Picture # 10 The Process Of Our Salvation
As Seen In The Man Born Blind
John 9:1-41.
The man born blind was in his condition of blindness so the works of God might be displayed in his life (John 9:3; Romans 8:28; I Corinthians 3:15,16).
Jesus has come to bring spiritual blindness to those who do not receive Him as Savior.
The maturing Christian can look back at his or her life and see how God has worked in his or her life.
Spiritual growth is a process!
Note the progression of spiritual growth:
At first Jesus is seen by the man born blind as just a man.
Then Jesus is a man called Jesus(verse 11).
Next, Jesus is seen by the man born blind as a prophet, then Jesus is seen as God(verse 17).
When we know Jesus in our hearts, true worship freely flows(verse 38).
I suppose that being born blind is a terrible thing because we rely upon our eyes for almost everything.
I knew a man who attended Baptist College At Charleston, SC with me in the early 1970’s who had been born blind.
His name was Don Teague and he was a 4.0 student.
Don was an example of one who overcame his handicap.
The disciples look at this man born blind and immediately they want to know who has sinned, this man or his parents?(verse 2).
Jesus says, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,…but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life”(verse 3).
In 1818, in France, a boy named Louis was in his father’s workshop.
Louis’ father was a harness-maker and Louis loved to watch his father at work with the leather.
Louis wanted to be a harness-maker just like his father.
His father told him to take the hole puncher and a hammer, and follow the design he had drawn for his son on the leather.
Louis began to work, but when he hit the hole puncher, it flew out of his hand and hit his eye, causing him to lose the sight of that eye.
Later, the sight in Louis’ other eye failed and Louis was totally blind.
A couple of years later, Louis was sitting in the garden when a family friend handed him a pinecone.
Louis ran his fingers over the pinecone and an idea came to him.
He began to create an alphabet that consisted of raised dots on paper so people who were blind could feel the dots and interpret what was written.
Louis Braille was used by God to open up a new world for the blind!
God said this man in John Chapter 9 was born blind so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
In this picture of the maturing Christian, we find two types of blindness; physical blindness and spiritual blindness.
The physical blindness is that of the beggar, and the spiritual blindness is that of the religious leaders and the Pharisees.
Which type of blindness do you think is the worse to have?
Jesus spit on the ground and He made some clay, then He put it on the man’s eyes.
When Jesus did this He broke three Jewish laws:
1. He spit on the ground and made clay. The Pharisees believed it was all right to spit on a rock on the Sabbath because that wouldn’t make clay, but to spit on the dirt violated the Law of the Sabbath because making clay was work.
2. The second law Jesus broke was that He healed on the Sabbath.
3. The third law Jesus broke was that He used spit, which was considered to be a form of medicine, and the use of medicine was strictly forbidden on the Sabbath.
For the Pharisees, you could hardly breathe on the Sabbath without breaking a law.
Notice that this man had to do something in order to be healed.
Jesus told him to go to the pool of Siloam(which means “having been sent”, Greek).
It took courage, faith and a bit of boldness for this man to go to the pool of Siloam.
But notice the man went, washed, and came home seeing.
Then the Pharisees investigate this healing so they might trap Jesus.
The Pharisees were looking for a way to discredit Jesus and make Him look like He was from Satan and not from God; for they have already made their judgment of Jesus.
The sad thing about the Pharisees and some of the other religious leaders of that day was that they really believed in their hearts that Jesus could not possibly be from God because He didn’t follow the Law.
The healed man was bold and said that Jesus was a Prophet sent from God.
To say that Jesus was a Prophet carried a lot of punch, and it was kind of dangerous in those days to call yourself a prophet unless you really were one.
Don’t you just love it when this man was bold enough to stand up to the Pharisees and say, “He is a prophet…one thing I do know. I was blind but now I see…If this man were not from God, He could do nothing” (verses 17, 25, 33).
Not counting John the Baptist, there had not been a prophet in Israel for about 400 years.
John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets.
Jesus is the only New Testament prophet and the only prophet we will ever see on this side of heaven.
I’ve had some pastor friends who claim to be prophets.
Jesus is the final Prophet sent from God.
Notice that the Pharisees attempt to get this man’s parents involved, but they say their son is old enough to give is own answer.
His parents feared excommunication from the synagogue.
Notice that the son is excommunicated in verse 34 “and they threw him out.”
Jesus heard the Pharisees excommunicated him so Jesus went to find him and ask him a simple question about his faith.
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”(verse 35).
What a beautiful scene, the man falls on his knees and true worship begins: “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him.
Is it possible to be touched by God and still not know Him?
You bet it is!
Many people have lots of head knowledge about God but they don’t have God living in their hearts.
You and I attend church and we should ask ourselves why we are here.
Do you attend because you’re a deacon, Sunday School teacher, sing in the choir, or because you’re wearing some new clothes and you need someone to see how great you look?
Or, do you attend because once you were blind and now you can see?
May our prayer be: “Open our eyes Lord, help us to see!”
Rev. Jimmy Davis
Bayview Baptist Church
5300 Two Notch Road
Columbia, SC 29204
Telephone: 803-754-8690
Email: BayviewBaptist@aol.com
