All right, so we are back into the Gospel of John
and we'll continue through this through the rest of our holiday time.
John chapter 9.
If you don't have a Bible, there are Bibles up on the back desk up there
if you want to grab one.
But keep it open to John chapter 9
because we'll be working through that as I speak.
Before I actually even get into it though
and start talking about the passage,
I'm going to make an observation about life
that I think we can all pretty readily and easily see,
perhaps even in ourselves.
Things like, have you noticed how a successful businessman
sees his first million as a start
and continues to work long hours
even though they're well into the category of rich?
A billionaire even will continue to work long hours.
A politician will go to battle for a lost cause.
A world record holding athlete
will train and train and train again
to beat their own record,
pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion,
to the point of body failure.
Putting themselves to the absolute limit
in order to beat their own record.
Why do we do this?
Why do we have this drive,
a drive that actually pushes us to move further,
to get that promotion,
to work harder,
to excel more and more in the different areas of life?
Where does this drive come from?
Well, in an article by Tony Schwartz
in the New York Times in May 2015,
he actually says this,
we want desperately to matter,
to feel a sense of worthiness.
Once our basic human needs are met, he said,
the biggest stressor that psychology has managed to throw up
or the biggest threat to me,
the most likely thing to produce the hormone cortisol,
which is a stress chemical
that starts your heart racing and all that sort of stuff,
the biggest stressor beyond eating, drinking, shelter,
is my social self,
my social acceptance,
my esteem,
my status.
Or you could say my pride,
my dignity,
my respect.
And because of this drive,
and because it's so strong,
we apply ourselves to achieving this end of esteem and status
with incredible vigour.
Why?
To feel good about ourselves,
but more for everyone to look at us
and wish that, well, they were like us too.
There's some kind of comparison that goes on here too.
It's not just me and myself competing against myself
and trying to better myself.
I'm trying to lift myself up compared to you.
There's a comparison going on in which we judge each other.
As Christians, we do this all the time.
You know, even as Christian parents,
we don't want our kids playing with the rough kids.
Oh no, we want them playing with the good kids.
We send them to good schools
so that I can actually mix with those good kids.
We encourage them toward a good education,
push them to work hard,
get a good job.
We try to steer them away from the wrong partner
when that time comes.
We even spiritualise it.
We expect spiritual obedience
to lead to blessing.
And you know you do that
because as soon as something rubbish
comes into your life,
you go, why God?
Why do we even ask that question?
We expect spiritual obedience
to lead to blessing.
And we see blessing in terms of success.
And we see success
as the results of our effort.
Into that scene
and that mode of thinking
enters a man born blind.
Why was he born blind?
Well, there were theological answers
to that question already floating around.
Accepted answers.
They're implied by the question
that the disciples asked Jesus in verse 2.
His disciples ask him,
Rabbi, who sinned,
this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?
Cause and effect.
Someone must have sinned
because he was born blind.
But who?
Worst case scenario,
the man himself
while he was still in the womb.
How did this work?
Well, they thought, it appears,
at least this is one of the ways
that this might have happened,
was that an unborn baby
might actually participate
in the sin of their mother.
So if the mother sinned,
because the baby was present in the womb,
then that child sinned along with the mother.
So best case scenario,
the people who are all,
you know,
looking at this sinner,
this blind man on the side of the road.
Best case scenario,
people looking at this blind man
and blaming his parents.
Worst case,
they're looking at him
and judging him personally,
thinking he is personally responsible
for his blindness.
But either way,
in their minds,
sin leads to suffering.
It's as easy as that.
So,
this blind man was a sinner
from a family of sinners.
So this family
were on the edge
of the respectable sphere of life,
the respectable social set.
That's how people viewed them.
But Jesus,
in his response,
cuts right across
the cause and effect view
with his answer.
If you look in verse 3,
Jesus answers,
It was not that this man sinned
or his parents,
but that the works of God
might be displayed in him.
Sin can lead to suffering,
and we can see that in John 5.14.
You can look these up later.
Just write them down.
1 Corinthians 11.30,
they're examples.
A specific sin
can lead to specific suffering.
Jesus doesn't take this
off the board completely,
but he does take it
off the board
as a general principle
that you can then apply
to everyone you see
that's suffering.
Oh, there's got to be
a sin behind it.
