Hello everyone, we'll be reading from John chapter 9 today, starting from verse 1 and
stopping at verse 14 and then jumping ahead to verse 24.
So if you'd turn with me to John 9.
As he passed by, 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?
Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God
might be displayed in him.
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.
Night is coming when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva.
Then he anointed the man's eyes with mud and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam, which means sent.
So he went and washed and came back seeing.
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, Is this not the man
who used to sit and beg?
Some said, It is he.
Others said, No, but it is like him.
He kept saying, I am the man.
So they said to him, Then how were your eyes opened?
He answered, The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to
Siloam and wash.
So I went and washed and received my sight.
They said to him, Where is he?
He said, I do not know.
They brought him to the Pharisees, the man who had formerly been blind.
Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
Moving ahead to verse 24.
So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind and said to him, Give glory
to God.
We know that this man is a sinner.
He answered, Whether he is a sinner, I do not know.
One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.
They said to him, What did he do to you?
How did he open your eyes?
He answered them, I have told you already and you would not listen.
Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you also want to become his disciples?
And they reviled him, saying, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes
from.
The man answered, Why, this is an amazing thing.
You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
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.
If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.
They answered him, You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?
And they cast him out.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, Do you believe in
the Son of Man?
He answered, And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?
Jesus said to him, You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.
He said, Lord, I believe.
And he worshipped him.
Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and
those who see may become blind.
Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, Are we also blind?
Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt.
But now that you say, We see, your guilt remains.
Father, I know that my words have no power, but your words do.
And so I pray that you would fill us all with your spirit, and I pray that your spirit would
help me to be clear and point to Jesus.
And as we just sang, I pray that for each one of us, you would convince our hearts that
your mercy is greater than the darkness.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
Well, I'm sure you're all equally as excited as I am that the English Premier League has
started again this week.
Now, if anyone tells me the score of Liverpool's game last night, I'm not sure what I'll do.
Like, it's not going to be pretty.
Like, you've seen me cry up front enough.
Like, you don't need to see me cry again.
Don't tell me the score.
Now, a number of years ago, there was some tough things going on in my life, and I'm not
going to go into the details, but what I thought was sure and certain and reliable was now just
confusing, uncertain.
I knew it was a difficult time, but I didn't realise how much it was affecting me until one
night, playing soccer with friends.
We were at Spears Point Park with the synthetic, like, it was perfect, it was a clear night,
stars were out, with friends, playing soccer.
Like, this is my lovely time, my idea of a lovely time.
It's probably not yours.
Now, the ball went out for a goal kick, so I had this moment of pause, just staring at
the stars, and just this wave of sadness came over me.
It was just in that moment I was like, oh, oh, this is really affecting me.
A few days later, I went to Warners Bay by the foreshore, coffee in hand.
I'm not really knowing what I was searching for, but I started reading John's Gospel.
I just started reading.
Now, I did not come away with this aha moment.
This is the key to unlock my problems.
Here's what I need to do.
I did not come away with that.
I was still sad.
But it's really hard to put into words the strength, the peace that came, just seeing Jesus afresh.
It was the person of Jesus.
There was something steadying about that.
Whatever else was chaos, I know him, and he knows me.
We come this morning to the second I am claim of Jesus.
Last week, we saw him feeding the 5,000, claiming that he can feed our spiritual hunger.
I am the bread of life.
And now he's saying that he's the solution to our spiritual blindness.
I am the light of the world.
So as we come into this story, I think a way to see what's going on in this story is just listen out for what people claim that they know.
They know for sure.
Okay, so Jesus comes across this man who's been blind from birth.
We don't know how old he is.
We know he could be in his 40s or older.
He's an adult.
He can testify in court for himself.
Jesus makes mud with his saliva.
It's strange.
Puts it on his eyes and sent him to a pool called, which the name means sent.
Now, I think the name is significant because it becomes the heart of the question that they're going to be debating.
