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
• The blind man just obeyed what Jesus told him to do and he was healed
When he came back Jesus was not there; Jesus moved on. The man that was once blind but now can see encounters three groups of people following his miraculous healing.
• His Neighbors
• His Parents
• The Pharisees
Each group in their disbelief asked him a series of questions as to what happened to him, how did he receive his sight. The man really did not know but he stated what happened to him. “HE ANSWERED AND SAID, A MAN THAT IS CALLED JESUS MADE CLAY, AND ANOINTED MINE EYES, AND SAID UNTO ME, GO TO THE POOL OF SILOAM, AND WASH: AND I WENT AND WASHED, AND I RECEIVED SIGHT.”
• This blind man now sees
• He does not know the explanation of anything
• He just knows the facts of what happened in his simplicity and openness
• He simply states everything he knows about it
Many people say, "I don't know very much." They use this as an excuse for their failure to speak a word for Jesus. The man, who received his sight, didn't use his lack of knowledge as an excuse for not speaking for Jesus. He said, "I don't know." Then, he said, "ONE THING I KNOW, THAT THOUGH I WAS BLIND, NOW I SEE."
To help us learn the lesson that every believer can and should share his/her personal testimony, when the opportunity presents itself.
• Just tell what you know
• Tell what the Lord has done for you
• Just tell your story
• Don’t add to it
• Don’t take anything away from it
• Just tell your story
Let's look at the context in which these words were spoken. There are three factors which contribute significantly to this context --
• The relation between Jesus and the man
• The relation between the man and his world
• The man himself
There are two moments of contact between Jesus and the man --
• The healing
• The profession of faith
In both instances, we note the initiative of Jesus.
• In the First Instance, there is no indication that the man came looking for healing from Jesus
• All we are told is this -- Jesus HEALED him
• In the Second Instance, we are told that Jesus "FOUND" the man
• Isn't that the right order?
• Sometimes, we say, "I found Jesus"
• Is it not more true to the Gospel and Christian experience to say, "Jesus found me?”
When Jesus found and healed this man, He changed the man. When a person encounters Jesus, they can never be the same again. One of the first changes was the man's new-found faith was put to the test. Noone can become a disciple and expect to evade the testing of their faith. The devil will come at you hard.
• He will use your family
• He will use your friends
• He will use your co-workers
Let’s consider this Second Factor. The man's world was made up of three groups of people. Each of these groups had a different attitude towards him.
• The man's neighbors had an attitude of Indifference towards him
• The man's parents had an attitude of Compromise towards him
• The Pharisees had an attitude of Rejection towards him
These attitudes of indifference, compromise and rejection still face us today. They are no different from what this healed man had experienced.
• Think of the Indifference of the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says -- "So what!"
• Think of the Compromise of the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says -- "I know, but ... "
• Think of the Rejection that comes from the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says -- "Baloney!"
• We must learn not to be influenced by such attitudes
• We must learn through it all to be faithful to God
This Final Observation Or Factor. Let’s look at the man's Experience - Testimony - Influence.
• The man's Experience -- his eyes were opened
o This is what happens to the believer when Christ is received into their heart
o We sing it every time we sing ‘Amazing Grace’ - I Once Was Blind But Now I See
• The man's Testimony -- he had received his sight
o This is the Christian's testimony
• The man's Influence -- a whole lot of people started thinking about Jesus
Is that the testimony of your heart today? If so, you should be able to give that response joyfully, “ONCE I WAS BLIND BUT NOW, I CAN SEE.” Once we were all spiritually blind but now, we can see.
• But this man told about his physical blindness
• He is not yet born again
As the text shifts, I find myself cheering this man on. He’s going toe-to-toe with these stubborn, arrogant religious leaders, and he is not going to back down from what is true. The text tells when this man was taken to the Pharisees they keep asking over and over the same thing. Then said they to him again, WHAT DID HE TO THEE? HOW OPENED HE THINE EYES? He answered them, “I HAVE TOLD YOU ALREADY, AND YE DID NOT HEAR: WHEREFORE WOULD YE HEAR IT AGAIN? WILL YE ALSO BE HIS DISCIPLES?” This man was witty and smart with his words. And he faced up these Pharisees and he says, “How many times do I have to tell you? But I have already told you. What do you keep asking? Is it because you want to believe on him too? You want to be his disciples too?”
• They got very angry when he said that
• They called him a sinner and threw him out of the assembly
Can you imagine being thrown out of the Church because you encountered Jesus? Can you imagine being put out of the Church because you received a touch, a miracle from Jesus? The Pharisees said, this was not a miracle by any Man of God, because any real religious person would know you don’t heal and perform miracles on the sabbath day! Don’t limit God with your tradition. Remember the Sabbath day mattered but they so much revolved around the traditions of the Sabbath that they forgot God who made the sabbath.
• Don’t limit God in your life
• Don’t limit God according to the customs and traditions of this world and our culture
• Jesus could not perform any healing to the proud Pharisees
• Not because he did not have the power – but the Pharisees did not have the faith
There was always a crowd with Jesus, but they limited God because they were divided in unbelief. So, there was a division among the people because of him. Jesus has the power to heal and restore your life. We come Sunday after Sunday and worship God, experiencing his power and presence in our lives but most of the time many of us are unable to receive the deliverance because of unbelief.
• We come to Jesus, but you are divided in our minds
• Sometimes our heart is swayed in that direction by the Holy Spirit, and then we go out and are lost in unbelief
• If you want to receive something from God, you got to believe in Jesus
Remember, Jesus was not there when all this happened to this man that received this power miracle and received his sight. “JESUS HEARD THAT THEY HAD CAST HIM OUT; AND WHEN HE HAD FOUND HIM, HE SAID UNTO HIM, DOST THOU BELIEVE ON THE SON OF GOD?”
• It is at this point that this formerly blind man comes to the point of salvation
“HE ANSWERED AND SAID, WHO IS HE, LORD, THAT I MIGHT BELIEVE ON HIM? AND JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, THOU HAST BOTH SEEN HIM, AND IT IS HE THAT TALKETH WITH THEE. AND HE SAID, LORD, I BELIEVE. AND HE WORSHIPPED HIM.” Did you know that in the greater picture this man’s blindness was a blessing to him? Eventually, his blindness led him to believe in God. Well, he could have said --
• I wish I could have had my sight from my childhood on
• Why am I suffering in life when everyone is enjoying?
• Had this man not had his blindness; this man may have never come to know Jesus as his savior
--In the hard things that come in life, there is a greater purpose than what you can see at that moment and we need to trust Jesus in those circumstances and place our faith and our rest in him
--Oh my. Such a beautiful heart. Such a simple faith
--This is so inspiring
--Jesus, the light of the world, gave him a great gift
--And the man valued the gift so much that he worshiped the Giver of the gift
--You see, the Giver is always greater than the gift
--And an important point here: the man worshiped Jesus
--We know from all over the Scriptures, we are to worship only the Lord God
--He worships Jesus, and Jesus receives the worship
--One Thing I know – Jesus is the Christ
--One Thing I know – He saved my wandering soul
--One Thing I know – I was Once Blind but now I See
--One Thing I know He died that I may Live
--One Thing I know He rose early on a Sunday Morning
--One Thing I know He is seated at the Right hand of God the Father making Intersession for us
