A Blind Man Sees While Seeing Men Can't

We're doing a verse by verse study through the Gospel of John, and as we continue in our study this morning, we come to John chapter 9, verse 1. And my goal this morning is to cover verses 1 through 41. So we're gonna cover. A lot of verses, today, but the title of the message is a blind man sees while seeing men can't.

A blind man sees while seeing men can't. In his song, The River of Dreams, that came out in 1993, the songwriter, and performer Billy Joel. says these words in the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep from the mountains of faith to the river so deep. I must be looking for something, something sacred I lost.

But the river is wide and it's too hard. To cross In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep through the jungle of doubt to the river so deep. I know I'm searching for something, something so undefined that it can only be seen by the eyes of the blind. In the middle of the night.

Well, in our passage today, we're going to see a blind man. Unable to see the truth about Jesus with astonishing clarity, and at the same time, we're going to see a group of religious experts with perfect physical eyesight confronted with the same Lord Jesus. And we will see how blind they really are to the truth about Jesus. All in all, our passage today will remind us that Jesus is the light of the world.

Jesus will remind us of this fact in our text today, but this passage will also remind us That it takes a miracle of grace for any of us to be able to see Jesus truly. Our passage today will also remind us that Jesus came into the world in order to bring about a great reversal of sight, making the blind able to see and exposing the blindness of those who think that they can see just fine on their own. And may God help us to understand. What he wishes to say to us through his word this morning.

If you have your notes, with you, you'll be able to observe this. We're going to break down our study of this passage by observing 7 developments in the story of Jesus enabling a blind man to see him in a way that seeing men couldn't. 7 developments in this story of Jesus miraculously enabling a blind man to see him in a way that seeing men could not. And to a large degree we're going to just let the text be the sermon this morning as it unfolds before our eyes.

Development number one. Jesus gives sight to a blind man. Jesus gives sight to a man blind from birth. Jesus gives sight to a blind man or a man blind from birth.

Observe what happens beginning in verse one. The text says, and as he, Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he would be born blind? Now what's sad when you look at this passage here is that the text of verse one tells us that Jesus saw a man.

But it seems that his disciples merely saw a theological conundrum. For upon seeing this blind man, the disciples asked Jesus a question, saying in verse two, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he would be born blind? The question of these disciples reflects the current thinking of their day that if you suffered from some physical malady, your suffering had to have been brought on by some specific sin in your life. So imagine how people would judge other people that they saw who were afflicted by some malady.

Or how people would condemn themselves if they became afflicted with some malady with this conventional thinking in the air. So the disciples here are asking Jesus if the blind man's parents had sinned and caused his blindness, or if this man. Had sinned and brought this blindness onto himself, which means he would have had to have sinned where? In the womb, and believe it or not, there were rabbis in this day who believed that it was possible for a baby to sin in the womb.

Which leaves the disciples wondering if this man had committed some sin in his mother's womb to warrant him being born blind. Either way, these disciples are sure that his blindness is the result of some specific sin. They just wanna know whose sin is it? Is it this man's parents' sin or his sin?

Observe how Jesus responds to their question in verse 3. Jesus answered, it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jesus is not denying here that this man and his parents had sinned, but he is saying that their sin had nothing to do with the blindness of this man. Instead, he tells them that God had a plan all along that on this day, this man would have an appointment with Jesus.

And as Jesus says here, so that the works of God might be displayed in him. In other words, in the life of this man born blind. Now notice that Jesus uses the word works here, which is plural. Jesus plans to do more in this man's life than merely healing him of his physical blindness.

He plans to make this man able to see spiritually also, and he plans to save this man's soul. And turn him into a worshiper of Jesus, which is why Jesus continues this theme of work in verse 4, saying we must work the works of Him who sent me as long as it is day, night is coming when no one can work. And notice how Jesus says we must work. The works of Him who sent me.

By saying we, Jesus is indicating that he wants his disciples to participate with him in his works. On this particular occasion, Jesus himself will be the one who is bringing healing to this man, but there will be future occasions when it will be his disciples who have opportunity to do works for others in Jesus' name. And this particular work that Jesus will do on this occasion here in John 9 is just a harbinger of those later works. That his disciples will do after Jesus has ascended to heaven.

This is why Jesus says we must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. Look what he says, night is coming when no one can work. Jesus is right now about 6 months away from his crucifixion, and he knows that his time for doing good works on earth is drawing short. As for us, there will come a time when you and I will breathe our final breath.

