Freedom from Spiritual Blindness | John 9

What does spiritual blindness look like, and how can Jesus help us see clearly? Teaching from John 9, Pastor Chris Teien looks at the man born blind, his remarkable healing, and the religious leaders who refused to recognize what God was doing.

The man received physical sight, but the chapter also reveals a much deeper issue. Some people who believed they could see spiritually were actually blind to the truth about Jesus. This message challenges us to examine our own condition, respond to Christ, recognize His transforming work, and boldly tell others what He has done.

IN THIS MESSAGE

1: JESUS SEES YOUR CONDITION

The disciples assumed the man’s blindness must have been caused by someone’s sin, but Jesus rejected that conclusion. Instead, He said the man’s life would become an opportunity for God’s work to be displayed. Jesus also saw the spiritual condition of the Pharisees, who believed they could see while remaining blind to who He really was. (John 9:1–5, 35–41)

2: FOLLOW JESUS’ INSTRUCTIONS

Jesus made mud, placed it on the man’s eyes, and told him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. The man followed Jesus’ instructions and came back seeing. In the same way, Jesus calls us to believe, repent, follow Him, and respond to what He says rather than merely knowing about Him. (John 9:6–7; John 3:16, 36; Mark 1:14–15)

3: EVALUATE YOUR TRANSFORMATION

The man’s neighbors could hardly believe he was the same person because his life had changed so dramatically. Christians should also be able to look back and recognize the transforming work of Christ. Ask yourself when you came to faith, how Jesus has changed you, and whether you are continuing to grow spiritually. (John 9:8–15; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

4: TELL HOW JESUS HAS WORKED

The healed man did not have every theological answer, but he knew what Jesus had done for him. When questioned repeatedly, he kept telling the story. Your testimony can also point people toward Christ. Be prepared to explain how you came to faith and how Jesus has changed your life. (John 9:16–27)

5: COMMIT TO BE BOLD WHEN OTHERS MISUNDERSTAND

The religious leaders insulted the man and eventually threw him out of the synagogue because he would not deny what Jesus had done. He continued speaking boldly even when it cost him. Following Jesus may bring misunderstanding or rejection, but we are called to remain faithful and point others toward Christ. (John 9:28–34; Luke 6:22)

BE ENCOURAGED

Spiritual blindness is especially dangerous when we do not realize we have it. Ask God to help you see clearly through His Word, respond when He shows you something that needs to change, and remember how Christ has transformed your life. Then be willing to tell others what Jesus has done for you, even when they do not understand.

Helping you understand and apply God’s Word. Find more ways to listen and connect, plus links to sermon transcripts at Well.faith. Learn more at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.church. Questions or feedback? Email wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

