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“Put Up Or Shut Up!" • 9.29.19
• Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- At first glance, the events of
chapter 9 seem to occur as chapter 8 is closing. There are clues
within the text that seem to indicate a passage of time, perhaps within a week.
- John arranges this material here
as a thematic conclusion to the claims that Jesus has made in chapter 8.
Let's glance over the chapter and remind ourselves of those specific claims.
• John 8:12 : "Then
Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life.'" : Jesus is
the "light of the cosmos!" All who follow Him have the light of His
life! Verse 15.
• John 8:15,16 : "You judge according to the
flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me." : The emphasis here is on the claim of
Jesus to have been sent by the Father from heaven. Many have gone from earth to
heaven, but only one has come from heaven to earth!
- Jesus repeats His position of
being "sent" in verse 26. Most astounding of course, was His
claim to exist before Abraham and in the process, taking the very Name of God!
• John 8:58 : "Jesus said to them, 'Most
assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.'" : Anyone can make claims about
themselves. John wants us to understand that Jesus backed those claims up with
actions, and he was there to witness it! Verse 1.
Text
• John 9:1,2 : "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man
who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked
Him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born
blind?'" : This is
the only person in the gospel records that is said to be "born" with
their malady. Jesus is looking intently, thoughtfully at Him and we are to do
the same.
- The word "blind" comes
from a word family which indicates a smoky condition, as in, to attempt to
navigate through a heavy blanket of smoke.
- This man has lived an entire life
without the faculty of sight. He doesn't have a frame of reference mentally to
even build an image library in his mind.
- His whole existence has been
limited to touch, sound and smell, which for people who are blind, become
amazing gifts!
- I once sang in a choir with a man
named Daniel Kish. He was a blind baritone who was known to use echolocation to
navigate through the hallways and streets surrounding Cal State SB.
- He would use his tongue to
"click" away and was very accurate with what he "saw."
- He could tell you what type of
car was in front of you or describe to you the type of area he was walking in
with excellent detail.
- There is no doubt that the man in
our study had also learned to use His faculties well.
- The Lord's attention on him made
His disciples curious about him. How did he become blind? Why was he in this
condition? In their minds, one of two things had taken place.
- Either the man's parents or the
child himself sinned in utero. To our minds, this conclusion is outrageous, yet
it represented contemporary theology.
- This is a deeply ingrained belief
that we considered in our study of the book of Job. Most people with a
theistic framework, naturally adhere to the "retribution principle."
- This simply states that God
repays a person for the way that they have acted. If you have done good, then
God repays you with good. Alternately, doing evil, brings evil your way.
- One could see the law of sowing
and reaping on the parts of irresponsible parents. Parents who have neglected
their pregnancies or have abused themselves during pregnancy, create
difficulty.
- However, that doesn't explain
every situation. There are just as many parents who did everything by the book
and still gave birth to developmentally challenged or disadvantaged children.
- The retribution principle doesn't
explain birth defects when parents have done what is right.
- When blame couldn't be assigned
there, the Rabbis of the Lord's time turned to the child themselves! "If
the parents didn't sin, then it HAD to be the child!"
- Where would they get such a
notion? They built their case upon verses like Psalm 51:5, where David
said that he was brought forth in iniquity and conceived in sin.
- They mused about Rebekah's
travail when "two nations," Jacob and Esau, struggled in her womb. (Genesis
25:22) In their mind, this was nothing less than sin!
- This was the prevailing thought
of the ancient world, as well as the teaching of current Rabbis. What was the
Lord's answer? Verse 3.
• John 9:3-5 : "Jesus
answered, 'Neither
this man nor his parents sinned, but that
the works of God should be revealed in him. I must
work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'" : The disciples had asked out of an
assumption. Jesus answers from knowledge! This wasn't the result of anyone's
sin.
- I love that Jesus speaks
authoritatively on this family's condition. He knew their circumstance. He was
aware of what they had gone through and knew why they had gone through it.
- These people were not sinless,
but neither party could be blamed for the outcome. This verse ministers
wonderfully to those who might feel regret for the way their children have been
birthed.
- The Lord God sees every
conception and gives to every life, a purpose for His own work to shine
through!
