockroaches, they scurry into the darkness. You see, light is not neutral. It either attracts or it repels.
[5:41] Look at verse 5. See what Jesus says? While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
[5:53] Jesus is saying, I've come to shine my light. I have come to be the light in the darkness. And Jesus is not neutral.
[6:06] As his light shines, we're either attracted to him or we are repelled by him. Let's see how this is true.
[6:19] First, we're going to look at the shining of the light. Shining the light. In our text, John records for us an extraordinary miracle.
[6:32] A blind man receives his sight. But you'll know through our studies that in John's gospel, the miracles are called signs.
[6:44] So the miracle, or the sign, points beyond itself to something else. In this case, and here's a summary, Jesus gives a blind man physical sight to show us that he has come to give us spiritual sight.
[7:05] He gives a blind man physical sight. That's the miracle. The sign is pointing to the fact that Jesus has come to give us spiritual sight.
[7:17] Look at verse 1. As he went along, he saw a blind man from birth. His disciples asked him, Teacher, who sinned?
[7:30] This man? Or his parents? That he was born blind? To them, there was only one logical conclusion. Either his parents had done something terribly wrong in their life, and God is punishing them for some sin in their life, and their son is born blind.
[7:51] Or, maybe God knew that as the man grew older, he would do some terrible things in his life, and so, he was punished with blindness before he was even born.
[8:05] Those are their thinkings. What is it, Jesus? It must be one or the other. Who sinned? Now, many people think like that.
[8:17] If everything I do is going well, then I must have done something good. God is blessing me. But if I'm suffering in some way, I must have done something wrong.
[8:30] God is punishing me. Now, it's a common thought. We can think like that. But it's a terrible thought, because it's not true.
[8:43] Look at Jesus' response, verse 3. Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Yes, in a sense, all the struggle and all the suffering in the world is a result of the fall.
[9:00] But we cannot draw a direct line from our suffering to a particular sin and say, that was it. No, Jesus says, neither this man nor his parents sinned.
[9:13] But this happened. The man's blindness happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
[9:26] And what were the works that were going to be displayed through this blind man? Well, through the healing of the blind man, Jesus was going to shine his light to show his power and to show our spiritual condition.
[9:45] So let's look at this miracle in a little bit more detail. First, born blind. Look at verse 1 again.
[9:56] As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. So he never, ever had experienced sight.
[10:09] Imagine, he never got to see his family. He could smell a flower, but he never was able to admire its beauty.
[10:21] He could feel the sunshine beating down on him, but he was never able to gaze at a sunset. He was blind from birth.
[10:34] Darkness. But yet, born blind and given sight. Jump down to verse 6.
[10:44] After saying this, after this discussion with his disciples, Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes.
[10:59] Now, what a strange thing to do. We know from John chapter 5 that Jesus could have simply just spoken a word and healed him straight away, just as he did.
[11:12] Do you remember to the man who couldn't walk by the pool? He just said to him, pick up your mat and walk. Well, why didn't he say the exact same thing to the blind man? Your eyes are open, you can see.
[11:24] But no, Jesus, look at what it says there in verse 6, he made mud.
[11:36] He spits on the ground and then he makes a paste of mud and then he takes it and he presses it into the man's eyes.
[11:54] Why would he do that? Well, I think it's like creation, isn't it? Just as God formed and shaped the world and just as God in the very beginning of creation spoke light into the darkness, so Jesus spits and he makes mud and he forms and shapes that mud and he pastes it into the man's eyes and he speaks light into the darkness, verse 7.
[12:30] Go, he told him. Wash in the pool of Siloam. So the man went, washed and he came home seeing.
[12:43] You see, through the sign, through this miracle, Jesus is shining a light on our condition. This man didn't lose his sight or become blind over time.
[12:59] He never had sight. He was born blind and in the same way we have been born blind to who Jesus is and our need of him.
[13:12] And the only way we're ever going to see who Jesus is, is if he does a creation work in our life. He must create sight.
[13:24] He must give sight where there never was any sight. And just as the blind man couldn't give himself sight, so we can never make ourselves see our need of Jesus.
[13:41] Jesus must do a miracle, a new creation work in our life. So Jesus does a sign shining his light on our true condition.
[14:00] So how do we respond to this shining light? second, remaining in darkness. This poor man, instead of being able to enjoy this new sight and go to different places and explore and look, this poor man is thrown into like a courtroom.
[14:26] He's having to defend and prove that he does have sight. it seems that no one wants to believe what happened to him. Look at verse 8.
[14:37] His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, isn't this the man who used to sit and beg? Some claimed, yes, that's the man.
[14:48] Others said, no, no, it isn't. You've got it all wrong. He only looks like him. But he himself insisted, I am the man. Hello, everyone.
