May 26, 2002 John 9:8-38
¡§Mud-pies and miracles¡¨ (pt. 2)
INTRODUCTION
[review last week¡¦s sermon in which a man who had been born blind was healed by Jesus.] He was physically blind so that he could not see Jesus. He was also spiritually blind so that he could not see that Jesus was the Light of the world. This morning, we are going to examine what happened in this man¡¦s life after the healing of his physical blindness. Most of the time when Jesus did a miracle, we don¡¦t have the rest of the story. We aren¡¦t told what happened afterwards ¡V how that person¡¦s life changed. Here we have some of that information, and not all of it is pleasant. We¡¦re going to see that this miracle brought him into close contact with some people who, though they could see with their eyes, they could not see with their hearts. They were spiritually blind. They could not see who Jesus was, they could not see the darkness in themselves and they could not see what Jesus wanted to do in their lives.
Our purpose here this morning is not simply to describe them. We also want to allow God to examine our hearts and see if the descriptions that match them match us too. Maybe we aren¡¦t blind in the same way that they were or even to the same extent. But all of us have blind spots ¡V those areas of our lives that are in need of repair even though we might think that they are in good shape. As we look at 7 characteristics of spiritually blind people, allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart with His spotlight so that He might illuminate some areas that have been in the dark.
People who are spiritually blind ¡K
„X are content to beg for scraps and spare change rather than exist in abundance. (vs. 7)
The blind man had spent all his adult life begging at the temple. He was dependent on the generosity of others for his survival. Then along comes Jesus, who puts mud on his eyes, tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, and suddenly, he can see! What do you think he did when he could see? Did he go back to his spot in front of the temple, close his eyes, take his place among all the other beggars, and start begging again just like he had for so many years? NO! That life was over. He didn¡¦t have to live on scraps anymore. The Bible tells us the first thing that he did. It says that he went home. He went back to the place where he knew there were people who loved him and where his needs would be met in abundance.
This man reminds me of the story that Jesus told of a son who ran away from home because he blindly considered the freedom of money to be of greater value than the love of his father. After all the money was gone, he was forced to work feeding pigs and living off the things that the pigs wouldn¡¦t eat. Scripture records that one day, he came to his senses ¡V his eyes were opened ¡V and he realized that back home, even the servants had an abundance of resources to meet their needs. So he left that job behind, and headed back to his dad where he was welcomed with open arms, and a feast was prepared in his honor. When his eyes were opened, he stopped surviving on scraps and started living in abundance.
I have a strong suspicion that many Christians are surviving on scraps. They are blind to the abundant supply of blessing that God wants to pour out on them. Maybe they got saved, but then they headed right back to that place and lifestyle that they occupied before their healing occurred. They don¡¦t understand that God wants to give them a brand new life.
Some of you here may be existing on scraps. You¡¦re willing to obey God ¡V to a point, just enough to get you enough blessing or enough energy to make it through the day. You come to church enough to ease your conscience or to keep the preacher off your back. You put a little bit of money in the offering plate to say that you¡¦ve done your part. And so because you are not willing to obey to the full, God cannot give you abundant life to the full. God has untold blessings waiting for you. Let him open your eyes to the abundant life that He wants to give you, and stop living on scraps.
„X are more interested in explanation than experience. (vs. 8-17)
That young man traveled home. With the help of other people, he found his town, and then as he arrived, once he had asked, he found where his mom and dad lived. He had to get lots of help. After all, he had never seen his home, his town or the road that he traveled on in order to get there. The closer he got to home and with each new person that he asked, a look of recognition started to come to people¡¦s faces. The neighbors started asking questions among themselves. ¡§Is this the same guy who used to sit at the temple and beg because he was blind?¡¨ They couldn¡¦t believe it even when the blind man testified that he was the man that they thought he was. You might expect that they would respond with joy and praising God. That¡¦s what happened at other miracles we have looked at. But instead, they responded with disbelief. They wanted to know ¡§How¡¨. How could a blind man receive sight? They couldn¡¦t accept his simple explanation, so they took him to the Pharisees. The Pharisees could answer their questions. The Pharisees would be able to see the truth. Or so they thought.
