Please open your Bibles to John chapter 9. We're going to look at the whole chapter tonight.
John chapter 9. If you've not got a church Bible, they're just on the table as you come in.
When I went to summer camps as a young teenager, in the evening of those camps, we would sometimes play wide games on the big sports field in the dark, in pitch black.
Everyone before the camp was told to bring a torch so that they could join in in the night time games. It was great fun.
If somebody had been watching from far or you were able to put a drone up in the sky, it would have looked like a large dark space with little specks of light.
Kids running around trying to spot each other or capture a flag or whatever the game was that evening.
The torches made the game possible. They brought light to a place which was otherwise dark.
On those evenings, the torch was your friend.
But on the very same camp, I've got vivid memories of being woken up in the morning by a camp leader coming into the room and shining his torch into my eyes.
Switching the ceiling lights on.
I hated it.
It was a rude way to wake up.
At one moment you're asleep. The next moment someone is shining a great big light in your eyes.
And your first instinct when someone does that is to what?
It's to turn your face away, isn't it?
Put your head in your pillow. Pull the top of the sleeping bag up over your face.
On those mornings, the light was definitely not your friend.
And I tell those two little anecdotes to illustrate the way that it is with light.
Sometimes light is wonderful.
Sometimes light can enable people to see.
Something that they wouldn't have been able to see without it.
But sometimes the light is blinding.
Sometimes you want to turn away and run from the light.
Sometimes light is not wonderful at all.
When the light shines, one of those two things happens.
People can see or people are made blind.
And that's what John 9 is all about.
John 9 shows us that is what it is like with Jesus.
Jesus, the light of the world.
And so chapter 9 is about Jesus and the blind man and the blind men.
The chapter begins with the disciples' confusion.
Can you see it in verse 1?
They say,
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
And his disciples asked him,
Rabbi, which means teacher, who sinned?
This man or his parents?
And the disciples assumed, don't they,
there's got to be a link with this man's blindness
and some sin that he or his parents have committed.
The theological position is really this.
It's that God punishes sins with things like disability.
It's a theological position that Jesus rejects,
and for good reasons.
Now, in general terms,
we know that the Bible establishes, doesn't it,
a very clear connection between suffering and sin.
Sin has consequences.
And in God's justice, sin leads to punishment.
But at many points,
the Bible resists the kind of connection
that the disciples are making in verse 1.
It was the same kind of connection, wasn't it,
that Job's friends, do you remember them?
In the book of Job.
That when an individual suffers,
it can only be that that individual
or someone close to them
has done something to deserve it.
And the Bible says no to that.
That is not the only explanation when you suffer.
Sometimes suffering is indiscriminate.
Sometimes the righteous suffer.
Suffering does not just come to those who deserve it.
And so in John 9,
Jesus is really emphatic.
God did not allow the suffering into this man's life
because of some sin that he or his family had committed.
He allowed this disability into his life
for a different purpose altogether.
Can you see it in verse 3?
There's the purpose.
So that the works of God might be displayed.
In fact, that is precisely what we're about to see.
In verse 4, Jesus makes it very clear
that the works of God are going to be done
in this man's life.
They're going to be done by him.
It's another, isn't it,
very strong claim from Jesus
to be equal with God.
Who does God's work in the world?
Jesus says, I do.
And he adds,
we must work while it is still day
before the night comes.
And then he makes this staggering claim.
It's not a new claim.
He's already said it before,
but he reiterates it here
at a very deliberate moment.
He says, as long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.
He's claiming to be the one
who shines God's salvation light
upon the world.
He is the one who reveals God's glory,
who leads God's people,
who shows them the way.
He's the one, he says,
who holds the answer to the world's darkness.
The darkness of sin and death.
It's a very big claim.
And what we see here is that
Jesus immediately takes steps
to validate that claim.
His staggering words about himself
are instantly followed by a staggering sign.
He meets a man born blind.
And then he spits on the ground
to make some mud.
And then he rubs the mud in the man's eyes.
And he tells him,
go and wash it off in the pool of Siloam.
And when the man does that,
does what Jesus says,
the man begins to see.
