The Lights Came On

Never Worked

Some products worked for a while. Maybe they worked great, cutting edge. But, then they stopped.

Like:

The Blackberry

The Brands that built America. The 2 owners and developers of the blackberry, which was dominating the market at the time, saw the first iPhone.

One asked if they should develop a phone to complete. The other said, “Why?!”

Paper maps from AAA; Triptiks

Overhead projectors

I think we still have one around here.

Hole in the ceiling was for a slide projector. Now we have smart TVs.

VHS recorders and players

Sara and rec’d 3 food processors as wedding gifts in 1984. We returned 2 and got our first one.

Then, there were products that never worked, never took off:

1957 Edsel.

Ford invested hundreds of millions of dollars but no one bought one. Canceled in 1960.

1981 Delorian

Wing inspired doors. But for “Back to the Future” would we even remember them?

1975 Sony Betamax

They were just a little too full of themselves at Sony and bel’d they could out market the producers of the VHS format machines. Oops.

1985 New Coke

For some reason, the execs at Coke felt it necessary to change the formula to compete w/ Pepsi.

Why? They dominated the market at the time.

A short time later they came back w/ Coke Classic. It never had failed. But they brought it back.

Squirt Ketchup

2000. To appeal to kids. It came in 3 colors, purple, teal, and green. Just no. Our kids wouldn’t even.

It’s one thing to bring something back to life that once lived. Coke, New Coke, Coke Classic. AAA has an app where you can get a route to your destination.

But, it’s something altogether different to bring something to life that never lived.

Edsel. This is a classic illustration of a colossal marketing failure that it is in bsns textbooks.

The same thing is true about us and Jesus.

It’s one thing for Jesus to resuscitate someone or something that used to live.

Lazarus, the widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter.

Or, to restore sight to someone who once saw.

But, for the paralytic or blind person who had been in that situ since birth, never worked, it’s a much bigger deal.

For instance, we speak English. We hear Asian languages and they are more than just foreign, there are parts of our brain that never developed so we cannot even make some of those sounds.

They have the same issue when they learn English. That’s why the accents remain.

To a paralytic who had been paralyzed since birth, his brain had not developed the ability to communicate w/ his body. His bones were brittle, muscles weak and atrophied, the tendons and cartilage would not connect and hold things together.

Or, a man blind since birth, things did not connect nor communicate in his brain. There had never been any images to interpret.

But, when Jesus speaks and heals, it’s immediate and complete. Everything. No need for PT, OT, nor ST.

The last couple of weeks, I have taught passages where Jesus made some pretty outrageous claims. But we are counting on these claims t/b true. We’ve experienced the truth of these claims.

But, is it the power of positive thinking? Mind over matter? The placebo effect?

Can Jesus really do these things w/ a word? He said He could. I taught them like I believe Him.

He said He is the Light of the world. And as the Light of the world He attracts ppl like the neon in Las Vegas or the light standards of a stadium. Then, He shows us the way to God who gives us life.

And, He said He will set us free from the things that weigh us down and bind us up in darkness.

How can we know He can do these things? How do we know our faith in placed in the right One?

The next thing He did, that I am going to teach today, He turned the lights on for a man so he could see and liberated him from the load that was keeping him in the dark.

He proved to us that He can lead us to life, light up our way, and liberate us from the load that is weighing us down in darkness.

All we must do to benefit from this is follow Him.

This comes from John 9 when He gave sight to man who’d been blind since birth. His eyes never worked. That part of him had been dead all his life. And Jesus made the religious leadership look stupid as they looked at this man and rejected what they thought they saw.

Q & A

John 9:1–5 NIV

As he 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?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works 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.”

The belief was among the religious community that when a situ like occurred, there must have been some sin committed, by the individual or his parents, that caused it.

Obviously, a fetus in a womb could not. Therefore, the assumption was his parents were being punished and God had taken it out on their son.

So, the discs asked the question, Who was responsible for this?

Job’s friends’ theology. What did you do to make God so mad that He would do this to you?