There are lots of reasons
for suffering.
This one,
says Jesus,
isn't about sin.
This man wasn't born blind
because of sin.
Not a specific sin,
at least.
And as Alex kind of pointed out,
there's a,
you know,
what do we do with it then?
Why was he born blind?
Well, it's possible
that when Jesus says,
but that the works of God
might be displayed in him,
it's possible that he's saying,
well,
he was actually born blind
so that I could actually
heal him at this point
and show God's glory.
It's also possible, though,
that Jesus is actually saying,
you're looking at this whole thing
the wrong way.
The whole thing,
the whole paradigm
that you're viewing the world through
is wrong.
The whole paradigm
that you're viewing me
and my ministry through
is wrong.
They are looking to condemn
when they should be seeing,
as Jesus does,
an opportunity to save.
If you look at John 3,
verses 16 and 17,
for God so loved the world
that he gave his only son
that whoever believed in him
would not perish
but have eternal life.
Then verse 17,
for God did not come into the world
to condemn the world
but to save the world through him.
Jesus didn't come into the world
to condemn the world
but to save the world.
They're looking at this whole thing
the wrong way.
What God is doing right here,
right now in Jesus' ministry
should be about saving,
rescuing,
pulling people out of the darkness
into the light.
That's exactly what this healing will do.
It will reveal God.
This healing is symbolic.
It's a signpost pointing to God at work.
So the next question that comes up
is how was he healed?
And it gets a little bit of attention here.
Again, Alex pointed that out.
John records that Jesus spat on the ground
and made mud with the saliva
in verses 6 to 7.
Then he anointed the man's eyes with mud
and said to him,
Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,
which means scent.
Why the mud?
Who knows?
That's the best I can come up with
to answer the question
that Alex posed for me to answer.
No idea.
I do suspect though
with the amount of irony
and the amount of insults
and things being thrown around
in this particular account,
I do suspect
that Jesus does it
to push the buttons
of the Pharisees.
And I can't prove that.
But then again,
the other theories around it
are equally unprovable,
you know,
speculative.
One thing we do know though
and one thing that does get an explanation
is the pool.
The pool is significant.
John tells us
that its name means scent
where Jesus is the scent one
in this gospel.
It's an important name
in the context
of what God has been doing
throughout history
and it's an important name
in the context
of what's actually been happening
very recently
in the gospel.
So in John 7,
verse 37 to 39,
we're right at the end
of the Feast of the Tabernacles.
And in 7,
verses 37 to 39,
Jesus actually interrupts
this water-pouring ritual
at the end of that feast.
He gets up and shouts,
if anyone thirsts,
let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me,
as the scripture has said,
out of his heart
will flow rivers of living water.
Now the water
for that particular
water-pouring ceremony
was drawn
from the pool of Siloam.
So yet again,
Jesus is diverting their attention
from the things of the past
that they're celebrating
to say this is the time
of fulfillment here and now.
But further,
if we go back
to Genesis 49,
which is the passage
where each of the sons of Jacob
are actually being blessed.
In Genesis 49, verse 10,
we read,
the scepter shall not depart
from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff
from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him,
and to him shall be
the obedience of the peoples.
Now your versions probably
have an alternate translation
at the bottom.
For the until tribute comes to him
actually literally reads
until Shiloh comes,
where Shiloh is Hebrew
for sent.
This could be Jesus' way
of actually explaining
who he is
in the whole breadth
of biblical theology,
of Bible history.
He is the eternal ruler,
the one who the scepter
would not depart from,
that Judah has been awaiting.
Jesus uses this miracle
to reveal that God's work
over thousands of years
all connects into him
and his arrival.
It places Jesus
right at the centre of it.
These revelations about Jesus
are just waiting to be seen
and pondered
and understood,
much in the same way
that the understanding
of this blind man
grows gradually
about who Jesus is
throughout this account.
But we're getting ahead
of ourselves,
let's just stick with
where we are now.
And the fact is here
that the neighbours
of the blind man
cannot get over
the miracle that happens.
How could this happen?
It was such an unbelievable thing
they couldn't even agree
that the healed man
before them
was actually
the blind beggar they knew,
their next door neighbour.
And I love this part
of the events
because it asks
all the questions
I want to ask
about that miracle.
Is it the same person
or was it just a mistake?
No, it's the same person.