Is Jesus sent from God?
Now, his neighbors, they had walked past this beggar.
He's a blind man.
He can't work.
So he's been begging.
They walk past him every day, all his life.
They know him the best.
And they're divided.
It's him.
It just looks like him.
Like, how is this possible?
They're divided.
And so they take him to the experts, the religious experts of the day.
Now, please don't be thinking that these ancient people were primitive in their understanding,
thinking that mud and saliva and washing could cure blindness.
We do eye surgery today.
The man, the neighbors, the religious experts, they're not focusing on that.
They're focusing on the person, Jesus.
But the experts who know their Bibles well, they're suspicious.
Well, most of them are.
There seems to be a minority group who are amazed.
But most of them are thinking, something fishy is going on here.
They call in the parents.
We didn't read this bit, but they call in the parents.
They don't believe he was blind from birth.
But the parents come in and they say, yes, this is our son.
Yes, he was blind from birth.
But they sense the danger.
And they're like, we don't know what's going on here.
Talk to him.
Because they knew that the experts had already decided, if you follow Jesus, you're excommunicated.
Leave.
Cut off from the community, which is a big deal.
You're treated as if you were cut off from God.
So let's take stock of what the experts know.
They've got the testimony of the man.
I was blind and now I see.
They've got the testimony of the neighbours who knew him best.
They've got the testimony of his parents.
This is our son.
He was born blind.
Now, according to the law of Moses, these experts had plenty of evidence to establish this matter.
But here's their conclusion.
We know this man, Jesus, is a sinner.
That's their conclusion.
We know.
He can't be sent from God.
Now, why are they so sure?
Not because of what he did, but when he did it.
He did it on the Sabbath rest.
Now, rabbinical teaching was that only God can work on the Sabbath.
Like the sun still needs to rise on the Sabbath day.
God is always working, bringing light and life to his world.
But his people need to rest on the Sabbath to remember that their life is from God.
That they were delivered by Moses from Egypt to be God's worshipping people.
God can work on the Sabbath to give life.
Everyone else must rest.
Jesus healed.
He did this work on the Sabbath.
Now, we've skipped a lot in John's Gospel.
This is the second time Jesus has done this.
He healed a man who couldn't walk for 38 years on the Sabbath.
And they questioned him about that.
And here's how he justifies himself in chapter 5, 17 and 18.
My father is working until now.
And I am working.
Let's just say that made matters worse.
Because John goes on to explain,
This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him.
Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God his own father.
Making himself equal with God.
He's claiming to be greater than Moses.
He's claiming that he can work.
Bringing light and life to the world.
He must be a sinner.
Now,
these experts,
they get in this irrational tangle.
Think about what they're doing.
They're accepting that the miracle happened
in order to conclude
he worked on the Sabbath.
This miracle happened
and so he broke the Sabbath.
They're conceding it happened.
And they're just ignoring the obvious question.
If Jesus can do this,
what does this mean about where he came from?
Look at the irony here.
These experts,
the emphasis in this passage is,
we know.
We.
We're the experts.
We know.
We see clearly.
Follow us.
Blind man,
give glory.
Well, he's not blind anymore.
He's seeing.
Give glory to God.
Tell the truth.
Follow our lead.
They're trying to pressure this guy
who has been blind his entire life
into denying the fact
that this man Jesus came along
and he saw light
for the first time.
They're trying to pressure him
into denying that.
It's good luck.
Good luck convincing him of that.
It's just irrational.
The healed man,
he starts with what he can't deny.
Whether he's a sinner or not,
I don't know.
One thing I do know.
That though I was blind,
now I see.
His sight seems to grow.
Verse 11,
this man called Jesus opens my eyes.
Verse 17,
he's a prophet.
A messenger from God.
Verse 27,
he implies,
I'm following this Jesus now.
And then he reasons from Moses,
from the prophets,
he reasons,
God only listens to those who worship him.
