John 9:1-12 (p. 747) June 8, 2014
Introduction:
The Macuma People of Southeast Columbia in South America were “animists.” “Animism” worships the Gazelle for its speed...the eagle for its vision, the lion for its power...and because of this the Macuma’s viewed individuals as worthless if there was a physical weakness that hindered them from being “strong.”
That is until the Word of God was brought to these people by Bob and Jan Smutherman, Wycliffe Bible translators, for 5 years they worked to translate John’s gospel, the chief’s son was engaged as the language helper...each portion of scripture had to be checked and rechecked for meaning and clarity...and then as it was being finalized for publication the chief’s son read it to the tribe, when he got to John chapter 9 and the verse concerning the man being born blind “in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
The chief stood up, raised his hand for silence and declared, “we must stop killing our babies!”
To a people, steeped in Animism, the normal procedure was to take any non-perfect baby to a desolate place, desert it, and expose it until dead. But God’s Word has a convicting way of revealing truth over the power of a lie.
The lie is only perfect, strong & beautiful people have value and can accomplish great things.
The truth, “That’s not the precedent God set throughout history. In the OT Israel was the weakest and smallest and the Lord said, “I am making a covenant with you...before all you people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord will do for you.” (Ex. 34:10)
It’s the power of God the nations will see, not the power of Israel.
Paul says God does the same thing with individuals under the covenant of grace.
1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31 (p. 793)
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong...why? So no one will boast about their own power...but His power...
Broken people cannot repair themselves..we are restored through the power of Christ and this is one of the greatest truths:
I. OUR WEAKNESS ALLOWS GOD TO PROVE HIS POWER
When something bad happens in most people’s lives we think, “what did I do to deserve this?” God must be punishing me for something!”
But things happen to bad people, right? Well Job and Jesus will tell you that’s not exactly true!!!
Even Jesus’ closest followers thought like this:
As they travel they come across a man blind from birth...”His disciples ask Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” (v.2)
Sickness and suffering were believed to be the result of sin, but this man was born blind so he put a crimp in this belief system...except maybe God is remembering the “sin” of his parents, or grandparents, or great grandparents and punishing them!
Jesus absolutely rejects the view that all suffering and pain is due to sin.
“Neither this man or his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so the works of God might be displayed in him.”
We know without a doubt both this man and his parents have sinned in their lives...because “all of us have sinned and fell short of God’s glory.” (Romans 3:23)
But this man’s blindness...His weakness wasn’t caused by sin...it was allowed so that God could flex His muscles through it!
Here’s the important spiritual lesson (and it might be one of the hardest to learn!)
*GOD’S PLAN IS NEVER FOR OUR DESTRUCTION BUT FOR OUR REDEMPTION
Satan tries pervert and distort the picture we see of God.” He blinds the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light...the truth of the gospel which reveals the image of Christ...who is the image of God.” (2 Cor. 4:4) Satan tries to put a “veil” over the gospel’s face.
And one of the greatest lies is that God just wants to punish you...and if you look at some of Jesus’ so called “representatives” who look like they’ve been baptized 6 times in bad vinegar...you might believe that lie.
If you are not in a saving relationship with God through the gift of His son then your sin still seperates you from God. And there are consequences for our sin, whether in Christ or outside of Christ. If you break the law you might go to jail, get drunk and drive and you might kill yourself or someone else, cheat on your spouse and you might end up divorced.
But let me ask you all here: “Has God immediately punished you for every sin you’ve committed?” No! Me either!!!
God’s perfect...so perfect justice requires sin to be punished...paid for...but perfect love has allowed another to pay for my sins for me.
God’s plan is for every single one of us to come to that understanding. It’s love that motivated that gift for the “world’s” sin so that no one has to perish, but can have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
And the Holy Spirit (God’s Spirit) wants us to realize this truth...Jesus said, It is for your good that I’m going away...unless I go, the advocate will not come to you, but if I go I will send Him to you. When He comes He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. (Jn. 16:7-9)
No one changes unless something powerful motivates them...God wants us to be forgiven...free from sin’s bondage, but it takes the power of the Holy Spirit’s conviction to “break that bond,” to be an advocate for our freedom. And we will then choose to turn from sin and to God or remain His enemies.
And after our surrender to Christ...the Holy Spirit will be powerfully working and revealing truth in our lives so we can be transformed into the image of Jesus. (Rom 8:29)
But sin isn’t the cause of this young man’s blindness. His blindness will be a witness for God’s power. This weakness exists according to Jesus so “the works of God might be displayed in Him.”
Suffering causes things to be dark. Pain causes it to seem like night time. The world and Christians both experience suffering and pain because we live in a “fallen, dying” place.
Jesus said, “while I am in the world I am the light of the world.” (Jn. 9:5) He also said this about His followers: “You are the light of the world...let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt. 5:14)
It’s when things are darkest that you can see the light most powerfully. Jesus is the light of the world, and we’re to be mirrors that reflect His glory!
