It's Me! I Can See!

James Heffington

Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

John 9:1–41

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Introduction

This entire story is a real life event that Jesus uses as a parable…a story to teach spiritual truth. The world is lost in darkness…He is the Light…the world is spiritually blind…Jesus came to give sight.

“Who Sinned” — It was the thought of the day, and the thought of many in our day as well, that sin and suffering are connected. That this man must have been born blind because of some sin on his part or that of his parents.

The Jews of the day thought it possible for a baby to sin in his or her mother’s womb. For instance, when a pregnant woman worshipped in a pagan temple her unborn fetus was regarded as participating in the pagan rite.

In one sense suffering is connected to sin. Without the fall of man in the Garden there would be no sin of any kind and therefore no consequences resulting from sin. In fact there would be no death without sin!

But attempts to connect some specific suffering or consequence with a particular sin is very difficult and thin theological ice. It has been the case at times, such as during the revolt of Miriam in , where she led a revolt against Moses and was cursed with leprosy. But one can never assume that some illness or calamity is the Lord’s discipline or judgement on someone.

In December 1985 the United States NBC TV News ran a week long feature on it’s evening news program. The advertising in the lead up showed a child praying, “Our Father, who art in heaven, what about the earthquake in Mexico City, the Japan Airline crash that killed 520 people, the AIDS epidemic, and the starvation in Africa?” The advertisement finished with this tag line: “Is God punishing us?”

We live in a sin sick world. It is broken. There is always going to be, generally speaking, brokenness all around us until the return of Christ and the end of the age.

In this man’s particular case, he experienced blindness from birth for a purpose; so that He might glorify God in His life. So that the Son of God might be revealed through His healing and subsequent sight. So that He might become a witness and testimony to the identity and mission of Jesus as Messiah.

Generally speaking we see three identifiable kinds of illnesses in Scripture: A sickness that is caused by demonic powers…sickness unto death…sickness to the glory of God. The blindness of the man is one of the latter. He was bearing blindness for God’s glory. So that His life, and in this case His healing, might make much of God.

“As long as it is day” — Jesus was not going to walk on the earth as a human being forever. There was soon coming the “night” three days in the tomb when Jesus would be taken from them in death and they would be in disarray. Jesus and the disciples must do all the Father has given them to do while they have the time and opportunity.

Jesus is the Light of the world…the light is shining! The time to enjoy His light and be a part of what He is doing in the world was upon the disciples.

The day is upon us again in this generation because the Holy Spirit has come and we are saved! We must do the works of God in cooperation with His Spirit at work in us while we have the time to do so!

The Healing

So Jesus goes about the business of working. He spits on the ground, makes mud and puts it on the blind man’s eyes. There has always been a lot of debate on why mud, why spit, what was He doing. Some have even guessed that He was making a set of eyes for the man much in the way God made bodies for us from dirt at the beginning of our creation.

He told the man to go to the Pool of “Siloam” which means “sent” and wash. The man was sent by Jesus. He wasn’t healed until He had faith in the words of Jesus, went and washed.

This is reminiscent of the story in the Old Testament of Naaman the leper in . Naaman was a soldier in the army of the Arameans and was a leper. He had a servant girl, a slave, who had been captured in a raid upon the Jewish people.

She told Naaman about a prophet in Israel who could heal him of his leprosy. So he went and talked to Elisha and asked him to heal him. Elisha told Naaman to go wash in the waters of the Jordan river seven times and he would be cleansed.

Naaman was angry that the prophet had told him to do such a thing. His homeland had clean rivers and the Jordan was filthy. Why couldn’t the prophet just speak the world and heal him??? But Naaman’s servants encouraged him, telling him, had the prophet commanded you to do some valiant act for your healing would you not have done so? He has simply told you to go wash…do it!

So Naaman went down to the Jordan…He wasn’t cured the first time, second time or third time, 4th 5th or 6th time…but when Naaman came up out of the muddy waters of the Jordan on the 7th time…well he had the skin of a baby.

Jesus sends us…Our job is to have faith and go! The healing, miracle or simple blessing of being a part of something God is doing will never come until you have faith, go and obey the Lord.

Many of us would have gone to the nearest water we could find to wash off spit and mud someone smeared upon us. But the blind man obeys Jesus to the letter…He goes down to the pool of Siloam and washes. And when the mud us wiped off and his eye are dry…He can see!

The Aftermath

This man’s healing caused no small stir. The only way a blind man could make a living in the ancient world was to beg. His neighbors had seen him doing just that day after day for years and now he is walking around with eyes that see!

