Blind
Bible Text: John 9:1-16 |
“Blind,” John 9
Introduction: (v5) “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” [Isaiah 9:2, 49:6, John 1:4] Continues John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in…”
I. Sent
A. (v2) “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
1. The bad things that happen in bunches to some devout Highviewers
2. (v3) “This happened so that the work of Bod might be displayed in his life.”
B. Jesus made mud and applied it to the man’s eyes.
1. Why make mud? Did he intentionally want to break the Sabbath?
2. (v7) Why did Jesus send the still blind guy to wash in the pool? How did he locate it?
3. Obedience: “So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.” [2 Kings 5:14]
II. Identity Crisis
A. (v10) Pharisees ask, “How then were your eyes opened?”
1. (v11) “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes.”
2. (v12) “Where is this man?” As with the healing of the lame man, Jesus disappears.
B. (v17) Under a second round of questioning, the man responds, “He is a prophet.”
1. (v24) Pharisees disagree. Because Jesus broke the Sabbath, they say, “He is a sinner.”
2. (v25) Brilliant refutation. “One thing I do know. I was blind but not I see!”
C. (v35) Jesus asked the one time blind guy, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
1. The guy wants to know who the Son of Man is. Jesus says, “You have now seen him.”
2. (v38) “Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshipped him.”
3. Why didn’t the guy file a lawsuit for his years spent in blindness?
III. Total Blindness
A. Among those who knew him previously
1. Neighbors (v8) fooled by familiarity.
2. Parents (v22) silenced by fear.
B. Despite the obvious healing the Pharisees condemn the healed man and Jesus
1. (v34) “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
2. (v26, v28) Jesus is a Sabbath breaker of unknown origin. Pharisees follow Moses.
Conclusion: (v40) Pharisees ask, “What, are we blind too?” Jesus—No, just guilty.