And we will no longer be able to do any works on Earth. To benefit others anymore and knowing this truth, we must seize the moments that we have right now. And work the works of Him who sent Jesus and who sends us to carry on his works for the glory of God and for the good of others. And Jesus' words here are wonderful reminder to us of this.

Knowing that his window of time on Earth is growing smaller by the hour, Jesus says in verse 5, while I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Jesus is certainly going to be the light of the world after his ascension, but his point here is that he wants to maximize the opportunities that his father gives to him to show himself to be the light of the world during his public earthly ministry. And being the light of the world, Jesus wants to do two things in this particular moment.

Number one, he wants to rescue this blind man from physical.

And spiritual darkness, and 2, he wants to bring to light the blindness of those who think that they can see just fine on their own. So how will he accomplish this? Well, observe what happens in verses 6 and 7. When he had said this, he spat on the ground.

And made clay of the spittle and applied the clay to his, the blind man's eyes, and said to him, go wash in the pool of siloam, which is translated scent. That's a note that John adds for us. Now, obviously, Jesus could have easily just spoken the word. or just touched this man's eyes and healed him of his blindness, but instead he chooses to accomplish his healing in this instance by using the dirt of the ground, much like he did when he fashioned Adam from the dirt of the ground on the 6th day of creation.

This is the creator. At work here in this moment. And he's pretty good at working with soil and bringing good things out of that. Now, why does Jesus tell the man to wash in the pool of Siloam, which would have been about a third of a mile from the Jerusalem, temple.

Well it seems that John finds some significance in the meaning of the word silloam, which he tells us meant scent. Meaning that the waters of the pool of Siloam were viewed as being sent of God from their source, which was the rain from heaven and from the natural spring water that was channeled into that pool of Siloam. And just like the pool of Siloam, Jesus is the living water sent from heaven. From God.

So John sees it as a delicious pun. That the sent one of God is sending this blind man to the pool of scent. To obtain his healing. Well, this blind man does exactly what Jesus tells him to do.

Observe what happens at the end of verse seven. So he, the blind man, went away and washed and came back seeing. Amazing. There are other miracles of giving sight to the blind that Jesus performed during his public ministry, but this is the only time in The gospels that we have in our New Testament that were ever told about Jesus healing a man who was born blind.

So this is a seismic miracle that is bound to trigger a huge response, which leads us to the second development in the story of Jesus enabling a blind man to see him in a way that others could not. Number 2, the healed man testifies to his neighbors about Jesus healing of him. The healed man testifies to his neighbors about Jesus' healing. Of him.

Observe what happens in verse 8. Therefore, the neighbors and those who previously saw him as a beggar. We're saying, is not this the one who used to sit and beg? To them, this sure looks like the man they used to see sitting and begging, but now he's walking around, he's carrying himself so differently, so much so that they hardly recognize him.

So they are asking, is not this the one who used to sit and beg? By the way, this is often what happens to someone who's had a genuine encounter with Jesus. The change is often so great that people are left wondering, is this even the same person? They're asking, is not this the one who used to sit and beg, and there's two ways to answer.

This question that this man's neighbors were asking, and we see those two answers in verse 9 where the text says, others were saying, this is he. Still others were saying, no, but he is like him. So they're having this discussion, staring at this guy and trying to figure out who he is. Well, this man can see now.

So unlike before, he can see when people are whispering about him. So observing his neighbors and others talking about him, look at the end of verse 9, he kept saying, I am the one. And notice that he has to keep saying, I am the one, which indicates that some of his neighbors were not so easily convinced that he was that blind man that they used to see sitting and begging. Well, upon hearing him claiming to be the blind man who used to sit and beg, his neighbors respond in verse 10.

Look at the text, so they were saying to him, how then were your eyes opened? Observe his response in verse 11, and I want you to notice how he unashamedly puts the spotlight on Jesus in his testimony. He doesn't just say, well, I went to Saloam. And washed.

No, look at verse 11. He answered, the man who is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went away. And washed And I received sight.

Guys, when you are sharing your testimony of salvation, don't just say, well, I believed, I prayed. Or I went forward at a crusade. Give God the glory and tell people about Jesus. And what he did for you, just as this man does here.

This formerly blind man makes Jesus the hero of his story, and his testimony leaves his neighbors with one question. Look at verse 12. They said to him, where is he? No doubt they have some questions for Jesus in order to verify how this man's healing actually happened.

