Speaker 1: 0:02

In the end of the 16th century, close to the 17th century, there was one of the greatest plays stories was ever written, perhaps by one of the greatest playwrights of all time, william Shakespeare. Now, you may or may not be familiar with William Shakespeare. I know that even though I grew up performing in plays and doing theater. I only did one or two things by William Shakespeare and I know oftentimes they can be confusing. But in this particular play called Hamlet, hamlet, the main character, gives this what's called a soliloquy. A soliloquy is where a character is in the middle of a particular moment and they want to share their thoughts, the processes of their thoughts, out loud, to be able to try to help walk the audience through what the character may be thinking or not thinking. So in this particular soliloquy by Hamlet is one of the most memorable lines, one of the most familiar lines that we know and probably you have even said today. He begins this soliloquy by saying to be or not to be? That is the question. Yes, and some of us had to memorize the whole thing in school, so you could probably go on with it. As he is thinking through his present circumstances in this life, he's actually in a painful, a miserable situation. He is considering how he has been unjustly treated and even someone close to him has been killed, and he is considering the question whether it is better for him to remain alive and to go through the pain and agony of life or for him to just end his own life and to take whatever the afterlife might confront him with. Well, in our passage today, we'll find ourselves along with those who are present in this story in John 9, we'll find ourselves considering our situation and pondering this dilemma To see or not to see? That's the question. To see or not to see? That is the question. At first you might think well, if we're coming and we're talking about to see the Lord, to see his work, to see what he's done, the decision is obvious. I mean, who would choose otherwise, who would want anything different? But then to see Jesus, to see all that he has done and to see his true words of life. But we find that this decision might require more from us than we are willing to admit.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Unlike Hamlet, the people in our story in John 9 that we might connect with are faced with a situation where they are confronted with a man this man named Jesus, who is changing lives from bad to good, and they have to decide for themselves. Is this for real? Is he, is Jesus for real? Is he who he claims to be, and how does this change what I currently believe and trust? So, as we look at this story today, we, along with all the other characters that we find in this particular story, have to ask the question to see or not to see? We have to ask ourselves is what is presented in front of us, is Jesus who he claims to be? Is this for real, or is it something that I choose to ignore, choose to turn away from? So, today, what I would like for us to think about is that. What I would like for us to see is this Jesus has come to bring us light, so come to see. Jesus has come to bring us light, so come to see. I could have said, come and see, and that would have sounded a lot like John 4, where the woman at the well goes back to her village after she has been shared about everything that she has done in her life and she invites everyone to come and see this one. But I want us to consider the one who says he is the light of the world. Jesus, will you come to see for yourself?

Speaker 1: 5:01

Let's read this passage in John 9. It's a long story. The good thing for us is it's a good story, it's a good narrative, it's actually engaging, it's somewhat humorous and it's somewhat eye-opening. So I'm going to read the whole chapter, john chapter 9, and then we are going to look at what God would have us to learn from this story today. So John nine, follow along as I read.

Speaker 1: 5:31

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth, and his disciples asked him, rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents? That he was born blind? This man or his parents that he was born blind? Jesus answered it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him. Who sent me? While it is day, night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva and he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent. And he went and washed and came back seeing the neighbors, and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying is not this the man who used to sit and beg? Some said it is he, others said no, but he looks like him. He kept saying I am the man. So they said to him how then were your eyes opened? He answered the man called Jesus made mud and he anointed my eyes and he said to me go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight. They said to him where is he? He said I do not know.

Speaker 1: 7:09

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. It was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them he put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see. Some of the Pharisees said this man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath. And others said how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them. So they again said so. They said again to the blind man what do you say about this man since he opened your eyes? He said he's a prophet.

Speaker 1: 7:52

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and receive his sights until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them is this your son, who you say was born blind? How, then, does he now see? His parents answered we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he sees we do not know. Nor do we know how he opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age, he will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said he is of age. Ask him.

Speaker 1: 8:38

So for the second time, they called the man who had been blind and said to him give glory to God. And said answered him, I've told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you all also want to become his disciple? And they reviled him saying you are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. The man answered why. This is an amazing thing. You do not know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, god listens to him. Worshiper of God and does his will, god listens to him.