Nothing. Job was the most righteous, faithful and ob man on earth.

This sort of inaccurate theology appeals to ppl. We like to assign blame for tough situs like this. B/C, it offers hope that if I’m good enough, nothing bad will happen to me.

But, it does. Sometimes, things just happen. We live in a fallen world where things break. Or, never work.

And, this was Jesus’ answer. Neither this man nor his parents did anything wrong. No sins, plural, were committed. This was a result of sin, singular, the status or condition that we are all born into.

Spiritually, we are all born dead. That is, separated from God. Jesus had just said if anyone would become a follower of His, believe in Him, have faith t/b saved, then that person would be freed from sin and death. Given life. Never having had life before, would come to life in a way they had never experienced.

I remember that feeling that day. Aug. 17, 1977 when I exp.d it for the first time.

This man presented an opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate what He can do. For those who are watching, they will see proof that Jesus is Who He said He is and can do what He said He can do.

While it is still day, while the Light is in the World, opportunities like came along. The day would turn to night when Jesus was gone, darkness would prevent ppl from seeing Jesus for Who He is and what He can do.

So, what could Jesus do for this man? Physically, he had blind since birth. Spiritually, too.

This is what He did.

Light Came On

John 9:6–7 NIV

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

Sometimes Jesus just spoke. Sometimes He touched the person. Once, He spit directly on a man’s eyes.

This time, He spit on the ground, made mud, put the mud on his eyes and told him to go and wash it off in the pool of Siloam.

Saliva was a common treatment for eye problems. Often, priest and rabbis would use their saliva as an application for someone suffering from an eye issue. Obviously, their saliva had not worked for this guy.

They must have tried when the man was a baby. But he still could not see.

The pool of Siloam was used for ritual bathing. Before a man would go to the temple to worship, make their sacrifice to God for their sins, they would bathe in this pool. Jesus did it, too, though He didn’t have to.

The washing was symbolic of washing the effects someone’s sins away, making them eligible to enter God’s presence. God would not allow anyone still corrupted by sin into his presence. They would drop dead immediately if they did.

Of course, the bathing was symbolic. But the Jewish leadership still bel’d it had a literal benefit. This act, this behavior, overcame the effects of their bad behavior, in their minds.

But, like everything else religious, God always said belief accomplished what needed to happen. And the behavior followed symbolic of what belief had already done.

Like our baptism.

So, Jesus used this process, procedure, pool to do something the religious leadership bel’d it actually did, but didn’t really, even though this guy showed no signs of faith. Jesus didn’t need the man’s faith to heal him. He did it anyway to show ppl what they couldn’t see.

He came out of the water, and for the first time in his life, he could see, clearly. No fuzzy images. No need for corrective lenses. He saw everything in living color.

This had never happened before. There are no recorded occurrences in history of a person who had been blind since birth being able to see.

That said, in Is. 35, one of the signs of the Messiah is the blind will receive sight. So, you’d think this would be an obvious conclusion when everyone saw this man see for the first time.

But, physical sight is not the only issue addressed here. Spiritual sight, or blindness is still an issue for many. Those who physically can see but spiritually cannot, but think they can, are still blind to Who Jesus is and what He just had done.

This created conflicts.

Questions & Conflicts

There were four groups of ppl who this created conflicts for.

The first group was his friends and neighbors. They knew this guy, or thought they did. And He had never had his eyesight before.

Friends & Neighbors

John 9:8–12 NIV

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.

There would have been some differences in how he looked. His eyes worked. His countenance would have changed. But, he was the same guy.

Probably what caused them the most difficulty in ID’ing him was no one had ever received sight who had been born blind.

It had never happened.

So, confusion and conflict.

This is the guy. No, no he isn’t.

Ya, I am.

Then, how? How did it happen.

A guy named Jesus made mud. What? Magic dirt?

Simple. He put it my eyes told me to wash it off in Siloam then I could see.

On the one hand you’d think he’d know exactly where Jesus went. This is the guy who gave him sight.