But alas, look at the man's response at the end of verse 12, he said, I do not know. I do not know Thankfully, we don't have to give this answer when people ask us where Jesus is, right? We can tell them that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and we know that because Jesus told us that's where he is. And we can tell them that they can call upon his name and be saved from wherever they are.

But on this occasion, this man does not know where to tell his neighbors that Jesus is. So, these neighbors are thinking, well, if we can't talk directly with Jesus, then we will bring this matter to the Pharisees, because in the thinking of these neighbors, there is one particular detail about this man's healing that They believe the Pharisees need to sort out. And this brings us to the 3rd development in the story of Jesus enabling a blind man to see him in a way that seeing men could not.

Number 3, the healed man professes Jesus as a prophet before the Pharisees.

The healed man professes Jesus as a prophet before the Pharisees. Observe what happens starting in verse 13. They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind, and why did they bring him to the Pharisees? Verse 14.

Now it was a Sabbath. On the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Oh boy. Observe what happens in verse 15.

Then the Phariseeses also were asking him, the blind man, again, how he received his sight, and he said to them, he applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see. Well, if you are a litigious keeper of the man-made Sabbath regulations of the Jews of this day, you would be mortified by the violations of the Sabbath and what Jesus has done with this man. As we have seen before, earlier in John, it was unlawful on the Sabbath to administer healing to someone whose life was not in jeopardy.

You could not even gargle vinegar.

To cure a toothache yourself on the Sabbath, because that was work. It was also unlawful to make clay. On the Sabbath. Yet on this Sabbath day, Jesus spit on the ground.

He picked up the moistened dirt, and then, and brace yourselves for this, he stirred up the moistened dirt. To form a clay paste. And then he applied the clay to the man's eyes. Which would have been another violation in the minds of many rabbis, and then he tells the man to walk to the pool of Siloam and to wash himself there.

What Jesus has done here is not simply one violation. Of their man-made Sabbath regulations, but. Multiple violations. This is flagrant.

In the minds of the Pharisees, Jesus is not just done a rolling stop through a stop sign here. He has run through their Sabbath stop sign in a big rig at 80 miles an hour. With his horn blaring to draw as much attention. To his violation as possible.

So what these Pharisees have heard leaves them in a quandary, and it leaves them divided in their opinion about Jesus. Observe what happens in verse 16. Therefore, some of the Pharisees were saying, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Obviously the starting point and the logic of these men is that Jesus has violated the Sabbath and because he has violated the Sabbath, there's no way that It's possible that he could be genuinely from God.

But actually, and this is a stunning thing, there were others among the Pharisees whose starting point was different. In the middle of verse 16, John says, but others were saying, how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs? So in the minds of these other Pharisees, their starting point is that Jesus performs this astonishing miracle of healing a man blind from birth, and to their way of thinking, any man who can heal a blind man from birth can't be a sinner. So they say, how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?

So, some Pharisees here are concluding that Jesus can't be of God because he broke their Sabbath regulations, while others are thinking that Jesus can't be such a sinner if he can heal a man born blind. And this is why John ends verse 16, the way he does, saying, and there was a division. A schismma among them, the Pharisees, they're now divided. So what do they do next?

Something amazing actually. Eventually, they stop arguing with one another, and all of them turn their eyes upon the man that Jesus healed. Look at verse 17. So they said to the blind man again, what do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?

Wow Wouldn't you love such an opportunity? On one level, this is the moment that we dream about, right? Powerful people are arguing about Jesus, and they can't figure him out, so they stop their arguing, and all of them look at you and say, what do you say about him? That's a dream scenario.

But it also might be an intimidating moment for you if that most of your audience despises Jesus. We don't choose our moments, guys, our moments choose us. The choice we have is whether or not we're going to be faithful when our moment comes to testify of Jesus and this man handles his moment beautifully. Look at this man's answer at the end of verse 17, and he said, He, Jesus, is a prophet.

This is a remarkably brave answer for this man to give to this audience, knowing that at least half of these Pharisees think Jesus is an evil Sabbath breaker who can't be from God. He says, Jesus is a prophet, and obviously you and I know that Jesus is far more than a prophet, but this is actually a great answer for this man to give, given his present level of knowledge. Calling Jesus a prophet of God was the highest opinion that he could think to utter. About Jesus at this point, and it reveals to us, the readers, the beginnings of the miracle of spiritual sight in this man.