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Chris T 0:16

You can turn to John chapter 9. If you turn to John chapter 9 in the Q Bible, it's page 758. And so I wasn't sure how long that I would get. So I could have a really long message in case he didn't show up, in case Jim Jim didn't show up, or a short one in case uh he went longer than we thought. But spiritual blindness, spiritual blindness, freedom from spiritual blindness. I think that one of the problems that our country has right now is that they are spiritually blind, that they do not understand the things of the gospel, the things of Christ. That is the reason why so many things are so backwards now. They've kicked God out of the schools, they've kicked God out of the universities. They're doing everything they can to be like the Pharisees in John chapter 9 and kick the Lord out. And it's because they are spiritually blind. So in John chapter 9, Jesus heals a blind man, both physically and spiritually, and the Pharisees are very upset about it because Jesus did it on the Sabbath. So Jesus didn't just say, blind man be healed. Jesus actually, I think, tried to tick the uh Pharisees off by making mud and putting it on the man's eyes, which was considered work. And then the man had to go wash it off in the pool of Siloam. And so that was considered work. And so instead of being happy that this blind beggar guy that uh had spent his whole life being blind, instead of being happy about that, um, the Pharisees were all upset and said, This obviously can't be the Messiah. He can't be from God because he did it on the Sabbath, and we all know that God would never do that on the Sabbath, which is like totally backwards. God can do anything he wants. We often want to put God in a box and say what he can and can't do. And I talked about the Holy Spirit last week, but we need to be open to the things that God is going to do in someone's life. And if he chooses to do it when it's not according to our time frame, that is okay. So in John chapter 8, which I'm skipping over right now, I'll get to next week. Um, in John chapter 8, though, Jesus said that he is the light of the world, the light that brings uh light to the darkness to help overcome spiritual blindness. So I'm going to read from the text and not have it on the screen, though it is helpful often when it is on the screen. And I know that you have many different ways that you read your Bibles. So I have many paper Bibles, I have many digital Bibles. So I have the Gideon Bible app and the Canadian version, the New Life app. I've got the U Version Bible. Um, I have four screens at my home office for doing Bible study in front of me for my computer Bible software, and we are just so blessed in every way. Um I have audio Bibles, so I can go to the UVersion Bible and press a button, and it will read to me in many different languages and many different translations. There's no excuse for you not to be in the Bible, but I'm going to read what's in the text. The Bible that you have in front of you is actually the NIV 1984, which is no longer in print, but um it was it was a good version. I wish that they were still printing it. But nonetheless, in John chapter 9, verse 1, it says, as Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind. Jesus says, Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. A whole message could be done on that verse to talk about when people go through hard things, when people are born with birth defects, when people go through difficult times. Is it a result of someone's sin? Did their parents sin? Did they sin? Sometimes we are victims of our sin. We do something that's wrong and it leaves us permanently uh injured or whatever. But Jesus is like, no, no, this guy, it wasn't his parents who sinned. Um, God has a plan for this blind man's life. God has a plan that this blind man is going to glorify God, and boy, does he ever in this passage. So it's estimated, I'm not sure what year this was, but approximately 10 million people in the U.S. and upwards of 30 million people worldwide are actually blind, like they can't see anything, total darkness. Uh globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. And the thing goes on to say that um only 36% of people in the world have been able to get that corrected so that they can see. And so it is a great thing when you can see. The Pharisees, when we read here, uh they didn't realize they were blind, they didn't realize they couldn't see. So I didn't wear glasses, I didn't get out to get my eyes checked very much when I was a teenager, but when I was like 19 or so, I was working at an optical company and we got great vision benefits. So I went to get my eyes checked, and I got my first pair of glasses, and I could see like I never could see before. I didn't realize that you could see individual leaves in the trees. And so I was working in this large optical lab area, a big warehouse area, and I looked across and I'm like, oh my goodness, I can even see Janet's gray hair. And that was the wrong thing to say. Boy, did that make her mad. The next day she came in with her hair all dyed. I didn't know what I had set off. I was just thinking out loud and uh very offensive. And I think that sometimes when you and I uh receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and those the veil over our eyes comes off, and we can see uh the spiritual things of God that uh sometimes we say things that make people who are still blind or don't want their sin exposed very upset. So, anyway, Jesus sees your condition. He saw this blind man's condition, he chose to help heal this blind man. So um so that's the front end of this, John chapter 9. Now, if you were to go to the back end of this book end, uh also Jesus sees your condition. He sees the condition of the Pharisees, of the spiritually blind. So verse 35, chapter John chapter 9, verse 35. Okay, so this blind man, uh, if we have a minute, maybe I'll I'll fill in the blanks in between some things we can learn about when people turn against us for following Jesus. But so this blind man, um, he gets accused, the Pharisees are mad at him, they come after his parents, the parents are afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue. Uh they they're they kick the blind man out of the synagogue. You know, would you like to be kicked out of the church, the only church, your church? Um so anyway, it's just a big mess. So this is where we end up in verse 35. Jesus had heard that they had thrown the blind man out, and when he found him, he said to this blind man, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? Who is he, sir? The man asked. Tell me, so that I may believe in him. And Jesus said, You have now seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you. And the man said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped. This man instantly recognized Jesus, probably by his voice, probably because he remembers what he heard. So I got to live in the South for a bit. Um, so for about a year I lived in Tennessee and South Carolina, and I got to, like you said, speak the dialect. So no one would buy anything from me because I was a Yankee. So I was like, all y'all doomed today was a lock, trying to coat. And then I kind of fit in. When I lived there, it was better. But on campus, uh in my dorm area was a blind guy, Ron. But Ron was absolutely amazing because he was blind. I think he was blind from birth. But