He'd been blind from birth
his whole life up to this point.
His whole life had been filled with darkness.
But as that man walked home
from the pool of Siloam,
for the first time in his life,
this man saw where he was placing his feet.
He saw green leaves on the tree.
He saw the distant horizon.
He saw the looks on people's face.
He saw it all.
He saw everything.
He must have been reeling with surprise
and gratitude and happiness.
And what is more,
he wasn't just seeing people for the first time.
The people were seeing him
and coming to terms with it.
The public's reaction is varied.
His neighbours see him walking around
and think,
he looks like the one who used to sit
by the road begging.
Do you remember him?
Some thought it was him.
Others couldn't believe their eyes
and they were convinced
it must be someone else.
He must have a twin or something.
It must be someone that looked like him.
But the blind man
says, no, it's really me.
And he tells them what happened.
All that Jesus has said and done to heal him.
And the people wanted to see this Jesus
who'd done this.
But the formerly blind man
didn't know where Jesus was.
So the people take him to the Pharisees
to get their verdict
on what's just happened
in this most astonishing event.
Look at verse 13.
And they brought to the Pharisees
the man who'd formerly been blind.
Now it was a Sabbath day
when Jesus made the mud
and opened his eyes.
So the Pharisees again asked him
how he'd received his sight.
And he said to them,
he put mud on my eyes
and I washed and I see.
Some of the Pharisees said,
this man is not from God
for he does not keep the Sabbath.
You notice,
and I think it's really interesting
that up to this point,
John hasn't told us
when this miracle took place.
He hadn't told us
that it took place on the Sabbath
and that is because
it wasn't relevant until now.
The day on which this occurred
was only important to the Pharisees.
and they are outraged
because of what Jesus has done
by healing this man on that day.
I hope you never get used to the fact
that they are more concerned
with their distorted interpretation
of God's law
than they are with the man's new sight.
It's tragic, isn't it,
to say the least.
And because they are obsessed
with the Sabbath rule,
they are unable to see past this
to who Jesus must be.
Some of them think
that obedience to their rules
is a better indication
of divine origin
than a display of power.
There are others
who are not so sure.
They think this power suggests
that he must come from God.
So verse 16 tells us,
can you see that?
They were divided
because of Jesus.
Well, we've seen that before.
So again,
they ask the blind man
what he thinks.
And he says
that he thinks
Jesus must be a prophet.
The Pharisees,
they display their stubborn
characteristic,
stubbornness.
Once more, verse 18,
they say,
the Jews did not believe
that he'd been born blind
and he'd received sight.
So they call for his mom and dad.
And they ask mom and dad
to explain what's happened.
And the parents are very nervous.
Can you pick that up?
And they confirm,
this is our son
who was born blind
and they confirm
that he can now see.
They admit that,
but they hedge their bets
when it comes to explaining
how it happened.
They simply
tell the Pharisees,
well,
let him speak for himself.
Verse 22,
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.
That's why his parents said,
well, he's of age,
ask him.
Talk about having
your mind made up.
The Jews,
it seems,
were so stubborn
in their unwillingness
to hear Jesus
that they've already decided
to persecute,
to exclude anyone
who accepted Jesus
as the Messiah.
And they make
their decision known.
So resolute
was their opposition
to Jesus
that people are already
living in fear
of coming to a conclusion
about Jesus,
which would be unpopular
with the Pharisees.
Well,
having been sidestepped
by the parents,
the Pharisees
called the man back
for even more questions.
Amazingly,
in verse 24,
they equate giving glory
to God
with admitting
that Jesus is evil.
The irony of verse 24
is too thick for words.
The very opposite
is the truth.
By their refusal
to acknowledge Jesus
for who he really was,
they are the ones
that are refusing
to give God glory.
And the blind man's response
cuts right to the heart
of the matter.
It's almost certainly
the high point
of the chapter.
Listen again
to the simplicity
with which he speaks.
He replied,
whether he is a sinner,
I do not know.
