THOSE WHO SEE AND THOSE WHO ARE BLIND – JOHN 9:35-41 March 18 & 19, 2017

Memory Verse: Matthew 11:25

MAIN IDEA: John’s gives us the good and the bad news. The good news – the best news is that anyone who believes on the Lord Christ will be saved. The bad news is that any who do not believe not only will be condemned, but are condemned already.

JESUS’ PRESENT JUDGMENT. What is said in verse 39 shows us the nature of the present judgment about which Jesus is speaking. This should help us understand why there is no contradiction between this verse and others in which Jesus says that He has not come to judge but to die for our sins – 12:47.

• In our text He is speaking of the effect His coming has on those who believe on Him and those who reject Him.

In the healing of the blind man in chapter 9, Jesus uses this teaching. To some, like the man born blind, He was the restorer of spiritual sight. To others, like those who thought they could see, He caused an even greater darkness.

This was true not only of the moral effect of His life (active obedience); it is true of the effect of His death by crucifixion (passive obedience), for it is at the cross that the division concerning Christ was most apparent. Many did not have trouble with Jesus of Nazareth as a teacher. There have been many teachers in history and there will be many more. But Jesus, the only Savior, crucified – that is another matter. Jesus crucified speaks of man’s inability to save himself, of the supremacy of Jesus by which He ALONE is able to make atonement for sins, of the truth that there is only one way of salvation, and that there is a future judgment against sin for any who reject Him. Because of these truths, the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks – I Corinthians 1:18-25.

Take heed: your relationship with Christ Jesus is not inconsequential. How you respond to Him determines your eternal destiny. Will you reject Him or will you believe? The story of the healed blind man is given to us so that we might be like the blind man and believe on Jesus, rather than being like the .

THOSE WHO ARE BLIND. Here are those who will not believe on Jesus. Their characteristics are revealed.

1. They have no sense of need. “ A-OK” is how they see themselves. Since they do all right by their own standards they think they are doing all right by God’s standards (cultic practices and false teaching, legalism). 2. They considered the teaching of Jesus foolish. They had dismissed His teachings as foolishness before – 8:48. They would do it again – 10:19-21. 3. Finally, these religious men were guilty for their sin in rejecting Jesus. When the Pharisees asked, “Are we blind too?” they undoubtedly expected Jesus to answer that they were indeed. But Jesus did not say that. In one sense they were blind and the story of the blind man being healed is to make this point among others. But Jesus does not actually say this in His reply. Instead of saying, “Yes, you are blind,” He says that if they actually were blind, they would be guiltless. That is, they would have an excuse. But they had no excuse – they were not totally blind – they HAD THE SCRIPTURES.

a. In this discussion, Jesus is making the point that they were guilty before the Law, because it is a sin for men who know the Law to act as they did.

THOSE WHO COME. The preceding points are the characteristics of those who are offended by Jesus. They are unaware of their need and consider Christ’s teachings to be foolish. They are guilty before God Almighty and will give an answer to Him one day. How different are the characteristics of those who come to Him!

1. These admit their need. They cannot see, but, like the blind man, they know they cannot see. 2. They have all met Jesus and have found His teachings both comforting and reasonable. 3. They have obeyed Jesus. He has anointed their eyes, and they have gone to the source of living water, the Word of God, with which they have washed the clay away and then have returned seeing. 4. Finally, as a result of these things, they have found themselves growing in the knowledge of Him and find themselves worshiping at His feet. None of this has been due to themselves or to their spiritual ability – they have none – but solely due to the grace of God that sought them out and healed them unasked.

These are the people for whom Christ died. His death was the atonement for their sins so that the guilt of their sin might never rise up before them again. As a result of Christ’s death their sin has been removed – Psalm 103:10-13. This means our sin is forgiven, forgotten, and gone. As a result of Christ’s death, God is able to clothe these people, His people, with robes of Christ’s righteousness, so that they might stand before Him as acceptable as Jesus Himself.

A FUTURE JUDGMENT. We have seen that Jesus divides men into two camps: those who will not believe and those who believe – those He has called and brought sight to their spiritual eyes and those who remain blind.

• Paul at Mars Hill in Athens – Acts 17:30-31. Paul says it is possible to repent now but it will not always be so – He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world…. The day will come when this same Christ who is an indirect divider of men will be directly active in judgment, sin will be punished, and those who did not repent will be separated from God forever.

TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION – II Corinthians 6:1-2