John 9:7-34
Last week we looked at the conversation in John 9 between Jesus and His disciples concerning the man born blind and how it related to the problem of suffering and disability …the common misconception in Jesus’ era is seen in the question asked by the disciples concerning this man’s blindness;
Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind [2]
Rather than compassion, the disciples see this as an opportunity to ask Jesus a question regarding people who were afflicted with physical deformities.
Their thoughts were based on the thinking of that day that suffering was because God was punishing them.
We must never look at suffering and equate it to personal sin.
God does not punish us for our sin because Jesus took that punishment but the Bible does reveal that there are consequences for sin. But it’s not punishment.
The disciples were asking for an explanation in the categories of cause…what is it that caused his blindness? … Jesus says that won’t work…instead He gives them an explanation in the category of purpose.
This specific suffering was not the result of the sins of the parents…or the man… nor did God cause this man to be born blind…don’t look there for the explanation …stop looking for a cause…instead look for its purpose.
The question of suffering and disability is not in who sinned…OR… not that God deliberately caused this man to be born blind and remain that way for all these years so He could display His glory in the removal of the blindness.
John chose only 7 of the countless miracles Jesus performed to write about…this miracle only occurs in the gospel of John.
John says the reason for only writing about these specific seven is: [John 20:31]
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
This is the theme of John’s gospel.
This was the whole purpose in writing…even Jesus comments [4:48] that the Jews will never believe unless they see signs and wonders…Paul says the same thing [1 Cor. 1:22] when he says:
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom
It has been suggested that the reason John picked these seven miracles was because the Jewish people believed when the Messiah does come He will do certain ‘signs’ as proof that He is the Christ…John doesn’t refer to them as miracles.
These 7 signs would validate their expectations so they would believe…the Messiah they were looking for and are still looking for will possess the following qualities:
—He will be a descendent from King David (Jeremiah 23:5).
—He will be well-versed in Jewish law and observe its commandments (Isa. 11:2)
—He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel (Rev.19:11)
—He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jeremiah 33:15).
—He will appear during a time of war and suffering (Ezekiel 38:16)
—He will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the Jewish people (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5).
—He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10; 42:1).
—He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18).
—He will establish a peaceful co-existence for all people (Isaiah 2:4).
—He will be recognized as the only true God. (Zech. 4:9).
—the Jewish religion as the only true religion (Isa. 2:3; 11:10; Micah 4:2-3).
—He will build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
—There will be no sin (Zephaniah 3:13).
http://www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm
Every one of those expectations…are taken right out of the Old Testament…so why wouldn’t they expect their Messiah to do all those things…BUT…they are exactly the same expectations Christians are looking for when Jesus returns.
Again…something both Jews and Christians believe will be the condition in the world when Jesus returns…just looking at these qualities it would seem that the Jews and Christians are both looking for the exact same qualities in a Messiah.
That we’re agreeing on all the same points…BUT…there’s a problem…there’s a number of problems.
In this morning’s text the Jewish leaders give a number of reasons why they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God…I’m not going to dwell on these other than mention them briefly as part of the reason for rejecting Jesus because I’m not here to give you the reasons why the Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah…I’m here to tell you why Jesus IS the Messiah.
In their discussion they list the reasons whythey are still looking for the Messiah to appear:
FIRST…the Jews believe the Messiah will be born of human parents and possess normal physical attributes like other people…He will not possess supernatural qualities…the person the Jews are looking for is a human leader…not a savior
The notion of an innocent, divine being who will sacrifice himself to save people from the consequences of sin is purely a Christian concept that has no basis in Jewish thought.
SECONDLY… of all those qualities I just mentioned from the Old Testament… they believe no person ever born has even remotely fulfilled those prophecies so until someone does, any person claiming to be the Messiah is lying.