Speaker 1: 9:48

Never since the beginning has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him you were born in utter sin and would you teach us? And they cast him out in utter sin. And would you teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out and, having found him, he said do you believe in the son of man? He answered and who is he, sir? That I may believe in him. And Jesus said to him you have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you. He said Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. Jesus said For judgment. I came into this world that those who do not see may see and for those who see, may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near heard these things and said to him are we blind also? Jesus said to them. If you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. This is the word of the Lord. Remains. This is the word of the Lord.

Speaker 1: 11:07

When we come to this passage, we see this story. We encounter something that's basically a culmination of what we've been following along in the last couple chapters chapter 7 and chapter 8. Jesus has come to the Feast of the Tabernacles, the Feast of Booths, and he is there and he begins to teach. And then there's this ongoing discussion about who he is and where he's come from and who the glory of, what his efforts are for, who they're going to. And there's all these discussions that we've been observing over the last several weeks as we've been walking through this section of John and as we come to this story. It almost serves as a real life parable to kind of help us put a cap on what has been happening. So all of these people.

Speaker 1: 12:06

Matter of fact, pastor Royce had a working sermon title. I think it was a good one, but for last week, when he didn't preach, his working sermon title was Are you Stupid or Blind? I think it's a great title and I think it's very appropriate In some sense, you read chapter seven, you read chapter eight and you think, come on, are you guys just stupid? Like, how is it that you do not see clearly what Jesus is teaching you, what he is revealing to you, how is it that you not get it? Well, it might be that they're maybe not stupid, maybe the problem is not a matter of intelligence, maybe it's a matter of blindness. Maybe it's a matter of blindness, Maybe it's a matter of being able to see things the way they really are.

Speaker 1: 12:52

And so, as we enter into this, I want us to consider this, as we've been going through this series. If you've been saying to yourself, there's some good theological questions that have been raised, there's good ideas, there's good points that have been made, and I want to believe in Jesus, I want to accept who he really is, I want to live my life depending on that, but I'm just not quite getting it. What I want to invite you to do today is to consider will you see Jesus and all of his works and all that he has done for who he really is? Will you accept the simplicity of Jesus? Because I think that, as we even read this and we see these dialogues played out, we'll find that, actually, if you just pay attention to the obvious facts, it's very simple to see that Jesus is everything that he says he is and everything that he appears to be. So, as we come to this text today, I want us to, we're gonna, we're going to have three points. The first two are going to consider what it means to see, and the last one is going to be to consider what it means to not see, and then we'll wrap it up. So the first thing that I want us to look at this morning is this Come to see the glory of God revealed. Come to see the glory of God revealed.

Speaker 1: 14:32

As we begin this story, remember what happens at the beginning of the text. They're wandering along and, for whatever reason, I'm not so sure why this man was picked out, but this man the disciples noted he's blind, he's a beggar, and they had a theological question. Maybe a theological question that was tainted by superstition, but they had a theological question nonetheless. Who sinned that this man should be born blind? Why is this man blind? Was it something that he did or something that his parents did? I think sometimes we might find ourselves asking similar questions. You look at your life, you look at a situation that you find yourself in and you think what did I do? Or who's to blame for how I ended up the way I did, who's to blame for how I got here? And sometimes it's disheartening to think about the fact that I don't want to feel guilt, but I'm not sure if it was me or not me, and this is the theological question. But what I want to do today is not dive into the question as to who's to blame, but I want to dive into the question because Jesus dismisses that question and he gives us a better, clearer understanding of how we are to look at it. And what does he say? It is not, it's not about whether this man sinned, it's not about whether his parents sinned, but it's about the glory of God. God is about to reveal something about him and I don't want you to miss it. I don't want you to miss it because you're distracted with knowing where this ailment came from.

Speaker 1: 16:23

The disciples sort of take on the role of Job's friends. You remember Job's friends? We look at Job and we know the backstory, although Job didn't know it. God and Satan are having this conversation and God actually holds up Job as an admirable person, an admirable follower of his word right, and God allows for his glory, for the glory of his name, you can do these harmful things to him, but watch what happens. And so, for the glory of God, he lets Satan have some sort of interaction with him and what happens? He wipes out all that he has, he hurts himself, and then his friends come along and his friends pray with him at first, but then they basically go like so, job, what'd you do? How'd you get in this mess? That's what these disciples sound like. The disciples are basically saying so what happened?