But as you would expect, his answer does not go over well with these Pharisees, but it sends them scrambling to find some way to avoid the conclusion that Jesus is a prophet from God. And at this point, there's only one route for them around this inevitable conclusion, and that is to prove that there's something factually incorrect about this man's testimony. Which they try to discover by interviewing the man's parents. And this leads us to the 4th development in the story of Jesus enabling a blind man to see him in a way that seeing men could not.

Number 4, the healed man's parents refuse. To testify about what Jesus had done to their son. The healed man's parents refused to testify about what Jesus has done to their son. Their moment comes to them.

And they fail. In that moment, observe what happens in verses 18 and 19. The Jews then did not believe it of him that he had been blind and had received sight until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight and questioned them, saying, Is this your son? Who you say was born blind, then how does he now see?

In asking these questions, the Jewish leaders are hoping that maybe this man's parents would say that he was not their son. Or that he was their son, but that maybe he wasn't actually born blind, or they're hoping that these parents might offer some other explanation for their son's sight that maybe had nothing to do with Jesus after all. We'll observe the parents' reply in verses 20 and 21. Verse 20 his parents answered them and said, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he now sees, we do not know.

Or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is of age, he will speak for himself. Now, we hear that.

And ask why would these parents say that they don't know how their son sees or who it was that opened his eyes? Do they say this because they genuinely don't know? Well, the truth is they do know. But they're cowards.

And we know this because John tells us that they know. Look at verses 22 and 23, where John says, his parents said this. Because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.

And for this reason, his parents said he is of age, ask him. Al Muller. Recently preached a sermon on John 9 to the students at Boyce College in Southern Seminary. And when he got to the verses that I just read to you, he counseled the students to go to their mom and dad and hug them.

And thank God that their parents are not like this man's parents. And I understand his counsel. From John's explanation here, this man's parents knew that it was Jesus who healed their son. Yet they feared losing their place in the synagogue.

In society. Losing their place in the synagogue, which was the center of their community life. So they don't say a word about Jesus and instead leave it to their son to give the Jewish leaders that information, which means that these parents are willing to let their son be put out of the synagogue so long as that doesn't happen to them. Wow.

Thanks, mom and dad. The thinking of these parents should have been, if Jesus is powerful enough. To heal our son from the blindness that he was born with. Then we can probably trust Jesus to help us to deal with any fallout that comes from telling the truth.

About Jesus and what he did. To our son But they don't think this way. And they don't give a forthright testimony, so the spotlight, their moment passes and the spotlight turns away from them and turns back onto their son who does not wilt under the spotlight like his parents did. And this leads us to the 5th development in the story of Jesus enabling a blind man to see him.

In a way that seeing men could not. Number 5, the healed man testifies that Jesus is a God-fearing man who is from God. The healed man testifies that Jesus is a God-fearing man who is from God. Observe what happens in verse 24.

So a 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. Speaking about Jesus. Now when they say give glory to God, they're suggesting that this man has not yet truly given glory to God.

And they're suggesting that this man has not yet been completely forthright and honest with them about what really happened. And they're telling him to be completely honest with them this time around. But notice what they do, they don't even ask this man a question. They simply state their presumption about Jesus and insist that the man agree with them.

They say, give glory to God. And what follows is not a question, just a statement. We know that this man is a sinner, speaking about Jesus. Again, the starting premise of their reasoning is that Jesus violated the Sabbath, so he must be a sinner.

And they're telling this man that the only way for him to glorify God in this situation is to speak back to them in a way that totally agrees. With their conclusion about Jesus being a sinner. How would you handle? This pressure Well, look at verse 25 where John says, He The formerly blind man then answered.

Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know that though I was blind. Now I see. This is the power of.

The testimony of someone who has had a genuine encounter with the Lord Jesus. This man is essentially saying whether Jesus violated some fine point of your Sabbath regulations or not, I'll leave that to you men to figure out. But one thing I do know. Is that though I was blind.

Now I see And he's essentially saying, that's my starting point for figuring out who Jesus is. Observe the response of these leaders in verse 26. So they said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?

And as soon as you hear that question, what are you thinking? He's already told them. How Jesus did this. He's already given them this information, so verse 27, he answered them, I told you already and you did not listen.

Why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become his disciples too, do you? There's so much to love about this man's. boldness, right?