THIRDLY…the division between Judaism and Christianity is brought out in the text and it is still an issue today
You (Christians) are His disciples, but we are disciples of Moses [28]
We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man we do not know where He is from [29]
This last comment by the Jewish leaders is a combination of the first two…goes back to the discussion regarding Abraham in Ch. 8…and now in Ch. 9 they throw Moses in the discussion to further identify themselves as being descendants of these men…as part of their rejection the Pharisees claimed to be followers of Moses and they did not know who Jesus was or where He was from [9:29].
This was to dispel Jesus’ continued insistence that I and the Father are one…that very statement by itself excludes Jesus from being the Jewish Messiah.
Their claim is that they are of the linage of Abraham and Moses which is the exact reason for the disparity between the religion of Judaism and the faith of Christianity.
Christianity puts an emphasis on miracles…Judaism does not…mass conversions in the early years of Christianity were directly attributed to the miracles performed by the Disciples and evangelists…John’s gospel lists the importance of the seven specific ‘signs’ or miracles for a reason.
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
It has had no effect on a majority of the Jewish people.
WHY…Judaism is unique among all of the world’s major religions…it does not rely on ‘claims of miracles’ as the basis for its religion…only Judaism bases its belief on national revelation – God speaking personally to the entire nation.
Even when it came to believing in Moses…and all the miracles he performed… their belief was not based on seeing miracles because it’s possible miracles could be performed through magic or sorcery.
All of the miracles performed by Moses in the desert were because they were necessary…not as proof of his being sent by God.
The basis of [Jewish] belief is the Revelation given at Mount Sinai…when they saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears and were not dependent on the testimony of others…God speaking to the entire nation.
God did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us (Deut. 5:3)
If God is going to start a religion…to the Jewish way of thinking…it makes sense He’ll tell everyone, not just a few selected people.
John spends a large portion of chapter 9 recording the controversy over the miracle of the blind man…and just like with the lame man who was healed the fourth major point of contention of why Judaism does not accept Jesus as the Messiah:
FOURTHLY…notice the response of the Jews in this healing is the same response Jesus got when He healed the lame man at the pool at Bethesdah…they state the primary reason why the Jews deny that Jesus is the Messiah.
now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus opened his eyes.
The religious leaders tell us point blank why they refuse to believe in Jesus’s claims as the Messiah ‘He does not observe the Sabbath’ [16] that statement still stands today.
For the Jews…because Jesus did not observe Jewish Law, He couldn’t possibly be the Messiah.
John describes the Pharisees’ reaction to Jesus’ miracle of healing …rather than being swayed by an obvious sign of divine power they look for excuses to criticize and discredit the miracle.
What we have here is the classic answer used by people all the time… ‘If I could just see a miracle, then I’d believe’ …no you wouldn’t.
The Pharisees saw all sorts of miracles and yet they hardened their hearts against Jesus…so seeing a miracle is not going to convince you that Jesus is real.
These miracles should have substantially changed their view of Jesus…that Jesus was divine, but they responded in a predictable way.
They made it clear that they will not accept Jesus…no matter what…even though His miracles are signs of His divinity [John 12:37-38] …they instead find excuses to doubt or dismiss them.
What we see is what happens when unbelief investigates a miracle…see this on TV…when unbelievers want to assess the miracle of the virgin birth…the miracle of the resurrection…they find fault…it defines logic…it’s inconceivable…they exhibit the same qualities as the…truth rejecting…stubborn…hard hearted unbelief …of the religious leaders of Israel…and of people today.
They interrogated both the parents and the healed man looking for any reason to dismiss Jesus’ work…here we see how sin effects the ability to recognize the works of the Holy Spirit.
Let me just comment on the way this man was healed…if you are familiar with the story then you know.
He (Jesus) spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes. [6]
Several commentators note that what seems strange to us…using saliva as a medicine upon the eyes – was not so strange in the ancient world
“Spittle, and especially the spittle of some distinguished persons, was believed to possess certain curative qualities.” (Barclay)…Mark recorded two other healings that Jesus performed with the use of His saliva [Mark 7:33 and 8:23].