[I was watching a program the other day, I think it might have been 20/20, but one segment featured a young African American man who had been intentionally blinded by a relative when he was 8 years old. He was 20 at the time of this interview. He loved to read in Braille, he was an accomplished pianist, he was sensitive, loving and gentle. At the end of the interview he said, “My blindness has become a blessing to bring about these things in my life and to make me the man God wants me to be.”]
He quoted Romans 8:28 which says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
This is a promise only for believers...and it doesn’t say everything that happens is good, it says let God work...and He’ll cause it to be for your good and His purpose in shaping you to be like Jesus.
God does not always remove the thorns in our lives, sometimes He allows them to show that His grace is sufficient...and that His power is made perfect in our weakness.
Because each of us is a sinner, naturally self-centered, we try to fix things on our own...We use our own resources to cope. But it’s when our resources are exhausted that God says, now...watch what happens when I flex my muscles. That’s when His work is displayed.
It’s faith that allows us to see God’s power
II. FAITH IS THE ANSWER FOR REAL BLINDNESS
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for...assurance about what we do not see.”
Faith deals with hope and unseen beliefs.
And Heb. 11:6 says something monumental: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Not hard...not difficult...IMPOSSIBLE!!!)
After Jesus says “He is the light of the world” He spits on the ground and makes mud. He applies this mud to the blind man’s eyes...and then tells him to go wash it out in the pool of Siloam (it means “sent”)
Why did Jesus do this? He could have first said, “you can see!” there’s nothing magical about spit and mud...if there were, at 8 I would have been Houdini!
This man’s sight was restored because he responded with faith to a command of Jesus...the mud, going to the pool, washing it off, required obedience...and a belief in the one who commanded it be done.
[In the OT there was a man named Naaman. He’s the General over the entire army. And He has a problem...leprosy...Elijah the prophet tells Naaman to go and dip himself 7 times in the Jordan River...at first he got angry....there are rivers much cleaner and closer than the Jordan. He fights with this in his inner soul about doing it, but finally he goes. He wasn’t healed after the 1st,2nd,3rd,4th,5th, or 6th plunge, but after the 7th. 2 Kings 5:14 says, “Wash and be cleansed! So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan 7 times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a young boy.”]
This man in John 9 has been blind from birth but he went to the pool of Siloam (maybe friends helped him) and he washed the mud off – and He came home seeing. It wasn’t while he was going, or while washing. It was after he trusted Jesus enough to obey His command in faith...“I washed...and now I see.”
Being baptized into Christ isn’t some neat trick, it isn’t a ritual or a work, it’s an act of surrender and faith. It’s an act of obedienc to the one who says in Mark 16:16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.”
What if I tell you Jesus dies for your sins and can rescue you from its darkness. What if I tell you He rose from the dead, and promises us eternal life....that His Holy spirit is the promised gift of God that removes spiritual blindness, allows us to have the mind of Christ, His heart and His eyes.
But His word says you need to repent of your sin and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
But you remain unmoved...you get mad because there are easier ways right??? You refuse to obey God’s word...you do not go to the pool of Siloam or the Jordan.
[It’s why Peter tells us baptism isn’t to wash dirt from the body, but from the soul...and it saves us because of the resurrection of Christ Jesus. (1 Peter 3:21)]
If you want Jesus to live in you and through you, you must repent (turn around) change direction, and you must die, be buried...and rise to walk in a new life according to Romans 6.
This man Jesus encountered at the temple had never seen light, only darkness. He never saw blue skies, or His parents face. He was born blind.
Can you imagine the joy of this man as the mud washed from his eyes, and as the darkness lifted...he saw things he’d only imagined.
It’s that way in Christ when His Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our heart. We see things in a whole new light. And one of the most important new insights is that God is working “in us and through us” and many times it is through that has caused us the greatest pain.
AWL FOR THE GOOD
In 1809, Simon Renee Braille and his wife Monique welcomed their fourth child into the world - - a lively boy named Louis. They lived in a small stone house near Paris where Braille was the local harness maker. Leather working tools are dangerous, so the toddler had been instructed not to go into his father’s shop alone.
But when Louis was still small, he slipped into the shop, and with curiosity started to handle all the fascinating tools. As Louis was inspecting an awl, the sharp tool used to punch holes in leather, he slipped and punctured a part of his eye with the tool. The injured eye became infected. The little boy could not keep his hands from rubbing and scratching the wound, and soon the infection spread to his other eye as well. When Louis was only 4, he became completely blind.
Louis was fortunate enough to study at the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris. He excelled as an organist, and at twelve years old began asking the question “How can the blind read?”
Over his summer break at home, Louis was determined to find the answer. As He moved and groped around his father’s shop in search of the right tool for the task, the awl presented itself as perfect for the job. The awl would make the raised dots he had seen in the French military system of “night writing.”
And with the very instrument that had blinded him, Louis worked and worked until he had created a system of dots whereby the blind could read and write, work math problems and compose music.
What is your awl – The thing that has crippled you, either by your own doing like young Louis, or someone else’s? Is it a divorce, the death of someone you love, a lost career? Let God take it, and use it in your life for good – to reshape you or comfort others.
