From Rejected to Redeemed

Scripture:

John 9:35–41 CSB

Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked. Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?” “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Introduction:

Night 1: We discovered the answer to the question “What is Truth?”

Night 2: We declared “I was blind, but now I see”

Night 3: We took a stand for Jesus and proclaimed “You can’t argue with a changed life”

Night 4 (last night): We remembered that “The cross comes before the Crown” , and that only when we re align our hearts with Christ can we have unity within the church.

Night 5 (Tonight): We are jumping back into John 9 and looking at the final words of this chapter “Rejected yet Redeemed.” We will see that man may push you aside, but Jesus always comes looking for you.

The blind man in John 9 knew what it was like to be cast out.

In fact, never has he been accepted by anyone… Until he encounters Jesus.

He was rejected by society as a blind man.

Then, he was rejected by his neighbors.

He was rejected by his parents.

He was rejected by the religious leaders (the Pharisees)

Religion pushed him out.

Tradition labeled him.

Pride mocked him.

But, listen Church, when man rejected him, Jesus came looking for him.

And when Jesus found him...He asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

Instantly, rejection was turned into redemption.

Church—this right here...this is the heart of revival.

You may have been rejected by the world.

You may have been pushed aside by religion.

You have been written off by your friends and family.

Here’s the thing… We selfishly look at ourselves as unworthy of rejection...

There’s not but one man who ever lived who was unworthy of rejection and look what we did to Him.

Don’t think for one second your self-righteousness would of prevented you from joining the crowd that was yelling “CRUCIFY HIM”

Our hands did that to Jesus, our sin did that to Jesus.

We deserve rejection from God but Jesus paid the price.

And if Jesus has found you… YOU ARE REDEEMED.

1. The Savior Seeks the Outcast (v. 35-36)

Theme: Jesus reveals himself to the rejected, and true faith responds with a willing heart.

Jesus heard they cast the healed man out, and He went looking for him.

This is not coincidental but intentional, reflecting the overall mission of Christ which is to seek and to save the lost.

The man, born blind, now healed from the hands of Jesus and has been excommunicated from the synagogue.

Now looked at as sinful…

Persecuted for his faith and beliefs.

But God....

What the enemy intends for harm, God works for the good. Amen?

God is never passive or indifferent to persecution of His sheep.

God goes out to get his people and opens up his kingdom.

The Good Shepherd always cares for His sheep.

It is no coincidence that the next chapter of John is “THE GOOD SHEPERD”

Jesus is a good, good Shepherd who seeks out the lost, rejected, and persecuted.

Never had the man seen Jesus, to know that it was Him that has sought after him again, but he had heard his voice...

Fast forward to John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:4–5 “When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.””

The sheep (Christians) follow Him because we know His voice.

The sheep (Christians) don’t follow strangers…

Church, whose voice are you following?

Are you following the world?

Are you following the Word?

Are you walking around with your eyes half closed so you don’t see the Truth?

Are you walking around with your eyes wide open to the Truth?

I honestly believe that we walk around with our eyes closed and our fingers in our ears, blind and deaf to what Jesus is wanting to do in our lives.

Sometimes we need just to be still.

To slow down....

To open our eyes....

To clean our ears....

To respond appropriately in obedience...

Jesus asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

Look at the humility from the man here in his response to Jesus… “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?”

The boldness of the blind man has led him to a place of humility yet boldness.

Remember he never once conformed to the Pharisaical beliefs, but remained bold as a witness to what the Son of God had done for him .

He did not see and believe… He heard and believed...

Religion had rejected him, but Jesus received him.

Revival begins when we realize that even if the world throws us out, Jesus still comes after us.

Application: You may feel rejected, abandoned, or unwanted—but Jesus is looking for you. He doesn’t wait for you to climb your way back—He meets you right where you are. Sometimes even at Rock Bottom.

2. Faith Demands a Decision (v. 37-38)

Jesus revealed Himself: “You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking with you.”

This man realizes the willingness of the Savior to seek out the outcast.

Church, Jesus isn’t just someone we read about from 2000 years ago.

Jesus, still today, seeks the outcast.

Faith at that moment demands a decision.

it demands a response.

Faith is relational and progressive.

Faith is personal and culminates in worship.

Knowledge of Jesus grows step by step—from recognition to belief to adoration.

In this order:

Recognition of our blindness

Belief in the Savior Jesus Christ

Worship the Savior

Between 1 and 2 is where the decision takes place.

This mirrors the believer’s journey:

Encounter

Understanding

Submission.

The man didn’t hesitate—he confessed, “Lord, I Believe,” and worshipped Him.”

This is a picture of progressive revelation—seeing Christ more clearly as He reveals Himself to us.

(v. 11) “The man called Jesus.”

(v. 17) “He is a prophet.”

(v. 33) “From God.”

(v. 38) “Lord, I believe.”

Spiritual growth is not instant—God builds faith one step at a time.

Every step of obedience leads closer to true belief.

Revival is not about information—it’s about transformation through faith.

Faith without decision is DEAD.

Faith without a decision is incomplete and inactive.

Throughout Scripture there is an emphasis placed on faith involving action, obedience, and commitment.

James 2:17 “In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.”

Faith without a decision or action is like a seed that never sprouts. It exists, still as a seed, but it produces nothing.