Speaker 1: 17:22

And if we know all along that God is wanting to receive the glory, that God has something big planned to show the world and those present about himself, god makes it clear that Jesus makes it clear that God is more interested in healing and saving than in calling out sin and sinners, than in calling out sin in sinners. Although the law condemns the beginning of John, as if we remember when John was open, it says Moses brought the law, but Jesus came with grace and truth, right, so Jesus is more interested in not pointing out sin. You sin, you're a sinner, you're a sinner, although, if you remember as we read through this passage, you're a sinner, you're a sinner, although, if you remember, as we read through this passage and we'll talk about this in a little bit that's something that these other people can't get out of their mind Well, he's a sinner, so he can't do that, and you're a sinner and you shouldn't talk to us that way. They're really quick to start labeling sin and sinners and Jesus is like no, no, no, no.

Speaker 1: 18:23

I'm not interested in calling out sin and sinners here. I'm interested in healing and saving for the glory of God. The glory of God on displayed through this man's healing and the transforming power is of greater significance than a sign, than assigning blame for how things got the way that they did. I think sometimes we can get preoccupied with certain struggles that we have in our life or certain problems that we go through, and we get so bent out of shape with trying to figure out who's to blame for how things are, who is to blame for this? And yet what God wants us to see is that it's not about assigning blame. Look at the fact that Jesus wants us to understand that the glory of God is seen in a healing and transforming power.

Speaker 1: 19:20

Jesus tells them that I am here to work the works of God, who sent him by me, and he says that we have to work as long as it's day. And so he comes here to say I am come to do the work of God and I only have a limited time to do that. And he gives us a picture. This is also not one of the great I am statements, although back in John, beginning of John 8, he does say I am the light of the world, and that is one of the great I am statements. But he's almost giving us an understanding of his role in this story. In reflection on that I am statement, I am the light of the world.

Speaker 1: 19:59

As long as I am the light of the world, what's he say at the beginning? There he says as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world, and he does this in part with the works that God has given him to do. So what's he do? He stoops down, makes mud spits on the ground and, by the way, this is where he gets undermined. Because you're like, what did he do on the Sabbath? Because that's what they started calling him out for labor. What did he do on the Sabbath? Well, strangely enough, what he did was he kneaded you guys ever made dough and stuff? Well, one of the things that was categorized in kneading that was not allowed to be done on the Sabbath was if you made mud from the ground and kneaded. So this is where he messed up. But he knew what he was doing. He stooped down and he made this mud on the ground with his spit and then he puts it on the man's eyes and he sends him to this pool.

Speaker 1: 21:03

Interesting again, there's all these little Easter eggs that are scattered throughout these stories. Interestingly, he sends him to the pool called Siloam, which is what? What's the word there in English? Scent, scent, close, yes, scent, which is what? What's the word there in English? Sent, sent, close, yes, sent. How many times have we seen in the last two chapters Jesus being identified as the sent one or the one who was sent from God? Matter of fact 20 times, 20 times, over 20 times. Up until this point, jesus is identified as the one who was sent from God.

Speaker 1: 21:40

The Pool of Siloam was interesting because it was used specifically in the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a place where it was the only water that came through Jerusalem that actually came from a fresh string, a spring that they had rerouted through the city, and there was a ritual during the Feast of Tabernacles where they would go and the priest would gather water from this spring and they would pour it out as an offering to God. It was a way of them demonstrating their trust in his provision and in his healing work, in his abundance. This pool that no doubt was a centerpiece for all the events, with a spring that flows out that has been given the name, sent. In some sense. Jesus, I think, is making the connection between you have always identified this pool as the fresh provision from God, being sent from the earth, and you celebrate by using that. And he says I am actually the true waters sent from God, I am the one who truly provides healing from God, and so there's a clear connection that John wants us to know and that Jesus is making here.

Speaker 1: 23:20

So Jesus, as he is doing all of this, he is embodying this light, the light of the world, who was sent from God. And what does the light display when we come in here? Obviously, we don't have to do it now, but we come in here at nighttime and we turn the lights on. Light gives us the ability to see. If we don't turn the lights on, we can't see. We run into the pews and get a bruised chin, and none of us like that. So the light, when a light comes into a space, it gives us the ability to see. Jesus is coming here into the world and he is doing things and he is saying things and he himself is giving us, and all those who hear him and all those who experience him, the ability to see. He wants them to see Without really knowing it. Also, this man who had been given sight he had never been able to see before until this moment he was given sight. We see in the rest of this passage that he then goes and carries that light through all the conversations that are had from here on out.