No more begging. A walking miracle. Powerful, emotional. But remember, he couldn’t see before. So he had no idea where Jesus was. And couldn’t describe him for ppl to help him.

Who is this guy and how’d it happen? To answer honestly, would require an open mind and lead to a historical fork in the road.

As Yogi Berra famously said, when you come to a fork in the road, take it. But no everyone was ready to take this fork.

The 2nd group that this created a conflict between was the man who rec’d his sight and the religious leadership. They were not ready to take this fork, either. They were still scheming to kill Jesus.

The Pharisees & the Man

John 9:13–18 NIV

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” 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 perform such signs?” So they were divided. Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents.

This would be not only of general importance, but specifically spiritual importance as Isaiah predicted when this happened it meant the Messiah did it.

So, they took the man to the Pharisees, the religious leaders responsible for interpreting things.

They asked the same question. How?

The man explained simply, mud and the pool. Now I see.

The Pharisees knew all about Jesus. They denied His claims about Himself. They were emotional and convinced Jesus was lying.

It’s not new, but don’t allow the facts to get in the way of a good emotional argument. How foolish. How stupid when the Messiah they’d been waiting for, for 1500 years was right there. Isaiah told them what to watch for besides all the evidence they already had.

Many of them were more concerned that Jesus did this on the Sabbath. It was, in their minds, a clear Sabbath violation.

Not according the Sabbath law as God originally wrote it. You could treat someone medically on the Sabbath and relieve their suffering.

But as the leadership re-interpreted the law and wrote their own oral tradition they disallowed it. They guy wasn’t dying. It could wait till Sunday.

And since he didn’t keep the Sabbath according to their tradition then He could not be from God.

They totally were unconcerned about a man who for the first time in his life could see. A real cause of celebration, rejoicing. Not to mention the possibility their Messiah has arrived.

This man’s situ was hopeless. He was bound to begging. He could see no future for himself. He couldn’t see anything for himself.

Now, He could. You’d think they be happy for him.

No, He broke the Sabbath law. Treated him on Saturday.

There were 2 possible answers to this conflict. Jesus performed the miracle proving He is the Messiah.

Or, the blind man was a poser, an imposter who posed as a beggar, so there really was’t any miracle here. He always could see.

To admit the former, the Pharisees would have had to also then admit Jesus was from God. But they just couldn’t do that. Therefore, they settled on the latter.

The conflict intensified even among the Pharisees. A sinner could do this. But if He is godly, then we’re wrong and we’re never wrong.

The Pharisees didn’t like the effect so they didn’t believe the cause. So, they called the man’s parents in.

So, on to the next conflict. They drew his parents into it and they did their best to deflect it back between the Pharisees and the man.

The Pharisees & the Parents

John 9:18–23 NIV

They 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 that now 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, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

Is this the one you have always said is blind?

Yes. He is our son. Yes, he was blind since birth.

How? Ask him, he’s an adult.

They were afraid. They were totally non-committal.

Obviously, they were already in poverty. They could not afford to take care of their son. He was out begging to raise whatever support he could to help.

If they were excommunicated out of the synagogue then not only would they lose their spiritual connection, no one would associate with them.

No business. No income. No social life. It would have been devastating for them.

Anyone who associated w/ them for any reason would have suffered the same excommunication.

So, they put it right back on their son. He’s an adult, ask him. Let him speak for himself.

The 4th conflict is now back between the Pharisees and the guy who’d been healed. Now it just gets silly. The religious leadership comes off looking dumb.

The Pharisees & the Man

John 9:24–34 NIV

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” He replied, “Whether he is 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?” 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 disciples too?” Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 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 they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

One more time. Put your hand on the bible. Okay, there were no bibles but that’s what they meant. Swear, so help me God, and tell the truth.

The Pharisees had already determined Jesus was not who He claimed to be. And sinners can’t do what you said He did.

One more time.

They expected him, with this pressure, to recant his earlier testimony. Not only is he contradicting these very smart and important men, he’s telling them they were wrong about Jesus.

