The Blind Made to See

Well take your Bible this morning, turn to the Gospel of John. John chapter 9. John chapter 9. We have finished up John chapter 8. We are transitioning into a new chapter and a new set of circumstances. I know I shared with our Wednesday night prayer meeting group this past Wednesday that I was looking forward to a transition. Chapter 8 almost seemed monotonous because there was so much of the same thing. Really just Jesus teaching and the constant rejection from those Jewish leaders. But we take the scriptures as they come verse by verse. And even when we're not expecting it, God can teach us and does teach us.

So that's why we should be faithful in a study such as this. Now, although we are transitioning into a new set of circumstances, then what I mean is we're going to be dealing with Jesus healing an individual. This man who was born blind. We are continuing with the same thing that we picked up on in chapter 8. Here in chapter 9, Jesus is presenting himself as the light of the world. And we will see more rejection from the Jews. Now, remember in chapter 8, verse 12, Jesus presented himself as the light of the world.

Of course, the backdrop of that great display was the lamps, those candelabras that were present there in the temple in the court of women. They're during the Feast of the Tabernacles. There would have been four giant lampstands, which would have been lit during the ceremonies at night during the feast. And historians, secular Jewish historians from the day, say that every home in Jerusalem would have been able to see the light as it radiated from the temple. Now, this was the backdrop. This was the backdrop of Jesus declaring he is the light of the world.

And of course, this celebration was a reminder of what God did for them, the Jews, as he led them in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land, he led them as a pillar of fire. So when Jesus introduced this theme in chapter 8, all of the Jews would have understood that Jesus was claiming to be God because they understood the significance of the feast and all of the elements of the feast. Now, in these next verses, we will see light revealed in two ways. First, the blind man will be given the ability to see. He was living in darkness since birth and unable to see the light of day until Jesus performed this wonderful sign or miracle.

Second, the blindness of the Jews will be seen. Remember, we have seen and learned all along that these Jewish leaders are rejecting Christ in many different ways. After this man is healed, the Jews are more concerned that Jesus made mud on the Sabbath than on the healing and the healer that is right before them. I guess if I can put it in our language, they really couldn't see the forest for the trees. Isn't that sad? So light is revealed. And really, light is revealed in two ways to the blind man. First of all, light, small l, light is revealed. He's able to see the light of day after Jesus heals him.

And then light, capital L, the light of Jesus Christ is revealed to him. And of course, these Jewish leaders rejected the light of Jesus. One of the Bible commentators I read said, made a comment concerning this. He said, light reveals the condition of the eye while the light of the world reveals the condition of the soul. And that's exactly what we see here. Now, I want to take a few minutes to deal with the context. If you take your passages, we're just going to look at verse 1 for just a minute. You'll notice he says, "And he passed by, and he saw the man blind from birth." What we see here is a new context in chapter 9.

Now, notice at the beginning of verse 1, it says, "And he passed by." Some say this is right after the events that took place there at the temple, but no specifics are given. There is no indication of the time or the place given in the text. Also, notice that the disciples are back on the scene. If you've kept up with the study very well, you will know that they've not been mentioned since chapter 7, verse 3. And then we have here a blind man. Verse 1 says that he was born blind, and verse 2 indicates that the disciples knew that he was born blind. Go back to the verse, verse 2.

"And his disciples asked him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?'" So right there in verse 1 and verse 2, this man born blind and the disciples asking this question. Now, in dealing with context, a couple of questions of our own. Was he, this man, known to the disciples and the people all along? We really don't know. Could this have been around the temple or maybe there at the pool of Salome? We're going to see that there are some events that transpired here at the pool of Salome. We really don't know. What am I showing you?

We really do not know the time or the place of this event, the time between chapter 8 and chapter 9. Now, in that day, people with disabilities such as this would have been beggars. And beggars would situate themselves or place themselves in places of high traffic. So we really don't know where he was or where this situation took place. Some believe that this was at least close to the temple complex because the beggar would have been close to people. But what do we see in the context? We see Jesus, we see the disciples back in the story, on the scene, and we see this man who is born blind.