[14:59] Have you ever thought of asking me? Well, how did you get to see? Well, the man they called Jesus, he made mud and he put it on my eyes and I went and washed and I could see.
[15:16] Why don't you believe me? Well, if the neighbours weren't bad enough, next up were the Pharisees. Verse 15.
[15:29] Therefore, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. Well, he put mud on my eyes and I washed and now I can see.
[15:44] But they're not convinced. Verse 18. They still did not believe that he had been blind and that he had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents.
[15:57] So the parents are called in. Is this your son? They asked. Is this the one who you say was born blind?
[16:09] How is it now that he can see? I mean, don't be so ridiculous. Blind and now seeing. We know he is our son, the parents answered.
[16:23] And we know he was born blind, but how he can see now or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. Now why is it that they are having such a hard time believing what's happened?
[16:45] Well you see, if the miracle is true, if what the man was saying was true, that means Jesus is God and the Pharisees would have to accept that and believe in Jesus.
[16:59] But rather than believe the truth about Jesus, they now turned to try to discredit Jesus. Verse 24. A second time they summoned the man who had been blind.
[17:12] Give glory to God by telling the truth, they said. We know this man is a sinner. sinner. In other words, just stop all your lies and just say Jesus is a sinner.
[17:26] He replied whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. But one thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see.
[17:41] Then they asked him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered, I've told you and you will not listen.
[17:53] Do you want to become his disciples too? Skip down to verse 32. Nobody, this is the man speaking again, nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.
[18:09] If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. In other words, I can now see, so this man must be from God.
[18:25] To this they replied, you were steeped in sin at birth, how dare you lecture us? And they threw him out.
[18:36] Why is there such hostility? And why is there such unbelief? well, it seems that these Pharisees are blinded by pride.
[18:54] You see, to acknowledge what Jesus has done and all that he's been saying means, well, we must believe that he's God. And if Jesus is God, then I must submit my life to him, I must turn and trust him.
[19:11] But pride gets in the way. our pride says, I don't need Jesus. I can live my own way. Isn't that how often we can be?
[19:24] Jesus is saying, come to me, see who I am. I am God, I have come to bring life in all its fullness. Believe me, walk with me.
[19:37] But pride, pride says, no, I want to do it my way. I've got my own way of living. I have my own truth. You see, as Jesus turns the light on, as Jesus comes in as the light into the world, they remain in darkness.
[20:00] They're repelled by Jesus. When confronted with who he is, they scurry away deeper into the darkness.
[20:13] But there's another response. Not just those who remain in darkness, but those who are attracted to Jesus.
[20:24] You see, while the Pharisees hide from the light, the former blind man is attracted to the light. And it seems all the questioning that he's been facing has caused him to question himself.
[20:41] Who is this person? And he's being drawn towards him gradually. Look at the progression of the man. Let's go back to verse 11.
[20:57] The neighbours have asked, who opened your eyes? Verse 11, the man they call Jesus. Jesus. He doesn't know who Jesus is.
[21:10] He's just that man, that person that is called Jesus. That's all he knows him as. But look what happens later on.
[21:21] Verse 17, the Pharisees turned again to the blind man. What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.
[21:32] The man replied, he is a prophet. So he's no longer just that man called Jesus. He's thought about it and come to the conclusion that he's something bigger, he's more important.
[21:48] He must be a prophet. Verse 31, again as he speaks back to the Pharisees, we know that God does not listen to sinners.
[22:02] God 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.
[22:18] He's come to the clear conclusion that this man, Jesus, is a prophet and he is not a sinner. He must be God.
[22:32] God. You see, the more light that this man receives, the closer he is drawn towards the light. The more he understands of Jesus, the more he is ready to believe in Jesus.
[22:51] Verse 35, Jesus had heard that they had thrown him out. And when Jesus found him, he said, do you believe in the son of man?
[23:04] Jesus is referring to himself here as the one with absolute power and supreme authority. Do you believe in the son of man? Now, the man's answer is remarkable.
[23:17] Verse 36, who is he, sir? The man asked. Tell me so that I may believe in him. Jesus said, you have now seen him.
[23:30] In fact, he is the one speaking with you. And the man said, Lord, I believe.
[23:41] And he worshipped him. Yes, he sees Jesus physically for the first time. But more than that, this former blind man has come to see his need of Jesus and he believes in him.
[23:59] He worships. Literally, he bows down in honour, and submission as he sees the greatness and the glory of who Jesus is.
[24:13] How did this happen? How did this change come about in this man's life? Well, the man was enabled to see. Look at verse 35.
[24:27] Jesus found him. Jesus went searching him out. The light of Jesus had shone into the darkness of his life.