Well then, wow,
how were your eyes opened?
He says,
Jesus made mud
and told me to wash
at Siloam.
At this point,
the neighbours know
that you spit on the ground
and make mud
and rub it in someone's eyes.
That does not heal
a man born blind.
They know the pool
of Siloam
and whilst it's used
in specific rituals,
it is just water.
They know it
to be just water.
So for them,
the significance lies
in who did this?
And so they ask
that question,
where is he?
Where is this Jesus?
And the man born blind
goes, well,
I don't know.
He doesn't even know
what he looks like
at this point.
But in all of this,
things have changed
for the man born blind.
He was the man
who used to sit and beg.
He was this outcast sinner.
But through this encounter
with Jesus,
he's becoming someone new.
But there's no Jesus
to explain exactly
what's going on.
And something this big
needs explaining.
So,
they do what anyone would do.
They go to the spiritual authorities,
they know.
They didn't have Google,
so they went to the Pharisees.
And the big question they had
was who is responsible?
Even though they go
and delve into all the details
of the actual miracle
and how it happens,
what they're really trying
to do is determine
is this from God or not?
Who is responsible?
This miracle was too big
to ignore.
And this is kind of
the thought that's going around
in the friends of this guy's head,
neighbours of this guy's heads.
Who could possibly do this?
Who is responsible?
So,
in verse 13,
they brought to the Pharisees
the man who had formerly
been born blind.
And now we discover
that it was a Sabbath day
when Jesus made the mud
and opened his eyes.
So,
the Pharisees again asked him
how he received his sight
and he said to them,
he put mud on my eyes
and I washed
and I see.
Now,
the Pharisees,
in terms of understanding
the law
and the things of God,
they were kind of
at the top of the pile.
They're the spiritual elite
in this community
and embedded in this exchange
is the information
that the Pharisees need
to make their decision
from their perspective.
Who is responsible?
Well,
straight away,
a number of them
start to think,
not God.
Jesus can't be.
He can't be
from their God
because he doesn't keep
their rules
about the Sabbath.
Now,
note here,
there is no rule
in God's law
against anything
that Jesus did
at this point.
What they're referring to
is the extra laws
that they'd added
to the law.
So,
it was their rules,
not God's rules,
that Jesus had broken.
Rules that they had added
to establish
and to make clear
their own personal value
to prevent them
from sinning anymore.
Initially,
there was some disagreement
among them.
Some of them were saying,
well,
he's a sinner
and others were saying,
well,
how can a sinner
do things like this?
But ultimately,
they were using
different lenses
at this point.
Some began
with their own
Sabbath rules
and others began
with a miracle
and worked in
to try and work out
who it was.
And they desperately
needed to resolve
this division
because it was
dividing them.
And they couldn't
have that.
It represented
a break in their ranks,
a break in how
they actually achieve
and understand
personal value
to be achieved,
how they maintain
their pride,
their dignity,
their respect,
their status
over everyone else
in their society.
If they depart
from the law
at this point
and their additions
to it,
then they diminish.
And if Jesus
becomes a competing
voice,
then they lose
ground in their
community.
So the Pharisees
review the evidence
but notice that they
review the evidence
not unbiased.
They're very biased
the way they review it.
They ask the man
his opinion
in verse 17.
Who do you think
he is?
Straight back.
He's a prophet.
Now things really
have escalated
because if this is
allowed to stand,
then Jesus really
does begin to
compete with them.
And how can they
compete with a man
who can heal
a man born blind?
So they bring in
some other people
to try and bolster
and check things out
and make sure there
are no loopholes here.
They bring in their
parents in verses
18 to 23
and they say,
is this your son?
They say, yes.
Was he born blind?
Yes.
How does he now see?
We don't know.
Now John gives us
some important context
at this point.
In verse 22 to 23
he explains that
his parents said
these things
because they feared
the Jews.
For the Jews
had already agreed
that if anyone
should confess
Jesus to be the Christ,
he was to be put
out of the synagogue.
the Pharisees
were already known
to be against Jesus
and the parents
were already
on the outside
because they were
perceived as sinners.
The fact that their
son was born blind
was a point of shame
for them
because this was
the prevailing theology.
Sin leads to suffering.
Admitting it again
in public life
is being drawn
into what would have
been a very public trial
was just rubbing
their noses
in the fact that
they were on the outside.