But when the Pharisees interrogated the man, they had the same question that the neighbors had: ¡§How.¡¨ They had to be able to explain it. They couldn¡¦t accept that something beyond explanation had happened. Throughout the rest of the questioning of the man, they keep coming up with all kinds of possibilities for how this could happen. Maybe he wasn¡¦t really blind to begin with. No, his parents confirmed that he was blind. And even as the interrogation continued, over and over again, the formerly blind man kept coming back to this simply statement: ¡§I once was blind. Now I see.¡¨ They wanted explanation. He gave them experience.
There are many aspects of the Christian life that are beyond explanation. I have been trained in the use of words, and every Sunday morning, I do my best to explain to you the truths that are found in the Bible. But there are some beauties that I cannot explain to you just like it would be impossible for me to explain a sunset to someone who was blind because they had never seen colors.
I can¡¦t explain to you what it feels like when I have spent sufficient time in prayer to experience the reality of the fact that I am in the presence of God. I can¡¦t explain to you why God would love you or the acceptance that you feel when you receive God¡¦s forgiveness. I can¡¦t explain to you what it is like to truly love your wife and your kids the way that God says to love them. I can¡¦t explain to you the peace that you feel when you trust God with your finances and allow Him the control that He deserves. I can¡¦t explain to you the joy that I feel when I get to lead someone to accept Jesus Christ as her Savior. Those are all things that you must experience for yourself.
Sadly, many people will never experience those things because they have to understand everything before they will step in and experience it. They have to have all the dots in a row. It gives them a sense of control. God has explained a lot of things to us in His Word. But there are many things that are beyond explaining to us. We simply have to be obedient to God and experience the joys that he has for us.
„X are so afraid of men that they can¡¦t freely express their joy. (vs. 18-23)
In order to settle the argument over whether or not this young man was ever blind or not, the Pharisees call in his parents. They unequivocally answer that yes, he is their son, and yes, even though he can now see, he was born blind. As I listen to the testimony that these parents give, something is missing that you might expect to hear in their voices. How would you react if some serious physical abnormality in one of your children was suddenly healed? You¡¦d be shouting for joy, and so would I! We¡¦d want everyone to know! We wouldn¡¦t let him or her out of our sight. We¡¦d go on the talk show circuit and gladly proclaim, ¡§This is my boy. He¡¦s been healed.¡¨ But in what they have to say, there is none of that. There is no joy. There is no excitement. In fact, instead of proudly claiming their son, they make every effort to disassociate themselves with him and this miracle in his life. Instead of all the wonderful emotions that should have been going on at this time, there is fear. Their fear of the Jews and what punishment they might have to endure for telling what they knew was the truth was too great for them. Their fear blinded them.
We are like them. Our fear of the reaction of people around us prevents us from expressing the joy that being in Christ brings. We fear their rejection. We fear that they will throw us out of their lives. We fear that the cost will be too great for us to pay. But we are blinded to the cost of what they will have to pay if we do not tell. We are blind to the suffering that is waiting for them. We are blind to the power of God that is available to us so that we can be used of God to see lives changed. We are blind to the protection of God that will keep us even when we do have to pay the cost for him.
Unlike his parents, the formerly blind man had begun to see. He was no longer afraid. He wasn¡¦t living in the dark anymore. He boldly proclaimed Jesus even when He didn¡¦t know all the facts. He simply told what Jesus had done in His life and invited others to join him in the experience. That¡¦s what Jesus has called us to do too. When we allow fear to stop us, then we have put the blinders back on.
„X are more interested in ritualistic obedience than in a relationship with Jesus. (vs. 14,16,24-29)
One of the main reasons that the neighbors had come to the Pharisees for an explanation of what had happened was that Jesus had done this miracle on the Sabbath. To do any work, including doing a miracle, making mud or traveling the distance necessary to wash in the pool of Siloam was forbidden. The religious leaders had gone so far as to put a limit on how far you could walk on the Sabbath day without it being considered work. In another miracle that Jesus did, he healed a woman who was sitting in the congregation at a synagogue on the Sabbath. The ruler of the synagogue was so angry that he said these words: ¡§There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.¡¨ (Luke 13:14)
„X are so entrenched in their own ideas that they aren¡¦t willing to consider new evidence. (vs. 30-34)
- reaction of the Pharisees to the raising of Lazarus (John 11)
- when evidence doesn¡¦t fit with your own ideas or the way that you want to live your life, you get rid of the evidence ¡V you try to shut it up
- the blind man was thrown out of the synagogue. They figured that that way, they would be justified in not listening to this man anymore.