Faith is trusting God enough to make a decisive choice—like turning from sin, confessing Christ, and obeying His Word.

2. Romans 10:9–10 “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.”

Faith that never culminates in a decision to confess or submit to God is nothing more than theory.

The man here in John 9, shows the progression we talked about a moment ago.

He believed. (mental acknowledgement)

He confessed. (“Lord, I believe.”

He worshipped.

His faith became something...

Faith without decision cannot transform.

Faith without decision doesn’t confront: pride, fear, or sin.

Faith alone is dormant…

True faith flows into trust, obedience, and worship.

Without a decision, faith is incomplete, powerless, and cannot produce salvation or transformation.

Application: You can’t stay neutral when Jesus reveals Himself. You either bow and believe, or you harden your heart. Revival demands a response—what will you do with Jesus?

3. Jesus Divides the Religious and the Redeemed (v. 39-41)

Jesus declared, “For judgment I came...that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind...”

The reason for our Lord’s coming was salvation, but the result of His coming was condemnation of those who would not believe.

One of the commentaries I study said this, “The same sun that bring beauty out of the seeds also exposes the vermin under the rocks.

The Pharisees claimed vision, but their pride left them blind.

Pride = the opposite of humility.

True sight is seeing Jesus for who He is. Pride blinds; humility opens the eyes.

We see two different responses here and the difference in the results..

The healed man, humbly confessed “Lord, I Believe,” and then worshipped Jesus.

He recognized his blindness. He recognized his need.

Because of this the man received physical and spiritual sight from the hands of Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees refused to admit that they were spiritually blind.

This only made them “more blind”

They ask in verse 40, “We aren’t blind to are we?”

In Matthew 5:14, Jesus essentially calls them “blind leaders of the blind”

That takes us back to the danger of spiritual blindness.

These religious leaders were driven by pride, and were blind to the fact that they were blind.

If you are comfortable living in sin, apart from Christ, with pride fueling your motives… You are blind and don’t even realize it..

Look at how Jesus answers them here…

Verse 41, “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see’ your sin remains.”

What Jesus is saying here is that “If you were blind, you would be better off but because you claim to see You are guilty.”

Blindness would at least be an excuse for not knowing what was going on.

But they did know what was going on.

Jesus has performed miracles and healings but the Pharisees refused to believe it...

They actually ignored the evidence...Because it didn’t align with their systems of religion.

Revival always exposes two kinds of people: the hungry who receive sight, and the proud who stay blind.

Application: Don’t miss the move of God because of Spiritual pride. The ones who think they “see” without Jesus are the ones walking in darkness. Humble yourself—He gives sight to the humble and blinds the arrogant.

Dr. William Temple wrote this, “It is a crushing, overwhelming retort. Can we escape its impact? Only in one of two ways. Either we must confess our blindness and seek the opening of our eyes, or we must accept the light and walk by it. What we may not do, yet all strive to do, is to keep our eyes half open and live by half the light.”

This kind of sight holds us to our sin, and our sin to us.

The only way to avoid it is to look with eyes wide open into the mirror.

And… To look at the world as it is revealed to us through Jesus Christ.

We will never have redemption if we are so focused on the darkness.

We can never offer others redemption through Jesus without having first received it ourselves.

Conclusion/Call to Action:

The beggar was cast out of the synagogue but redeemed by the Good Shepherd and added to the flock.

Church, you will be rejected by the world but praise God redemption comes at humbly seeing Jesus for who He is.

We are all blind beggars.

We have nothing to bring to the table.

There is not a speck of goodness inside of us that we could stand in front of a holy God.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Jesus came to the earth to make the blind see and the dead live.

Some of you have already been living under rejection.

Rejection from family.

Rejection from friends.

Rejection from you past.

Rejection is not subjective to one thing.

Rejection is relative to the specific circumstances surrounding it.

We are all subject to being rejected.

And, if we haven’t experienced it before then we will.

To the unbeliever:

You’ve carried rejection long enough.

You’ve carried shame, guilt, and sin that weighs you down.

But, Jesus is standing in front of you tonight, asking the same question: “Do you believe?”

This is YOUR moment of redemption.

Don’t walk away still chained to your rejection.

Bow to the Savior, Jesus Christ, and walk away redeemed.

To the believer:

Maybe you’ve been walking in your salvation but still living under the shadow of rejection.

You’ve let the lies of people, the wounds of your past, or the failures of yesterday define you.

But hear me—Jesus didn’t redeem you so you could live bound by rejection.

He redeemed you so you could walk in victory!

He redeemed you so you could testify boldy!

He redeemed you so you so you could worship freely!

He redeemed you so you could trample the darkness!

So here’s what Jesus Christ is calling you to do tonight:

Unbeliever - come to this altar, surrender, and receive redemption through Jesus Christ. Tonight is YOUR night for salvation.

Believer - come lay down every label of rejection at this altar. Write it down, drop it in these baskets, and rise up free from the chains of redemption, in Jesus’ name.

Because when you walk out of here tonight… the world should hear your declaration: “I was rejected, but I am redeemed by Jesus!”

Church, this is not the night to sit back.

This is not the night to sit quiet.

This is the night to move.

This is the night to worship.

This is the night to testify.

Revival is here—and the Redeemer is calling your name!

Let us pray!