- Pastor Jacob Marchitell
Jesus heals a man who was born blind
Jesus healed a man who was born blind. Sermon 7/26/2020
Announcements:
Things are starting to get back to normal, week by week
If it’s not going to be in the 90s and 100s, we’ll be able to have service in the Sanctuary.
I’ll make sure to keep everyone updated about it all
Sunday School is starting back up in Sept.
Another new announcement, once things get back to normal, we may be discontinuing the weekly bulletin.
So for those of you who like to have something to hold on to and read, then i have sad news for you.
We’ll make sure to let everyone know, every step of the way
We’ll also ensure that all of our announcements are communicated to everyone through other means.
The last announcement, has to do with one of the pages you picked up this morning.
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Today, we’ll be talking about Jesus healing a man who was born blind.
This man’ story is all of chapter 9 in the Gospel of John, so were just going to look at the first few verses, and then ll give you all a summary of what else goes down.
John 9:1-10
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
( → → Opening Prayer ← ← )
As this chapter goes on, the Pharisees get pissed at Jesus for healing him, because it was on the sabbath, they question him, they question his parents, they question Jesus, and they end up kicking the healed man out of the synagogue. Jesus hears about it, searches him out, and tells him straight up “I am God” and the man becomes a believer and worships him, while the Pharisees hear and see it all and get even madder at Jesus.
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So...here we have Jesus healing a man that has never seen anything, ever.
He was born blind
He was born this way
In verse 8, his neighbors and the other towns folks recognized him as a beggar.
And later on in the chapter the man’s parents come into the story.
So here are a few things that need to be put together
He was born blind
All through infancy
Learning how to walk
His entire childhood
Learning how to get dressed
All through puberty
All of his teenage years
And depending on how old this man is, perhaps even into his late 20’s
This man has never seen anything ever.
His neighbors recognized him as a beggar:
Which means he was a constant presence in the village
People would pass him by on their way throughout their day
Maybe some would toss him some coins or not
He was known by the people in his village, as a blind beggar
And...his parents are in the story.
And if you were a beggar, that meant you had no one to take care of you.
No mother
No father
No grandparents or family
No one.
Which means, his parents ----- abandoned him.
Im sure they would have seen him begging in the streets, only to avoid him and try to avoid their shame
So here we have an unwanted child---
Someone that no one wants to care for---
Someone that no one needs or wants or loves---
Abandoned by his family and left to beg in the street---
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Now you can see here, that this healing happens in a different way than the other healings we see in Scripture.
This blind man didnt approach Jesus---
He didnt cry out like the other blind man in Mark 10 that Jesus ends up healing---
He didnt push through a crowd and grab on to His robe---
This man didnt seek out God to heal him.
Jesus approached someone who wasnt looking for Him
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And if someone doesnt seek out the help they know they need….. it means they had given up.
For whatever reason
Fear // Anger // A lifelong wearing down of his will and strength
Whatever the reason may be, this man had given up and wasnt looking for help
This man had grown content in his sickness---
He realized that this was his lot in life---
“This is what’s wrong with me, nothing is going to change, my parents abandoned me to live and beg in the street, this is my life.”
“Ive accepted that nothing is going to change for me.”
“Im not looking for a miracle, I am not looking for help, this is my life, leave me alone.”
But then...Jesus comes along.
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Jesus came along, and reached out to an unwanted, homeless, abandoned, unloved, blind beggar.
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You see, this whole chapter, if we were to read the rest of it, contrasts this mans physical state, with the spiritual state of the pharisees
He couldnt see physically
They couldnt see spiritually
All until Jesus comes along
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Before Jesus came in to your life--
Before Jesus lived within your heart--
Before we could call ourselves Christians--- we were spiritually blind
And just like this miracle shows, God doesnt wait for us to make the first move
Isaiah 65:1 teaches us that God reveals Himself to people who dont look for Him
Because God makes the first move
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While we werent looking for eternal life and meaning and joy and purpose----God reached out---
God doesnt just sit up in heaven and hope that people will come to know Him.
When we hear stories about people who have the odds stacked against them in their life, if they were born to horrible family ------ or born in a jungle ------- and think “theres no way that person could ever come to hear the Gospel or learn about Jesus” ------ take heart, because God makes the first move.
God will light a fire in the heart of the missionary to carry the message
He will light a fire in the heart of the preacher or the pastor
He will light a fire in the heart of the evangelist
The parent
The friend
The stranger on the street who just happens to pass by
God does not leave His children behind ---- and will light a fire in THEIR heart and reach out directly to them.
He doesnt have His fingers crossed thinking “oh I hope so and so will come to know me”
No, God makes the first move.
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So here we have Jesus making the first move, and healing a man who wasnt looking for it.
And like weve been saying, when Jesus heals someone, there are always multiple lessons that He is teaching.
On the surface, He’s teaching that he is God, and has command over the eyeballs and optic nerves and synapses and sections of the brain that receive visual input and translate it for the rest of the brain, ----because He Himself created all of it
We just talked about another one of the lessons:
God makes the first move
A 3rd lesson that can be learned, is that we dont know how long we will be living with something, before God reveals it’s purpose.