It's equivalent
to just being shown
up as sinners
again and again.
And they'd lived
under the weight
of this theology
for years
at least since
their child was born.
They were sinners.
They knew there was
no way back.
Just a daily reminder.
No wonder they caved
when they were pressed
to make an opinion
about,
form an opinion
about Jesus.
So at this point
they come back
to the man born blind.
Come back to the man
in verses 24 to 34
and there's a really
interesting exchange here
and right in the middle
of it things take
a huge turn.
They come back
to the man
and they say
give glory to God.
Now just so you know
what that means
it's basically saying
now tell us the truth.
Give glory to God
is a kind of
I guess
a sort of
phrase
that equated
for what we would call
being under oath
in court.
that's all it's about.
So he's saying
tell us the truth
and there's no question
there's just a statement.
We know this man
is a sinner.
No question.
Just their verdict
on who healed him.
In a nutshell
they're saying
God is not in it
and what they're
trying to force
this man to do
is to make a choice
between them
and Jesus.
Well
the man responds
he says
look I have no idea
about whether he's
a sinner or not
but one thing
I do know
that though I was blind
now I see.
The man bypasses
the sin debate
and gets back
to the point
if you are right
then please explain
how he healed me.
And they can't
their own theology
suggests that
Jesus must be of God
because only people
who were in God's favour
could do these things
and as we read
through what the man
says back to them
he's actually really
quoting their theology
back to them.
We know that
in verse 31
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.
He's quoting
their theology
back to them
and they are stuck.
They have no way
to deal with this.
Only a truly godly man
could do this miracle.
And they ask him again
they try and point
towards the sin
behaviour in Jesus.
Ah, but how did he make
you know
how did he heal you again?
Ah, he made mud.
Ah, he doesn't actually
say that
but that's what
they're trying to
draw out.
He answers them
at that point
look I've told you
already
and you wouldn't
listen.
Why do you want
to hear it again?
Do you also want
to become his disciples?
I've got to suggest here
that this is actually
mischief making here.
He's starting to realise
these guys
are just so stuck
in their ways
they're not prepared
to see
what's right
in front of them.
This man was born blind
but now he could see.
He has met Jesus.
He has been healed.
He has listened to people
try and rubbish Jesus
and has only convinced him
of the truth.
And so he chose Jesus.
Do you want
to become his disciples too?
The Pharisees
could only respond
by coming back
to their rules.
They kept judging God
by their expectations.
Their standards.
Their way of life.
The law was their way of life.
It was how they built
their self-esteem.
Their pride.
Their reputation.
So often it's the same
for us.
Our conduct
is what we rely on
to build our reputation.
But this Jesus
told them the truth.
Their way
wasn't working.
Any sin
was a sign
of slavery to sin.
Jesus says
in chapter 8.
The law
was a diagnostic tool
not a rescue plan.
Jesus
is the rescue plan.
Let me say this again.
The law
is not a diagnostic tool.
Is a diagnostic tool
not a rescue plan.
You cannot resolve
the issues
that we face
as human beings
from the outside in
with a rule oriented approach.
You just cannot do it.
I know as a parent
of my children
I saw my sister
do this
when I was visiting her
over Christmas time
with her kids.
Her kids are a bit
younger than ours.
But I can remember
what it was like
to try and impose
rules on your kids.
You don't hit each other.
That's one of the rules.
That's a fair rule
as a parent
to impose on your children.
And so when one of your children
hits another child
well you've got to deal
with it don't you?
And so you have a rule
to deal with that as well.
Okay you must say sorry.
And so you get one
the child that hit
to say sorry
to the child that was hit.
And even the child
that was hit can tell
that they're not really sorry.
But frankly as parents
we've done our job
haven't we?
One child hit another
we've got them to say
sorry job done.
Really?
No chance.
We cannot regulate
the issues that we face
by going from the outside in.
Everyone needs saving.
Jesus is that saviour.
But these men
they were in the business
of limiting
and concealing their sin.
They added to the law
to try and limit
and cover over
what was going on.
They built up
these walls around them
of law
to try and look respectable.
But in their hearts
they were the same
as everyone else around them.
because of their method though
they didn't want a Messiah
who would reveal their sin.
So they said no
to God
with us.
Emmanuel.