A beggar. A nobody. Worse than dirt poor. Telling these learned, educated, respected, powerful men; they were wrong.

One side began to look absolutely foolish.

I don’t know where this man came from now Who He is. All I know is I once was blind, but now I see.

You want to hear the simple story how again? Why? It’s not complicated. Do you want to become a follower now?

This v.27 is the pinnacle of emotion. Everyone is getting frustrated and mad. Patience is wearing thin.

The Pharisees don’t believe the man. The man can’t believe the Pharisees can’t see the truth in front of them. He’s contradicting them. They are arguing in circles.

How is it you don’t know this guy. You are the religious establishment. If anything is happening of any connection to God then you should be in the middle of it.

No one has ever rec’d their sight after being born blind. Only a man of God could do this. Yet, you claim He is not of God and you’re supposed to be.

How do you not know this man?! You can’t make this call? Is He of God, or not?

Up to this point there is no evidence this man who rec’d his sight had any faith at all. But, soon that changed.

When he rec’d his sight, the light came on for him. Lower case ‘l’.

When he realized Who did it for him, then the Light came on for him. Upper case ‘L’.

All b/c he came to faith once he put it all together.

Faith

John 9:35–41 NIV

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, 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.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

Jesus knew what he looked like and sought him out.

He asked him the question. “Do you believe in the Messiah?”

Tell me who He is and I will.

You’re looking at him.

It didn’t take much. It shouldn’t take much. Once anyone realizes Who the Savior is, believes Who He is, then believing IN him is an obvious next step.

This is the first mention of the man having any faith. When Jesus performed the miracle on him, he had no faith. Jesus used him as an object lesson for what He had been teaching up to that point.

Don’t every think there is a faith requirement for you to receive a miracle. Jesus will do whatever is best for Him to do for all of us.

There was an obvious contrast drawn between the faith and acceptance of the man w/ the rejection of the leadership.

To the rel. ldrs, their lack of recognition is due to willful rejections. They won’t, so the don’t.

Jesus said He came into the world so the blind could see and those who believe they can see will remain blind.

The leaders thought Jesus was just talking about physical blindness.

Are you saying we are blind? We can see perfectly.

Exactly, Jesus replied.

If you realize you are blind and ask me then I will give you the ability to see the truth.

If you believe you can see and don’t realize the need to ask me for help, then you will miss the truth.

Jesus proved He can light us up and lift our burdens when He turned the light on for this blind man and led him out of his darkness.

That’s what He does for us. When we believe in, become a follower of Jesus, He leads out of our darkness and into the place where we find life.

Applications

It’s Daytime for us

Do all you can for God while you can. The time is coming when you can’t.

Physically, mentally, whatever may slow you down. While you can, do what you can to lead the ppl around you closer to Jesus.

No guilt

There may be no reason why you are in a tough situ. Sometimes these things just happen.

Don’t waste your time feeling guilty or trying to figure out why.

Find Jesus and follow Him out of it. There is an eye in every storm in your life. Find Jesus. Find the eye. Find peace and calmness in the midst of your storm.

Hope

We always have hope.

Even if we can’t see a thing. If we can’t see any way out. We can still have hope b/c we know Jesus can see to lead us out.

We don’t need to see the way out, we just need to be able to see Jesus to follow him out.

Remain hopeful.

Tomorrow will be better.

Can Jesus really do these things w/ a word? He said He could. I taught them like I believe Him.

He said He is the Light of the world. And as the Light of the world He attracts ppl like the neon in Las Vegas or the light standards of a stadium. Then, He shows us the way to God who gives us life.

And, He said He will set us free from the things that weigh us down and bind us up in darkness.

How can we know He can do these things? How do we know our faith in placed in the right One?

The next thing He did, that I am going to teach today, He turned the lights on for a man so he could see and liberated him from the load that was keeping him in the dark.

He proved to us that He can lead us to life, light up our way, and liberate us from the load that is weighing us down in darkness.

All we must do to benefit from this is follow Him.