Healing Spiritual Blindness
Notes
Transcript
Jesus feeds the body but He wants to fill your soul.
Jesus gives sight to the blind but He wants to heal people of their spiritual blindness.
Theological Questions:
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Theological Question:
Is suffering caused by sin?
Leads to the next question, “Why does God allow suffering?”
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
This is a tendency of people, to judge people for their suffering...
The curse of sin.
While individual suffering is not always the result of individual sin. All suffering in the world is caused by the curse of sin.
This is why Jesus came.
4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
This pertains to His coming death.
Notice the “we” - Jesus invites His disciples to do the same work that He did in saving...
I believe this is also an invitation for us.
There is a coming time when no one will work - persecution.
Jesus did something interesting in the way He healed this blind man..
6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
Instances of healing blind men..
May be a test of the man’s faith
A display of His creative power, just as Adam was formed from the dust of the earth… this fellow was given brand new eyes.
Jesus’ care and patience in stooping down to make His hands dirty.. He also showed His compassion in slowing the process of healing to alleviate the confusion and bewilderment of the man when he suddenly gains his sight.
This speaks of God’s sovereignty in His ways by which He blesses us answers our prayers. I believe the Lord always answers our prayers and not always in the way we want Him too.
8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
The Man’s Testimony
While he knew that Jesus was the one who healed Him. He still lacked understanding.
While he can completely physically see, he is still partially spiritually blind.
People Attribute the Blessing To God But Not Ascribe Lordship to Him.
This is what prevents people from true worship that is acceptable to God.
Give Examples: people thank God for many good things and yet, they do not surrender their lives fully to Him.
There is no relationship - God is distant..
Since the miracle was so remarkable and unusual, the people brought the man to the Pharisees.
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
Note the mention that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.
Other healings and encounters of Jesus on the Sabbath. Seven other instances that Jesus healed on the Sabbath.
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
They have already made up their minds. Jesus could not do anything that would convince them..
There are those of the common sense side of the camp who asked the right question, wait a minute: “you accuse Jesus of being a sinner yet He performs these mighty signs? why would God listen to a sinner?”
In another scripture they attribute God’s work to Satan himself.
Say something about spiritual blindness here...
They thought that they could see but they are spiritually blind..
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
So they kept interrogating the man. not being satisfied he also called his parents, maybe this is all a hoax - that this man was not really born blind!
17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
The Spiritually Blind… doomed
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
At this point they are just being ridiculous.. this is almost comedic.
27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
The tendencies of self-righteous people
30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
The man preached to the pharisees, this is where a change seemed to have happened in his heart.,,
34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
his testimony cost him everything. (modern day examples in this cancel culture)
Jesus was well aware of what was happening, and actually looked for him.
Beautiful scene followed.
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.
He finally surrendered to Jesus.. describe the kind of worship as told by John.
He may have been thrown out by his religion, a religion that defines their own way to God, but He found the greatest. He found God Himself!
Next Jesus talked about His role as judge:
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.”
Explain..”for judgement I came into this world”
Either your sins have been judged on the cross and you are saved in Christ
or
You reject Jesus’ offer of salvation and be judged for your sins someday.
While we already took away lessons from this miracle. There are three that I want to leave with you today on spiritual blindness:
Lessons from this miracle on Spiritual Blindness:
Religion keeps people spiritually blind.
People can only have a true relationship with God when their spiritual eyes are opened.
We are called to be the light of the world.
