Sermon Central
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John Chapter 9 Part 3 Series
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Sep 5, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus heals the man born blind. Jesus sometimes accomplishes His miracles in unexpected ways and almost always requires our participation.
“As [Jesus] went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
“As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.”
“After saying this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ He told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’. So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
“His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, ‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ Some claimed that he was.
“Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’
But he himself insisted, ‘I am the man.’
‘How then were your eyes opened?’ they asked.
“He replied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.’
“‘Where is this man?’ they asked him.
‘I don’t know,’ he said.”
So, reading verses 6 and 7 again we see:
“After saying this, He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ He told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’. So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”
This is some crazy miracle; spit and mud and putting it on the eyes and sending a blind man off to find a particular pool to wash his eyes in and being healed! Wow!
What an awesome miracle to perform immediately after declaring that He is the light of the world! Allowing a blind man to see the Light!
There are some rather odd healings in the Bible.
2 Kings 5 - Naaman the Aramean (recite the story from memory)
Matthew 9:20-22 - The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years
(recite the story from memory)
“And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to Him and begged Him to let the sick just touch the edge of His cloak, and all who touched it were healed.”
Luke 17:11-19 - Jesus heals 10 lepers
(recite the story from memory)
Mark 7:31-37 - Jesus heals the deaf and mute man
(recite the story from memory)
Things in common with these miracles
(they came to Jesus, they were required to act in some way, etc.)
Jesus/God is the source of the miracle
In the beginning God created the light and the sky and the land and the vegetation and the sun and the moon and the stars and the livestock and the wild animals and how did He create them?
He spoke them into existence
How did God create Adam - He formed him from the dust of the earth
I just thought that it was interesting that God used a hands-on approach to creating Adam from the dust of the earth and He used a the earth to heal the man born blind.
Either God can or God has healed you!
He can heal you spiritually
He can heal and deliver you from a sin that you may be caught in right now.
In many of the instances people were required to participate.
The blind man had to go wash
The two blind men cried out
The lame man had to pick up his mat and walk
The ten lepers had to go show themselves to the priest
The centurion had to send messengers to Jesus
God does not endorse a welfare system, so, if we’re going to say that God can heal you spiritually and that once you are healed or saved He can heal and deliver you from a sin that you may be caught in right now.
I’m not talking about salvation by works now.
Salvation is by faith alone empowered by God’s grace alone.
But, God’s grace gives you the impulse to repent of your past sins but it does not force you to do so. You must cooperate with His grace or reject it.
God’s grace gives you the ability to place your faith and trust in Christ for salvation but it doesn’t force you to do so.
God’s grace gives you the strength to go to those you have sinned against and to make restitution if possible but He doesn’t force you to do so.
Just as Jesus told the blind man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam but He did not force him to do so.
