One Thing I Know

TITLE: ONE THING I KNOW

SCRIPTURE: ST. JOHN 9:1-25

As this 9th Chapter of John opens, we see a man born blind. He has –

• Never seen his mother’s face

• Never seen children playing at the park

• Never played video games

• Never seen the beauty of the sunrise or sunset

• Never seen OU vs. Texas at the Cotton Bowl

The Blind man sometimes felt the sweet fragrance of the Rose but had never seen the beauty of the bloom.

• Here was a man who had been blind from the day he was born

• Life was very difficult for a blind person

• There was no safety for them

• They were vulnerable

• No one respected them in that day and age

The text opens by telling us Jesus as HE WAS PASSING BY SAW A MAN WHICH WAS BLIND FROM BIRTH. That is an important detail. He did not lose his sight later in life, he was born without the ability to see. But Jesus sees him. Jesus sees what people generally don’t see. The text goes on to tell us his disciples asked Jesus “SAYING, MASTER, WHO DID SIN, THIS MAN, OR HIS PARENTS, THAT HE WAS BORN BLIND?”

Well Jesus’ disciples made a wrong assumption and Jesus gives an answer. “JESUS ANSWERED, NEITHER HATH THIS MAN SINNED, NOR HIS PARENTS.” With one statement, Jesus completely obliterates that whole generational curse system. Somebody can have a severe, congenital, life-long illness that has nothing to do with his own sin or the sins of his parents.

You have heard people talk about generational curses, the curse that passes from one generation to another. If you believe in Jesus, there is no curse that passes on to you.

• EZEKIEL 18:1-3 “THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME: “WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE MEAN BY QUOTING THIS PROVERB ABOUT THE LAND OF ISRAEL: “‘THE PARENTS EAT SOUR GRAPES, AND THE CHILDREN’S TEETH ARE SET ON EDGE?”

• EZEKIEL 18:20 “THE ONE WHO SINS IS THE ONE WHO WILL DIE. THE CHILD WILL NOT SHARE THE GUILT OF THE PARENT, NOR WILL THE PARENT SHARE THE GUILT OF THE CHILD. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS WILL BE CREDITED TO THEM, AND THE WICKEDNESS OF THE WICKED WILL BE CHARGED AGAINST THEM”

Now back to our text, Jesus did something strange. “WHEN HE HAD THUS SPOKEN, HE SPAT ON THE GROUND, AND MADE CLAY OF THE SPITTLE, AND HE ANOINTED THE EYES OF THE BLIND MAN WITH THE CLAY.”

• Understand, the blind man has not asked Jesus anything at this point

• But Jesus is God the Son

• He knows everyone’s needs

So without the man asking him for anything, Jesus anointed his eyes with clay and told him to GO.

• He did not take him there

• The man is blind

• “AND SAID UNTO HIM, GO, WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM, (WHICH IS BY INTERPRETATION, SENT)

• HE WENT HIS WAY THEREFORE, AND WASHED, AND CAME SEEING

What is fascinating is that when you examine all the miracles of Jesus, no two are exactly alike.

• Some miracles happened by simply speaking a word, like when he calmed the storm

• Others happened when others touched his clothes, like the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years

• Another time, he simply told the Roman Soldier that his servant back home miles away would be healed. And it happened

• For whatever reason, the Lord’s methods vary, while his power and his heart remain unchanged

Now I would think that if this blind man would have expected Jesus to heal him, he would have expected Jesus to tell him, “Be Healed – Be Delivered – Be Set Free.” That kind of healing has happened in Jesus’ ministry, time and time again. But here Jesus did something very strange. He spits on the ground and makes clay out of the spit and the dust creating an omnipotent eye sauve. Jesus anointed the man’s eyes and told the blind man, “GO TO THE POOL OF SILOAM AND WASH.” The blind man did it and he could see just as well as if Jesus had said, “Be healed.”

You see my brothers and sisters, there is always something we have to do in order to receive God’s richest blessings in our lives. We don’t just become saved and sit down. Even in our acceptance of Jesus Christ, He then says - ‘Be Baptized.” The Lord saves us and then tells us to “GO AND SIN NO MORE.”

All the way through this event, this man had a humble and obedient spirit.

• He never questioned Jesus when he put the clay on his eyes

• He never questioned Jesus when Jesus asked him to go to the pool