BELIEVING IS SEEING
Part Two
Let’s go back to the story we looked at a couple of weeks ago. The story found in John 9 about the healing of the man who was born blind.
I want to look at the remaining verses of this chapter. It is a story of the
1. Resistance that this man met with the people that knew him.
2. Obstacles to faith that he overcame
3. Gradual insight and relationship that he gained as he learned more and more about Jesus.
The beginning of this story is about a man with a great need in his life.
He once was blind, but Jesus gave to him his eye-sight.
The end of this story takes place when the man finds himself at the feet of Jesus, and his spiritual eyes were opened. He whole life changed.
Telling this story would be much easier to tell if we knew his name. Perhaps his story will have meaning for us all.
See if you can relate to the blind man, his healing, and his growing relationship with Christ.
Text: John 9:8 thru 12
First of all, the man returns from washing his eyes in the Pools of Siloam but evidently he cannot find the One Who healed him. He is seen by his neighbors, but notice how they react:
"Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?"
They were reluctant to believe that this miracle has actually happened. Some say, "Hmmm, I’m not sure.
It may be him, but he looks different."
But the man said, "I am the man."
Question: Have you ever seen someone’s life change dramatically as a result of finding Christ?
It really is amazing how people will change when Jesus opens their eyes.
Things have to change in a believer:
1. They seem to be happier
2. They are more honest with themselves, and others
3. They don’t want to live like they used to live
4. I have seen their skin/complexion change almost to a glow
5. They give up old habits they may have had for years
6. They talk more about things that are positive, instead of complaining
7. And like the blind man in our story, they begin to look at things differently
I think this is why the blind man’s neighbors were so confused.
Some said, “This is the blind man.” And others said, “No. That’s not possible. There is no way…”
But the man, who was once blind, simply told everyone, “I am the man.”
It really is easy to see when some folks get born again. You really can see the difference with a true salvation.
After being blind all of his life, the man in our story is more than happy to tell others what has happened.
He is so relieved to finally have his sight. There is nothing anyone can say that will change his mind as to what the Man from Nazareth did.
Although the man has yet to physically see this Man from Nazareth, he knows that something miraculous has happened to him.
This is more than a healing…
Interesting isn’t it? What a close relationship we can have with Christ when He has finally opened our eyes?
It truly is an amazing miracle, isn’t it?
You and I were once like the blind man. We had no idea as to what life was really about. That is, until the day Jesus came and opened our eyes.
Personally, I can remember friends and relatives talking about how I changed. Some liked what happened to me. Some didn’t.
Some thought I had just had an emotional experience. They thought it would be a matter of time before I’d go back to the way I once was.
Like the blind man, I had always been that way.
They didn’t know me any other way.
But not anymore. Once I received my sight, my life would never be the same. And it was all because the Man from Nazareth came & opened my blind eyes.
Jesus came to me out of nowhere.
I wasn’t looking for Jesus and I certainly did not see Him coming.
I can understand exactly what went through the mind of this man.
His neighbors would not accept the fact that his eyes had been opened.
When Christ opens your eyes so that you can see Him clearly, others will notice the changes in your life.
That’s the way it is with healing and salvation. Or, the way it should be…
When Jesus opens your eyes there’s going to be some confrontations.
In you, and in the people know you.
People are going to want to know what happened to you.
The man that was blind wasn’t able to answer all of the questions that people asked him. All he knew - he once was blind but now could see.
When Jesus comes into our lives, we may not be able to answer all of the questions people ask us. We may not know that much about the Man from Nazareth that came to save us.
But we soon will know who Jesus is.
At first, we may only know the name of Jesus, but that will be all we will need to know. Jesus – the great Healer and the Forgiver of our sins.
The questions for you may be just like the questions asked of the man:
“Where’s this man that has healed you?”
His reply was only, “I don’t know…”
Your friends may become your worst critics. They may expect you to be a Bible Scholar after you get saved.
Salvation does not mean that you have all of the answers about God.
And then the Pharisees started asking him questions. All he knows is that this Man put a mudpack (made of saliva) on his eyes and sent him to the Pool of Siloam.
I love the simplicity of this man. He wasn’t going to complicate things.
You would think that the people would have been happy for the miracle healing that was so obvious.
But, instead, they only wanted to argue with him and try to convince him that Jesus was “not from God!”
Later – The Pharisees dragged the man’s father and mother into to be questioned about the healing.
The interrogations continue.
I have to wonder how many times his mother and father -
· Had to pity the birth defect of their son?
· Must have wished their son could see the sun rise in the morning?
· Grew weary with people staring at their son and blaming them for the blindness?