This man had been living since birth with this--
Years and years he had to deal with something that was beyond his control
We dont know when God will use the things in our life that are beyond our control and that we dont want to even be there…
It could be tomorrow
Next week
Next year
Or 30 years down the road
No matter how long you may be living with something, if it’s from birth, or if it was yesterday------dont take your eyes off of God, because you dont know when He will move in your life.
And a 4th lesson that can be learned, can be see in the back and forth dialogue between Jesus and His disciples
Verses 2-3
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
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You see, people back then….and still some people today, believe that the specific suffering we experience in our life, comes from a specific sin.
Yes, suffering in general is because of sin ----- in general.
But thats not what this question is about.
People believed that:
If you were born blind, its because your parents sinned in a specific way
If your child dies, its because your great grandparents sinned in a specific way
If you got fired, got divorced, were paralyzed, had leprosy, had an issue of blood, got in a car accident, or any other manner of specific suffering----- people believed and some still do, its because of a specific sin.
They’ll tell you that you need to pray a specific prayer
Go through a specific process with multiple steps
They would have told this man, that the suffering in your life is because you arent good enough.
If you were holier
If you prayed more
If you prayed better
Everything is your fault, you are the center of the universe and in control of everything.
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Now it must be said, that if you're suffering in prison, because you robbed a bank---then yes, you caused your own suffering.
If you smoke 3 packs a day and your lungs look like a burnt pancakes--- then yes, you caused your own suffering
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But this kind of thinking isnt talking about that.
Its talking about the unexplained
The random
The out of the blue suffering that comes from nowhere and now your life is changed forever, kind of suffering
But here in these verses, Jesus is combatting that kind of thinking.
Do you see His words?
Do you see what He said?
He said: “...this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Karma isnt real.
Good things happen to bad people.
And bad things happen to good people.
This man was born blind because God had a purpose for his future.
The cause of his blindness was God having a purpose for his future
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This blindness, was seen by God--
God is not ignorant of your suffering--
He isnt caught off guard by the bad situations in your life
He didnt have His back turned and wasnt paying attention when the things in your life that brought you suffering suddenly fell into your lap
God sees your suffering, cares for you through all of it, and has a plan for your future
His hands arent tied because of your or your ancestors sin--
He isnt being over-powered by your mistakes
He isnt bound by your sin and is just waiting for you to pray the right prayer, and rub that genie lamp to make everything better
God sees your suffering, cares for you through all of it, and has a plan for your future.
….and the more in need you are, the more room there is for God to work
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But how can that be?
This suffering im dealing with, is intense...
Life changing...
Its tearing me apart having to deal with the bad things I have had to deal with...
But I want to tell you this morning, that the more empty of yourself you are, the more you can be filled with God
If we live our life so sure of our abilities and our reasoning and our power and our strength and we put ourselves at the center of everything----then when suffering comes, we will be floored. Wiped out.
We will be floored, because if we live our life with ourself at the center, it means that all the suffering you may experience, is empty, void, hollow and meaningless.
There will be no purpose
There will be no bigger picture
No grand plan
No lessons that can be taught
Nothing but pain, sorrow, blindness and despair
It is only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that your suffering can have meaning.
If the Holy Spirit lives within your heart, then there is purpose behind your suffering.
If God lives in you, then there is a plan that your suffering is a part of
It can lead to something beautiful and powerful and important
That man was born blind, and lived that way for decades, losing everything in his life, and there was purpose behind all of it, from the very beginning.
God allowed this man to be born blind, because He would get glory from healing Him, and then other people would see the healing, and come to know Him.
This man’s suffering, lead to other people believing that Jesus is God.
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So in closing id like to ask all of you here this morning---
What purpose is the suffering in your life leading to?
Is there a purpose at the end of the road?
Do you resent God because of the suffering in your life?
Do you say:
“How dare you God?”
“How can you let this come to me?”
You can say those things, its ok.
Its ok to be mad at God, He can take it.
It wont get you anywhere, and you'll end up more miserable than you were at the beginning, but He can take your anger.
Do you blame Him?
Hold Him in contempt?
Scream at Him because of the pain and suffering in your life?
If you do...get it out, get it out of your system...and then move on.
Move on to saying:
“Where are you God?”
“I know there is a bigger picture at work here God”
“This hurts, hurts me bad, in ways I cant describe, but I know that with you….can good things come from these bad things.”
“Only you God, can take what the devil meant for evil, and make it something good.”
“I hate this, but I love you”
“I hate this, but I love you”
I hate this God, but I love you”
Has the suffering in your life pushed and pulled you closer to God?
The random, unexpected things?
The things you were born with?
Can you make the same claim as the apostle Paul, and boast in your weaknesses?
Please understand this morning, that the things that have happened in your life, can be used to reach other people with Gospel.
Your pain, can lead you closer to God, and can lead others to see and glorify Him
Your suffering, can bring you closer to God, and can lead others to eternal joy and freedom
Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ, can your suffering have purpose.
( → → Closing Prayer ← ← )