Speaker 1: 24:33

This man is compelled, one way or the other, to tell his story at least three times, each time reinforcing the reality that God has opened his eyes and has given him sight. You know, sometimes when God changes a person's life, when he changes a life in a miraculous and otherwise unexplainable way, a good thing for us to practice is to tell the story, is to tell the story of what God has done, of God's amazing work, as often as you find the opportunity. You know, this man goes out and he didn't know that he was going to be a messenger of the light. He didn't know that he was going to be a carrier of the light. He just knew that for the first time in his life. His eyes were then opened. But then he finds himself in the middle of these arguments and discussions where he has to tell his story. He has to tell what happened to him.

Speaker 1: 25:35

What happened when you encountered this man named Jesus, and he starts off very little by just saying yeah, I'm him. This is what happened. Very simple he made mud, I went and washed, and by the end he's engaged in a full-on theological debate in which he, like, drops the mic in front of the Pharisees and they don't know what to do but just throw them out of the synagogue. He went from this small little just account. Yeah, he made mud and put it on my eyes and I went and washed all the way to like no, I'm just convinced I've told this story so many times today I'm just convinced this man is who he says he is.

Speaker 1: 26:14

You know, sometimes what we need in order to build our faith and our confidence and trust in God is to tell the stories of what God has done to transform lives, what he's done to transform our lives, what he's done to make a difference in our lives, and I think that we can take this away and we can realize that what God wants us to do is he's going to give the light, and we shouldn't just hide it under a bushel. I think he said that too. We should actually let it be displayed where people can see. Jesus wants us to take part and to be recipients of his transforming work One of the things that we see here as far as God's glory being revealed and it's important for us to understand all of this we see, because God wants us to see his glory. He wants his glory to be preeminent and beyond everything else. No matter what your questions are, it doesn't mean your questions are unimportant. It doesn't mean that your hang-ups are unimportant. It doesn't mean that these things don't need to be talked about, but what we need to keep in mind is that what God's purpose is is greater than anything that we can have hangups with with our finite minds.

Speaker 1: 27:31

Later on, it's said that Jesus had done something that had never been done before. I don't know about you, but if I were to encounter something that had never been done before, I think it would grab my attention. I think it would probably cause me to stop and ask what is going on here? I've never experienced this before. I've never seen anyone who has experienced this before experienced this before. I've never seen anyone who has experienced this before.

Speaker 1: 28:05

God, through Jesus' work, wanted him to understand that his glory on display is something to take note of. To see the glory of God revealed is to acknowledge that some things can only be displayed by divine intervention, and not just divine intervention, but by the true work of the triune God. You know, sometimes when we look around, we look at the world around us it's easy for us to try to explain something that God has done in something that makes sense to us, that God has done in something that makes sense to us. We actually discount and undermine God's glory by trying to find a way to be able to just make common sense of it or natural sense of it. I should say it's.

Speaker 1: 28:49

I mean don't want to open the can of the worms, but it's probably one of the most obvious things that has been discussed and debated in this day and age is that the origin of the world. Did it come about by God speaking? And everything that wasn't there is then there and there was nothing. And then, at creation, everything came into existence by the power of God or did it just by some happenstance? There was a big explosion and everything that is today comes into reality.

Speaker 1: 29:19

You know, the truth is that people, this world, works so hard to try to explain the intricacies and the complexities of life, the human eye in ways that they have to keep creating caveats and explanations and years and when I was a kid it was millions of years and now it's billions of years. Why? Because we have to find new ways of being able to explain how things came into existence without the power of God. When we look at it, we say how does this happen? How did such a complex and beautiful world come into existence? Well, there's a complex and beautiful God and it comes from him. It's easy for us to try to find ways. We waste our time trying to find ways to explain away things that God has clearly done. And so, when we come to face situations in our lives, whatever it may be, however challenging it might be, when God enters into it and transforms you or transforms a situation. It is important for us to give credit and glory to God, for he is the one who is doing the transforming work.

Speaker 1: 30:35

The second thing that I want us to see, to come and see, is this to come and see the life of a man transform. I've kind of already talked a little bit about this in my first point, but God is there through the person of Jesus Christ, and Jesus is arguing and explaining who he is, where he's come from. At the end of chapter 8, right before we get into this passage, he declares to them I am the great I am Before Abraham was, I am. And then he comes into this man's life and he transforms his life, comes into this man's life and he transforms his life, and we have to look and we have to take it for what it really is.

