Seeing Jesus through New Eyes

Introduction

Well, here we are at the beginning of another new year. I don’t know about you, but over the past couple of days, I have begun to wonder what 2026 will hold in store for may family, and for me.

As I look back over the events of 2025, I quickly realize that there were many unexpected events that took place.

For Example:

I didn’t expect to wake up on the floor, not knowing how I ended up there.

I didn’t expect to spend three days in the hospital and get two stints in my heart.

I didn’t expect to have my 2 year-old grandson get kicked by a horse—that was a scary day!

So many things that I didn’t really expect. But there were also great joys!

Welcoming our 12th grandson into the world! Such a wonderful event.

Having 6 of my grandchildren attend our camp program—that was a blessing!

Having my Air Force family back in the states where we can drive to their house instead of having to fly for hours on end to visit!

And of course there was the joy of seeing how much my church family loves me and my family, and how you cared for us when I was (once again) struggling physically.

So as I look forward to 2026, I really wonder what God has in store for me. And honestly, I can’t wait to see what He does with my life!

So this morning we are going to have a message about the New Year—about 2026. But it is not going to be your typical New Year’s message.

In fact we are going to return to our study in the book of John. We’re going to return where we left off about 4 weeks ago.

So let me remind us where we are in the story of John’s record of Jesus’ life.

You might remember:

Jesus healed a blind man by making mud out of spit and telling the man to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.

When the man went and washed, we are told he went home seeing (9:7).

The people who saw that the man could now see began to ask if it was the same man, and he kept telling them, “I am the man!”

They asked him how he came to be able to see and the man told them the story.

This caused the religious leaders (the Pharisees) to investigate the “event.”

The Pharisees were mad because Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.

But the man could not tell them who had healed him (because he had never seen the man).

Not satisfied with the blind man’s story, they called the man’s parents in to be questioned.

All they could tell the Pharisees was three things:

The man in question is our son.

He was born blind.

But now (by some miracle) he can see!

The parents tell the Pharisees to question their son, because he’s an adult, and because they didn’t want to get crossways with the religious leaders.

So they question the man again (which was the third time he had been questioned about the miracle) but the man NEVER changed his story of the events.

The Pharisees end up throwing the man out of their presence, because he asked them if they also wanted to become a disciple of Jesus!

We pick up our story in John chapter 9, and we will begin with verse 35. So, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to John 9:35.

In our story today, Jesus is going to talk about Spiritual Blindness.

Spiritual Blindness

The world is filled with all kinds of spiritual blindness today. In fact, there are people all around us that Spiritually are blind—they are blind to the gospel message and do not know Jesus in a personal way.

Spiritually blind people come from all walks of life.

There are people all around us that have never heard the good news of the Gospel.

There are people all around us that have heard the good news of the Gospel, but refuse to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

There are people all around us that have heard the good news of the Gospel, and believe they have some kind of relationship with Jesus, but they really do not know the truth of the Gospel and have not been set free by it.

There are even learned men and women who have studied the Word of God and still do not have a personal relationship with Jesus nor do they recognize Him as God.

Finally, there are people who have a personal relationship with Jesus as their Savior—depending on Jesus alone to place us into a right relationship with God the Father. And declaring Jesus is the Lord (the Master, Ruler) of their life.

The question before us is simple. In which group do you find yourself to be living?

In our passage today, Jesus addresses the most difficult of the three groups. Those who believe they are godly, but have now clue what it means to live out the gospel message. In other words, He is going to address the religious leaders whose religious rituals were more important than the Holy Scriptures.

Lets pick up our story in verse 35.

John 9:35 NIV

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

The Spiritual Blind

Jesus heard that the religious leaders had thrown him out of their presence.

So he went and found him—the man who had been healed.

He asked the man one question, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

The Man’s Reply

John 9:36 NIV

“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

The man asks Jesus, “Who is he, sir?”

The man goes on to say, “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

Remember, the man was physically blind, and could not see. That means that he had never seen the man who had healed him. So, he had no idea that he was actually talking to that man—the man who had healed him.

Jesus’ Reveals Himself

John 9:37 NIV

Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

Jesus simply tells the man, “You have now seen him” (v. 37a). Jesus declares that the man is actually already seen the man who healed him.

In fact the man was speaking to the one who healed him (v. 37b).

The Man’s Response to this News

John 9:38 NIV

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

The man immediately declares his believe in Jesus.

And the man begins to worship him!

A Glimpse into Jesus’ Purpose

John 9:39 NIV

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

Here, Jesus gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ purpose in coming to the world.

