John 9:39-41
I Am Come For Judgment
Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church
July 24, 2005
Introduction
Have you ever heard the story about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson going on a camping trip? After a good meal, they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
“Watson, look up and tell me what you see.”
Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.”
“What does that tell you?”
Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Why, what does it tell you?”
Holmes said, “Watson you idiot, someone has stolen our tent!”(borrowed from Don Jaques in a sermon titled, “Who Is This Jesus?”)
Sometimes we are blind to what is right in front of our faces aren’t we? I remember as a kid hearing my dad say, “Kevin, if it had been a snake it’d have bit you.” I can’t imagine what it would be like to be blind. To not be able to see the face of my wife or kids; to be unable to read the books that I enjoy so much; to not be able to drive a car or to see the wonders of God’s creation. I can’t imagine not knowing the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, or the simple pleasure of watching a favorite television program. I can’t imagine living life completely in the dark, but there are so many who do.
However, for all the people in the world who live in a physical state of darkness, there are millions more who have something much worse than physical blindness. I’m talking about spiritual blindness: not knowing where your life is going; not knowing if you’re right with God; not knowing if you’re going to go to heaven when you die, and perhaps even worse is being so blind as not to care.
Remember that we are examining seven statements that Jesus made concerning the purpose of His coming. Although each statement is quite different in its wording, each really only gives us a different angle from which to view Christ’s work of redemption on Calvary. Each is like a photograph, taken from various angles. Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law; not destroy it. He said that He came to call sinners to repentance; that He came to bring a sword, and that He came to seek and to save sinners. It is amazing how the people who were following Him and those who were opposing Him all had so many deeply held misconceptions about who and what He was! Yet Jesus wanted them to understand perfectly what His coming was really all about.
God created you for a personal relationship with Him. He created you to enjoy fellowship with Him, but your sin stands in the way. Jesus came to do something about your sin, and so He says in John 9:39,
“For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We wee; therefore your sin remaineth.”
Why did Jesus come, and what does this have to do with redemption? What does any of it have to do with you, and what does God want you to do with it? I believe the answer to that question is really very simple. It will not be necessary to give you three points and a poem, for there is really only one response.
Seeing You Must Chose Sight
There is no question that Jesus wants those who are blind to see. In fact He said, “I am come into this world, that they which see not might see.” It must have broken Jesus’ heart to see the blindness of the people. Over and over He would make statements about the lost like, “seeing see not…” On one occasion after feeding the five thousand, the disciples were being particularly slow in learning something Jesus was trying to teach them, so He said to them as believers, “Having eyes, see ye not?”
In John 9, you may remember that Jesus and the disciples had been traveling along when they encountered a man who was blind from birth. Jesus healed that man of his physical blindness, but since it was on the Sabbath the Pharisees demanded to know who had done this thing and sinned against God. How could Jesus profess to be a man of God when He insisted on being so sinful and rebellious? Was He a prophet or not? After hearing all of this for a while, the man who had been healed said to them, “I don’t know if he’s a prophet or not; but I do know this: I was blind this morning, and now I can see!”
The story goes on so that the man is cast out of the synagogue. While the religious leaders of the day were debating over what kind of man Jesus was, the healed man testified to the power and the goodness of Christ. Verse 35 says that…
“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? 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.”
Now, there’s something important you need to come to terms with here. Jesus opened that man’s eyes twice that day: both his physical and his spiritual eyes, but that man had to make the choice to see. Jesus opened his physical eyes in verse 6, but the man had to want to do something with that by going to the pool of Siloam and wash. Jesus opened his spiritual eyes: his spiritual understanding as well, and that man could have turned and walked away that day, but seeing the truth He chose to see.
Look at what the Pharisees asked Jesus in verse 40, “Are we blind also?” They are looking at him standing there in plain sight. “Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind (that is, if you could not see and were aware of your darkness and anxious to be rid of it), you should have no sin.” In other words, Jesus says, “We could do something about it.” However, they claimed they could see perfectly well. They declared by their words and actions that they were satisfied with their condition, and since they were content to remain in that condition they would remain in their sins. Nothing could be done for them.