He's on to these religious leaders and something about their evil hatred of Jesus is pushing him to love Jesus more and more. In fact, notice the word 2. In verse 27, in his reply, he says, you do not want to become his disciples too, or you could translate it, you do not want to become his disciples also, do you? And what his words indicate is that he views himself as Jesus' disciple now.

And he's asking if these religious leaders were interested in joining him and becoming one of Jesus' disciples. So little by little, we see this man progressing in his faith in Jesus to the point where he is now not ashamed at all to be counted among the disciples of Jesus. Well, as you can imagine, what he's just said does not. Go over very well with these Jewish leaders, and they.

Clearly and rightly pick up on his indication that he is now a disciple of Jesus. Observe their response. Beginning in verse 28, they reviled him and said, you are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, We do not know where he is from.

They're bringing up Moses here because they believe. That they are siding with Moses in his command to keep the Sabbath. Little do they realize that it wasn't Jesus who was breaking Moses' command to keep the Sabbath. It was their own man-made regulations that violated the whole spirit of the Sabbath, right?

And little do these men realize that it was Moses who wrote about Christ and pointed to Christ at every turn. Thankfully, this formerly blind man does not shrink under the reviling of these religious leaders. But he actually seems to grow larger. In verse 30, observe what the text says.

The man answered, this is verse 30, the man answered and said to them, Well, here is an amazing thing. That you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. He's saying here, I find men, your willful ignorance to be as amazing as the miracle that Jesus has done in me. Jesus opened my eyes, this, yet you still don't know where he is from.

I find that to be an amazing thing. And then, with a ferocious logic. And an amazing boldness. The man says, beginning in verse 31, we, in other words, you men, and I, we together know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he hears him.

Since the beginning of time, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. In other words, nothing of the what he has actually done in me. This is amazingly sound theology from this man that shows how much thinking he is putting into just this simple miracle that Jesus has performed in him, and he's boldly announcing to these religious leaders that he does not join them in viewing Jesus as the sinner that they view him as being.

Instead, he views Jesus as a God-fearer who does the will of God, and he views Jesus as a man who is truly from God. And he has inferred these truths about Jesus from the astounding fact that Jesus has healed him of the blindness that he was born with. We'll observe the Jewish leader's response in verse 34. They answered him.

You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us? So they put him out. So when you have no argument, good argument to respond with, just resort to ad hominem. You were born entirely in sins.

That's what they're doing. And are you presuming to teach us? So they put them out. Earlier they were asking this man for his opinion about Jesus, but now that he's answered them in a way that contradicts what they preferred to think about Jesus, they insult him and they write him off as a man born entirely in sins.

In their minds, as proven by the fact that this man was born blind, never mind the fact that he can see now, and how do you explain that? The truth is that this man was born in sin. And so were these religious leaders. But Jesus is rescuing this man from his sinful condition, right?

While these religious leaders will be left in their sins. Horribly offended at this man, the religious leaders say, are you teaching us? And then John says they put him out. And the language used here at the very least means that they sent him out of their presence.

They don't want to talk to him or hear from him any longer, but commentators rightly point out here that this language almost certainly indicates that they also banished this man from the synagogue. And told him not to bother even trying to enjoy the privileges that belong to members of the synagogue community. They're exiling. Him Make note of what happens here, guys, and be prepared.

For this to happen to you. Because this man spoke truth. that these men hate. They won't allow him to speak to them about Jesus any longer.

And they will now push him to the margins of society. And separate him from the community where he will no longer have a voice. And this may happen to us as well. In fact, there are people who would love for this to happen to Christians in our culture today.

So this man is put out. What will become of him now that they have put him out of their presence and out of the synagogue? Well, this leads us to the 6th development in the story of Jesus enabling this blind man to see him in a way that seeing men could not. Number 6, this is so beautiful.

Jesus finds and leads the healed man into faith in him. As the Son of Man. Jesus finds and leads the healed men. Into faith in him as the son of man.

Observe what happens in verse 35. Jesus heard that they had put him out and finding him, he said, do you believe in the Son of man? Notice, guys, how throughout the narrative, it's Jesus who initiates contact with this man, right? In verse one, it was Jesus who sees this man, and then it was Jesus who healed him.