And no one's ever heard
of a man being born blind.
Seeing.
This has never happened
since the world began.
Jesus could not possibly
have done a thing
if he wasn't sent from God.
He's saying,
there is a greater marvel,
in a sense,
there's a greater marvel
than that I can see now.
It's the marvel
that you experts
can't see where he comes from.
Now,
for some reason,
they don't like this.
The experts,
to use a soccer phrase,
they play the man,
not the ball.
You're the one born in sin.
How dare you lecture us?
This is a strange scene.
Picture it.
This is a beggar.
I doubt he even owned nice clothes.
And he's standing on his own.
His parents,
not even his parents,
are supporting him.
He's on his own.
He's uneducated.
And he's surrounded
by this learned group
who have all the power in society.
They can excommunicate,
cut people off from...
And it's the experts
who are reacting so strongly.
They're so threatened.
I think it's their emphasis
on themselves
that show what's really going on.
We know.
How dare you lecture us?
Here's what's really going on.
They can't let go of the idea
that they can already see clearly.
They hate the idea
that they might be blind
so much
that when they see
this amazing victory
of light over darkness
in healing this man,
they ignore it.
and they ignore
what Jesus is doing.
That Jesus is giving
what the Sabbath rest was about.
Sabbath rest
was to remember
God created all things,
including humankind,
which Genesis 2, 7 says,
from the dust of the ground,
God formed man.
Maybe,
maybe,
him making the mud
was just a little signal
that he is the creator.
Either way,
what he did,
it's unheard of.
It's an act of creation,
giving sight to a blind man.
And Isaiah the prophet
says this is exactly
what the Messiah would do
in chapter 42.
Thus says God,
the Lord,
who created the heavens
and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth
and what comes from it,
who gives breath
to the people on it
and spirit to those
who walk in it.
I will give you
as a covenant
for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes
that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners
from the dungeon,
from the prison,
those who sit in darkness.
Much more than physical sight,
this man receives
spiritual sight.
He believed Jesus
came from God
and now he takes
one step
more
and he gives
Jesus
the reverence
that's only
appropriate to God.
He bows down
and he worships
this human being.
He
was once sure
that God
was punishing him
because of his sin
or his parents' sin,
someone's sin.
He was once sure
God was against him
and now
in Jesus
he's known,
he's seen.
He can see the grace
and mercy of God.
He can't,
to use Caroline's phrase,
he can't unsee Jesus now.
Now I doubt
he couldn't have known
what it would have
cost Jesus
to do this
because we later
find out in John's Gospel
that night
was coming.
Jesus had to trade
places with the man.
Those claiming to see
would decide
to snuff out
this light
but Jesus
chose
to trade
places
with this man.
He let the
darkness
have him.
So
John's clever,
isn't he,
writing this?
You see what he's doing,
don't you?
He's letting us
listen in
on these people
forming their conclusions
about Jesus.
Where is he from?
Because it makes us
reading it today
ask ourselves,
who do I agree with?
Do I more agree
with those
who are so sure
that they can already
see clearly?
They know what God's about,
they know what the world's about,
they know what my life
is about.
I've already got light,
I can see.
Or,
do I despair
of my ability
to know God,
my ability
to know my purpose,
my ability
to know what
life is about?
Am I willing
to say
I'm as blind
spiritually
as this man
was?
Shifting sport
illustrations,
sorry for all
the sport
illustrations today
for those
who hate sport,
but anyone
know who Tom
Brady is?
Okay,
there's a few
nods,
a few hands.
NFL,
American football,
quarterback,
now think
of the Super Bowl,
how many people
watch the Super Bowl?
It's over a billion,
isn't it?
You watch this
grand final
of this sport
every year.
Now he's played
in 10 Super Bowls,
this guy.
He's won seven.
He was most valuable
player for five
of them.
The country
worships him.
He's got a stadium
of worshippers
chanting his name.