- Some of you come here, and you listen to the truth that I present to you. You might laugh at the jokes, cry at the stories, you might even agree with the logic of the arguments that I make when I present God¡¦s truth to you.
- But when it comes to changing the way you believe about life, changing your actions, or changing the direction that your life is going, you refuse. You see the evidence, you see the truth, but you¡¦re not willing to allow what you see to change how you see your own life. So rather than being changed, you ignore those pieces of light that you don¡¦t want to see. It¡¦s just like pulling the shade down in the morning because you don¡¦t want to see the first lights of dawn that let you know that it is time to get up. You shut the light out because it makes you uncomfortable. It makes you squirm.
- Do you know the reason that these Pharisees reacted to the blind man the way they did and why they had so much problem with Jesus that they soon crucified Him? The answer is found just a few chapters back in the book of John. Look at it with me ¡V John 3:19-21. They didn¡¦t like the Light because the Light was exposing that what they were doing was wrong. If they were going to accept the Light, that meant that they were going to have to change their beliefs and their actions. And they were unwilling to do that.
- Are you?
„X are searching for answers and don¡¦t realize that the answer they¡¦ve been searching for is right in front of them. (vs. 35-38)
What seems amazing to me about this whole event in the life of the blind man is that the miracle occurred in his life before he ever knew who Jesus was. Prior to the events of vs. 35, all that he knew was that a man who had put mud on his eyes, told him to go and wash in the pool, and now, he could see. Finally, here, he realizes who Jesus is. And look at how he responds when he realizes who Jesus is. [read vs. 38] Jesus had been working in this man¡¦s life for a long time without the man even realizing it. Even before he was born, God had a plan for him. God had been working. And throughout his life, God had been working ¡V placing people in his life who could teach him the truths of God¡¦s Word, putting him in a place just outside the temple where he could hear the spiritual discussions of the people and wonder at their worship. And He waited until this point in the man¡¦s life to bring all that working to the climactic moment of a miracle.
¡§It is possible to be touched by God and not know Him. It goes on everyday, and everywhere¡KThe fortunate [people] are the ones who [in response to the working of God in their lives choose to] seek Him out, to find out more about Him...to get to know Him...and the power of His resurrection.¡¨ ¡V sermon by Clark Tanner God is working in each of your lives. You may not recognize it as His working. It may just seem like the ordinary birth of a child or an insignificant change in jobs, a Sunday morning among many Sunday mornings or just another sunrise. But each of those of events is an evidence that God is working in you to open your eyes to His love toward you and your responsibility toward Him.
People are looking for answers, but they¡¦re looking in all the wrong places. They¡¦re looking for their answers in their jobs, their relationships, their possessions or worst of all, in themselves. People are looking for answers, and the Answer is looking for them. Did you notice that it was Jesus who found this man not the man that found Jesus (vs. 35)? The answer is staring them right in the face, and they don¡¦t even realize it. Every weekend, people pass by this church and many other churches headed to the lake to find their answer for peace and relaxation. They head to the job on Monday morning to find their answer for fulfillment. And at some point in the week, they will head to a place of a escape like the bar or the sports activity where they will not be forced to face all the guilt and anxiety within them.
Right now, the answer is staring you in the face. The answer is God and the truth that He presents to you in His Word. Right now, He may be using pain to open your eyes to the fact that He is the answer to the deepest needs of your heart. How intense is the pain going to have to get before you will respond to what God wants you to see?
