In 2015, a photo went up online that divided the whole globe.
Every single person was divided around this photo.
It was titled, The Dress.
You may remember this photo circulating social media and news outlets.
It got so much attention from everyone
because no one was sure what color it was.
Some said it was a blue dress with black lining,
but there were others who were adamant that it was a white dress with gold lining.
Now you may have been one of those people who put your argument out there
and weighed in on the whole debate saying it's this or it's this.
So many people were convinced it was a blue and black dress and argued fiercely for it.
So many people thought it was a white and gold dress and argued fiercely for it.
It lasted weeks and people were trying to work out why people thought one way or the other.
Now just to confirm, it was confirmed later on that the dress was a blue and black dress,
but so many people were convinced otherwise.
So many people were adamant they were seeing a gold and white dress
and their eyes were deceived.
Having sight is a wonderful gift.
Being able to observe the beautiful world around us,
being able to see the faces of loved ones,
being able to see danger and avoid it,
it's truly a wonderful gift that we have.
But it's obvious from this small example, from the dress,
that whilst we all have sight, sometimes we don't see clearly.
Our world today is so adamant that it sees clearly.
We believe science has helped us progress and advance
to the point where we can see with precision,
meaning that we can determine exactly how the world functions
and how we should live in it today.
We therefore believe that we are more enlightened than our predecessors are.
We see clearer now the way things are than any other generation before us.
But whilst the world claims to see things clearer than ever before,
it has become more and more blind to the truth about God,
about their Creator.
Our world has become blind to its created purpose
in serving and worshipping the Creator.
The world is adamant that it sees clearly.
But it's been deceived to think that it can see clearly without God,
that it can see clearly on its own,
without the light of the world.
Our sight has been corrupted because of sin.
Rather than seeing things as they truly are,
we see things as we want them to be seen.
We believe ourselves to be objective and unbiased,
but the reality is sin has put a veil over our eyes
to make us think we don't need God in this world to exist.
Or we come up with our own version of God
that suits us, that suits the way we see things in the world.
All unaware of how blind we actually have become,
robbed of our true purpose in worshipping the one and true God.
So what hope is there for our world today to see clearly?
What hope is there for us that we might see clearly?
The healing of the blind man here in John 9
is the second sign in John's Gospel,
showing who Jesus is and what he has come to do.
So specifically here, he is the light of the world
who has come to open the eyes of the blind,
that all who see might, as this formerly blind man does,
says in verse 38, believe in him.
But this passage also serves as a warning,
an indictment on those who would,
when they are confronted with the light of the world,
reject him and turn away from him.
And the question we are left with is, which one are we?
Are we more like the blind beggar who knows he is blind
and needs his sight restored,
or are we more like the Pharisees
who in their arrogance believe they see things clearly,
believe they see the world clearly,
but in fact are actually completely blind to the reality?
As we look at this passage,
let that question just sink in the back of your mind
as we reflect on the miracle
as both a sign of what Jesus has come to do
and who he is,
and a warning to all who reject him
as the light of the world.
So firstly, this miracle is a sign.
We're introduced to the blind man
at the very beginning of this passage.
And whilst it is clear that this man
was not born blind because of his own sin
or because of his parents' sin,
it should be understood that he is blind still
because of sin's impact on the world
and on his life.
He is still born under the power and the reign of sin
as we all are born under the reign and power of sin.
You see, God made human beings with eyes
that should work.
He didn't make us to be blind,
but to be able to see.
And so we should understand
that God didn't make him to be blind,
but Jesus says in response,
this happens so the works of God
might be displayed in him.
It's in light of the fact that
while sin still affects our world
and still corrupts our world,
sin is not outside of God's control.
that God is not powerless in the face of sin.
Indeed, he will go on to show his power
by reversing the effects of sin
and in this specific case,
by reversing this man's blindness
and giving him sight.
For as Jesus says of himself in verse 5,
I am the light of the world.
Jesus then makes mud,
puts on the beggar's eyes
and tells him to wash it off.
When the beggar does this,
he comes back seen.
What takes place before us
is truly an incredible miracle.
Indeed, it's truly the work of God.
It's not the work of a magician
or a witch,
nor is it a trick.
Jesus here is doing the work of God,
which is to overturn the power of sin and death
and usher in the kingdom of life and life,
the kingdom of God.
This man has spent all his life
living under the power of sin
and he has felt it quite acutely.
Now, as I said,
we all lived under the power of sin,
but this man was born blind.
He has felt it very sharply all his life.
He directly experienced the corrupt work of sin
on his own body,
but also that sin robbed him
of the ability to worship.
