Why Jesus Came
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If you were with us last week, you remember that our sermon last week was going to flow right into this sermon today...
to the degree that last week’s sermon may not have felt like it ENDED...
If you remember - the last slide we showed last week said - TO BE CONTINUED...
What we saw last week in chapter 9 of John was - An Investigation...
A miracle took place - Eyes were opened (man born blind)
An investigation ensued
Findings were discovered
And then a Verdict was rendered
And what we did last week was actually COMPARE that investigation with ANOTHER investigation we find in scripture...
it just happened to be in Genesis chapter 3...
the FALL of Mankind...
WHY DID WE GO THERE?
Because in Genesis chapter 3, we also find another INSTANCE of EYES BEING OPENED...
it was just ANOTHER kind of opening...
So each CHAPTER deals with EYES BEING OPENED...
So they SHARE that between them...
But they ALSO SHARE something else...
…the KIND of VERDICT that was rendered...
In GENESIS 3 - we see God CAST Adam and Eve - OUT of the Garden...
God was the judge - and so God was CASTING SIN out of the Garden...
In John 9 (our chapter today) - we saw the Pharisees CAST the man born blind (now seeing) - OUT of the Synagogue...
The Pharisees were Judge - and so the Pharisees actually CAST TRUTH out of the Synagogue
This is now where we pick up for today...
The man born blind, who received his sight from Jesus....was just cast out of the synagogue for PROCLAIMING the truth of Jesus and for CALLING INTO QUESTION the Pharisees...
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”
38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
The main theme of this passage, and in turn, this whole chapter…is this…
Why Jesus Came:
And Jesus reveals the reason He came in v39, which will be our focus today.
Let’s start there, and then branch out to where we need to go as we move along.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
NOW - I tried to chew on this verse all week…
there were times that I thought it was going down smoothly…
and there were times that I would gag…
It seems that every commentator had a different take on this verse as far as what Jesus really meant…SO
It seems that they too have gagged a bit on this verse over the years…
I think where we need to start is to state the obvious…
SLIDE: Why Jesus Came: For Judgment
Why Jesus Came
Why Jesus Came
What we know about the holy Judgment of God is that it leads to EITHER - LIFE - or - DEATH
Not only that - but we also know what DETERMINES which side the judgment will fall on…
What leads to a VERDICT of LIFE/Salvation?
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
We can see that we are saved - By Faith Alone in Christ Alone…
NOW - part of this SAVING Faith - is repentance
Repentance is the Declaration that we have offended God and therefore ask forgiveness for that offense.
It is a humbling of the soul before God
Jesus makes it crystal clear in Luke 5
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
And so what i want us to hold onto is this - that REPENTANCE deals with SIN…
And so SINCE we ALL as Christians will DEAL with SIN for the rest of our lives on this earth…we’re called as Christians to keep with REPENTING…
8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
SO - Repentance deals with SIN
Remember = we’re looking at what leads to a verdict of - LIFE?
Answer? - FAITH - and a part of that FAITH is - repentance
This is what leads to a judgment/verdict of LIFE/Salvation...
SLIDE: Judgment of Christ: Examines Faith (Repentance)
Judgment of Christ
Judgment of Christ
SO THAT MEANS - that what leads to the OPPOSITE VERDICT…
what leads to DEATH would be - a LACK of faith…and therefore - a LACK of repentance
NOW - in our passage today, we see Jesus mention that He came for JUDGMENT…
So as we look at this, I think we need to have FAITH and REPENTANCE in mind…
Let’s read thru the passage again…and let’s see all of it on one slide...
SLIDE: Whole Passage
What I want to ask about is this…When we look at this passage as a whole… we KNOW Jesus is talking about Judgment…therefore...
Do we see Faith and Repentance discussed?
What do we see before v39?
What is Jesus inquiring about?
Jesus finds the man - and asks him - Do you BELIEVE in the Son of Man?
In v38 the man says - Lord, i BELIEVE…
So before v39 we see Jesus inquiring about this man’s - FAITH
So Faith is present in this passage about Judgment…which means BY DEFAULT that repentance is present....BUT...
I would contend that Repentance is actually HIGHLIGHTED in this passage...