One thing I do know,
that though I was blind,
I now see.
this is what he is saying,
he is saying,
you can take your
theological jargon
and your animosity
to Jesus
and you can shove it.
what I know is this,
I used to be blind,
but now I see.
Don't you see
what's happened here?
I don't know anyone else,
he says,
who's got the power
to do this.
No one in my whole life
has been able to help me
until I met this guy.
You're missing the obvious.
This guy has the power
to give sight to the blind.
I can see,
I can see.
The tragedy is
that they can't.
He used to be
a blind man
and now they are
the blind man.
Verse 26,
we discover
that they haven't changed
their tune at all.
They asked him,
what did he do?
How did he open your eyes?
He answered,
I've told you already
and you didn't listen.
Why do you want
to hear it again?
Do you also want
to become his disciple?
You can hear his exasperation
with these Pharisees growing.
Now he's gone and done it.
He may have just
pushed them over the edge.
He's caused the greatest
offence
that he could have
possibly caused.
It's as if
the blind man,
the former blind man
is saying,
secretly,
you like him,
don't you?
There's no other
explanation
for your obsession
with him.
You love him.
You want to follow him,
don't you?
And he's toying
with them now.
You've got to love
this man.
And so the Pharisees'
outrage becomes
the Pharisees' fury
and they turn
on the healed man
and they revile him
saying,
verse 28,
you are his disciples
but we are
the disciples
of
Moses.
We know that
God has spoken
to Moses
but as for this man
we don't know
where he comes from.
It's fascinating,
isn't it?
Who do they choose
to identify with?
Moses.
They don't say God.
Tellingly,
they choose to line up
behind the one
who has given them
the law.
But their fury
only exasperates
the healed man
further
and he's not going
to take it lying down.
Verse 30,
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
begun has it been
feared that anyone
opened the eyes
of a man born blind.
If this man
were not from God
he could do
nothing.
That's a pretty
penetrating
expose
of the Pharisees'
blindness.
but blind
to the bitter end
the Pharisees
of the last word.
Verse 34,
you were born
in utter sin.
You were born
in utter sin
and you
would teach us.
How dare you
lecture us.
They throw him out.
In actual fact
they don't have
the last words
do they?
Not as far as
the apostle John
is concerned.
The last word
in the chapter
belongs to Jesus
himself.
And Jesus
re-enters the
narrative in
verse 37
where he
seeks out
the man
that he'd
healed
and he
asks him
if he
believes in
the son
of man.
It's Jesus'
most common
way of
referring to
himself.
It's from
Daniel chapter 7.
the man
responds
by saying
that he
wants to
believe in
the son
of man
if only
he knew
who he
was.
Listen to
what Jesus
says.
Verse 37,
you have
seen him
and it is
he who is
speaking to
you.
I hope
you didn't
miss the
most significant
of all the
words in
verse 37.
Just look
down.
Can you
spot the
most
significant
word?
What's
the most
significant
word there?
Seen.
I
suspect the
healed man
didn't miss
the significance
of that.
Jesus
said to
him,
you are
looking at
him.
Up until
a few
hours ago
this man
couldn't
look at
anyone
or
anything
but now
he's
looking at
the son
of man.
Up until
a few
hours ago
this man
had never
seen anything
in his
entire life
and now
he is
seeing the
Christ,
God's
king.
man.
And John
to prove
that this
man
can see
not only
physically
but
spiritually
tells us
what he
did next.
And what
he did
next tells
you and
I
emphatically
and beyond
doubt that
this man
could really
see who
Jesus was.
Verse 38,
then the
man said
Lord I
believe
and he
worshipped
him.
The two
indispensables
tonight,
faith and
worship.
Faith and
worship,
they are all
that Jesus
requires
and they
are all that
Jesus deserves
and he
deserves them
because they
are what God
himself deserves,
faith and
worship.
And this
guy gets
it,
he sees
it.
And so
he bows
down in
reverence
and awe
and humble
gratitude
and so
do all
people who
see Jesus
properly.
He
worships
Jesus.
Then Jesus
makes it
very explicit,
he speaks of
his authority
to judge,
he reveals
what it
means for
him to
be the
light of
the world.