When Jesus comes along and says that “for judgment I am come into the world, that those that see not might see; and those that see might be made blind,” He is saying that He has given every one of us sight, but it’s our choice whether we see or not. You see, every time you hear the Word of God; every time you read your Bible; every time the Holy Spirit speaks some truth to your heart, God is working to open your eyes of understanding, but it is up to you to see.
God opens your eyes to the reality that you need a relationship with Him. He opens your eyes to the truth that you were born into this life in sin, separated from God by that sin. He opens your eyes to the fact that we all have sinned, but that He demonstrated His love toward us: toward you, in that while you were a sinner Christ died for you. You see, the wages of your sin is death, eternal separation from God, but the Bible says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, the Spirit says to you today that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” But seeing all of that you must chose sight.
It is not just the lost who need to choose sight. Jesus marveled at the spiritual blindness that existed among His closest followers. They were with Him every day, but they couldn’t see the things He tried to teach them. I really believe that in the days and weeks ahead as we prepare for our own revival meeting God is going to be at work opening your eyes to your own spiritual blindness. These were fine religious folk who couldn’t see, and you may be some of them as well. You may be blind to your own lack of love for God. You may be blind to some sin in your life. You may be blind to the fact that you’re not as spiritually sensitive as God wants you to be, and as God opens your eyes, you must choose sight.
Put another way, you must choose to step into the light. Jesus said, “For judgment I am come into this world.” “For judgment?” Did Jesus come to judge the world? In John 12:47, He said,
“And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”
I believe this is one of the most fascinating truths about Jesus in all the gospels. Look with me at John 3:17. You know verse 16, so let’s begin reading in verse 17.
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world (condemn and judgment are the same word); but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
Look at that again. God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, that is, God did not send Jesus to judge the world. There is a judgment taking place, and it is taking place even as I speak in your heart and mind, but Jesus didn’t come to judge or to condemn. Notice verse 19. Is Jesus the condemnation? Is Jesus the judge? Jesus came as a light into the world, but the judge or the basis of your judgment is your personal choice. You see, the light came: Jesus came, but condemnation took place when sinful man chose darkness rather than the light.
Go back to John 12:44. Jesus said,
“He that believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
How will that word judge you? It will judge you according to the decision you make either to step into the light or to remain in the darkness: in that spiritual blindness from which Christ came to set you free. So the question today is this: will you step into the light? Seeing, will you choose sight?
God will not force you to see what you do not want to see. He will not impose vision upon you who are content to remain in the dark, but know this: that if you should choose darkness when once God’s light has been revealed to you, you stand condemned already. If you should choose not to see the truth that has been revealed to you, that truth judges you as guilty. There are none so blind as the spiritually blind. There are none so blind as those who do not want to see.
Jesus says today, “I came to declare the condition of men; to show you both your duty and your danger. Some of you will be saved; others of you will be more deeply condemned. Some of you who are already saved will experience me at deeper levels than you ever dreamed; others of you will only be ashamed at my next coming.” The choice is yours.
Conclusion
Listen to me: with a kind of sad humor in this passage Jesus points out how those who will easily admit their blindness can be healed of it, but how those who presume to have some superior knowledge and are obstinate in their blindness will only grow cold. The blind man now saw, because he knew he was blind and used the means Jesus told him to use: the Pharisees were stone-blind to the world Jesus opened to them, because they thought that they already knew much more than He did.
Today Christ offers sight to you. He wants to fill up empty eyes that have no vision. He wants to give sight to those who cannot see. Do not sit in your pew today and tell God that you already have sight and there is nothing left to see – you only reveal how blind you are. In this life you will never come to see the fullness of Christ – you will always have blind spots that Christ wants to reveal to you. You may have been saved for years and years, but you too can allow your heart to be softened and your eyes to be opened.
Notice what happens in your life when you begin to see Jesus for who He really is. Verse 38 says, “And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.” That word worshipped means that this man fell down on the ground prostrate at the feet of Jesus. He humbled himself before Him who is worthy and worshipped. He didn’t stand there arguing with Jesus over his supposed goodness or worthiness, but he got on his hands and knees and worshipped.
Would you join him today? The Pharisees should have been on the ground with that man long ago, but they couldn’t bring themselves to do it. They chose that day to remain in the dark; they chose to close their eyes to what they had been shown, but you don’t have to make that same mistake. You can choose Christ today.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” You come today and step into the light.