he would walk around this campus, it was in downtown Chattanooga, uh, with his cane, but he would just walk along. And one day we were watching him, and so the car had like stalled and was across the sidewalk, and we were like, we couldn't cry, cry out, tell him to stop. We were afraid he was gonna hit a car, that he was gonna walk into this car, and he just kept walking, and then he stops and he walked around it. And so I asked him later, I'm like, Ron, how did you do that? He said, I could hear the footsteps bouncing off of the car. I knew that it was there. And he knew his way, he was blind, but he knew his way around campus. Um, he had a roommate that was a practical joker and mean who would rearrange the furniture on him sometimes. But uh that's just not nice. But uh, you know what is nice though? So that's just a random Gideon thought that I was gonna say. So uh totally off track, but it's appropriate. If you are in a hotel or motel and you open that drawer and you find that Gideon Bible in there, hopefully you will. Sometimes now there's also uh a Mormon book. But anyway, if you find that Gideon Bible in there, if you could take it out, put it on the bed, open it to John 3.16. I think you're allowed to even write it in and highlight it if you want. Put some money in there as a tip for whoever's cleaning that room. She'll take the money, or he'll he or she will take the money. They'll probably see the highlighted verse, and maybe it will be a spiritual moment. Either way, she's obligated or he's obligated to pick that, put that book back in the drawer. Maybe, maybe it will be a divine thing. Either way, it's a classy thing to do. So, also if you're going out to lunch afterwards and you leave uh a Bible tract, leave a Bible tract and a big tip. Don't just leave a Bible tract for the tip. That's actually not from the Gideons, that's from all the waitresses and waiters that have to work today. But all right, so Jesus sees the spiritual condition. So, and then um verse 39, Jesus says, For judgment, I have come into this world so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind. And some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, What? Are we blind to? And Jesus said, If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. So Jesus, the Pharisees are like, Who is this guy? What is he saying? I don't get it. And actually, in John, in the beginning of John, we saw that Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but his light, his giving light, um does reveal where people are at. Jesus could see uh the heart of man and women and women to know who is truly in Christ, who can truly see, who can't. And so many people around us think they are self-righteous, that they are they're good moral people, that they don't need uh the Lord, or they take God uh and they make him into what they want him to be. They make him a God of love, who loves everything, who accepts everything, and that doesn't have any moral boundaries or standards. Um, it is um not good to make God into your own uh creation, but instead, as the creation, you should seek to find out who God really is, and you do that by spending time in Scripture. And so in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3, uh Paul writes, If the good news we preach is hidden beyond a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the God of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the good news, they don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. So, spiritual blindness. Uh, God questions is a great way to get resources quickly. If you're looking for uh, you know, answers for a spiritual question or whatever, you can go to gotquestions.org and type in. I typed in spiritual blindness and it gave these highlights. It said, to be spiritually blind is to not see Christ, and to not see Christ is to not see God. Spiritual blindness is a grievous condition experienced by those who do not believe in God, Jesus Christ and His Word. Being spiritually blind, they are perishing. They choose not to accept the teachings of Christ and authority in their lives. They are blind to the manifestations of God as revealed throughout his word in Jesus Christ. They are described as those who do not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are a folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. So because of their blindness and rejection of God and his word, they are in a perilous, unsaved condition. The spiritually blind are simply unable to understand God's word. The cause of spiritual blindness is made quite clear in the scriptures. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Without God and left to ourselves, we easily succumb to the devil's schemes. We can become so mired in the affairs of this world and its moral darkness that in the end God turns us over to spiritual blindness and eternal condemnation. As believers, we have the Spirit of God reigning in our lives to ward off the debilitating effect of Satan's power and the world's influence. As believers, we can overcome the evil one and remain in the light and never become spiritually blind. So we need to follow after the Christ. He knows, follow after Christ. We know, he knows our condition. So I should have actually been on that slide here. So and we need to follow Jesus' instructions. Follow Jesus' instructions. So for the blind man, having Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, put it on the man's eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. So he had to take an action, he had to do something, and we need to do something to follow after Christ. When the man went and washed, he came back seeing he was healed. If he had said, Well, I'm not going to go uh follow that up, or I have my own, I've got my own bottle of water here. I don't need to go to the, it was like a tunnel uh into the city, the pool of Saloum. Um, but he did. He followed through, he did what he was told, and he was healed. In John 3.16, we're told that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. We must believe. And again, uh John 3.36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. You know, Jesus' first sermon was on repentance. So Mark 1.14. Uh after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee where he preached the good news. God's good news, the time promised by God has come at last. Jesus announced, the kingdom of God is near. Repent for your sins and believe the good news, to realize that you're heading in the wrong direction and to want to go the other way, to want to turn from sin and run to God and to follow him. Instructions for Jesus, he would uh want us to follow him. Matthew 16, 24. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. So, and many other verses, but to turn from sin and to turn to God, to spend our lives following after Jesus. And so then, number three, evaluate your transformation. Evaluate your transformation. Look back on your life right now and ask, are you truly a child of God? When did you become able to see? When were you cured of spiritual blindness? Are you cured of spiritual blindness? Is Jesus Christ in your life? Does the Spirit testify that you're truly a child of God? So evaluate your transformation. And John chapter 9, verses 8 through 15. Uh the neighbors are like, um, so the neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging said, Isn't this the same one who used to sit and beg? Some claim that he was, and others said, No, he only looks like him. But he himself insisted, I am the man. How are your eyes opened? They demanded, and he replied, The man they called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes, and he told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see. And they're like, Where is this man? And the blind man says, I don't know. Evaluate your transformation, be able to tell people how you came to Christ. Thank the Lord for putting those people in your life. Maybe it was a Gideon Bible, maybe it was somebody that you met uh on a train, on a plane, on a business trip, uh, on a vacation, uh, some relative. Maybe somebody started telling you about Jesus and planted a seed. Maybe you saw something on TV, maybe you, like my wife, received Jesus Christ watching a Billy Graham crusade on TV. Um, evaluate your transformation. Look back and see how much you have changed, see how much you have changed and tell other people that to honor and glorify the Lord with knowing how you've changed. So, verse 13, they brought the Pharisees, the man who had been blind. And so the day that Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was the Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. And the guy said, He put mud on my eyes. And then the Pharisees, Got Him, got him, he put mud on his eyes. That is so wrong. Number four, tell how Jesus has worked. Tell how Jesus has worked. Verse 16. Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others asked, How can a sinner do such miraculous signs? So they were divided. And finally they turned against. They turned again to the blind man. What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened, and the man replied, He is a prophet. Verse 18, but the Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents. Is this your son? They asked. Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it now that he can see? We know he is our son, the parents answered, and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now? Who opened his eyes? We don't know. Ask him. He is of age, he will speak for himself. Those parents were terrified of those religious leaders, of those Pharisees. Verse 22, his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For they already, already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, He is of age, ask him. A second time they summoned the man who had been blind, give glory to God, they said. We know this man is a sinner. And the blind man replied, Whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. Then they asked him, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? And he answered, I have told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciple too? I just love the boldness of this guy who was the blind beggar, and now all of a sudden he's like Jesus' biggest fan. You know, I just know it's the Holy Spirit who's like giving him confidence to say the right thing. He's like, I don't care what you do to me, I can see. And I love the guy who helped me to see. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, the new is come. Number five, my last point: commit to be bold when others misunderstand. Commit to be bold when others misunderstand. You will be misunderstood. People will talk against you. You might lose a promotion, you might lose an opportunity. Um I believe there's more and more religious persecution coming. And the way to push back is to stand boldly for Jesus, to be busy doing right and telling of Jesus' righteousness. But verse 28, then they hurled insults. The Pharisees hurled insult at the blind man and said, You are this fellow's disciple. We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from. And the man answered, Now that is remarkable. You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God did not listen to sinners, he listens to the godly man who does his will. Verse 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. To this the Pharisees replied, You were steeped in sin and birth. How dare you lecture us? And they threw him out of the synagogue. Luke 6 22 says, What blessing await what blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. Son of Man, because you follow Jesus. So there are barriers to people coming to Christ. So one, people fear man or fear of God, uh, intellectual foolishness, immoral lifestyles, misconceptions of God in the Bible, bad experiences Christians, and spiritual blindness. And we have an opportunity to help lead other people to see Jesus. And as we are trying to connect with them, as we're trying to understand where they're coming from, as we realize that so many people around us have such bizarre ideas and bizarre thoughts that we must realize that they have a form of spiritual blindness. And as we seek to follow after the Lord, as we seek to do the things of God, help us to live such a way that uh we powerfully proclaim Christ and leave Bibles because Scripture will never return void. But in closing, the worship team can come up. But I read that the captain of the Titanic refused to believe the ship was in trouble till water was ankle deep in the mail room. Only then was it apparent to the multi layered hull had been pierced and the unsinkable ship was going to sink. Ships that could have arrived before the great ocean liner went down weren't summoned until it was too late. And Jesus could return at any time. Uh these spiritually blind people. People can get in an accident or die suddenly. Um, there are so many things that I would like to say next week. I'm gonna continue with uh being set free from uh breaking the chains of shame and regret. So, but uh there we have our regular offering in the bucket, that's for your regular offering. But Tim is gonna be back there with a Bible, I believe, and you'll be able to leave cash or a check or whatever for the Gideons. Um look for the Gideon, Tim, and Jim, and probably his brother too. And uh so I'm gonna pray, and then we are going to sing America to the beautiful Lord Jesus. Um thank you for your word. Thank you that we have it readily available in so many languages and so many sizes and versions and print. And thank you for the Gideons who distribute the Bibles around the world and put them in hotels and um in schools and in people's hands. We pray you'd bless them in their ministry. We pray you provide for them. Lord, we pray that we would seek after you, and that those uh who might hear this who are spiritually blind would call out to you and ask you to save them. Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner in need of salvation. Please forgive me of my sin and come into my life and help me to see clearly what it is that you want me to do and how I can follow you and live for you so I can live with you for all eternity. Save me in Jesus' name to pray something like that. And if so, let us know. We ask us all in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Lord, on this Independence Day, we pray for our nation, for wisdom and direction, for peace and protection, for liberty and justice, for strength and fortitude, for faith, hope, and love. We thank you for the freedoms given to us and for the beauty all around us. We believe you can unite what is divided among us and restore what is broken inside us. Because you are the God who sees, the God who loves, and the God who listens. And so on this independence day, we humble ourselves and we pray. God, we believe in you. We trust in you. And for all of this, we thank you.