[24:38] And as he responded to the light, and as the light got brighter, not only was his physical eyes opened, but something greater, his spiritual eyes have been opened.
[24:54] He's come to see his need of Jesus. You see, that's what Jesus does. He gives sight where there was no sight.
[25:07] So what does that all mean for us? Well, Jesus summarizes his message like this. Look at verse 39. Jesus said, for judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind.
[25:37] It's very simple what Jesus is saying. I've summarized it like this, you can see it on the screen. First, there are those who know they are blind, and therefore will see.
[25:54] Those who know that they are born spiritually blind, and that without Jesus they're lost, they will be given sight. Jesus will open up our eyes and enable us to believe and to worship him.
[26:13] But second, there are those who think they can see, but they're actually blind.
[26:26] Those who think they're enlightened, and have the knowledge, and know and think that their way is right. Jesus says they will become blind.
[26:39] Jesus will shine his light, but they will remain in darkness. verse 40, some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, what are we blind to?
[26:56] Are you talking about us? Jesus said, if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
[27:09] you see, he's saying, look, if you knew how spiritually blind you are, if you were able to accept your lostness, you would come to me.
[27:26] But if you insist on going it alone, you will live and remain in your guilt and in your shame, and you will face judgment.
[27:39] You see, Jesus has come to shine his light into the darkness of this world. Let's just bring it together, just three things to close with.
[27:53] If we welcome the light that Jesus is shining in our life, three things. First, you will see your sin, in a new light.
[28:06] You will see how utterly blind and lost you are. It's not a little glimpse of light that gives you a little way of finding your way out.
[28:20] No, you are utterly blind and in desperate need for Jesus. Like the man in this account, you will say, I am blind.
[28:32] I need sight. And when you do, the light of Jesus will shine his beauty and his magnificence towards us. He will become more attractive to you.
[28:45] And you will run to him and you will receive from him forgiveness for all your sin. You will become closer to him and your relationship to him will deepen and you will become more like him.
[29:03] You will see your sin in a new light. You will see how desperately you need Jesus. But second, you will see yourself in a new light.
[29:17] Go back to chapter 8, verse 12. 12. You will begin to see yourself in a new light. Chapter 8, verse 12.
[29:36] when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
[29:52] Jesus is the one who satisfies and fulfills. He is the one who gives us all that we need. He takes us out of darkness and puts us on a path of light that is only right and best and good for us.
[30:12] You will see yourself in a new way. And third, you will see your suffering in a new light.
[30:24] Just go back with me to chapter 9 and verse 3. You will see your suffering in a new light. You see, this man, this blind man was suffering.
[30:39] He was blind for years. And I'm sure the question arose in his mind many, many times. Why?
[30:50] Why this suffering? Why am I having to live with this? suffering? And I know that some of you here today are going through your own struggles and facing your own suffering.
[31:08] And the question comes to mind, why? Why is this happening to me? What's it all for? well, in some ways, there are no answers.
[31:23] There's a mystery to our suffering. We don't always understand why God allows and permits these things to happen in our life. But look at verse 3, because I think there is a beginning of an answer.
[31:42] Look what he says. Jesus says, neither this man nor his parents sinned. But this happened. This suffering happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
[32:00] Do you believe and trust that God has his plans and purposes for your life? And that he is working something good in and through you that you never thought possible before.
[32:21] If you find that hard to work through, think of Jesus on the cross, the truly innocent man who suffered, who was crucified, who was put to death, who suffered hell.
[32:39] Why did this happen? Why did that suffering happen? so that the works of God might be displayed through Christ, that people might come to salvation.
[32:55] Now I think that helps us and enables us to see our suffering in a new light. That God would work his power in you.
[33:08] maybe it's a work in you that he does so that you are drawn closer and deeper in relationship with him. Maybe it's so that you can testify to the faithfulness and goodness of God in the midst of your heartache.
[33:29] Maybe it's that you receive comfort in your suffering so that you can comfort others and in time to be able to disciple and help other people who are going through their suffering.
[33:45] You see, when the light of Jesus shines into our life, it transforms us completely. We see our sin in a new light.
[33:57] We see our self in a new light. And we see our sufferings in a new light. The light is shining. Are we being attracted to the light?
[34:12] Or am I hiding, remaining in darkness? Let's just take a moment in the quietness to reflect on that.
[34:27] Let's just be quiet before the Lord. Father God, thank you.
[34:55] Thank you for sending Jesus the light of the world. We pray that we would not reject that light, but that we would be drawn closer and closer to the Lord, the one who forgives us of all our sin, the one who sets us on a new path, a life of light, and the one who will help us and work good in and through our suffering for your glory.
[35:33] Amen.