And now here it is Jesus who finds this man. After he had been expelled from the presence of the Jewish leaders and from the synagogue, and notice upon finding him how focused Jesus is on this man's soul. He doesn't come to this man and say, hey, I heard about what the religious leaders did to you. That's a real bummer.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. And that they treated you like that. No, Jesus finds this man and goes right to the most important matter of all, asking this man the question, do you believe in the Son of Man? That's a great question.

That I could ask of all of us here this morning. Do you believe in the Son of man? Write down this reference, Daniel chapter 7. Verses 13 and 14, Daniel is seeing a vision in these verses.

And he says, behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man was coming, and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him the Son of Man was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him, His dominion. In other words, the dominion of the Son of Man is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, unquote. And Jesus finds this man.

Here and says, do you believe in the Son of man?

And observe the man's answer in verse 36. He answered, Who is he, Lord? That I may believe. In him I love the humility of this man.

He could have just given the pious answer. Many Jews would have said, yes, I believe in the Son of Man. This man is willing to admit. That he doesn't know who the Son of Man is and he wants to be careful about saying what he believes in.

Notice that he's calling Jesus Lord here. And in asking Jesus this question, this man is expressing a willingness to believe in whoever Jesus might reveal to him that the Son of Man is. And that makes sense, right? Because earlier this man confessed Jesus to be a prophet of God.

Which means that this man right now stands prepared to believe in whomever Jesus tells him that the son of man is. So observe Jesus' response in verse 37. Jesus said to him, You have both seen him. And he is the one who is talking.

With you Wow. Verse 38 and he the man said Lord I believe. And he Worshiped Hi This man believes that Jesus is the Messianic. Son of man.

He confesses his belief out loud to Jesus. And then he bows before Jesus and falls at his feet. And worships Jesus. There's actually, this may surprise you to know there's actually only one time in John's Gospel.

Where anyone has specifically said. To worship Jesus. And it's right here It's a man born blind. Who has been made able to see by the power of Jesus, who is now worshiping Jesus as the Messianic Son of man that he is, while all around him are men.

Who cannot seem to recognize who Jesus is. And this is the point. Of the passage In fact, Jesus wants us to note the contrast between this man's response. To Jesus and the response of the religious leaders.

This man and the religious leaders have all been exposed to the same Lord Jesus and the same miracle, and this man believes in Jesus as the son of man, and he worships him while the religious leaders are concluding that Jesus is some sinner who is not of God. This is a remarkable contrast that Jesus actually wanted to expose. Which leads us to the final development in this story. Of Jesus enabling a blind man to see Him in a way that seeing men could not.

Number 7, Jesus announces that his purpose in coming is to bring about a reversal of sight. Jesus announces that his purpose and coming is to bring about a reversal of sight. Observe what Jesus does in verse 39. And Jesus said, for judgment, I came into this world.

Now Jesus has taught elsewhere, we've already seen this, that his primary purpose in coming is to bring salvation, not judgment. But here he teaches that even in coming for the purpose of giving life and salvation, Jesus knows that men will inevitably respond to Him. In two different ways and thereby reveal the judgment of God regarding them. Some will believe in Him.

And thereby reveal that they have been born of God while others will reject Him and reveal that they are indeed children of the devil. Some will come to the light. And others will shrink from the light. And people will be revealed or exposed for who they are in the process.

Jesus is also explaining that he has come into the world to bring about a great reversal. Here's how he says it in the second part of verse 39, so that, he says, for judgment I came into this world so that those who do not see may see. And that those who see may become blind. In other words, he's saying I have calm so that those Who know that they are blind, may be given sight, and so that those who think that they see may be shown.

For the blind people. That they actually are. Well, there's Pharisees listening to Jesus say this, and they rightly perceive that what Jesus has just said is an indictment of them. So observe the response in verse 40, those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and said to him, we are not blind too, are we?

They're basically asking him, you're not saying we're blind, are you? Observe Jesus' devastating response in verse 41, and this is how the chapter closes. Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no sin. But since you say we see.

Your sin remains. These are haunting words. We can paraphrase Jesus' answer as follows. He's saying, if you men were willing to admit to your blindness.

You would have no sin because I would give you sight, and with that sight, you would come to me and believe in me and get your sins forgiven. And you would have no sin. But since you say we see just fine. I can't give you sight.

So your blindness remains. And because your blindness remains, so does your sin. Part of Jesus' point is that for these men to receive salvation and to have their sins dealt with and forgiven. They need to admit their spiritual blindness.

