John 9 (The Message)
The disability of blindness is one of the most difficult to understand. But, there is something infinitely worse than physical blindness: it is spiritual blindness.
THE DARKNESS OF SIN: John 9:1-8
“Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, ‘Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?’
“Jesus said, ‘You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.’
“He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, ‘Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam’ (Siloam means ‘Sent’). The man went and washed—and saw.
“Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging, were saying, ‘Why, isn’t this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?’”
1. He was blind.
2. He was begging.
3. He was hopeless.
THE LIGHT OF SALVATION: John9:9-14
“Others said, ‘It’s him all right!’
“But others objected, ‘It’s not the same man at all. It just looks like him.’
“He said, ‘It’s me, the very one.’
“They said, ‘How did your eyes get opened?’
“‘A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” I did what he said. When I washed, I saw.’
“‘So where is he?’
“‘I don’t know.’
“They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath.”
1. The touch of life.
2. The blind man’s response.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV).
THE DISCOVERY OF FAITH: John 9:35-41
“Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him. He asked him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’
“The man said, ‘Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him.’
“Jesus said, ‘You’re looking right at him. Don’t you recognize my voice?’
“‘Master, I believe,’ the man said, and worshiped him.
“Jesus then said, ‘I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.’
“Some Pharasees overheard him and said, ‘Does that mean you’re calling us blind?’
“Jesus said, ‘If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure.’”
1. A man called Jesus. v. 11
2. A prophet from God. v. 17
“They came back to the blind man, ‘You’re the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?’”
3. A man of God. vv. 31-33
“It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
4. The Son of God. vv. 35-38
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day” (Proverbs 4:18 NIV).