He says
some will
see and
some will
be blinded.
Verse 39,
for judgment,
I came into
this world,
that those
who do not
see may
see and
those who
see may
become blind.
Before
Jesus is
a blind
man who
now sees.
man who
see and
that man
has just
come from
a group
of men
who think
that they
can see
but they're
spiritually
blind.
The Pharisees
have got a
lot to say
about Jesus
in this
chapter but
all of it
has been
wrong.
And thus
they've
confirmed
their
darkness.
They've
confirmed the
darkness that
has engulfed
their minds.
Some Pharisees
in verse 40
sense that
Jesus might
be talking
about them.
So they
ask,
do you
think we're
blind?
And Jesus'
spine tingling
reply comes
in verse 41.
Jesus said,
if you were
blind you'd
have no guilt
but now
that you
see we
see your
guilt remains.
And what I
think Jesus
is saying
there is
if they
really were
incapable of
spiritual insight
for some
reason then
their blindness
would come
without guilt.
But that's
not the
situation.
They are
not incapable
of spiritual
sight.
They are
just stubborn
in their
rejection
aren't they?
They are
hard hearted
and so they
are guilty.
That's what
Jesus says.
And so
these words
from Jesus'
lips should
have been
frightening for
them.
They were
in danger
of dying
in their
sins as
we've
heard.
They were
in danger
of God's
wrath
remaining
upon
them.
They
refused
to come
to Jesus
to have
life.
So they
were in
great danger
of that
same
Jesus
pronouncing
the sentence
of death
upon them.
John 9
is a very
vivid
explanation
of what
is going
on
throughout
Jesus'
ministry.
Jesus
is the
light of
the world
and when
the light
shines
some are
blinded
by it
but others
see.
some are
like what
I was
like on
that camp
when the
leader
flicked his
torch into
my eyes
and put
the ceiling
light on.
They turn
away from
the light.
They refuse
to see
the light
but others
are like
those
delighted
young boys
running
around
with
abandon
and confidence
in the
middle of a
dark field
because they've
got a torch
light to see
by and the
light is their
friend.
some are
blinded by
the light
others
see
by it.
And in
particular here
it's the
Pharisees
who are
blind.
It's been a
significant
theme throughout
John's
Gospel.
In their
blindness
they oppose
Jesus
and they
oppose
others who
follow
Jesus
and they
look to
attack
Jesus.
They're
angry
with
Jesus.
They
want to
kill
Jesus.
All these
things are
you can see
from a very
surface reading
of John's
Gospel.
But Jesus
offers a
diagnosis of
the Pharisees
blindness that
goes beneath
the surface.
Do you
remember in
John 8
Jesus tells
us that they
are destined
to die in
their sins.
Jesus tells
us that they
are slaves
to sin,
that they're
children of
the devil
himself and
their blindness
places them in
a desperate
situation before
God.
and even
more desperate
is that they
are oblivious
to it.
These
people,
they think
they're fine
with God,
they think
that they're
alright and
Jesus is a
heretic.
They think
that all is
well for
them spiritually
but Jesus
says they're
in serious
trouble and
they can't
see it.
And of
course that's
what blindness
is and that
is what blindness
is today too.
It is thinking
we're okay
spiritually when
really you're
in big trouble.
It is believing
that you're fine
with God when
in fact you're
not fine with
God at all.
It is being
willing to
dismiss Jesus
as wrong
or more
likely
unimportant
when in the
end he will
be the one
who could
dismiss you.
And we are
surrounded by
this.
You are
surrounded by
it when
you go
to work
and when
you go
to school
and you
are surrounded
by it when
you spend
time with
your friends
and some
of us are
surrounded by
it in our
families and
if you went
into Ealing
tonight and
you went
to the pub
you'd be
surrounded
by that
too.
This city
is full of
people who
are spiritually
blind.
people who
have dismissed
Jesus and
think that
they have no
spiritual
problem.
Who believe
that things
are fine
between them
and God
and yet the
truth is
things are
not fine
between them
and God.
And Jesus
pulls no
punches does
he?
