John 9:8-23

I was trying to think of something to compare this chapter to while I was studying it this week. I have told yall a lot that I don’t have the most creative mind. I have a meat and potatoes kind of mine. Chris Hanchey, at The Bridge, has a very colorful artsy mind…he is great with analogies and stuff. Im not. BUT…I do have one…not sure if its good or not but I have one.

Chapter 9 is like Peking, the Chinese buffet. Now, me and the kids were going to go there a few weeks ago and we found out COVID-19 killed Peking so it no longer exists.

But…regardless, chapter 9 is like Peking. You eat it and it is like the best food ever until you eat it. Once you swallow it…you regret eating it. It was like the best food and the worst food at nearly the exact same time.

Thats it. Thats all I got. Thats my analogy.

But John chapter 9 is like that…seriously. It is so encouraging to the Christian and at the same time it is so heartbreaking.

So just a quick recap…and I mean quick.

John 8, Jesus is dealing with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, at the Temple. The religious leaders “think” they know the Scriptures but they actually don’t .

They have a bad understanding of God’s Word.

They refuse to accept that they are captives to sin

They refuse to accept that they are not true descendants of Abraham.

They refuse to accept the Words of Christ

They are blinded to their own prejudice and self-righteousness

They would not and could not admit to it…they really believed they knew the Scriptures

Enter Chapter 9…a picture of who WE really are.

A blind man sitting there…Christ comes up to him (the blind man didn’t see Jesus and call out to him or walk up to Him)…Christ came to him and He pressed mud on his blind eyes they same way he pressed on us our sin. He made us feel our sin in a way we never really felt it before…just like this blind man knew he was blind but Christ pressed it on even more.

The blind man was told to go wash it off at the Pool of Siloam (I wont get into the significance of that again. You can go back and listen to that sermon if you want to know)…but he told him to go wash the mud off at the Pool of Siloam and he did and he came back seeing.

The power of his healing…the power behind it all was not his obedience, it was not from the Pool that means “Sent” but it was in the Power of the Sent One Himself…Christ, who the Father sent into this world to save sinners.

Now…what do you think you would do if that was you?

What would you do if you had been blind for years, decades…from birth and now you are a grown adult and all of a sudden someone comes up to you puts mud on your eyes…sounds crazy right.

But what if HE put mud on your eyes and then told you to go wash it off and when you did you could see CLEAR AS A BELL?

What do you think you would do?

Man…you would be telling everyone! I would be too…WHO WOULDN’T BE?

And guess what…thats what this guy did!

Crazy guy…he thought everybody would be fired up and excited that he was once blind but now he sees!

He really thought people would want to hear about the guy who opened his blind eyes and that it would excite them and they would want to know about him too!

Buuutttt…it doesn’t quite turn out that way.

Let me give you a quote from AW Pink on this chapter...

John chapter 9 “accurately depicts what is transpiring in our own day. The more the believer studies this passage in the light of his own spiritual history, the more will he see how perfectly this narrative describes his own experiences.”

So…as we hear God’s Word…ask yourself if this has been your experience to some degree....

John 9:8–23 (ESV)

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?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 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.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 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.” 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. 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.”

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 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 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.” (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.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

Prayer:

John 9:8–9 (ESV)

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?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

See, He did what you would have done. He ran home and told everybody what had happened!

Imagine the shock! Imagine what everyone was saying...

These are people who know him…who have seen him on a regular basis whether it be around his home (his neighbors) or those who saw him out begging outside the Temple.

They couldn’t even hardly recognize him!

I looked up pictures of blind peoples eyes and I was going to put some pics up on the screen but…although we have a football field at our church, even though we have more church buses than any church in the state, and a cafeteria that we put in here…that if we are honest with ourselves its probably too big for our church…or any church…BUT, I WAS GOING TO PUT A PICTURE up of a blind peoples eyes but we don’t have a graphic designer, or whatever to do that.

But a blind person’s eyes have a haze in them. They’re like a ghostly fog over the eye.

So imagine his friends and neighbors seeing this man with clear eyes for the first time...

When they saw him some said, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg? Some said, ‘It is he.’ Others said, ‘No, but he is like him.”

What did people say about you? What did people say about you after Christ opened your blind eyes?

Did people recognize something in you that was different?

Did they notice that there had been a change in your life?

LOOK AT VERSE 9:

John 9:9 (ESV)

Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

This is what a new Christian looks like…this is what EVERY Christian looks like.

The Christian has two natures now where before he only had one…a sinful nature.

But now, the one who has accepted who he really is in God’s World…a wretched sinner in desperate need of a Savior…who looked to Christ Alone of their salvation because they had come to the end of themselves and realized that they were prisoners of the devil and held captive by him to do his will....they looked to Christ for salvation because it was Him who opened their heart and their eyes…THAT PERSON now has the Holy Spirit in them, guiding them…THAT PERSON now has TWO NATURES...