Chris T 25:27

All right, it's a political year. I don't know if you watched parts of the debate, but they cause you to want to pray. So, um, you know, when we think about everything that's happened in the past for us to enjoy the freedoms that we have, uh, we owe a lot to those who serve in the military, uh, veterans, first responders, um, everybody, you know, that works together to make this a better place to live. Um, when we think about our church, we think about those who um have gone before us and they have sowed generously, and we're reaping the benefits of the church building that we have here. And um I went to a funeral at another church, uh, one of a pastor died, and so it was a full funeral, and so they had a parking problem. And I was just thinking about how blessed we are to have two parking lots and side street parking and just everything that went into uh thinking of you know this building here that's been here since the 70s. And you and I have an opportunity to invest in the kingdom of God by uh giving back to the church and uh as an act of worship, trusting that God will bless you and your finances, and that's a good thing. And to be involved, and in front of you is a connect card that you can just fill out, you know, like who you are and your email address. That would be you know simple or go online at rockwell.church forward slash connect and just share how we can contact you. But even better, uh tell us how we can help you connect, uh, how would you like to get involved, ways that we can um help you grow in Christ? Would you like to be baptized? Would you like um whatever there's a checklist on there? But you don't have to fill the whole thing out before you put it in the offering basket back there. You can just put your name and your email address. But anyway, back to prayer, back to prayer. So we pray every week. So I wrote some notes for a prayer for for right now. And so let's just pray. Lord Jesus, I thank you so much that we can gather together and worship you. I thank you for all of us who have experienced the transforming grace and redeeming love and um sanctification that comes from your spirit, the salvation that comes through the shedding of your cross, of blood on the cross, of just everything, uh, this renewal of life that we experience, uh, the ability to be empowered to serve you and to do your will, your way, to help lead lost people to Christ so that they can be saved and also experience you. Lord, we pray that we would once again be one nation under you, God. Lord, we pray you'd protect us from sinful pride and profiteering politicians. Lord, we pray that we would promote biblical values, that our country would. We pray that you'd protect us from our enemies and that you'd protect us from ourselves. We pray that you'd give us a president that will lead us rightly and righteously. Lord, push us back to a reliance on you and prohibit those who want to push God out of classrooms, colleges, and corporations. Help us to be able to afford healthy families and great generosity. Lord, make it possible again for a mom to be able to stay home with her kids if she so chooses, and Lord, that families wouldn't have to be fractured by the need to have multiple jobs just to pay for uh the rent or the mortgage and the food. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be healthy and spiritually healthy. Lord, we pray for the people listed in the bulletins that are shut in and sick, that you would comfort them, help them, and give them peace. Lord, help us to know how we can connect with them. We pray for the future of our church and we pray for the people here. Lord, we know that there are many needs, and we pray you'd bring friends to those who are lonely, that you would bring uh jobs or better jobs to those who are unemployed or underemployed. Lord, we pray that you would bless those who are sacrificing to give back to you through their offerings. Lord, we pray that we would be quick to tell other people about our love for you and our commitment to follow after you, and I think that's a good idea.