In this long controversy two things become apparent…the FIRST is the response of the blind man…it is the picture of the spiritual progress of the Christian life…and SECONDLY is what always happens when sharing the Gospel.
First the response of the blind man…unlike his parents and the Pharisees who both begin by claiming certain knowledge…this man begins by admitting he has no knowledge…he knows nothing…all he knows about Jesus is His name…he represents a new believer who doesn’t know much.
He probably can’t state the biblical doctrine of the trinity…he doesn’t understand how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility tie together…he probably can’t articulate clearly the two natures of Christ…or the many theological controversies surrounding His claims as the Messiah…all he knows is the man who healed him is called Jesus (9:11).
The Bible pictures the Christian life as a spiritual growth process and this man represents that…spiritual growth begins at:
…birth: ‘unless one is born again’ [John 3:3]
…spiritual growth continues through spiritual infancy: ‘I gave you milk to drink, not solid food: for you were not yet able to receive it’ [1 Cor. 3:2] … ‘like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow’ [1 Pet.2:2]
…through childhood ‘I am writing to you little children’
…through young adulthood ‘I am writing to you young men’
…through fatherhood ‘I am writing to you fathers’ [1 John 2:12,13]
John wants to encourage us at each stage of our maturing process…each one of us, regardless of what spiritual level we’re at, should be growing in our spiritual maturity.
Generally speaking, in theory, the longer one has been a believer, the more mature he should be but sadly that is not always the case…there are many spiritual ‘fathers’ …speaking of physically older believers, who are still babes in the faith, because of the failure to take in the Word and obey it.
Time alone does not ensure spiritual growth…we must be actively engaged in the process;
…we need a daily diet of spiritual food from the Word of God [Rom 15:4]
…we need to talk with our Heavenly Father in prayer [1 Pet. 5:7]
…we need to spend time with our Christian brothers and sisters [Heb. 10:25]
…we need to be turning from the sins that hinder spiritual growth [Heb 12:1].
This man begins to mature before their very eyes…he doesn’t engage in an argument with the Pharisee, he just states what occurred.
This starts out with the man knowing very little about Jesus…he didn’t seem to know that Jesus was from Nazareth…or was the Messiah…or claimed to be God …or the light of the world…he didn’t even know where Jesus was at [12].
The man seemed to know nothing about Jesus except His name and that Jesus was the Man who healed him. [11, 12]
In his second encounter with the Pharisees he escalates his assertive answering… he begins to grow in his understanding about Jesus…he progresses by calling Jesus a prophet (9:17).
You have to admire this man’s courage…his own parents refuse to acknowledge that Jesus healed their son for fear of being expelled from the synagogue…so they therefore essentially abandon their son…BUT…he boldly speaks up.
Despite being abandoned by his parents…being terrorized by the Jews…fearing being cast out of the synagogue because he identifies with Jesus…which in reality he would have never been allowed in the synagogue anyway because he was blind.
But in spite of all of that…he keeps his faith in Jesus…he is given the option to denounce Jesus…but refuses…clearly tired of defending himself, he astounds those around him in his persistent defense of Jesus.
It’s not known how much this man knew about what we refer to as the ‘Old Testament’ …but he had enough knowledge to make some startling claims…this guy is on a roll.
We know that God does not hear sinners: but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. [31]
He recites a general theme of the Old Testament in God’s refusal to not hear the prayers of sinners…the man uses the words of the Jews against them…he suggests, that had Jesus been a sinner like you’re suggesting…that is, an impostor, God would not have heard him, or have assisted him in doing a miracle.
But he’s not done…having once begun he won’t be stopped…he makes a statement that must have startled the Pharisees.
Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind [32]
That is a true statement…no one before this man had ever heard of any one restoring sight to someone born blind…there is no record of any cure of blindness in the Old Testament.