Some of them thought the blind man had disappeared and that this fellow just looked a lot like him…they simply could not believe the man they had know to be blind…blind since birth…could now somehow see!

But the man once blind says, “No it’s me! I can see!”

Does this not often happen the the man or woman who genuinely comes to faith in Christ?!? The change is so profound, they are born again, a new person and no one can believe it. Friends and neighbors just cannot believe such a change possible! But the new Christian says, “No, really! It is me! I was blind but now I see…lost but now I’m found!”

When a person goes from spiritual blindness to spiritual sight the change is incomprehensible to a world still living in the dark!

Jesus opened my eyes — So the people ask, “How did this happen to you?” He says, “Jesus opened my eyes!” Isn’t that the testimony of every believer in the room this morning? How did this happen to us? How were we changed? How did we go from death to life…spiritual blindness to the light and vision? JESUS OPENED MY EYES! Hallelujah!!!

Many historians believe that central to the rise of Christianity was the simple fact that Christians generously loved each other and their neighbours. They point out that in the ancient world mercy was widely seen as a character defect that ran counter to justice. Justice demanded people get what they deserved and was seen as appropriate, where mercy extended grace, love, and kindness to people who had done nothing to deserve it. Yet the Christians valued mercy. Christian communities became places where people tended to live longer and healthier lives, for when they suffered sickness, poverty or mishap they had brothers and sisters in Christ who provided for their need. And Christians extended love way beyond the boundaries of family and congregation to their pagan neighbours.

In 251 A.D. for example, a great plague struck the Greco-Roman world. Memories were revived of a plague a century earlier in which more than a third of the population died. Fear was everywhere. Those who could afford it fled to the countryside. Those who could not remained in the cities. When they went to the temples they found them empty, the priests having fled. The streets were filled with those who had become infected, their families left with no option but to push them out the door. Christian communities however took an entirely different approach. They saw it as their responsibility to love the sick and dying, so they took them into their homes and nursed them. This action meant that many people recovered who otherwise would have died. Historians suggest that elementary nursing could have reduced the mortality rate by as much as two thirds, but it also cost a number of Christian carers their lives.

In The Early Church, Henry Chadwick comments:

In The Early Church, Henry Chadwick comments: The practical application of charity was probably the most potent single cause of Christian success. The pagan comment ‘see how these Christians love one another’ (reported by Tertullian) was not irony. Christian charity expressed itself in care for the poor, for widows and orphans, in visits to brethren in prison or condemned to the living death of labour in the mines, and social action in time of calamity like famine, earthquake, pestilence, or war.

The practical application of charity was probably the most potent single cause of Christian success. The pagan comment ‘see how these Christians love one another’ (reported by Tertullian) was not irony. Christian charity expressed itself in care for the poor, for widows and orphans, in visits to brethren in prison or condemned to the living death of labour in the mines, and social action in time of calamity like famine, earthquake, pestilence, or war.

Now when your witness is loud enough many of the people closest to you are going to want to see the person who changed your life. They are going to want to see this Jesus person…and since Jesus isn’t physically walking on the earth you are going to have to show Him just as the man did at this point in the story…through your testimony and the witness of your life!

The man didn’t know where Jesus was at the moment…all He could do was testify to what Jesus had done for Him…testify to the reality of His person and power

You and I, in and through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, will tell who it is who healed us.

Scene Two

When something of such significance happened in the neighborhood people would go to the Pharisees to get their take on things. It was like going to the authorities and asking the government to speak on the event. Much like Fox News or CNN might ask for a word on some fantastic happening in the United States.

The Pharisees are interested in particular because the healing had taken place on the Sabbath day. So they begin their own investigation of events. They ask how it happened that this man received his sight and the man who can now see recounts his story of how Jesus made mud on his eyes, he washed and can now see.

So the Pharisees begin their own investigation of events. They ask how it happened.

The Pharisees are judging Jesus by their understanding of the law of Moses rather than understanding the law of Moses in light of the person of Jesus. Many of them therefore immediately write Jesus off as a sinner and heretic because He is healing on the Sabbath.

But there were others who believed Jesus had to be something more than a simple sinner because of the signs He was doing. In the midst of the debate they ask the man what he thinks of the identity and person of Jesus.

He is a Prophet — The man who can now see says Jesus is a prophet. He does not yet fully know the identity and mission of Jesus. He has some illumination but the revelation of God is not yet complete in his life.

We have all been there or known someone who has…they know something of Jesus but are not yet to the place they understand the full extent of who He is…so they have yet to place faith in Him.