That person is in the realm of what is called the ALREADY AND NOT YET.

Before one becomes a follower of Christ…you didn’t fight your flesh. You did exactly what your flesh wanted to do.

But the one regenerated by the Holy Spirit now lives a new life…AND IT IS NOTICEABLE to those who knew you before.

It is NOT BEHAVIOR MODIFICATIONS…IT IS NOT SIN MANAGEMENT

IT IS A HEART CHANGE…A TRUE genuine heart change.

LOOK AT VERSES 10-12

John 9:10–12 (ESV)

So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 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.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

SO MUCH HERE AND SO LITTLE TIME:

Look, when you become a new Christian…the questions start coming.

And because those in the WORLD don’t know Christ their questions are always going to be “HOW”?…instead of “WHO”.

Because that is the way the world works…if you want something then you have to DO SOMETHING, right?

So they ask the question, “how were your eyes opened?”

LOOK WHAT HE SAID TO THEM...

“THE MAN CALLED JESUS...”

His opportunity to confess the Name of Christ came quickly as it does to everyone who has their eyes opened by Christ...

But listen to me…by God’s grace He allows layups at the start of the game…easy questions. He allows the babes in Christ to get some easy questions on the front end. But…the longer your in Christ they more challenging it gets. AND IT DOES FOR THIS GUY TO.

But before we get there lets look at 2 more points in this verse....

It was Jesus who healed him...

Just tell people what you know…and if you are asked something you don’t know the answer to…just say, “I do not know”.

1. IT WAS JESUS WHO HEALED HIM

There wasn’t anything magical about the Pool of Siloam.

When he told them he went and washed and received his sight...

they didn’t all go running to the Pool of Siloam looking for:

Health

Wealth and

Prosperity

They understood him CLEARLY…It was JESUS who healed him…and they wanted to know where He was.

2. JUST TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU KNOW

you don’t have to answer everything

Just tell them who opened your eyes and your heart

Just that right there will get things stirred up

People want to know “how”… everybody doesn’t really want to know “who”

LOOK AT VERSES 13-14

John 9:13–14 ESV

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

Here we go… The heat gets turned up now.

See, it was calm and friendly at first.

Just a few questions from some friends and neighbors…BUT THEY GET THE PHARISEES INVOLVED.

surely this will be intimidating to this New Believer in Christ.

What you will see here with this blind man you see in you have probably experienced in your own life...

Sometimes the ones who will treat you the worst are not the unbelievers, the atheists, but the SUPER RELIGIOUS.

And Jesus…you think He knew what He was doing by doing this on the Sabbath?

YOU BET HE DID.

Now…us American Christians would say… “don’t do that! You know that is just going to upset them”

But Christ did it on the Sabbath because He knew it would upset them but it would also be a good reason to show them their misunderstanding of what the Sabbath was about…a teaching moment.

The Religious Pharisees didn’t care about the “WHO” as much as they cared about the “how” and “when”....so legalistic.

Look at verse 15

John 9:15 (ESV)

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.”

Here is the deal…this is the way it has always worked…

The Religious elites here think they are going to intimidate this guy....but the Christian isn’t intimidated by any man...

Ask him anything…he’ll tell you…especially the new convert...

THIS GUY JUST HAD HIS BLIND EYES OPENED BY JESUS CHRIST!

You think he is going to be intimidated by these guys?

What does he tell them?

EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!

LOOK AT VERSE 16:

John 9:16 (ESV)

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.

Jesus healed the lame man and the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath in Chapter 5. These Religious Pharisees still reject that works of necessity and mercy should be done on the Sabbath.

They think that He surely can’t be from God if he doesn’t “keep the Sabbath” (with all of their laws they had put on the Sabbath)…but just remember, God’s Law supersedes Mans Law.

And here Christ is again…causing a division among the religious.

It’s not a bad thing people. Get people thinking…I bet Nicodemus was one of the ones that said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs”. And it says, “But others said...”

Maybe Nicodemus had been talking to others in this group…who knows...

They questions get a little more forceful now…because the religious Pharisees are all stirred up...

LOOK AT VERSE 17:

John 9:17 (ESV)

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.”

He didn’t back down a second…didn’t blink an eye… “HE IS A PROPHET”.

Notice this BECAUSE IT IS TRUE FOR YOU TOO CHRISTIAN...

The first round of questions, his answer was JUST… “a man named Jesus”. He didn’t know much.

NOW…his courage is greater and his knowledge is deeper.

This “man named Jesus” is now “A PROPHET”.

Has your knowledge of Christ grown deeper? Do you know Him more than you did?

