John 9:1-12
Notes
Transcript
Verse 1: What really matters?
Verse 1: What really matters?
Jesus has just dodged a stoning.
this doesnt rattle Jesus like they would rattle us.
In chapter 8 they have been surrounded by the Feast of Tabernacles:
he has talked about his union with the FatherJesus has called them out for the unbelief. Verse 31
Jesus has told them that their Father is actually the Devil in verse 44.
Jesus has incited them to the point of stoning Him by telling them that He is the I AM of the Old Testament.
Up to this point in the book of John, we have grown familiar with the rejection of the Jews.
They hate Jesus.
They hate his mission.
They have rejected him as God.
Interestingly enough, John’s purpose of the book is found in
Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
Everything contained within the book of John is towards this end.
That the reader may believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (Intellectually)
That the reader may believe with a belief that leads to eternal life. (Salvifically)
And the majority of the book is devoted to those who have rejected Him as Lord and who do not believe in Him.
In chapter 9, Jesus, having faced the threat of death itself, heals a blind man, I believe to illustrate a point that we will get today.
Look at verse 1
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
Jesus is moving through Jerusalem. He has been at this feast.
And he passes by.
We may have a tendency to gloss over the fact that Jesus passed by, but this isn’t regular men coming by, this is Jesus. The Lord of all creation. When He passes by, good things happen.
Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
Jesus notices a man.
Let’s talk about this man for a moment.
This man is a man born blind.
Blind from birth.
Never seen a sunrise. Never seen a full moon. Never seen the sun. Never seen his family. Just imagine the difficulties associated with his life.
He doesn’t eat without help.
He doesn’t avoid danger, without help.
this man is in total darkness.
Don’t miss the helplessness of this man’s situation.
This man has never seen anything.
But take notice here.
i want you to see the grace here.
Jesus saw him.
This man wasnt looking for Jesus. He wasn’t looking for anything. He was sitting there in his helpless state begging. It was literally his only means of survival. Utterly helpless and dependent.
But, Jesus took notice.
Here is where we should identify with this man.
This passage is not just a physical healing but it ilustrates a spiritual point.
Without Jesus seeing us and coming after us, we stay in our helpless.
Helpless, hopeless, and apart from Jesus taking notice and coming after us, we stay right we are.
The disciples think its time to have a theological conversation.
The disciples think its time to have a theological conversation.
A Distracting Question
A Distracting Question
And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
A couple things:
They have been taught by the Rabbi’s of that day, that sicknesses, deformity, and other health issues are a direct result of sin.
In a sense they are correct.
Every sickness. Every pain. Every death. All a indirect result of sin.
The problem here is they go from general to specific.
They believed that sin directly caused all suffering.
there were two options according to the disciples and ultimately according to the Rabbinical teachings of that day.
This man sin (within the womb) prenatal sin
The parent’s sinned.
These disciples, seeing this guy who has suffered since birth and knowing who Jesus is, decide that it is time to have a theological conversation/debate.
Isn’t this just like us.
Jesus notices this man and obviously the disciples notice that he notices and they want to cure their theological dilemma.
Jesus will answer this question, and our tendency here is to desire this question be answered as well, BUT THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY THAN THAT.
Remember the purpose of book.
Jesus answers.
The disciples assume they are right.
Jesus corrects their false theology.
It was neither.
Not denying their sin.
Their sin was not the cause of the blindness.
The reason for His blindness is so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
What
A few quick observation before we get to the true point of the passage.
Does sickness come from sin?
Yes in a sense. All sickness is a result of the fall of Adam. From that point, every thing got messed up.
Does sickness/bad things happen to people who love Christ?
Yes, Look at Job.
Is sickness sometimes a direct result of sin?
Yes.
Drunk driving.
a lifetime of sinful habits can leave you with the penalty of sin.
Is it always a direct result of sin?
No.
Some of the most wicked people in the world live seemingly healthy lives.
Some of the most god fearing people in the world live seemingly sick for the majority of their lives.
Do we always know why? No.
In this case, it is for the glory of God.
And here is where we see what really matters.
The glory of God. the works of God. This is what matters.
Danny
Jesus answers them by moving them from talking to action.
He quickly corrects them.
He moves them to see more of the purposes of a sovereign God rather than theological speculation.
He moves them for talking to working. Doing the works of God is what truly matter.
Why?
Because our time is limited and we have a world full of darkness.
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
We are living in a world full of darkness, full of sin, full of sickness, and we can get caught up in talking that we forget that there is world dying and dying in sin.
Theological conversations and talks are important.
Theological and biblical precision are of the utmost importance.
Debating and Question and Answer is often appropriate.
But when those things become the end in and of themselves, we are failing in the mission of God.
Jesus points us to what is important and the urgency of the mission.
We must work while it is day, night is coming when no man can work.
for Jesus it was a few months.
For us it may be shorter, it may be longer, regardless the night is coming where no more work can be done.
We understand that doing the works of God are what matters.
The next question is who really matters.
Who really matters?
Who really matters?
Jesus says
“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
In a world of darkness there is one light and it is Jesus.
and now he will illustrate this by performing a miracle.
he is the cure for all blindness, both spiritual an physical.
and now Jesus will illustrate this point by healing this helpless blind man.
When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes,
and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.”
So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”
He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes,
and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
John 9:
Many people have presented reasons for why he does this the way he does.
We aren’t told why? and its not important.
The issue is not why the issue is who..
Jesus is…
When he tells you to do something, you do it and good things happen.
This idea of sent permeates the book of John.
. 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42 and then 9:4,7.
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
“But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.
8:12. See 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42 and then 9:4,7.
“I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”
“I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.”
John 8:
“And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
The pool of Siloam was built by King Hezekiah.
Essentially there was a tunnel fed by the Gihon Spring and it would literally bring fresh water into Jerusalem which served as the only source of fresh water within the walls of Jerusalem.
Danny Akin says this about this passage:
He who is the true “sent one” sends this man to the pool of Sent. The water will cleanse his eyes just as certainly as Jesus will cleanse his soul.
Jesus heals this man and this man now stands having a testimony of what an encounter with the Light of the World did for him.
Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.”
So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”
He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
John 9: