I Once Was Blind but Now I See Rushing to Judgement John 9:1-7
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
I Once Was Blind But Now I See Rushing to Judgement John 9:1-7 Description: Challenging God’s people to see how their suffering can serve Jesus. BEGIN: Good morning! We are beginning a new series this morning that we are calling, “I Once Was Blind But Now I See” about a blind man in John Chapter Nine. And I’d like to introduce our series by having us watch this video of a colorblind dad seeing color for the first time! Let’s watch this video together. This is pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTpCTDwjHZQ&feature=youtu.be Do we have anyone here this morning who is colorblind? I can’t imagine what that would be like, to live in that kind of a black and white world. And then to have all the colors of the rainbow SUDDENLY BURST UPON YOU! But I thank God for the technology that makes that possible. Now, imagine what it would be like TO BE BLIND ALL YOUR LIFE; and then, all of a sudden, TO BE ABLE TO SEE! That’s the miracle we read about in John Chapter Nine. And that’s what we plan to look at over the next four or five weeks as we make our way through John Nine together. But the part of the story we want to see this morning is… ➢ How This Blind Man Was Looked At ➢ How Jesus Looked At Him ➢ How That Man Substantiated The Way Jesus Looked At Him I. Look At How This Man Was Looked At! 1-2 The Bible says… 1 2 As (Jesus) he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, WHO SINNED, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:1-2 You talk about adding insult to injury! This man already had to endure being born blind. Something most of us can’t even imagine. But on top of that, now he has to endure being looked at AS A SINNER! Either him, or his parents! And great BIG sinners at that! The aorist tense in the Greek indicates that the disciples that someone must have committed a specific act, at a specific point and time, to have deserved such a severe punishment. And before we condemn Jesus’ disciples for thinking such a thing and “Rushing to that kind of a Judgement'' we need to acknowledge that such things did happen in the Bible. Specific sins AM060720 - 1 were specifically punished. And sometimes children were affected by the sins of their parents. What happened to David and Bathsheba’s baby after David & Bathsheba’s sin? The Bible says the Lord sent His prophet to David to say… 14 ...because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.” 2 Samuel 12:14 Something every one of us ought to struggle with. But something that happened just the same. And Jesus’ disciples would have been well acquainted with that happening. They would have been well acquainted with the fact that sometimes children suffer as a consequence of their parents’ decisions. After-all, is that what the Ten Commandments right up front says… 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, (and listen to this:) VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS ON THE CHILDREN TO THE THIRD AND THE FOURTH GENERATION... Exodus 20:2-5 Children suffering as a result of their parents’ decision; something that was not without precedence in the Bible. Think Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego! Four FAITHFUL Hebrew boys who found themselves… ● torn from their moms and dads, ● and their home land, ● maybe never seeing it again, ● enslaved in a foreign land, ● tossed into a lions’ den, ● thrown into a fiery furnace; ...and for what reason? FOR THE SINS OF THEIR PARENTS! For the sins of their nation! But certainly not for any sin of their own. “So is that it, Jesus? Is that the reason this man in John Chapter Nine was born blind? His parent’s sin?” Now had the disciples been ex-rabbis and scholars instead of ex-fishermen and tax collectors they might have known how God had directed his OT prophets to announce an end to that sort of thing. God’s OT prophet Jeremiah prophesied of a coming day when… Jeremiah 31:29 In those days they shall no longer say: AM060720 - 2 “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.’ Jeremiah 31:30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. And God’s prophet Ezekiel was told to announce that day had come. From now on, God’s prophet said... Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. “So if that wasn’t it, Jesus? For what reason was this man in John Chapter Nine born blind? Was it for some sin of his own?” That’s what Eliphaz said to his friend Job. That’s how Eliphaz explained Job’s terrible suffering. Eliphaz said… 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. Job 4:8 “You reap what you sow, Job! That’s why you’re suffering all these woes!” Of course Eliphaz was wrong. That isn’t what was happening to Job at all. But isn’t that very nearly what the Apostle Paul says to the Galatian Christians as well? 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Some theologians call it, “The Law of the Harvest;” you reap what you sow. ● You plant corn, you get corn. ● You plant beans, you get beans. ● You sow your wild oats, and you reap the consequences! 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 Is that what happened to this man in John Chapter Nine? Is that why he was born blind? He’s reaping what he sowed? This man sinned, and now he’s reaping the consequences? But when did he sin? Since he was BORN blind? Did he sin before he was born? How could that happen? Believe it or not, there is actually a Jewish commentary on the Song of Solomon that goes so far as to say when a pregnant mother worships in a heathen temple the unborn child commits AM060720 - 3 idolatry with her!1 Is that what Jesus’ disciples think happened? We don’t know. what we do know is that THEY WERE WRONG! On both counts. Neither this man, nor his parents sinned. This man was born blind so that he could be greatly used by God! That’s how Jesus saw him! II. Look At How Jesus Looked At Him! 3-5 “Who sinned Jesus, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” That was the disciple’s question. Look at how Jesus answered them. 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, BUT THAT THE WORKS OF GOD MIGHT BE DISPLAYED IN HIM. John 9:3 THIS MAN WAS GOING TO BE JESUS’ OWN PERSONAL FLANNEL GRAPH! How many of you remember the old flannel graphs? Where high-tech Sunday School teachers stuck all these felt figurines on flannel boards to teach Bible lessons to a classroom full of roudy kids? THAT’S WHAT THIS MAN WAS! That’s why this man was born blind. It had nothing to do with sin. His, or his parents! It had everything to do with how God was going to use him! SO THAT THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD SEE JESUS DISPLAYED IN HIM! And we’re going to see in coming weeks just how well this man pulled that assignment off! But this morning we need to see this man the way Jesus did, and the way the disciples couldn’t. We need to see this man as the divinely appointed instrument in God’s Hand that he was, prepared from birth, to be the canvas UPON WHICH JESUS WOULD PAINT A MASTERPIECE! That the works of God might be DISPLAYED in him. For... 4 We must work the works of him who sent me (Everyone say, “WE.” Jesus said… “WE” not “ME”... But “WE”... “ME” and “HE” working together) while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. John 9:4 ➢ That was true for Jesus, when it came to His earthly work, ➢ as well as for this blind man, Jesus’ divinely appointed instrument! ➢ And it was just as true for Jesus’ disciples who were just learning this lesson, ➢ and it is just as true for us with them, if we will listen! Night is coming, when no one can work.