Speaker 1: 31:25

Have you ever been around someone this goes to what I was just talking about have you been around someone who has a testimony of transformation that's truly phenomenal? Have you been around people? I don't know about you, but my mom, for instance, has a salvation testimony of when she was very young. My mom was smoking when she was five years old. She was drinking alcohol when she was seven and she just was very a rough character. That's why I'm a rough character, no, just kidding. My mom was rough, but she had an experience where she was confronted with the reality of death when she was 16 years old and from that moment on she turned her eyes to Jesus and her life transformed day and night. I know of other people who have gone through the same experience. Matter of fact, as someone who grew up in church my whole life and who went to Christian school most of my whole life, you sometimes sit there and wonder, man, I wish I had a cool story where I was like a drug addict and I was in the ditch and then a man came along and told me about Jesus, jesus, and then my life was transformed. I wish I had that kind of a story, you know, but the, the the reality is and, as a side point, any life that Jesus transformed, no matter where you come from, is an amazing story. But if you've ever been around someone who has a testimony of transformation, that's truly phenomenal. Um, you have to acknowledge the fact that something almost unexplainable happened to their life. You have to acknowledge that something has changed completely because of something must be supernatural. We should not treat it lightly or dismiss it quickly if we consider it long and hard.

Speaker 1: 33:25

So we look at the testimony of this man and he goes. As the progression goes, he begins to tell them who he is and what happened to him. They begin in verse 8. The neighbors, the people around him that used to pass by him every day, what do they say? Isn't this the guy that used to be a beggar? Isn't this a man who used to just sit there and he was blind? Like, isn't them. And even the neighbors were, like, divided. They're like yeah, it's him, man, what happened to you? And the other one's like nah, he looks like him, though man, there must be his long lost brother, I don't know. And this man's like no, I'm him. I'm him, I'm the guy. And he goes on to try to explain and tell them.

Speaker 1: 34:16

Even the Pharisees, the Pharisees, these are the guys that like to get to the root of of, like we're going to go all the way back. We're not even going to take his word for that. He's the guy. We're going to go talk to his parents. They were there when his life started. We're going to find out his identity first from them. And so they pull the parents into the room and they're like hey, is this your son that was born blind, who can now see? And they're like, like, so you caught us on a bad day. Yes, he is our son. Yes, he was born blind, but as far as how he became, how he can see now, I have no idea. But he's old enough. You can ask him these his parents? I mean, tongue in cheek, you kind of go back to the first question who sinned him? Or his parents? You're like these are the kind of parents he had. I mean, the whole commuter knows his parents. I mean, these are the guys that are willing to throw their son under the bus and be like yeah, I don't know, just ask him. He's old enough. But you know, glad he can see us now he knows who we really are, I mean.

Speaker 1: 35:28

And so we're looking at this and we're trying to find this transformation of this man and what really really happened to him. And then, finally, in verse 24, it says for the second time, they called the man who had been born blind and they said to him give glory to God, we know that this man is a sinner. And the man answers whether he's a sinner, I do not know One thing. I do know that, though I was blind, now I see. It's as simple as this Is he a sinner? I don't know. Let's figure it out. Is he this? Oh, I don't know. Guys, listen, I don't know how it is that you determine who's a sinner or not. I don't know how it is that you come up with these conclusions, but I'm just going to tell you this is what I know. I'm going to reduce it down to one little statement. Before I was blind. Now I can see. It's as simple as that. It's as simple as a transformation that has never happened since the beginning of time that when these people are confronted face to face with the reality that a man who was born blind can now see, they were so hung up on the fact that he was a sinner, that Jesus was a sinner, or that Jesus had done work on the Sabbath and all these things. They were so hung up with that they just couldn't see the simple transformation of God.

Speaker 1: 36:57

Now I want to invite you to think about this. God wants us to have our eyes open and our lives transformed. He wants this for us. He wants us to be transformed. He wants our eyes open. He wants our transformation to be an affirmation that he is everything that he has revealed himself to be. If we take Jesus and his work at face value and don't try to overanalyze it or complicate it with our limited hangups, then we will see Jesus and we will see that he is not too good to be true. Jesus is everything that he claims to be and everything that we see him to be. Now I just want to encourage us. I don't know what you all are going through right now. I don't know what it's like, the challenges that you face.