He says that
they are
destined to
die in
their sins
God's wrath
remains on
them they
are children
of the devil
they are in
the darkness
and on the
light.
So this
chapter reminds
you and I
of a great
reality about
the world
in which we
live.
And it
reminds us
about a
truth that
ought to
grieve us
and rest
heavily upon
us.
That Jesus
is the
world's
light and
yet so
many around
us are
blind and
in tragic
danger.
And so
should we
not live
rightly before
their eyes
that they
might see
the difference?
Should we
not explain
our hope
to them
whenever
we're given
an opportunity
and should
we
not
above
all
pray for
them.
And pray
earnestly
for them
because only
God can
open their
eyes.
Only God
can turn
hard hearts
into soft
hearts.
Only God
can deliver
people from
spiritual
blindness.
In the
end our
ministries
can't do
it.
Can they
little stars
can't do
it.
Language
class
can't do
it.
Bible
studies
can't do
it.
Club
16
Ignite
can't
do
it.
Courses
can't
do it.
Getting
better
publicity
and a
cracking
website
can't
do it.
But God
can.
God
wonderfully
uses
those
things.
But at
the end
of the
day our
family and
our
friends,
our
colleagues
and our
neighbours,
they need
a miracle.
They need
the God
of all
the universe
to send
his
spirit
to open
blind
eyes.
And they
need us
to plead
with God
to do
that.
To give
them sight
in the
place of
blindness.
And so
this chapter
is a
reminder to
you and
I of
the burden
to pray
for the
blind.
And I
hope it
reminds you
of that
burden
too.
And I
continue to
hope and
pray that
God would
make great
distress for
the spiritually
blind in
Mark of
IPC.
that an
earnest
prayerfulness
for the
lost
would be
one of
the things
that defines
us as a
church.
And this
chapter reminds
us,
doesn't it,
of how
important that
is,
but the
chapter,
as I
finish,
reminds us
of something
else as
well.
Something that
comes to you
and I
tonight,
not as a
burden
at all,
but as a
great delight.
because the
chapter reminds
me that I
am like this
healed man.
Because by
his mercy,
God has
granted me
this miracle
that they
really need
if they are
to see,
and I
can tonight.
I can see
that Jesus
really is
who he says
he is.
I can see
that Jesus
deserves to
be worshipped.
I can see
that he has
the power
to perform
great miracles.
Because he
really has
come from
God,
and he
really is
equal with
God,
and greater
by far
than being
able to
see the
steps that
I take,
or the
green leaves
on the
trees,
or the
far horizons,
or the
looks on
people's
faces,
greater
by far
is the
ability
to see
Jesus
for who
he really
is.
And having
come to
see him
properly,
I would
rather,
honestly,
be physically
blind than
to lose
this sight,
wouldn't
you?
this is
the 2020
vision that
really
matters.
I can
see.
It's not
because I'm
smarter or
more intuitive
than anyone
else,
it is because
Jesus,
the light of
the world,
has opened
my eyes.
And if
you tonight,
like me,
can see
Jesus clearly,
if you,
like me,
know that
he is worthy
of our
faith,
and worthy
of our
worship,
and if
you,
like me,
would rather
see him
than anything
else,
it is only
because God
has been
merciful to
you.
Jesus,
the light
of the
world,
has opened
your eyes.
Amazing
grace,
how sweet
the sound,
that saved
a wretch
like me.
I once
was lost,
but now
I'm found,
was blind,
but now
I see.
With
incredible
gratitude,
we are
like a
crowd of
boys running
around on
a sports
field,
surrendered
to the
sheer pleasure
of being
able to
see,
because of
the light
that is in
our hands,
and not
only in
our hands,
but in
our hearts,
with
humble
awe,
we are
like that
man,
I trust,
that man
who fell
at Jesus'
feet and
worshipped,
and we,
like him,
can say
tonight,
can't we,
look,
there are
many things,
many things
in this
life I
don't
understand,
and there
is lots
about God
and his
ways that
I still
don't know,
but there's
one thing
I do
know,
I was
blind,
but now
I see,
let's pray.