How foolish his parents were with what had happened? Instead of rejoicing with their son for his healing, they only became frightened of what people were saying.
There is another lesson for us to learn.
No matter how great of a miracle God may perform in our lives, there are people around us who may not understand what has happened.
These people may not ever –
· Accept Jesus as the Son of God, as the Lord and Master of their lives.
· Appreciate or understand our being touched by the Master’s hand.
They don’t want you to find Christ.
Many times, our friends won’t want us to change. Why is this?
This is because they will also have to decide for themselves Who Jesus is.
And whenever they do come to terms with Jesus being Who He says He is, they will also have to accept everything else about Him.
People resist the Truth about Jesus because they know their life will have to become accountable to everything about Jesus.
His commandments & His teachings.
When people see what God has done in your life, they will have to do one of two things:
1. Be resistant and reject your faith.
2. Be compelled to surrender their lives to Jesus unconditionally.
The blind man was coming out of the darkness he had lived in all of his life.
What a day of salvation!
But some of his neighbors would argue and resist the Truth, and (spiritually speaking) continue to be miserable living in their own darkness.
You say, “But, Pastor, his neighbors were not blind…they could see…”
Anyone who will try and argue Who Jesus is, is also living in darkness and needs to be healed of their blindness.
Consider this - The Pharisees made all kinds of accusations about Jesus.
They tried to defuse the miracle and confuse the people with deception.
Jesus ignored these. He isn’t too concerned about what the cold hearted & religious have to say.
Jesus is going to do whatever it takes for people to understand He is in control of everything.
Whether He performs a miracle with wine or with mud. It won’t matter. Regardless of what or how we think things should be done, He will open blind eyes.
Listen - As long as we are here on this earth Jesus will always be controversial and confrontational with those who are blind to the Truth.
The Bible tells us that He will often prick our hearts with who He is.
There will always be those who will reject Jesus. Their reasoning is foolish.
The fact of the matter is there really is not any good reason to reject the Savior of the world.
Anyone who will defy the Jesus as the Son of God is foolish and deceived.
While we wait for Jesus to take us to heaven, we will see and hear a lot of foolish things that don’t make sense.
Here is a good example - I read an article in the newspaper this past week that there are several states that have made it legal for pet owners to set up trust funds for their pets. In these states, you can include your pet in your will.
Actress Betty White (Golden Girls) has a will that includes all of her holdings (five million dollars) designated to her pets to be equally divided.
Without Christ -Anyone of us can be fooled by most anything.
With Christ - The more you know Him, the more you will understand everything you need to know.
Our story continues. The man is again questioned who he thinks Jesus is.
Evidently He has had time to identify Jesus more closely.
His reply is simple, “He is a prophet…”
With a genuine experience with Christ, there will naturally be a genuine spiritual growth.
This man may not have ever seen Jesus or know Who has healed him of his blindness, but his understanding is improving. This is making more and more sense to the man who can see.
When Jesus saves anyone, he always has spiritual growth planned for them.
At first, the man who was blind says Jesus is just a “Man”.
Later he sees Jesus as God’s Man, a gifted man with great understanding and supernatural powers.
As time goes by, this situation with the man and those around him becomes more intense. There are more and more people who want to ask him questions and cause him to doubt his healing experience.
This is so common with those who find Christ. Oftentimes, their family members will not give them support for the change in their life.
(You would think our families would be rejoicing with what has happened to us when Jesus opens our eyes.)
Sometimes family members are afraid of what people think, or what they will say about us.
If you are a new Christian, or if you have never had a genuine revelation Who Jesus is, then you need to. Until that happens, you are weak & fragile.
Without a supernatural touch from Christ, you will fall apart when faced with tough questions.
As an example, the parents of the man are questioned about what happened and they simply fall apart under the pressure.
And so would anyone else. You, me any one of us are unable to make a stand for Christ without having a genuine experience with Him.
Conclusion:
If we think that there will only be one test for us, we are wrong. Repeatedly, the man is questioned about how he was healed of his blindness.
Did you know that the devil wants to try and wear you down. He won’t come after you once and give up. You gotta’ know that there will always be more questions about our faith.
Throughout your life, you will have those who will challenge you about your experience with Christ.
And you will have one of two ways that you will respond:
1. You may wear down and be talked right out of what you once knew to be true.
2. Or, you may become stronger with what you learn about Jesus.
What we must remember is we don’t have to answer to anyone but Christ.
The man realized the simplicity of knowing Christ. He stated it very well,
“…one thing I know that though I was blind, now I see…”
Listen – No one on this Earth knows what Christ has done for you any better than you do. The question is,
DO YOU BELIEVE IT?
Notice how the man sums things up:
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."