„X are more interested in justifying themselves than in worshipping Jesus. (vs. 39-41)
- two different groups of people had two different reactions when they looked upon Jesus, the Light of the world. One responded to Jesus by trying to justify themselves and pretend that they were okay. I run into that a lot. People who say, ¡§Well, I think I¡¦m a pretty good person, good enough that God will let me into heaven. After all, I haven¡¦t murdered anyone.¡¨ These Pharisees thought that they were pretty good people too, but Jesus called them blind. They could not see that their goodness was not what God required. God required forgiveness that could only be accomplished through faith in Jesus. They tried to justify themselves rather than accept the healing that He offered.
- The formerly blind man responded in a totally different way. When He realized who Jesus was, the Bible records that he worshipped Jesus. He didn¡¦t accuse Jesus of giving Him this blindness unjustly. He didn¡¦t thank Jesus for taking the blindness away. He worshipped Jesus. Do you know what worship is? It is humbly bowing at the feet of Jesus as you say, Jesus whatever you want to do in my life, you have my permission. Be it pleasant or painful, I will accept it from your hand. I am your servant. Do you know where worship comes from? It comes from an eye-opening event in our lives when we finally understand that He is God, and we are but men. Maybe today could be that kind of event for you.
CONCLUSION
Every Sunday morning, we come here to worship. Much of the worship that we do is through songs. You may not be aware of the fact that many of the songs that we sing on Sunday mornings were written by a blind woman by the name of Fanny Crosby. When only 6 weeks old, she caught a terrible cold. Her tiny eyes became red and infected. A man who said he was a doctor treated the baby. Within days, Fanny was permanently blind, and the man who lied about being a doctor suddenly left town. Fanny grew up, and though she could not see with her eyes, by faith, she learned to see with her heart. And she wrote over 8500 hymns one of which is ¡§To God be the glory.¡¨ Listen to the words:
To God be the glory, great things He hath done
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin
And opened the life-gate that all may go in!
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Let the people rejoice!
O, come to the Father through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!
Fanny could have been bitter about this pain that God allowed into her life. But instead, she didn¡¦t allow her blindness to stop her from seeing how much God loved her and how much she was a part of God¡¦s plan for fulfilling His mission on earth. Fanny¡¦s physical blindness prevented her from seeing the light of the sunrise, but because Fanny had spiritual sight, she could see the Light of Jesus¡¦ face. Which of these do you think was more important for her to be able to see?
INVITATION
I want everyone to bow your heads and close your eyes. In each of you right now, there are two forces that are working. Satan is trying to keep you blind. 2 Cor. 4:4 says, ¡§The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.¡¨ But on the other side, the Holy Spirit is working to cause you to see what God has done in you and what He wants still to do.
Most of you in this room have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior. You have had your eyes opened to the fact that you are a sinner, that Jesus died to pay for your sin, and that without accepting that payment, you would die and spend eternity in hell. You¡¦ve trusted your eternal soul to Jesus. But have you opened your eyes to the fact that you can trust Jesus with your everyday life? Have you trusted Him for today? Have you entrusted your finances to Him? Have you entrusted your job, your marriage and your kids to Him? Or are you still blind to the fact that He is the only one that can heal your pain in all those areas? In order to receive healing, you have to be obedient. Is it worth it to you?
In a moment, the music is going to begin to play, and I¡¦m going to give you an opportunity to get rid of your blindness and allow Jesus to do the seeing for you. Do you really want Him to? If He does, He might show you some sin that needs confessing or some bad choices that need correcting. You will have to be willing to be thankful for your situation and commit to following Him with all your heart even when the pain is still with you. If you want healing and are willing to be obedient, then when we begin to sing, you come and kneel at this altar and let the Lord remove the mud from your eyes and wash you so that you too can go home seeing.
For some of you, the spiritual blindness has not yet been removed. You are still blinded to the fact that you need Jesus as your savior. The job of the Holy Spirit is to convict of your sin, to cause you to see yourself the way God sees you. Satan wants to keep you blinded. He wants to keep you begging for scraps, when the Father wants to give you an abundant supply. If you want to come and meet the Light of the world, Jesus, then you come to me. I¡¦ll take God¡¦ Word, the lamp unto my feet, and the light unto my path, and I¡¦ll show you how Jesus can touch and change your life.