- This is why abortion remains a
human evil. Any murder of any baby is refusal to see God's glory manifested,
even through difficult circumstances. It was true of this man and it is true of
others!
- How else do you explain the gifts
that are given to people in seemingly broken bodies? Where do they get their
joy and wisdom from?
- For those who are submitted to
God, there are wonderful works of God to be seen in those that suffer, though
it might take more than a casual glance to recognize it!
- In this case, there wasn't any
human blame to throw around. In fact, this man was born in this condition in
order to become a display of God's work! It was and was about to be unveiled in
Him!
- This man in front of Jesus was
about to be a life-size, 3-D rendering of the work of God for all to see! Jesus
was compelled on this day to work on this man's behalf.
- He had come to perform these
works and He looked to do them. Why? Because the day was giving way to night!
This was the moment that Christ could work!
- Ancient cities rose with the sun
and worked until it went down. The night was truly night and nobody could work
without the advantage of light.
- Jesus is referring to the
opportunity that He had, which was coming to an end. HIs "day" was
rapidly coming to a close. He is months away from His crucifixion and exodus
from this planet.
- In each life, there is a season
to work, an opportunity to do what God has set before us. Our disadvantage is
not knowing when the sun will set! We'd we wise to carefully consider that.
- The Apostle Paul might have been
thinking about this exact statement when he commanded the Ephesian believers to
walk in light.
• Ephesians 5:15-17 : "See then that you walk
circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days
are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." : Walk carefully and buy back the time,
the word expressing "opportunity," because of the bent of the day!
That is God's will for you!
- Jesus knew that this man was
living in darkness. While He was in the world, He would be the One to dispel
that darkness, to bring light to this man's eyes!
- The man has lived in a smoky
darkness from day one. Jesus is quite literally about to turn on the light! That
is what the Light of the World will do! This is the purpose.
- He will display this man before a
watching crowd who will have to determine the meaning.
- The idea will soon be that if He
can do this for a man physically, it will prove that He has the capacity to do
this for a man spiritually! Verse 6.
• John 9:6,7 : "When He
had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and
He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came
back seeing." :
This had to be interesting to watch. Jesus spit on the ground and made a dirt
mask!
- Can anyone here imagine the kind
of money that would generate today!? Talk about a divine facial product! Jesus
made this clay and smeared it over the man's eyes.
- Please think about what this
signifies, especially as it relates to the Lord's claims in chapter 8!
He is "I AM." He is the Creator God, who existed before Abraham and
the created order itself!
- Is it really surprising to you
that He would do this? Genesis 2:7 tells us that God created man out of
the "dust of the earth!"
- Interestingly, one commentator
mentioned that the Rabbis taught that saliva was the essence of a person's
life.
- In effect, when Jesus mixed the
dirt with His own saliva, it was akin to God breathing His own life into this
man's eyes, as He had done when He breathed life into His creation in Genesis
2:7!
- If another person had done this,
it would have simply been a mud mask that made a person dirty. Because God was
doing this for Him, it was an act of annointing!
- The word "annointing" refers
to consecration and speak of endowing a men with an ability or gifting. It
probably didn't feel much like a gift at the time!
- Think about this man for a moment
and what must have been going through His mind!
- It's possible that he heard the
conversation between the disciples and Jesus. He has no idea who these men are,
but for the first time in his life, he heard a man with a thoughtful
explanation.
- Can you imagine how frustrating
it would be to have to defend your parents or your pre-born self against the
world? Wasn't being blind enough?
- Then, to hear the thoughtful,
kind words of Jesus, affirming he and his family. That must have been
refreshing!
- When this man approached him, he
heard him say that he was the "light of the world." The next thing he
felt was a substance over his eyes. Did it tingle? Did it feel electric?
- I'll tell you this: It didn't do
anything initially because with the application came a command. Jesus told this
man to walk to the pool of Siloam. This isn't a suggestion.
- What is odd about it is that the
man was unable to see as he went. Depending on where they were, this could have
been quite a trek, perhaps as much as a mile and a half!
- If that were the case, his
navigation skills might have also been included in this miracle!