He’s to the point now that he boldly asserts himself by sarcastically finishing up the conversation by asking the Pharisees if they too want to become His disciples.
Having heard that the Pharisees had thrown the man out [34] …Jesus later finds him, and seeing Jesus for the first time…he states a fact regarding Jesus’ existence that Jesus had to come from God…he believes and worships Him as Lord (33/38).
This introduces the SECOND thing that will always happen when sharing the Gospel…contained in the story of the blind man is a microcosm of what we will face when we attempt to share the gospel with unbelievers.
In this ‘discussion’ is revealed what we will encounter when we share Jesus with unbelievers…most people are not only going to reject what you tell them about the gospel…they will become hostile.
Those in spiritual darkness think that they know spiritual truth, but sin blinds them from true spiritual knowledge.
Again…why did John think it important to write out this entire discourse…because in this event we see the true schism between the Jews and Christians…why Judaism refuses to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah…and between un-believers and Christians.
Unbelief will produce an aggressive hostile attitude towards Christians and Christianity… look at some of their responses… ‘He has a demon’ … ‘they picked up stones to kill Him’… ‘He’s a sinner’ … sounds pretty hostile.
From this miracle we can learn several lessons:
- This miracle reminds us of the devastating nature of sin.
This man did not suffer blindness because of a particular sin he had committed…or his parents committed…or because God caused it…his blindness was the result of sin in general.
2. We see the all-surpassing power of Jesus.
During Jesus’ ministry He cured thousands…He healed the blind…the lame…the demon-possessed…the woman with an issue of blood…there was no infirmity, no weakness, and no problem that Jesus could not heal.
3. We see the stubborn resistance to God’s work.
The neighbors and leaders of this man’s community were suspicious of the healing to keep from giving credit to God for the miracle…God is at work every day doing things that we are not giving Him credit for. We need to start praising God more for the marvelous things that He is doing all around us. Unbelief is hostile towards the truth.
4. In this miracle we see the simple nature of personal witnessing.
Christians are often reluctant to share their faith…feeling as though we don’t have the answers to every conceivable question and therefore feel we must remain silent. But that’s not true.
This man didn’t worry about what He couldn’t answer. He simply testifies to what he had seen and knows to be true.
We can learn a lot from this man…every person in here has a testimony about what Jesus has done for them…our simple expression of what Christ has done in our lives will impact those around us for the gospel.
In the exchange between the Pharisee and the man in [v. 25] we see all four of these lessons…and it’s summed up in the man’s response to the Pharisee who claims that ‘this man is a sinner’:
Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
That is a testimony…here’s what God has done for me…I was blind but now I see!
He doesn’t worry about what He can’t answer…the Pharisees ask: How did He open your eyes…he doesn’t know…said before he can’t answer the many theological controversies surrounding Jesus’ claims as the Messiah…all he knows is the man who healed him is called Jesus (9:11).
He simply is testifying to what he has seen and knows to be true…Jesus does not ask us to teach theology…He asks us to testify of our relationship and our faith.
God does not always reveal why He does what He does…or why He allows it…He never promised us that we would be a success in life…if we don’t understand this then we will develop distortions about God’s purpose for our lives…if we hold on to the idea that we will be free from trouble and that we will be comfortable in all situations of life…then we are not living in a real world.
Ask Ethel about her water problems…misfortune is not God’s primary will …but He does work in us through our problems…we can praise Him in knowing that He never allows anything to happen to us that does not manifest His grace on us and give Him glory…even in our physical problems He manifests who He is.
There is not a person in this room that doesn’t have a story of how God at some point in your life miraculously intervened through specific events…our simple expression of what Christ has done in our lives will impact those around us for the gospel.
The simplest testimony can be used by God to reach those who are lost…we all have one…some more dramatic than others…but everyone has one…it’s time for us to share the good news of what Jesus has accomplished in our lives.