The Pharisees, and others in the crowd, still did not believe that he had been born blind and been healed so they sent for his parents. They were looking for witnesses to debunk the man’s story.

Here is where we find a lot of folks…Those who are spiritually blind and in the dark try to justify their position by denying the existence of the light. They feel, and subsequently believe, that they are already enlightened…all is well and have no needs yet unmet.

The parents fear the Pharisees in their local neighborhood because they have already said that anyone who believes Jesus to be the Christ will be put out of the synagogue. They want to maintain their right standing in the community and don’t want to ruffle any theological or political feathers.

They tell the Pharisees to ask their son, he is old enough to speak for himself (over the age of 13) concerning the identity of his healer and what happened to him. So they summon the man healed a second time

Scene Three

Here is where things get a bit comical for someone like me. I start to like this guy, born blind who can now see, more and more...

The authorities believe something has been kept from them about this so called miracle. They call the man back to them and in affect say, “Give glory to God not this Jesus fellow” for whatever has happened in your life.

They are basically saying, come clean, tell the truth and, if you really were healed, give glory to God for your healing.

They had concluded in their hearts Jesus was sinful and that no miracle could actually have happened through a sinner…so give glory to God who actually healed you and let’s be done with this.

The man healed says, I don’t know whether Jesus is a sinner or not. I don’t know Him or anything about Him…what I do know is that once I was blind and now I see!

So they ask him to tell his story again…now this is a thinly veiled attempt to get the man to retell the story with hopes of catching him in inconsistencies so as to cast doubt upon the validity of his testimony as to what happened to him…and the fella sees right through it! And here is where I start to like him!

Why do you want to hear it again? — Realizing the insincerity of those questioning him he says…Soooo...Why do you want to hear my testimony again? Do you want to become his disciples too? You can almost see the fella smiling as he says it!

The man’s taunting causes an emotional response from those questioning him, they say they are Moses disciples and don’t know where Jesus comes from…the man responds that is remarkable…you don’t know where he is from but he opened my eyes…If this man were not from God he could do nothing!”

“You were steeped in sin at birth” — in their emotional tirade they give the truth away…they actually do believe he was born blind.

Final Scene

Jesus finds the man who had been thrown out of the synagogue and asks him if He believes in the Son of man. To which the man replies, “Who is he sir so I may believe?”

The Son of Man — Is God’s revelation of Himself to man. Jesus tells the man that He is the revelation…He is the Light…He is the Messiah…the man falls down and worships Jesus.

Chorus — “Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight. Flooding my soul with glory divine: Hallelujah, I am rejoicing, Singing His praises, Jesus is mine”

This man was saved! Changed! Radically born again! He fell at the feet of Jesus, clung to Him, kissed His feet and ascribed to Him the worth that is reserved only for the Son of Man, the Son of God!

The coming of Jesus was the moment of truth for the human race. It divided everyone into two groups…those who would come into the light, believe and worship Him are on one side. Those who would remain in spiritual blindness and reject Him are on the other side.

The judgement is this — Jesus has come into the world and some receive Him while others reject Him.

“Are we blind too?” — Those who are blind so often wish to stay in their blindness…refusing to believe there is something more than they have…more than they know.

If you were blind — Oh that everyone would recognize their spiritual need…their spiritual blindness…confess their sin, repent so they might live in the light and resurrection of Christ.

In order for anyone to move from darkness to light there must come a moment of humility in which their spiritual darkness is seen for what it is

Jesus came so that we might see…Share the Gospel…Are you living in the light? Does your life reflect it? Are you sharing with others what He has done for you?

We are together in this! We have a responsibility and an opportunity to be witnesses of the light…witnesses to what the power of God has done for us! We have the opportunity to worship and testify to the truth…we have been born again!

Prayer — Serve — Share

A man’s daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. “I guess you were expecting me,” he said. “No, who are you?” “I’m the new associate at your local church,” the pastor replied. “When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.” “Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?” Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. “I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head..” “I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now.” “So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.” The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon. “Did he seem to die in peace?” he asked. “Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange. In fact, beyond strange-kinda weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed.”

“No, who are you?”

Would you pray…would you serve…would you share? Would you be a witness while it is still day…while the Holy Spirit has purpose for you on this earth?

“I’m the new associate at your local church,” the pastor replied. “When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.”

“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?”

Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.

“I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head..”

“I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now.”

“So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he seem to die in peace?” he asked.

“Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange. In fact, beyond strange-kinda weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed.”

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