He came so the spiritually blind could see, but in the process, many who believed they could see spiritually, were actually exposed as blind!

Thus, verse 39 does not contradict John 3:16-17, but rather stands as a warning to those who believe they have spiritual sight when in reality they see nothing.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day should have recognized Jesus for who he truly is—God’s Messiah. But instead they are now identified as “blind” spiritually.

The Pharisees’ Response

John 9:40 NIV

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

The Pharisees’ Response

First, notice that they heard what Jesus was saying.

Secondly, they were offended because they understood that Jesus was talking specifically about them.

So they ask a rhetorical question, “Do you really think we are blind (spiritually) too?

Jesus Continues with His Accusation!

John 9:41 NIV

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

If you were truly spiritually blind, you would not be guilty of sin!

But since you, yourselves, claim spiritual insight you are guilty of sin, and therefore condemned!

NOTE:

Today, many who oppose the Gospel message will ask a rhetorical question based on this idea.

The question posed goes something like this: How could a loving God send someone to hell who has never heard the gospel?

We find God’s answer to this question in Romans 1! In Romans 1:18-20 we see several things:

Romans 1:18–20 NIV

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven.

It is aimed at godless and wicked people who:

Suppress the truth by their wickedness

Who reject what God has made plain to them.

God’s invisible qualities can be clearly seen through His creation. His invisible qualities include:

His eternal nature!

And His divine power!

Every person born into this world has no excuse for their failure to seek after God!

Romans 1 goes on to say that humanity is all about trying to create one’s own God (cf. v. 22-23).

Romans 1:22-23 That is the reason that even today we have so many different religions in the world. Each person is trying to fill the god-sized void in their life, and they want to exchange it with something that “makes sense” to them.

Romans 1:22–23 NIV

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Many people today have exchanged a relationship with God with being religious.

Others have exchanged a relationship with God for other things that promise to give relief from the pain and suffering of life.

People today exchange a relationship with God with so many different things and they never even realize that they are have idols—things that they trust in more than God!

But Jesus came into this world to be our Shepherd. The Good Shepherd! Look at verse 1 of chapter 10.

John 10:1 NIV

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.

A Warning to the “Spiritual”

Jesus addresses the Pharisees (the religious leaders of they day and those considered “spiritual” in His day) (v. 1a).

To ways in to influence people (v. 1b):

First, they can enter through the gate.

Secondly, the can sneak in some other way!

Person “b” is identified as a “thief” and a “robber” (v. 1c).

John 10:2 NIV

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

Person “a” is identified as the shepherd of the sheep! (v. 2)

John 10:3 NIV

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

We are introduced to a third character in the story--the gatekeeper (v. 3a).

The gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, but no one else (v. 3b).

The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice and listen to it (v. 3c).

The shepherd calls his sheep by name (gathering them to himself) (v. 3d).

And leads the sheep out of the sheep pen (v. 3e).

John 10:4 NIV

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

The shepherd only brings his own sheep out of the sheep pen (v. 4a).

The shepherd goes ahead of his sheep to lead them (v. 4b).

The sheep follow the shepherd because they know the voice of the shepherd (v. 4c).

John 10:5 NIV

But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Key about sheep—they NEVER follow a stranger!

That is because they do not recognize the stranger’s voice—they don’t know the stranger!

In fact, when a stranger calls out to the sheep, the sheep will actually run away from the stranger!

QUESTION: As we begin a new year, to whose voice are you listening?

John 10:6 NIV

Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Side Note

John steps outside the story to give the reader a better understanding of Jesus and His ministry.

—Jesus used a figure of speech.

—Jesus did this to block some of the Pharisees’ ability to understand His teaching.

So What?

As we begin another New Year, we need to take a Spiritual Inventory of our lives. We can do this by wrestling with a few questions:

Whose voice do you listen to the most?

God’s voice? When you hear the voice of God are you like the sheep Jesus talked about in our passage? Do you follow Him or run away? John 10:4 “. . . his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

The Enemy’s voice? When the enemy comes to you do you recognize that voice, or do you flee from it? James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

We need discernment to know whose voice is speaking to us. Asking questions like:

Is the voice appealing to a godly, fruitful use of creation, or exploiting the corruption of creation?

Is the voice appealing to a legitimate desire of mine?

Is the voice corrupting that legitimate desire in any way?

Does the voice and message conform to and align with the Scripture’s teachings? Or is it promising some kind of special understanding or power, or is it meeting a human need in a self-fulfilling or distorted manner?

Does the voice seek to build me up, or seek to build up Jesus?