I believe it is Mentioned in v39…And UNPACKED by Christ in v40-41.
So let’s zoom in now on v39 - v41...
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
So here’s what we’re going to try and do at this point...
FIGURE OUT what Jesus meant in v39...
And you might say - well DOES IT REALLY MATTER…what He meant…we know what Christianity is.
I asked myself this same question this week...
Does it really matter?
And i concluded that it does…because the meaning of this verse is going to help us as we walk out of here today...
IN HOW WE APPROACH the world...
a good reminder for us.
SO - let’s get to it.
Basically, the question stems from this thinking...
When we read v39, we see there are 2 groups of people that Jesus is addressing...
“Those who do not see”
“Those who see”
Well - if we apply “spiritualness” to everything in this verse, would that make sense?
Let’s try it...
“Jesus said, “For judgment I came into the world, that those who do not see spiritually, may see spiritually, (sounds good), and those who see spiritually, may become spiritually blind.” - no, that can’t be it.
So what does He mean here?
I THINK - we’re going to have to go elsewhere in scripture to SET THE STAGE for us...
to GATHER some info…some TRUTH...
Before we come back here and understand what Jesus is saying here...
And I actually think there are 2 ways to view this verse 39.
There is a PRECISE interpretation of the verse - which we’ll walk through first...
BUT - i also think we can view the verse in a way that is TRUE - and will also help arm us as we leave today - to engage the community.
So first up - what I feel is the precise interpretation!
Let’s go to Luke 18:14
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This verse here closes out the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector...
and I believe this verse explains to us what Jesus meant in v39 of our passage today.
Let’s look at both...
SLIDE: John 9:39 / Luke 18:14
*Explain the dichotomies in Luke 18
*Dichotomies in John 9
*Jesus is saying the SAME THING in John 9 that He’s saying in Luke 18
Understand - Jesus Christ is the decisive blow
His judgment is FINAL - you either end up on ONE side or the OTHER
You either end up on the side of LIFE -
by faith
repentant of your sin
humbly submitting to Him - resulting in your exaltation to LIFE
OR
You end up on the side of DEATH -
without faith
without repentance
resulting in you BEING humbled by your eternal damnation
SO i think that v39 in our text today EXPLAINS the FINAL judgment of Jesus Christ...
that IN THE END - when it’s all said and done - you will either find yourself - being EXALTED due to your faith in Jesus Christ...
OR - you will find yourself being ETERNALLY humbled due to your LACK of faith and repentance!
BUT - i think we can also look at v39 from another angle...
which i think will help us ENGAGE the community as we live our lives...
Let’s go to a verse we’ve already looked at today...
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
This is a pretty popular verse here - but - have we really lingered over this verse for any amount of time...
Question - how many groups of people are listed here?
2
Jesus distinguished between 2 groups in this verse -
The righteous
Sinners
What does He want SINNERS to do? REPENT.
Another question: Who would “the righteous” be?
What does Jesus mean here by - the Righteous?
COULD IT BE THAT - He’s actually referring to PEOPLE - who BELIEVE that they are righteous on their own.
Ok - but aren’t those people sinners?
YES! - So why the distinction?
Here’s the thing...
BECAUSE He does distinguish between the 2 groups...
That means that the DISTINCTION itself - is GENERATED by the people themselves...
MEANING - the group you belong in - DEPENDS on HOW you VIEW yourself.
If I stand up and say - “you are a HORRIBLE sinner, and I am glad I AM NOT”...
well I’ve just declared myself to be RIGHTEOUS...
and I’ve placed myself in the “Righteous” category...
And Jesus said - (READ VERSE)… “I have NOT come to call...”
Let’s look at an example of this very thing in Scripture...
We just looked at the end of this story, but let’s look at the story itself...
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
NOW - Do you see how we have a DIRECT example HERE of Luke 5:32...
Where Jesus said - I did not come to call the RIGHTEOUS!! But sinners to repent!
The Pharisee here BOASTED in HIMSELF…before God
He said - i thank you God that i am not like this other guy…thank you that i fast…thank you that i have all the answers…thank you that i tithe of all i get...
This guy (confirmed for us in v9) believed HIMSELF to be - RIGHTEOUS!!
Well Jesus didn’t come to call the Righteous…but instead WHO?
SINNERS.
Speaking of SINNERS - the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, “God be merciful to me, a SINNER!”
Which one walked away SAVED?
The one who viewed himself as - A SINNER!
Do you see the 2 groups…and how the HEART POSTURE of these men is what DETERMINED what group they were in?
OK - now that we’re ARMED with that truth....
Let’s go back to our text today...
SLIDE: Whole passage (39-41)
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
Now - remember - we have Jesus here speaking to 2 groups of people in v39.
SLIDE: Highlight (those who do not see) (those who see)
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
Could it be - that IN v39 - Christ HERE - references SINNERS / and the RIGHTEOUS
Could it be that He meant this? below...
For Judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see (SINNERS) may see, and those who see (RIGHTEOUS) may become blind.
It’s obvious here that the Pharisees were PROUD…right?
They end up asking Jesus if they were BLIND…because they BELIEVED that they could SEE...
And so in this ARROGANT....CONDESCENDING way....they ask - ARE we ALSO blind?
And Jesus RECOGNIZES this pride and points it out and says - because you say WE SEE, your guilt REMAINS!
In REALITY - they were Spiritually Blind...
But like any PROUD self-righteous person - they believed they were JUST fine without Jesus...
They believed they could SEE just fine…and so Christ calls them out!
What did the Pharisees need to happen in order for them to actually SEE spiritually?
What needed to happen to their PROUD hearts?
HOW ABOUT THIS - What did the PHARISEE in the tax collector story need to do in order to walk away SAVED??
He needed to - BECOME LIKE the tax collector - like the SINNER.
The tax collector - viewed himself as - A SINNER...
Did the Pharisee view himself as a sinner in that story??? No - he was SELF-RIGHTEOUS!!
SO - The Pharisees needed to become SINNERS in their own minds!!!
So remember that -
Slide:
The “righteous” need to become “sinners” in their own minds
In other words...
The righteous (THE PROUD)
need to become - HUMBLE
And so if we implement this thought into verse39…we read this…
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see (humbled sinners), may see, and those who do see (proud - righteous), may become blind (humbled)…(SO THAT - they may see)
Could this be what Christ means here? I don’t know…BUT…
Christ IS the final-decisive judge…
So when He says in LUKE 5:32 that those who Exalt themselves…WILL be humbled…That is FINAL judgment…
We however - are not the decisive judge…SO - when we look at the world…
We want to reach the PROUD - Self-Righteous person for Christ…
We want to help get them to a place where they humble themselves before God…
LISTEN - I know many, SINCERE - very nice people...
Their problem is that they DO NOT believe that they have a SIN problem!
And so according to what we’ve seen today….what will help with that?
We want them to have FAITH right?
But what is an ingredient of FAITH?
Repentance….and what does repentance entail?
Remember - Jesus said…
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Repentance deals with = SIN…therefore - the RIGHTEOUS need to see themselves as = SINNERS…
Most people on this planet believe their works will INHERIT them a place with God…
When in fact - their faith in their works will EARN them an eternity APART from God.
Do the people around you KNOW THIS?
Listen - Why did the world HATE Jesus?
It was because of His message to the world!
Do you remember - Earlier in John Jesus said this...
24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
- Jesus CAME for judgment...
Not that you would DIE in your SINS....but SO THAT you would - BELIEVE!
Eternal life awaits those who - BELIEVE...
Believe that they are SINNERS…in need of a savior
AND
Believe that Jesus paid the price by dying on a cross FOR your SINS...
If Christ came for judgment - then we must GO for judgment...
Do your friends, family, co-workers...do they KNOW what Jesus says about them?
Do we WANT them to know what Jesus says about them?
I hope so! We should WANT them to come to Christ in faith…for eternal life
But that will OLNY happen when they understand that they are SINNERS before God...
This was Christ’s message to the world…it must also be OUR message to the world...
They must realize that they are SINNERS…because Christ CAME for SINNERS that they would REPENT of their SINS...
There’s no better FLIP in all the universe - than a humbled SINNER - brought to life!!
Those around us who think they are RIGHTEOUS…they need to know they have a sin problem...
AND that Jesus Christ is their ONLY remedy!
Let’s Pray...