They need to confess their helplessness and their inability to see Jesus as they ought to see Him. If they would simply be willing to admit their blindness and admit their need, Jesus would give them sight and begin to address their sin problem. But because they refuse to humble themselves in this way. Jesus says to them, your sin.

Remains. So what will it be for you this morning? Which person are you in this story? Are you like the blind man from birth who knew that he was blind?

And have you looked at Jesus already for the sight that only he could give you? Have you been miraculously rendered able to see the truth about Jesus? Or are you like the religious leaders putting your trust in your own ability to see? All the while thinking that Jesus is someone who is unworthy of your trust.

Either way, just know that Jesus came into the world to reveal which camp you fall into. And the stakes could not be higher. If you're here this morning and you have never believed in Jesus Christ, I urge you to come to him this morning and admit your blindness to him and ask him to perform a miracle of sight in you. Ask him to enable you to see yourself as you are and to see him as he truly is.

If you do that, I know that Jesus would be thrilled to answer your prayer and give you sight. And deliver you from your sins. But on one final note. And the song I started my message with this morning.

Billy Joel is frustrated. He's having trouble finding that sacred thing that's been taken out of his soul. And he can't seem to find it. After all of his searching, he sings in the song, I don't know why I go walking at night.

But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymore. I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life until I find what it is that I've been looking for. And maybe you feel the same way this morning. And if you do, The problem, I think, is that you're trying to find what you're looking for.

On your own. But in our passage today. I just want you to notice that it is Jesus who takes the initiative. And sees the blind man.

It is Jesus who takes the initiative and gives to him sight. And it is Jesus who later finds the man and brings the man to faith in himself as the son of man that he is. So this man in our story today would never go around saying, I finally found what I was looking for. He would never speak this way.

No, he would say, I was finally found. By the one who was looking. For me His testimony would have been very much like John Newton's. Testimony Who in his famous hymn confessed I once was lost.

But now And found was blind But now I see I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind But now I see. And I so hope that. is or will be the testimony.

Of all of us in this room this morning. Let's pray together Lord, for Any of us to even. Come to you admitting that we don't see. We need you to take the initiative and.

Help us to see our pride, and that first initiative, Lord, is not something we even know to ask for. Our salvation must be you from beginning to end. I pray, Lord, that you would perform a miracle of sight. In all of our.

Lives this morning. Those who have never seen you as you are, that they would. Be able to see you in all of your beauty and power today. And for those of us who do know you, Lord, I would be the first to say I don't see you as I ought.

And I allow so many things to cloud my view of you and I stand in need of. You, Lord, to. Deliver A gracious touch. And render me able to see you.

Fully as you are. That I might believe and worship you as I ought. Those of us who are saved, Lord, we would say to you this morning that you have given sight. To the eyes of our heart, you have enlightened us so that.

We could experience salvation through you and be. A different type of people than we were before. A people so different that. Those who would have known us before would be left asking, is this even the same person?

We invite you to transform us. In this way, Lord, day by day, moment by moment. And help us to bear faithful witness. Of you and your good work and us.

We ask Lord, that You would help us to In the face of the growing hostility. That prevails in our culture against you and your ways help us not to wilt. But to stand tall and to speak. Uncompromisingly, the truth about you, Lord Jesus.

And if our society chooses to push us to the margins and Seek to limit our role in society and if our efforts to try to mitigate their efforts fail. Then Help us to go willingly to the margins. And we ask that you would meet us there and help us to believe in you from the margins and to worship at your feet and to do the works. Of you, Lord In whatever place we find ourselves.

While it is still day. And we have such opportunity, for the night is coming. When none of us can do the work that we have opportunity to do now. The early church wielded enormous power from the margins of society.

That they were pushed to, and I think of our savior, Jesus Christ, who was thrust out of Jerusalem. And pushed to the margins and crucified on a cross outside of the city. And from that spot. On the very margins of society.

He wielded a power. That we are still benefiting from today. Come what may, Lord. Do your miraculous work in us.

Transform us, empower us to be your people. And to testify fully to the truth about you. That we might. Give glory to God.

As you have saved us to do. Help us to do that here in the state of California. Help us to do that in whatever environment we each find ourselves in this week. That your name would be exalted by each of us as we go forth this week.

And that you would be glorified. We commit ourselves to you. Lord Jesus, knowing that you will give us the power to do exactly this. We ask all of these things in your mighty name, and all God's people said.