Sunday Night: Jesus Will Find You
Place: BLCC
Date: 5/28/17
Text: John 9.1-41
CT: We must be open to see Jesus when He comes to us.
Our story comes from John 9.1-41.
There was a man who had been thrown out of his place of worship standing like a man who was lost and had no where to go. He was lost and did not know where to turn because he had just been given a great gift and didn’t know what to do with it. He sure hadn’t counted on being in the position he was when he got up this morning. He headed out to sit out on the street where people would pass and hopefully he would beg enough to eat something later.
But that had all been blown away when this fellow, he had never met came by and basically spit in his face.
No not in a bad way, but to bring his sight back to him. You see this man had been blind since birth and now he could see because this fellow had decided to reveal he was the light of the world by bringing the sight to a blind man.
So much had just happened to him. Now here he was with this fellow he did not recognize. The fellow said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man”.
Before he answered he thought back on all that happened to him today.
He remembered sitting there listening to some men talking about him. Was it him who sinned or was it his parents.
The man who seemed to in charge said, “Neither this man or his parents sinned”
“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” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
(The man thought back about how everyone had reacted to seeing him and to the fact he was seeing “them”).
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 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.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
(Then the man, who had been blind thought of how he had been treated by the Pharisees. They were not too thrilled by the fact he could see. They were more worried about the fellow named Jesus who had caused him to supposedly be able to see. They were not so sure this was true).
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.
15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
17Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.
(The former blind man did not think much of their questioning. The Pharisees did not much believe him so they called in his parents.)
19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
(The Pharisees were not satisfied with the parents answer so they called the former blind man back. He could see now.)
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
(Our former blind man didn’t really care if Jesus was a sinner or not. He just knew he could see).
26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
(This was more than they wanted to put up with).
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
(Yep they threw him out. They excommunicated him from the synagogue. What a day. He started out blind and begging and now he can see, but he is banished.
So now he stands before Jesus again except you must realize he does not know who Jesus is since he did not see before).
Jesus says, “Do you believe in the Son Of Man?”
Our former blind man that can now see says, “Who is he sir? Tell me that I may believe in him.
37 Jesus says, “You have now seen him; in fact he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord I believe,” and he worshipped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
The man who had been born blind had been cast out of the synagogue. Jesus found out about it and sought the man out. That is what Jesus always does when he works with people. Long before they ever seek him, he was seeking them. Jesus is constantly knocking on the doors to the hearts of people. Is he knocking on yours?
You love Jesus because he first loved you. This is how Jesus’ love works. Not that we love him, but that he first loved us and gave his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Long before you chose him he had already chose you. He chose you before the world was formed.
Jesus found the rejected blind man he had healed. The Jewish officials had rejected him. He’d been thrown out of the Temple. If anyone ever needed Jesus it was this man. He needed Jesus’ grace and mercy as all despised and rejected people do. The Lord knew how this felt. He was treated that way too.
Jesus asked the man if he believed in the the Son of Man. The man knew this term meant the long awaited savior of the Jews. The man asked where this person was. Jesus told it was the Son of Man who was speaking to him.
Humbly the man said, “Lord I Believe.” Note he called him Lord, which was a term of great respect. The man recognized the identity of Jesus. He recognized him as God.
Then he did the most important thing any of us could do for Jesus even today. He worshipped Him. Yes he worshipped Jesus.
Jesus received the formerly blind man’s worship because he was God.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who always cares for his sheep.
John wrote his gospel to prove Jesus was the Son of God. He presents testimonies of people who met Jesus and affirmed that he was God’s Son. This beggar is one of those witnesses.
John 9.39, Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
This verse does not contradict John 3.16-17. The main reason for Jesus coming was to bring salvation. But the result of his coming was the condemnation of those who would not believe. The same sun that brings beauty out of the seeds also exposes things hidden that try to remain hidden in the dark. The religious leaders were blind as far as seeing who Jesus was.
The Pharisees were blinded by their pride, their self-righteousness, their tradition and their false interpretation of God’s Word.
Jesus’ reply to them was a paradox. If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim to see, your guilt remains.
Blindness would have been an excuse for not knowing what was going on. But they did know what was going on. Jesus had performed many miracles and the religious leaders ignored the evidence they needed to make the right decision.
Jesus is the light of the world. Only those that are blind and will not see who Jesus is will miss out on the Lord.
The beggar was cast out of the synagogue but taken by the Lord and added to his flock.
We never read about this beggar again, but surely this man followed Jesus and witnessed for him.
Hopefully he won over his fearful parents. He may have been excommunicated from the synagogue but what he received as a follower of Jesus far outweighed what he could have got from the synagogue and the Pharisaical leaders there.
Even today there are people who may have to choose between their family and following Jesus.
Our formerly blind, but now can see beggar, made the right choice even though it was at a great cost.
What will you do when the decision to follow Jesus or go the other way comes up?
I pray you choose correctly as well.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God?
In this encounter with the blind man you can see how he eventually came to know Jesus was God.
At first he was a mere man. V.11
Then he thought he was prophet. V.17
Finally he realized he was the Son of Man and worthy of praise.
Know who Jesus is.
He is worthy of our praise.
He created you and the world you live in.
He knows all.
He sees all.
He controls all.
He evens uses our rejections for our good. He is seeking you. He desires a relationship with you.
He wants you to trust everything in your life to Him.
Don’t run from Him. Let Him find you.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Chadwick, David; Hearing the Voice of God, Seek Jesus chapter; Harvest House Publishers, 2016, Print