He was a blind beggar.
All he had to do
and look forward to in life
was to wake up,
sit on the side of the road
and beg for his living.
Beg that people would give him food
and money
so he could get what he needed to live.
As we saw in verse 2 as well,
most Jews thought
that if you were born blind,
you must have sinned
or your parents must have sinned.
Therefore, he wasn't welcome
into the temple to worship God.
This man's state of affairs
in being born blind
meant that he was robbed
of the opportunity to worship,
to be part of God's people.
And so what Jesus does
in restoring his sight
is overturn the effects of sin in his life.
Literally, open his eyes
to see the God of heaven and earth
who calls him to worship.
Jesus frees him
and gives him rest
from his suffering.
This miracle
is a beautiful sign
because it points towards
a time when this work of God
will be fulfilled
on a much greater scale.
On a small scale here,
Jesus overturns the power of sin
for this blind man
by giving him his sight back.
But this sign anticipates a time
when Jesus will overturn
the power of sin and death
for all people
through his own death
and resurrection.
We look forward
not only to our eyes
being redeemed,
but our whole bodies
being redeemed as well.
When they'll be made new,
no longer to suffer
from pain that comes
from sickness,
from chronic illness,
from disability,
from mental illness.
We'll be free
from such pain
because of what Jesus
has done
in redeeming our bodies.
But this is not merely
a physical healing
that we look forward to
as we see in this passage.
For Jesus will heal
this blind man
a second time
of his blindness
to make a point
that he has not only
come to redeem
our bodies
from the power of sin,
but also to redeem
our spiritual sight
from the tight grasp
of sin as well.
For the power of sin
has robbed us,
or robbed God,
the worship
that is due to him
and robbed us
the ability to do
what we were created to do
and to worship him.
Blinding us to serve
and worship
created things instead
rather than the creator himself.
And so Jesus will not settle
for simply opening
our physical eyes.
He will also open
our spiritual eyes
as he does here
for this blind man.
And so in verse 35
he says to him,
Do you believe
in the Son of Man?
Who is he, sir,
that I might believe
in him?
And Jesus said,
You have now seen him.
In fact,
he is the one
speaking with you.
Then the man said,
Lord,
I believe.
And he worshipped him.
The work of God
would not be complete
in this man's life
if it did not result
in believing
and worshipping Jesus.
The redemption
of our physical bodies
that we look forward to
includes the full
reorientation
of our heart
and our soul
to love
and to worship God
for all eternity
that we would clearly see
untainted by the power
of sin
the world
as God may it to be
with the purpose
of worshipping God
as we live in it.
For our bodies
are not our own.
We exist
in a world today
where people's gods
are their stomachs.
A world that wants
to consume
more and more
and more
whatever catches
their eye.
For so many
their body
is theirs
to do whatever
they wish with.
It's politically
incorrect to tell someone
you can't do that
with your body.
People will say
in response
I can do whatever
I want
with my body.
I can sleep
with whoever I want.
I can eat and drink
whatever I want.
I can do whatever
I want
with my body.
It's my body.
But as Romans 12
1 says
our bodies
are living sacrifices
holy and pleasing
to God
as our act
of worship.
They are redeemed
by God
to serve
and to worship
him.
Jesus
has come
not merely
to redeem
our bodies
and make everything
pain free for us.
Indeed the whole
point of this miracle
is so much more
than that.
he has come
to restore
the whole person
both his physical body
and his spiritual sight
in order that we might
use our bodies
well
to worship him.
That is
all about him
worshipping
him.
This world
this life
exists for his glory
and as we align
with that purpose
as we see clearly
that purpose
we can do that
for our joy
as well then
as we live
in this world
that is his.
This is what
Jesus has come
to do.
This is the beauty
of the sign
that we see
here in John 9.
And so we
who are aware
that like the blind man
we need our own
sight restored
we can
have hope
that we will
see things clearly
and worship.
But as mentioned
earlier
this miracle
also serves
as a warning
an indictment
upon those
who would
choose to
turn away
from the light.
And so secondly
we are going to
look at this miracle
as a warning.
So just after
the blind man
has received sight
people start
seeing him
right
walking the streets
this man
who was once
blind
who was once
sitting by the road
all the days
of his life
is now walking
around looking
at things
amazed by what
he sees
and people are going
is this the same
person?
What is going on here?
They ask him
what happened?
He says this guy
called Jesus
he washed my eyes
and now I can see.
And they're still
utterly confused
by what's going on
perplexed
so they bring him
to the Pharisees
the people
who know
are in the know
what's going on
in these kinds
of situations.