But whatever the details, we have Jesus, the disciples, the man who's born blind, and this great work, this great sign that is about to take place as Jesus is going to heal this man born blind. Now, I'll give you the title of the message and it's very simple and straightforward. The blind made to see. The blind made to see. Now, this all comes out of verses 1 through 12, but we will not cover all of these verses this morning. This will be a part 1 and part 2. We're going to focus primarily on verses 1 through 5 this morning. And then we will get into the miracle itself next week. So you see the truths there before you.

There's a probing question out of verse 1. There we see God's sovereign purposes in verse 3. And then their kingdom responsibilities in verse 4 and 5. And like I mentioned earlier, verse 1 helps us with the context which we have covered. I'm going to read all of verses on down to verse 12. But like I said, we will focus on the first five verses. And as he passed by, he, this is Jesus, saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him saying, "Rabbi," that means teacher, "who sinned?

This man or his parents that he should be born blind." Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed to him or in him. We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day, night is coming, when no man can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." And let's continue because I want you to get all of the verses in your mind for the message. When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay from the spittle and applied the clay to his eyes.

And he said, "Go wash in the pool of Salom." And he sent him, and so he went away, excuse me, and washed and came back, seen. The neighbors, therefore, 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, "No, I am the one." Therefore, they were saying to him, "How then were your eyes opened?" And he answered, "The man who has called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Salom and wash.' So I went away and washed, and I received sight.

And they said to him, 'Where is he?' He said, 'I do not know.'" Now, you have the truths that we're going to explore this morning, and we will dive right into these verses, because I really want us to grasp what's in the first five verses before we get into the miracle itself next week. So first of all, number one, we have a probing question. This is a very probing question. Look at verse 2, "And his disciples asked him, saying, 'Rabbi, teacher, who's seeing this man or his parents that he should be born blind?'" Now, to us, this is most likely more than a probing question.

It is probably a strange question if we really meditate on the question. To understand this question, one must understand the different views in their culture about a situation such as this. There were two basic views that they would have wrestled with. One came from the Greek part of culture, and the other came from Jewish culture. First, I will explain to you the Greek view. Basically, the Greeks held to a form of reincarnation, or the soul existed previously in another form of life. In this belief, a person could be punished in one life for wrongs committed in another previous life. That was prevalent in Greek culture.

Some of you who are familiar with Indian culture understand that they believe in reincarnation in their Hindu religion. That is tied in with that caste system, that strict social system there in India. If someone is born in a low caste system, they believe that that is because of deeds done in the previous life. That is reincarnation. So therefore, they accept that position in life because they believe that if they accept that position in life, then that will better them in the next life to come. That type of thought was prevalent in Greek culture, but second, the Jewish view.

At a very basic level, they would have understood that sickness was a result of the fall. When Adam and Eve sinned, the entire creation was affected by the fall. This is true, and they believe this. But they also had developed a theological belief that went beyond the Old Testament teaching. They believed that a child could be affected physically because of the sin of a parent or even that a baby could sin in the womb and therefore be punished in a way such as this. One rabbinical commentary in that day taught that if a pregnant woman worshipped in a pagan temple, the fetus itself was participating in that worship and therefore sinning.

So what they are saying is this. Because this man was born blind, he must have sinned in the womb or one of his parents must have sinned before birth. Now, which view are the disciples taking? The Greek view or the Jewish view? It's obvious it's the Jewish view. That was why they were blaming either the man who was born blind or the parents of this man with this question. Now, notice something about this question. Notice they were assuming, notice they were blaming, and notice they were judging. Now, in all of my study, I like to look at different Bible commentators. They help you with the language, help you with historical context.