Now he had a
TV interview
in 2005,
he'd only won
three Super Bowls
at that point,
and he said
in the interview,
why do I have
three Super Bowl
rings
and still think
there's something
greater out there
for me?
I reach my goal,
my dream,
my life,
and I think,
God,
it's got to be
more than this.
This can't be
what it's all
cracked up to be.
This guy's
a good looking
guy.
He's much
more handsome
than me.
He's got
everything going
for him.
I've never been
asked for a TV
interview.
Now the
interviewer asks
him,
what's the
answer?
I wish I
knew.
I wish I
knew.
how can
someone at
the top
think there's
got to be
more?
I've reached
my goal.
Can you
hear how
lost he
is?
Whatever
you make
your goal
in life,
your purpose,
your worth,
it leaves
you lost
and empty
and fearful.
Now there's
a danger.
You might
be hearing
me say,
those in
church can
see.
We know
what life
is about.
Those
outside living
for the
world,
they don't
know.
This passage
is saying
something much
worse than
that.
It's saying
we're all
born blind
to God
and what
life is
about.
All of
us.
all of
us are
spiritually
in
darkness
thinking
we know.
People can
come to
church their
whole lives
every week
and the
preacher,
the songs,
the conversations
are saying
life is a
gift,
life is a
gift in
Jesus,
life is a
gift and
they walk
out the
door going
I've got to
try harder,
I've got to
try harder,
I've got to
try harder.
you can
totally miss
it your
whole life.
On the
flip side,
someone can
be so
content in
what they're
living for
other than
Jesus and
then they
can find
Jesus'
light just
irresistible
even when
they don't
want him
to be.
So here's
Rosaria's
story.
As a
university
professor,
as a
professor,
doing pretty
well for
herself,
I tired of
students who
seemed to
believe that
knowing Jesus
meant knowing
little else.
Stupid,
pointless,
menacing.
That's what I
thought of
Christians and
their God,
Jesus.
The Christians
who mocked
me on
Gay Pride
Day were
happy that
I and
everyone I
loved were
going to
hell,
was clear
as blue
sky.
But that
is not
what Ken
did.
He did
not mock,
he engaged.
So when
his letter
invited me to
get together
for dinner,
I accepted.
Ken and
his wife,
Floyd,
and I
became friends.
they entered
my world
and they
met my
friends.
We did
book exchanges,
we talked
openly about
sexuality and
politics.
They did
not act as
if such
conversations
were polluting
them.
And when
we ate
together,
Ken prayed
in a way
I'd never
heard before.
His prayers
were intimate,
vulnerable.
He repented
of his sin
in front of
me.
He thanked
God for
all things.
Ken's God
was holy
and firm,
yet full of
mercy.
I started
reading the
Bible.
I read
the way
a glutton
devours.
I continued
reading the
Bible,
all the while
fighting the
idea that it
was inspired.
But the
Bible got to
be bigger
inside me
than I.
It overflowed
into my
world.
I fought
against it
with all
my might.
And then
one Sunday
morning I
rose from
the bed
of my
lesbian
lover and
an hour
later,
sat in
a pure
church.
I fought
with everything
I had.
I did
not want
this.
I did
not ask
for this.
I counted
the costs
and I did
not like
the math
on the
other side
of the
equal sign.
But God's
promises
rolled in
like sets
of waves
into my
world.
And then
one ordinary
day I
came to
Jesus,
open-handed
and naked.
Jesus
triumphed.
I am
the light
of the
world.
Whoever
follows me
will not
walk in
darkness but
will have
the light
of life.
Please
will you
pray with
me?
Father, I
pray that
you would
help us
to admit
that we
don't know
where we're
going.
that even
as a
society
we're
pretty
lost.
We don't
know
what life
is about.
And I
pray that
Lord Jesus
you would
make yourself
irresistible
to each
one of
us.
Help us
set our
eyes on
you.
And I
pray this
in Jesus
name.
Amen.