Now
have you ever been
in a conversation
with someone
where the conversation
just seems to be
going nowhere?
You're trying to
get a point across
you're trying to
explain something
to them
you're trying to
help understand
something
but it's just
not getting through
and you think
this is just
going absolutely
nowhere.
I used to work
for an office
store about
a few years ago
I used to manage
a store in
the Hills District
and I remember
a customer coming
in one time
and he came up
to our little kiosk
and I was there
and he said to me
now
I'm looking for
an iTablet
and that moment
I'm thinking
I have no idea
what an iTablet is
but before I could
ask him to clarify
do you mean
iPad?
Do you mean
a Samsung Galaxy
tablet?
Do you mean
this or that?
He says now
don't tell me
it doesn't exist
I know it exists
now Apple
didn't make it
and it's not an iPad
I want an iTablet
and you're going
to give it to me
and from there
we had this conversation
where I was trying
to convince him
perhaps he may
have made a mistake
perhaps there's no such thing
as an iTablet
and you actually
are thinking
of an iPad
and back and forth
we went
he kept telling me
no you're wrong
I'm right
I know there's such
thing as an iTablet
and I want it
and I'm sitting there
on my computer
googling iTablet
trying to show him
look iTablet there
and everything else
that kept coming out
was just
iPad
so I'm thinking
come on man
surely you see
that you're wrong here
but he was adamant
he was adamant
that it existed
he went away
upset at me
and I went away
just confused
it just went nowhere
and I feel like
that's what's going on here
with the Pharisees
this conversation
this dialogue
they have
with the blind man
the formerly blind man
just goes nowhere
doesn't seem to be
going anywhere
and it leaves us
perplexed
as well as the
formerly blind man
and confused
and we kind of laugh
and think it's a bit silly
but it's also
quite telling
as to
the power of sin
how it's so
tight
around our sight
in verse 15
it says
the Pharisees
asked again
me and they've
already heard once
what has happened
they don't want to
hear it again
from the blind man
he answers them
by saying
he put mud
on my eyes
the man replied
and I washed
and now I see
explanations
don't get much
clearer than that
simpler than that
and so anyone
there would be like
yep that's
what happened
yep you were once
blind I know that
I saw you begging
and now you can see
that's quite obvious
you're looking at us
you're walking around
you know what's going on
but instead of being
amazed at what took place
they began to judge
what Jesus did
and how he did it
and why he did it
and they questioned him
in a number of ways
the validity
of what happened
they were firstly
concerned by the fact
that he performed
a miracle
on the Sabbath day
a day in which
you should not
perform any work
and so they said
well this man
can't be from God
he does not keep
the Sabbath
then they began
to doubt the credibility
of the man's story
of being born blind
so they brought
in his parents
and they asked them
was this your son
was he born blind
and they said
yes of course he is
don't ask us
ask him
then they even
tried to manipulate him
put words in his mouth
by saying
give glory to God
we know this man's a sinner
it's almost as if
they're trying to coerce him
to say
what they want him to say
and we sit here
and go
don't you get it
can't you see
how amazing this is
he was blind
born blind
and now he sees
how do you not see
they fail to perceive
what has happened here
because they refuse
to look closely
they refuse to look
because they believe
they already see
things clearly
for them
Jesus is just
an anomaly
something that doesn't
fit into their
perception
and view of things
it's far too
confronting for them
to even consider
what it all might mean
it's far easier
for them to pick up
and judge
anything that is
inconsistent
to the way
they see
things are
they believe
they see clearly
but in reality
they are the ones
who just want to see
what
they want to see
and they refuse
to look
at what's truly
obviously
in front of them
the formerly blind man
is perplexed as well
he can't believe
they don't understand
and when the Pharisees
tell him
it's because
that we don't know
who this man is
and where he comes from
he replies
with this amazing response
he says
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
or opened the eyes
of a man born blind
if this man
were not from God
he could do nothing
these are things
the Pharisees
should have known
obvious
to a man born blind
who has never read
any scripture
in his life
who has never been
in the temple
and yet it's obvious
to him
what has happened
to you
and who this man
might possibly be
the man who was born blind
shows that he's got
a clearer
and sharper vision
than the Pharisees
who should be able
to see clearly
the Pharisees
response to this statement
characterizes the depth
of how tight
sin's grip
can be
on our sight
as they say
to him
you were steeped
in sin at birth
how dare you
lecture us
and they threw him out
at the heart
of the issue
is their pride
their unwilliness
to let go
and to simply admit
no we don't see properly
we don't understand
what's going on
maybe we should look
into this
when it's plainly
explained to them