- Additionally, there were water
sources that were much more immediately available. Wouldn't any water do the
trick?
- The answer is that only one body
of water would be appropriate to His agenda!
- John lets us know that the Pool of
Siloam actually means "Sent!" The man was literally sent to
"sent" in order that he could be a living memorial to the One that
God sent into the world!
- What a loud and clear message for
the religious elite! Jesus had said that He was sent from the Father. Now, a
man will be able to see that has been touched by the One that was sent!
- For the man's part, he made it to
the pool and came back seeing! Consider what it would be like for a person who
had never seen anything to now see everything!!
- It must have been incredibly
overwhelming. We can't even begin to process what Jesus did for this person.
Interestingly, the difference between blindness and sight is the ability to process
light!
- What we perceive through our eyes
is actually light bouncing off of an object, through our corneas, which are the
windows of our body.
- That light goes then through our
pupils and iris, the darker center of our color identity. These two parts
govern how much light enters into the lens of our eye, which helps us to focus
an image.
- When the information travels past
all of this mechanism, it sends an image to the back of the eye, to our
retinas, which contain around 130,000,000 cell receptors.
- These cell receptors turn the
image into something that our brain can identify. It is actually our brain
which turns the upside down image right side up instantaneously!
- Jesus, with just a little saliva
and dirt, repaired each one of these systems and kickstarted this man's ability
to see! What a fantastic, miraculous intervention! Verse 8.
• John 9:8-12 : "Therefore the neighbors and those
who previously had seen that he was blind said, 'Is not this he who sat and
begged?' Some
said, 'This is he.' Others said, 'He is like him.' He said, 'I am he.' Therefore they said to him, 'How
were your eyes opened?' He answered and said, 'A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed
my eyes and said to me, ‘Go
to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I
received sight.' Then they said to him, 'Where is He?' He said, 'I do not know.'" : This man was gone for only a few
seconds and was nearly unrecognizable! The people closest to him were not sure
that it was him.
- There were some who were certain and others
who believed it to be a man just like him.
- This happened to a man physically in history.
His face was different now that his eyes were moving. He undoubtedly lost any
dour expression he had possessed before.
- He was able to acknowledge people, to show
excitement and wonder. His eyes were telling a much different story than his
face had been capable of telling before!
- This man's physical transformation carries a
spiritual correlation today! When Jesus turns on the lights, when He touches a
person, when they see for the first time, they can't help but change!
- Some will be nearly unrecognizable, even by
their closest family and the question for those that are watching will always
be the same: "How did this happen to you!?"
- They will want to know where you found your
peace. They will want to know where your joy has come from and why it is you no
longer act as you once did!
- You will have been changed from the inside
out and you will have had a platform from which to testify to the reality that
you have experienced.
- When this man's friends asked about that
reality, the formerly blind man answered, "A Man called Jesus" did
this for me! Take note of that distinction.
- The formerly blind man only knows that Jesus
was a Man. That's as much as he knows in this moment! I wonder how many believe
that they should keep from sharing until they know more.
- Let this man be your instructor and let his
example goad you in your practice! This man knows Jesus' Name. Start there!
"I am what I am because of Jesus!"
- He didn't think that he should wait for
further information. He could clearly say that Jesus was the source of His
healing! I hope you know and are able to proclaim that much!
- He is the source of your salvation, your joy,
your peace, and your wisdom! Your gifts, talents and abilities, all come from
His giving you the ability to comprehend and express them!
- I pray that He gets the credit in your life,
through your mouth, physically and digitally!
- We will never be able to answer the
"how" of our life, except by answering with the "who" of
our life! The only question that wasn't easy to answer was "where?"
Where had the Lord gone?
- He didn't stick around with a sign or lay out
a banner that said, "Blind Healing Conference!" The man did not know
where Jesus had gone, but he was happy He had been there!
Conclusion
- Anyone can claim to be the "Light of the
world," the Creator God and the Sent One. Jesus is the only One that
proved it!
- Today, He will open blind eyes spiritually
and create new pathways for them to relate to His spiritual world of reality.
- He is the One who was sent to die, to take on
our sin, that He might bring us to light and bring us home with Him!
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