Speaker 1: 37:55

You know, when I think of this man I've used this illustration before with people when I think of this man who was born blind, and I think about what his life must have been like, I mean he knows that he can't go out and play with the other kids. He knows that he can't go and laugh and go to school and do all the things. Matter of fact, from a child, he was just. The only thing he was good for was begging, and I can imagine he heard all the things going on in the town around him and contemplated how he was being left out of everything. And then, one day, after he spent 30 years sitting on the side. All of a sudden he hears somebody asking the question that he didn't really want to ask himself what's the purpose, what's the reason? This man was born blind. Yeah, I want to know that too. And then he hears somebody that actually has an answer it's so that God can display his work in him. I don't know about you. I would probably be really torn in that situation. But I don't know about you. I would probably be really torn in that situation, but I don't know about you. But I can imagine that if that person who has the answer also changes and opens my eyes and takes away that problem that I have, I think I would look at that and say, whatever he has, whoever he is, I want that at that and say whatever he has, whoever he is, I want that.

Speaker 1: 39:28

I think that if we consider the transformation that God brings to a life, to our lives, and if we're willing to do the works of God, to talk about it, to share, to lean into the power of God's transforming work, I think that we will find that God's glory will be displayed in and through us and around us all the time. I think that our church needs to be a place where the stories of God's transforming work are constantly on our lips, are constantly in our mouth. It's easy to come and I was just talking to Pastor Royce about this today it's easy for us to say how was your week? It's been a rough week, it's been pretty tough and that's fine.

Speaker 1: 40:11

I think there's something that we can all connect in. We kind of all have rough weeks from time to time, or maybe more often than not. But if we don't understand our rough week in light of the transforming power of God that he is at work in us, doing day in and day out, then we're totally missing the point. If we don't say, yeah, it's been a rough week, but you know what? I was reminded that God is faithfully and lovingly at work in my life to make me exactly what he wants me to be to reveal his glory the way that he wants it to be revealed. If we stop at just the problems, if we stop at just the obstacles, if we stop at the complications and we don't go beyond that to see what God wants us to see, then we're going to miss it altogether and we will remain blind. God wants us to see him, not in spite of our complications, not after our complications, but in our complications. He wants us to see him and he wants us to see his glory.

Speaker 1: 41:23

Lastly, what does it mean to come and not see, and specifically to not see the presence and the power of God in Jesus? Jesus, as I stated already, he declared himself to be the great I am. At the beginning of chapter 8, he says I am the light of the world, and he talks about his authority and who he really is. This passage culminates with this story that Jesus has given us. This story, this account of Jesus healing the blind man, functions in a way to help us to wrap our minds around all these abstract theological arguments that have just been taking place, and he wants us to experience what Jesus had, what he has come to do. So let us look at the simple ways Jesus is present and that his power is obvious, and let us see how the observers by and completely avoid acknowledging Jesus' presence and power.

Speaker 1: 42:30

I already mentioned some of these things, but Jesus actually did heal this blind man and, even though the neighbors couldn't pin it down whether he was actually the guy or not, the reality was is that he was the guy, but because of their hang-ups, whether it just was confusion or superstition. They just couldn't understand it for themselves. And then the Pharisees are determined to ignore this man's testimony himself. They're just like we're just going to go to the parents. It's like we're just going to go to the parents and see what the parents have to say, and then they exercise this effort to dismantle anything that's good that might have been done by Jesus, just to discount the works of God. They're looking at Jesus and they're basically saying we're going to ignore what he actually did and we're just going to say he started off wrong. He worked on the Sabbath. We're going to ignore the amazing thing that's happened and they're going to get hung up on the fact that he worked on the Sabbath.

Speaker 1: 43:36

Additionally, interestingly enough and John gives us this note additionally his parents are not willing to go along and acknowledge and testify of the work that happened in their own son. Why, it says? Because they feared the Jews. The Jews said that if anybody had claimed that Jesus was God, they would be cast out of the synagogue. So they weren't even willing to acknowledge. Here's their son. I mean, no doubt the son had a hard life because of his blindness, but they probably did too. But even in the moment where their lives have changed their son can now see they're just like willing to say I don't know. I'm actually more afraid of the religious rulers than I am to actually acknowledge that God did an amazing thing in this place.

Speaker 1: 44:30

So there are a lot of different things that can cause us to not see Jesus for who he truly is and to understand the works of God. So the question is Jesus truly God? They're trying to figure out. They think not, because their definition and their determination is not that he is. Their definition of him is that he is a sinner, and this is one thing I want us to think about.