Do you have the courage to acknowledge the FACTS of not only what you KNOW…but what you HAVE EXPERIENCED…him opening your BLIND EYES TO WHO HE TRULY IS?

LOOK AT VERSE 18:

John 9:18–19 (ESV)

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 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

I MEAN SERIOUSLY????

You would think that these Religious Pharisees would be so excited that this man…who was BLIND…can NOW SEE!

Think of how confused this poor guy is right now!

He’s probably thinking, “have I done something wrong here? I mean…I was blind and Jesus came TO ME and he gave me EYES TO SEE! I am pretty sure I told you that…Im pretty sure that the people who came and got you Pharisees told you that I was blind…my whole life…AND NOW I SEE. What in the world are all of you so worked up over? Are we really doing this? Do we really have to go to my parents house now and interrogate them? IM CONFUSED HERE?”

THESE PHARISEES REFUSE to BELIEVE!

IT IS DAWNING ON HIM THAT THEY REALLY DO NOT BELIEVE HIM! And it is shocking...

And so it is with you young Christian! It will be for you as well! When you tell people that YOU WERE BLIND BUT CHRIST OPENED YOUR EYES AND GAVE YOU EYES TO SEE HIM FOR WHO HE TRULY IS…many religious people will NOT BELIEVE.

The Christian will come to realize what this man is starting to realize....AND IT IS THIS RIGHT HERE:

Nothing you say will convince people that it is Christ who opens the eyes of the blind.

Nothing will convince them other than Christ doing a miracle in them…and opening THIER EYES.

For many years…I always thought it was a “HOW”...

And it took a MIRACLE for me to understand that it was NEVER A “HOW’....but IT WAS ALWAYS A “WHO”...

Jesus opens the eyes of the BLIND…I CAN’T, you can’t, nothing we say or do can…BUT HE CAN OPEN ANYONES EYESY AND WE GIVE UP ON NO ONE.

LOOK AT VERSE 20-21

John 9:20–21 (ESV)

His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 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.”

SEE…the man who CHRIST gave eyes to see…HE WASN’T INTIMIDATED BY THE PHARISEES...

But his poor parents.

Imagine his parents...

Imagine what they must have felt when they opened the door to these religious leaders coming in their home interrogating them.

How long had it been, maybe a few hours, since he came home to tell his family and his neighbors what had happened?

His parents SHOCKED, CONFUSED, EXCITED that their son can now TRULY SEE...

And NOW THIS?

Imagine the guy who’s eyes had been opened...

He’s probably thinking:

“You know HOW! I told you HOW”

“I didn’t just tell you HOW…I TOLD YOU WHO”

“Why are you telling them this?”

LOOK AT OUR LAST 2 VERSES:

John 9:22–23 (ESV)

(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.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

THATS WHY!

And it is STILL TRUE TODAY...

So many people STILL TODAY are held captive by religious leaders.

For the Pharisees, it was if you confess Jesus to be Christ you would be kicked out of the synagogue...

FOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS TODAY, IT IS IF YOU CONFESS THAT IT IS CHRIST ALONE THAT OPENS THE EYES OF THE SPIRITUALLY BLIND, YOU WILL BE PUT OUT OF THE CHURCH.

BUT HERE ARE THE TAKEAWAYS:

FOR THE NEW CONVERT/CHRISTIAN

Tell people what you know. You don’t have to be able to answer every question.

As you continue in your walk…from the Pool, to your neighbors house, back to your parents house…YOUR KNOWLEDGE WILL GROW and you will become MORE BOLD.

This man goes from “a man called Jesus” to “He is a Prophet”, to “He is Lord” in verse 38.

Tell people what Christ has done in you...

that He came to you…He initiated…and opened your eyes.

Be COURAGEOUS...

FOR ALL CHRISTIANS…let us learn from this man who was BLIND but Christ gave him eyes to see…LET US LEARN:

that the one who fears no man is the one who truly fears God

FOR THE UNBELIEVER:

Maybe you are like I use to be. Maybe you are like many of us here today who has a hard time believing that God can truly open the eyes of a blind man.

But listen to me…HE CAN!

HE HAS

AND HE STILL DOES.

HE does more than that! He does more than open the eyes of blind people.

He also raises dead things to life.

And if you do not believe in Christ you are not only spiritually blind…you are spiritually dead.

If you died today in that state you would face the wrath of a Holy Eternal God who you have sinned against.

But if you repent of your sins and look to Christ, who lived a sinless life and was put to death on a cross and died for all of those who would believe in Him you will be saved from God’s wrath.

You’ll be saved from God’s wrath because Jesus took the wrath we deserve on the cross. He paid the debt for those who will believe in Him.

Cry out to God that He will open your blind eyes to see who He truly is and give life to your spiritually dead state this morning....Come to Christ and live.

Lets pray