There are many different reasons why we could look at different resources. But occasionally, I'll come across a resource that will really help you with application. And I'm going to read you a quotation from the New American commentary that really nails the attitude of these disciples. Now listen, I quote, "When the disciples asked Jesus who sinned, they frankly eschewed or avoided the role of a caring servant and chose instead to adopt the role of a judge. By contrast, however, Jesus rejected their question as nonproductive speculation and chose instead the role of a caregiver." Now, let me go back to something I said earlier.

Notice they are assuming on the situation. They are blaming in this situation and they are judging. For us, God has brought people in our lives who have been born into situations they have no control over. Our job as the church is to show love and compassion and to take on the role of a servant to them. We must be Christ to them in word and deed. We must teach them the word of God. We must pray for not only their well-being that God would do great works in their lives. God has brought other people in our lives who are in sinful situations because of their own choices. They are victims and participants of the fall. You see that?

We're all victims of the fall, but these people that are in our lives, they're victims of the fall and they are participants in willful sin. How are we to react to them as judges or as compassionate Christians and serving them with the gospel of Jesus Christ? It must be the latter because Christ did that. Now listen for us. So I want to say to you, if we are not careful, we can become like the disciples, assuming and blaming and even judging.

We have had people even come in the door of our church who have had this attitude to look down on people who are not like us, who were involved in sinful lifestyles different from us, but we must not fall into that category because that is not Christlike. Assuming, blaming, judging. Remember the quotation? The New American commentary said that they had avoided the role of a caring servant and adopted the role of the judge. You see how probing the question is? They didn't realize it, but that probing question was really going to be turned around on them. Number two, I want us to see God's sovereign purposes. Go back to verse three.

Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned or his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him." Now at this point, we might seem to have or see or detect some anticipation in the air. I would assume the disciples were on the edge of their seats to hear the answer. The disciples have asked this question and they were waiting, I think anticipating a response. And here in this verse, Jesus unfolds God's plan and through this plan, we will see that this means glory for God and a sign pointing people to Christ. Remember all miracles point people are meant to point people to Christ.

Three things out of this verse. First, we see that Jesus corrects their error, the error in the disciples thinking. What does he say? "It was neither that this man sinned or his parents." Now it is important to see that Jesus does not contradict that this was a product of the fall. That's not what he's correcting. All sickness, all sin has come into the human race because of the fall. He simply addresses the wrong understanding of situations like this and their wrong assessment of this particular situation. So what does he say? "It was neither the man that sinned or his parents." So he's correcting that erroneous mindset.

Second, Jesus teaches that God is using this situation for his glory. It was neither that this man sinned or his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. God is sovereignly choosing to use this man's blindness to bring glory to himself and direct others to Christ. Again, the signs were meant to point the people to Christ. And what Jesus is teaching is that God is using this situation for his sovereign purposes. A Bible commentator that I don't read that often, he's an old Englishman, F.F. Bruce said, "God overruled the disaster in the man's blindness." Let that word overruled sink in.

We're going to come back to that. This has not happened by anyone's fault. No, this was just part of the fall. But by the arrangement of God, this set of circumstances have come about. Yes, this situation was a result of the fall, but God has arranged to overrule it through his glory. Now third, I want us to see, we see the grace of God. The end of the verse, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. Now, notice the language. I'm reading the New American. It says, "In order that the works of God might be displayed in him." All of the translations use the word "works" plural. All of the English translations.

This indicates that God is going to do many works in this man. We see two for sure. First, there's a healing, and second, there's a testimony for Jesus. Because the people begin to say, "Who did this thing for you?" So there are multiple works that come from the grace of God that are going to be made manifest in his life. It is important for us to see the simplicity here. Jesus corrects the disciples' wrong thinking, and he simply states that God has a plan here, and his plan involves his sovereign purposes.