not only what happened
but what it all might mean
they refuse
to look closely
sin is so
planted itself deep
in the heart
of the Pharisees
that they are convinced
they see things clearly
they are convinced
they know what's going on
when in fact
they don't
you can have all the knowledge
in the world
you can be known
as the wisest
the smartest person
you can be seen
as someone
who sees things clearly
who's self-aware
and yet you still
could be blind
as there are many
many people today
who are smart
who are self-aware
who we give awards to
for being smart
and yet they are
blind spiritually
blind to what is
the real purpose
of this world
blind to their God
and their creator
the Pharisees
were the people
who were supposed
to see clearly
but they didn't
they were blind
the irony as well
is that they would
have this formerly
blind man
give glory
to God
by declaring Jesus
who is God
a sinner
that just shows
the depth
of their blindness
and how tight
sin's grip is
over them
all because
of their pride
all because
they refuse
to look closely
at what has happened
here
believing that the way
they see things
is enough
there are those
who ridicule Christianity
and the Bible
believing
they see things
clearer
than those
who would devote
themselves
to the teachings
that are so archaic
and so backwards
all the while
not realising
the power
of sin
has over them
and how it's corrupted
and distorted
their vision
if only people
would just look
closer
and not be so
narrow
at the one
who is the light
of the world
maybe they would
understand
to realise
that as human beings
deeply affected
by sin
there is no hope
in ourselves
to overturn
those effects
there's no hope
in ourselves
to overturn
the power
of sin
only in Jesus
who is the light
of the world
who can bring
sight to the blind
is there hope
for us
to see clearly
for those
who remain blind
who in their
stubborn arrogance
choose to not
look closely
this miracle
this wonderful miracle
we have before us
that would encourage us
that gives us hope
for us who see
ends up being
a warning
an indictment
and a judgement
upon those
who refuse
to see
as Jesus says
in verse 39
for judgement
I have come
into this world
so the blind
will see
and those who see
will become blind
it's a scary thought
we must constantly
check ourselves
as to who
we are more like
the blind beggar
who knows
and acknowledges
that he does not
see clearly
he needs Jesus
to see clearly
or like the Pharisees
who believe
in their arrogance
in their pride
that they see
clearly
that their own sight
is sufficient
the Pharisees
are those
who have cemented
themselves
in judgement
they have been
handed over
as Romans 1
might put it
to their own vision
and to their own sights
which ironically
blinds them
to the truth
the truth
that Jesus
is the one
who has come
to restore our sights
who has come
to reorient
our hearts
and our minds
to worship
and to love him
each and every day
we must humbly
confess before God
and ask him
to continue
to restore
our sight
that we might
continue to
worship him
Steve mentioned
before
about New Year's
Resolution goals
about growing
in our
treasuring Jesus
diverting ourselves
to time
in the word
in the Psalms
surely that is
the goal
of our life
to worship
it's a good goal
to make
for your New Year's
Resolution
year after year
after year
indeed
worship
is the goal
worship is the goal
as we see
here in John 9
in verse 5
Jesus says again
he says
I've come
this man was born blind
in order that God's work
might be fulfilled
in him
and it's not until
we get to verse 38
that we see
the work fulfilled
where he responds
in belief
and in worship
the way in which
we can know
who we are
is to look at
who we worship
and what we worship
things
are not black and white
in this world
things in Christianity
are not black and white
in this world
but something that
all believers
all we can all know
is that
we are designed
and our purpose in life
when we see clearly
is to worship
God
and to worship
him
alone
so
will you continue
to come humbly
acknowledging
that we only
see clearly
when we allow
Jesus to restore
our eyes
that we can only
worship
our wonderful
and powerful God
when he gives
our sight
to see him
clearly
will you continue
to come to him
to worship
come to him
to have your eyes
restored
day in day out
that we might not
become tainted
by sin
and let sins
affect us
to see things
in a distorted way
let's pray
heavenly father
we thank you so much
that you're a God
who is gracious
and who is merciful
that although we were
blind because of sin
we lived a way
that did not honour
and glorify you
did not live a way
that was in line
of our purpose
we used our bodies
for sin
we thank you father
that through your son
and through your mercy
you gave us
eyes that could see
by your spirit
see the problem
of this world
see the problem
of sin
and the hope
that comes from
knowing you
and what you've
done for us
we pray Lord
that throughout
our week
and throughout
our lives
we'll continue
to always see you
clearly
because of your spirit
and because of your word
we pray Lord
we would be immersing
ourselves in it
day by day
trusting
in its sufficiency
to guide us
through our life
that we might
continue to worship
you all our days
we pray this
in your son's name
Amen