Never since before
the world began
has it been heard
that anyone opened
the eyes of a man
born blind.
To paraphrase
the man that was healed
is saying
are you guys crazy?
Throughout all of this
the man just keeps
growing in his faith.
He just keeps seeing
Jesus more clearly
and the Pharisees
have no answer
so they cast him out.
They stuck with their plan.
Why?
Because this miserable sinner
was going too far.
In verse 34
they answered him
you were born
in utter sin.
They put him back
in the category
that Jesus is rescuing him from.
And they just
close ranks on him.
Their world
revolved around
a plan that relied
on their efforts.
Jesus was threatening
to turn their world
upside down.
He was giving hope
even to outcasts
to sinners.
And they were under
the illusion
that they were in control.
People really believe
that they can influence
things that are
out of their control.
This is actually
a scientifically proven fact.
in the 1970s.
This is a long time ago now.
The 1970s.
A researcher from UCLA
called Ellen Langer
actually demonstrated this.
She demonstrated
a principle
that she called
the illusion of control.
Let me give you
a simple example
of one of her
research projects.
She got people
to invest in the lottery
and study their expectations
as they invested
in the lottery.
And she found
that people
who buy a lottery ticket
where they choose
the numbers
believe they are
more likely to win
than those
who were assigned
random numbers.
If we have
any involvement
in a process
we begin to think
much more strongly
that we actually
have some element
of control.
We're more likely
to win.
Even though
it's all random.
This belief
is so strong
that advertisers
and sales people
have been using
this trade in us
to manipulate us
for decades.
The law offers
an illusion of control
and Jesus offers
the painful truth
and yet with it
he offers us hope.
But we won't
come to him.
We won't see
that hope
unless we see
the truth.
What do you see?
In these events
the man born blind
was back where
he started
perhaps even worse off.
He was kicked
out of the synagogue.
He was branded
a sinner.
When Jesus
hears what happened
he sought him out
and he filled in
the missing pieces
for him.
Jesus answered
the man's
burning question
about who
is behind
all of this.
He explains
who healed him.
He actually
does it
a little bit
cryptically
but he says
do you believe
in the son of man
where the son of man
was from the vision
of Daniel.
It was the revelation
of God in human form.
Do you believe
in the son of man?
And he answers
and who is he sir
that I may believe
in him?
Not wanting a
description of what
the son of man is
but an identity.
Point him out
and I will go to him.
Jesus said to him
you have seen him
and it is he
who is speaking
to you.
The man responds
in faith
Lord I believe
and he worshipped
him.
He knew what it
was to be a sinner.
He was still
seen as a sinner
by the spiritual
leaders of
his community.
He knew
the incredible
burden of the law.
All his life
he had lived
under the weight
of sin.
He was born blind
but for the first
time he could
see.
Some of you
may know a man
called Charles
Wesley.
Charles Wesley
was a good man.
He knew the
Bible well.
He studied it
daily.
He lived his
life by it
for years.
He was one
of the leaders
of a Christian
movement called
the Methodists.
He was
admired,
almost feared
for his
zeal.
He could
actually quote
these words
and I'm going
to quote
from a hymn
called
And Can It
Be.
He actually
wrote this
hymn once he
understood it,
once he could
actually see
who he was.
He spent his
life trying to
purge himself
of sin and
he did such a
good job of it.
He was seen
as one of the
best Christian
men around.
But it
wasn't until
he could truly
see,
until he could
truly see
Jesus that
he wrote
these words.
Has
been
since
the
quickening
ray
I woke
the dungeon
flamed with light.
My chains fell off.
My heart was free.
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
Friends, can you see?
Can you see this Jesus?
Let me pray.
How can it be that we should gain an interest
in our Saviour's blood?
Lord, the fact that he died for us
who caused his pain,
pursued us to the point of death.
What amazing love.
Lord, we ask the question,
how can it be that you, my God, should die for me?
But we thank you so much
that this was your rescue plan.
We're sinners in need of salvation.
Thank you, Lord, for rescuing us.
And Lord, for those of us here who haven't yet
seen Jesus this way,
haven't actually recognised the salvation that he offers,
Lord, I ask that you would show yourself to them.
Show them not just the historical Jesus,
not just the Jesus of justification,
the one who died in our place,
but the Jesus we all desperately need.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.