Speaker 1: 44:53

It's so interesting how much there are different, there's a division of categories that happen in this passage. He's a sinner, not a sinner. I had them in mind, but they go back and forth and they're always trying to categorize Is this him or is this not him? Is this a sinner, is he not a sinner? And they're always trying to find easy ways to categorize and classify these different people. But what Jesus ends up doing in the end is he creates two more important and serious categories. The two categories that Jesus creates is not whether this man was a sinner and is not a sinner. Or did he do this or he did that? Or is this man who he says he is and not who he says he is? What does he say?

Speaker 1: 45:50

Look at the very end of this passage, because this is the conversation that happens after Jesus reveals himself to the blind man and then he says he basically says in verse 39, jesus said for judgment I came into the world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees heard him say these things and said to him are we blind? Also? Jesus said to them if you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now you say we see, your guilt remains. Here's the two categories that matter Can we see or not see? And Jesus pulls a Jesus juke and he says if you couldn't see, then you would be given sight. If you were blind, you would be given sight. But because you say, oh, we can see, we don't need healing, we don't need your presence and your power in our lives, we don't need what you have to offer. Because you say you can see and obviously you understand it better than everyone else, because you've run this whole debate around town Because you say you can see, your guilt remains. You want to talk about sin, you want to talk about the effects of sin, because you are not willing to see and admit that you're blind, so that I can help you see, you're going to remain blind. Now it is important for us to consider this, because you might be here today. You say, yeah, I too.

Speaker 1: 47:36

I've grown up in church most of my life. I understand these stories. I believe Jesus is God. I believe that he is everything he said that he is. Well, the reality is is that the Pharisees and the Jews. They were very religious and devoted to God as well. They were very committed to God and everything that they knew of him to be, but what they didn't understand is that they needed Jesus to transform their lives. They needed the light of the world to open up their eyes.

Speaker 1: 48:09

There is a posture that we can assume that basically causes us to think that we know it all, we understand it all. I've been there, done that. It causes us to think that we know it all, we understand it all. I've been there, done that and we can close our eyes to the truth of Jesus that he's trying to reveal to us that he wants us to understand, and because we have different hangups in our lives, we can't just say to God I'm blind, help me to see, help me to see. But when we have that posture and we have that understanding, we can come to God. And he has promised to us that he will open up our eyes, that he is the light of the world and he wants to do that work in us.

Speaker 1: 49:00

So, as we conclude, we ask the question to see or not to see? That is the question. The first thing I want us to consider is that Jesus is all that he reveals himself to be. Let him be your sight, let him give you sight. Let's look for Jesus and let's look to see what he says and how he reveals himself to us and let's accept him at face value. It doesn't mean that we can't ask questions. It doesn't mean that there aren't going to be questions. It just means that when Jesus gives us his word and reveals himself, we have to trust it. Secondly, avoid distractions. Avoid distractions to receiving sight from Jesus. Avoid distractions of superstition or fear or prejudice or a closed-minded religion. Avoid these distractions, these distractions that can come into us, can cause us to have these hang-ups, and so avoid these and instead look to Jesus.

Speaker 1: 50:12

I love the song Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. What happens when you look at Him? All the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. We turn our eyes to him, we gaze on him. What happens? All the things that distracted us, all the things that got in the way, all the hangups they grow strangely dim. Why? Because his glory and his grace is so wonderful, and his grace is so wonderful. And then, lastly, admit we must admit that we are blind and that only Jesus can open our eyes.

Speaker 1: 50:53

I trust that, if you're here today, that most of you, if not all of you, have put your faith and trust in Jesus. You have said to him I'm blind, help me to see. And you are looking for him to continue to open your eyes, and you are looking to him to make you more of a light to the world around you. But it is easy for us to get distracted by the darkness and it's easier for us to lose sight of the light of the world. And so we need to continually turn to him and acknowledge that he is the only thing that will give us true sight, will give us true light, and we need to rely on what he reveals to us, both about his self and about His glory.

Speaker 1: 51:45

Lord, I thank you so much for this story. I thank you so much for the way that it helps us to see you in a unique and powerful way. I thank you so much that you have the power to open blind eyes, and as much as I hope and pray that the people gathered here today have given themselves to you that you might open their eyes. God, I know that we, too find moments when we struggle acknowledging you for who you are. So, god, I pray that you would continue to open our eyes, continue to turn our eyes to you, and that we would trust you to be all that you are and all that you've said you would be. In Christ's name, amen.