It is very important to see that, yes, this man is a victim of the fall, just as we all are, but God desires to intervene, and I like F.F. Bruce's word, "overrule" in the situation. Now, for us, an application, we must see that there are products of the fall all around us, and God desires to work his works in them. God desires to reveal his glory through what? Through redemption. God gets more glory through redemption, the work of redemption, than through judgment. Although we do not know that he does judge, and his judgments are right and true and just and fair.

We don't know who's going to be redeemed and who will not be redeemed, but we do know that God gets more glory through redemption, and as we see people all around us that are products of the fall, we must believe and see that God desires to work. I was reminded of this truth, this weekend in my study, by being reminded of a hymn that we sing sometimes. It's a famous hymn. It's a hymn by Charles Wesley. The name of the hymn is "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing." If you know the original, it has 18 verses. Now, as time has gone on, those verses have been whittled away.

Some of the verses that we do not sing today are very powerful, but one verse that we sing, I want to read you and I want to show you where it comes from. Charles Wesley wrote in the 14th verse, "See all your sins on Jesus' slade, the Lamb of God was slain. His soul was once an offering made for every soul of man." Now, question, does this verse teach a universal atonement that everyone will be saved? No, that is heresy. This verse is simply scripture. We've already learned the truths there in that song.

In John 6.33, Jesus said, "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world." John 6.51 says, "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." And what we understand is, Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for all, but it is only efficient for those who trust and believe. But what do we see when we focus on verses like that? And when we sing songs like that, what we see is the heart of God, that God desires to work in sinful humanity for His glory.

There are sovereign purposes that God wants to work out through an infallen man. He did that for us. And we must see God's sovereign purposes. Let's continue. I want us to see the third main truth, and that is their kingdom responsibilities. We'll cover two verses here. Notice verse 4 and 5. He transitions and begins to talk to them. He says, "We must work the works of Him who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no man can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Here, Jesus is Father correcting the disciples. They were looking in the past. They were looking in the past and looking for who was at fault.

Remember the question? Who sinned? Here, we see that Jesus builds on verse 3. Verse 3 teaches and states that God has a sovereign purpose here and now, and He is going to instruct them as to their responsibilities in relation to that sovereign purpose here and now. They have a work at hand in connection with God's purposes. Several things I want us to see, four specifically, out of these verses. First, notice who this work is for. Look at verse 4, beginning. "We must work." You might say, "Pastor, that's simple." All of the translations we read say, "We." In the original, this is a plural pronoun which indicates inclusion.

Jesus is saying, "We," including those sinful disciples who had an erroneous view of the whole situation. So He's saying, "This work is for you and this work is for me. We." Second, notice the necessity of this work. "We must work." The verb "must" here is used regularly in the Gospel of John, and it is used here to describe Jesus' obedience to fulfill the works of the Father. In the original language, it really reads, "It is necessary for us to work." So this work is inclusive for all of them, and it is a necessary work. Jesus says, "We must work." Third, notice the ownership of the work.

"We must work the works of Him." Jesus regularly states that He is doing the works of the Father who's seen Him. These works before them were the Father's works. We have seen this time and time again in the Gospel of John. I'll just note one to you, but in John 4, verse 34, Jesus said, as He's right in the middle of Samaria, He says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." The new international version says, "Finish His work." That signifies the owner of the work. And then fourth, notice the timing of the work.

"We must work the works of Him who sent me." And notice, as long as it is day, night is coming when no man can work. Jesus in this verse is communicating urgency. He is saying that the window of time for this work is short. Thus, there is a sense of urgency that they needed. And Jesus really is communicating urgency in two ways. First, through this phrase of day and night. The listeners, the disciples, they would have known that work is for the day and not for the night. They would have understood that language. But second, because He knew that the cross was at hand. Look at verse 5.

"While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." What is He saying? Jesus knew that it was about six months until the cross. And Jesus knew that His time on earth to work with His disciples was short. And again in verse 5, we see Him claiming to be the light of the world. So notice the timing of this work. He is saying, "Daytime is here. Night is coming. I am going to the cross. And while I am here, we must work His work. The Father's work with urgency." And for us, we must see that we are a part of this work. We are a part of this we in verse 4. If we are true Christians, then we are a part of the church.

We are a part of the body of Christ. And He, the Father, has entrusted Kingdom work to us. What did Paul say to the Ephesian church? Chapter 5, verse 16, the book of Ephesians. "Make the best use of the time because the days are evil." What is He saying? You're responsible. Work hard with urgency. And we have a responsibility to His work, not our work. It's His work that He has entrusted to us. We are reminded of this truth in many different places. I was reminded of this truth in a unique way last summer. I read a few books on some missionary endeavors, but I read a biography of a man named Frank Drowne.

He was a missionary with his wife in South America to a particular Indian tribe. They were headhunters. As a matter of fact, the title of his book is "Mission to the Headhunters." If you know the story of this tribe, this tribe was known for shrinking the heads of their enemies. And for 37 years, Frank and his wife, Marie, labored among this people group. Now, at the very beginning of the book, I ran across something that Frank Drowne wrote. And he is speaking about his missionary training after college and after he was married.

He and his wife went for a short period of missionary training and part of their missionary training went like this. He says, "The focus of the training period was on what a missionary's main task should be. This was more than learning a strange language or holding Bible classes, more than winning people to Christ. A missionary's chief goal should be to establish churches indigenous churches that would be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating.

If your work as a missionary does not result in strong native churches that can carry on without you, our leader pointed out, you have failed as a missionary." Now, notice, this had been the Apostle Paul's method. We realized, and with God's help, it will be ours. What am I showing you? Frank Drowne understood that he was a part of the work and he engaged in that work with great urgency, and it was God's work. That's why he had to do it the way the Scripture said. And he approached it with great, great urgency. And as I read about Frank Drowne and I studied his life, not just from that particular work, there were two things that gripped me.

First, he gave the very best years of his life, 37 years, the strongest, the most productive years of his life. As soon as he finished college, he got married, and he was neck deep in this work. So I was gripped by the fact that he did not waste time, he did not give away his strength and his talents and his abilities in his years to frivolous things. And the second thing I was gripped with was the urgency. He risked his life, he risked his health. Why? Because he understood the urgency of his work. Because it wasn't his, it was his. And we must see that we, verse 4, are a part of this work as true Christians. And it is a necessary work.

We must do this work. And it is God's work, and we must approach it with urgency. Because listen, we have an open door, and that door is not going to stay open forever. It's there before us. Now, as I move away from the verses, I want to make a few statements in conclusion. First, we have people that God has brought into our lives. Some are innocent victims of circumstances. They were born in circumstances that they had no control over, much like this blind man. And then connected with them, we have other people who are responsible sinners.

Yes, they are exercising their will to rebel against God and live in rebellion and sin and anarchy to the things of God. But how are we to react to these people? Like I said, if we're not careful, we can be just like the disciples. Remember, they assumed, they blamed, and they judged. But we must be like Christ. We must respond to these people with compassion and care and love and the gospel and desiring that God would do for them what He has done for us. And we also must see that God ordains to work even in the most sinful and tragic circumstances for His glory.

I'm afraid that many times we look at the story of a missionary going to a heathen people, and we could understand God working in those circumstances for His glory even more than we understand that God can work down the road. To that household that's full of drugs and alcohol, to that household that is involved in immorality. See, I'm afraid that we do not see that God ordains to work in the circumstances that are around us. And then I want us to see that we have a short time. This life is moving faster and faster. This door of ministry, this door is open. This opportunity is here for us for this time.

And we must view this day, this time, this opportunity, these circumstances in light of eternity, because eternity is coming faster and faster and faster and faster. And that's exactly why Jesus looked at them and said, with urgency, we must work while we have the day. So what do we see this morning? We see the blind made to see. Lord, help us. Lord, I'm afraid that we really cannot accept--