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I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to John chapter 9 and hold your place at verse 13, John chapter 9. The title of today's message, Following Jesus Will Cost You. Following Jesus Will Cost You.
Modern gospel preachers make following Jesus seem very easy. In fact, often there is an attempt to simplify what it means to follow Christ to the point that it becomes as if there is heaven. And that's why the old adage goes that you come to the evangelist to get your ticket punched so that you know you're going to heaven.
But the reality is following Christ with a cost. Last week we noted that when this blind man in John chapter 9 received his sight, there were people who did not even believe that it was him. They saw him who was once blind and now he could see and he was going around saying I can see.
And they said that can't be him. It just looks like him. When Christ changes a life, people who knew us before often see a different person when they meet us again. It's funny sometimes I think about people that I meet that I went to high school with.
And probably the most common thing I hear from people that I went to high school with was I can't believe you became a preacher. I won't tell you why they say that, but they say it and they're right. I can't believe I did either.
Following Christ will change your life. And following Christ will cause the people who knew you before to say that's a different person. And sometimes it will mean that the people you knew before will say that's a person I don't want to be associated with anymore.
That's a person that is no longer my friend, no longer my associate, no longer my employee. Following Christ can cost us much. Well in today's text we see the reaction to Christ changing the life of this blind man.
And what we see is it's not all positive. Now there will be a positive conclusion and we're going to get to that next week. But what we're going to see today is that sometimes for following Christ what we will receive is people who question us, people who deny the change, and ultimately people who cut off contact with us.
Because that's what happens to this man who was born blind and now he sees. Let's stand to give honor and reverence to the reading of God's word. We're going to read a long extended section, verses 13 to 34.
I normally don't preach this long of a text, but it's all one story. It would not be good to cut it into pieces. We're going to read the whole thing and then I'll preach through this text. Beginning at verse 13 it says, They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been formerly blind.
Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he received his sight. And he said to them, he put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see. Some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.
But others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he opened your eyes? He said, he is a prophet.
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, is this your son who you say was born blind?
How then does he now see? His parents answered, we know that this is our son. And we know that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. He will speak for himself.
His parents said these things because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to the synagogue, therefore his parents said, he is of age, ask him. So for the 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.
One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. They said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I've told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him, saying, you are his disciple, but we are the disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.
The man answered, why this is an amazing thing. You do not know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes? We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him, you were born in utter sin. And would you teach us?
And they cast him out. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. And I ask even now that you would fill me with your spirit, that the preaching of your word would be by the power of your spirit, that it would glorify your son, that I would decrease and that he would increase, that you would keep me from varying from anything that your word says is true, that you would tie me to the post and not let me stray.
And Lord, for your people who have already trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would, along with the blind man, be able to say, I once was blind, but now I see. For we who once did not have eyes to see have been given eyes to see your glory.
And Lord, for those who have not yet come to Christ, may today they count the cost. As Jesus said, if any man may come after me, let him count the cost. But Lord, let them see through the beauty of this message, that the cost is worth it, that Jesus is worth it.
We pray this in his name. Amen. Last week we began John 9 and we noted that it centers around one specific healing miracle in the ministry of Jesus. This entire chapter is about one event. It can be broken down into three parts.
The first 12 verses we looked at last week is the healing of the blind man. Verses 13 to 34 are the investigation that goes into his healing. This is really a very unique healing miracle, because although this is not the only time in the four gospels where there is some investigation after healing, this is the most extensive and most written about case of investigating a healing in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
And then 35 to 41, which we will look at next week, we see the man sees Jesus, he worships Jesus, and Jesus rebukes those who are the Pharisees. So we know how the story ends. But today we're going to look at this event and we're going to see this, what I'm calling the follow-up investigation.
Last week we noted that Jesus, along with his disciples, saw this man who was born blind. They came up to this man and the disciples had that question. Was it this man or his brothers or his parents who were sinners?
And that's why he was born blind. And Jesus says, no, it was not this man. It was not his parents. But that the glory of God, the power of God would be shown in him. And then Jesus took mud, took dirt in his spit, made mud, put it on the man's eyes.
The man went and washed his face in the pool of Siloam. And he was miraculously healed. We know the story. Well, now we move to the follow-up investigation. And we find ourselves at what I have sort of outlined as sort of a three-act courtroom drama.
And I know there are some of us who probably enjoy courtroom dramas, like the old Matlock and Perry Mason dramas, or maybe the more modern Law and Order shows, things like that, that kind of walk you through the legal process.
Well, we're going to walk through the process of this with the investigation, the calling of witnesses, and the final verdict. And what we're going to see is that these authorities are not attempting to ascertain the truth.
These authorities are trying to condemn Christ. They have already made up their mind about Jesus. In fact, the text tells us that because it says they had already decreed that if anyone says that Jesus is the Christ, he is to be put out of the synagogue.
They had already made that determination. So this is not an investigation of truth, any more than when Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, was taken and arrested and drug through six different kangaroo courts.
The house of Annas, the house of Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin. Then he was taken before Pilate once, before Herod, before Pilate again. And every one of them was a kangaroo court. Well, this man is faced with the same.
Not a righteous set of judgments, but men who have already made their judgments and are demanding answers that agree with their judgments. This is not righteousness. This is wickedness with the law behind it.
And so we're going to look at it in this way. We're going to see first verses 9 to 17 is the healed man is interrogated. Then we're going to see verses 18 to 23, his parents are intimidated. And then finally, verses 24 to 34, we will see the healed man is emboldened.
That's my favorite part. Because at that point, I would like to say he gets a little sarcastic. And I don't think sarcasm is a spiritual gift, but I do know I got it. I appreciate the value of sarcasm.
And this man, he lays it on him. And I think I'm emboldened by the Holy Spirit when he does. So let's begin. We'll look first at the healing man being examined, beginning in verse 13. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been born blind.
Now, it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made mud and opened his eyes. Now, this is the part that John just sort of casually mentions. But you have to understand, this is the main issue that many of the Pharisees are using to attack Jesus.
And this is not the first time. You understand that the Sabbath law, when it was given to Israel, the Sabbath law was given to Israel as a blessing, not a curse. It is a good thing to rest. And the Sabbath law was also given as a sign to point to Messiah who would give us rest.
Jesus said, Come to me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you Sabbath. I will give you rest. The Sabbath not only had a value in the life of the Jewish people, but it also had a prefiguring, a pointing to a shadow.
Colossians 2 .16 says, It's a shadow of what is to come, and the substance is Christ. The Sabbath is beautiful and wonderful and is a blessing, but it can be twisted into a curse. And that is what the Pharisees had done.
In their attempt to be fastidious in the keeping of the law, they had established so many rules to add to what God's Word said about keeping the Sabbath that it became a day of misery, trying to make sure you didn't accidentally go further than the rules of the Pharisees would allow.
39 specific rules were given from how many steps you were to take to whether or not you were to carry a burden and what constitutes a burden. I've talked about this before. Could you carry a handkerchief?
No. But you could tie it around your neck and wear it. There were so many rules that were like this that were ridiculous. And Jesus came in, and I want to be clear, Jesus never broke the law of God. But Jesus did break the rules of the Pharisees because they were not the law of God.
And Jesus said that at one point. He says, You take your doctrines, your traditions, and you make them God's law. You teach as doctrine the commandments of men. And one thing we need to be careful never to do is to take our extra biblical standards and apply them to someone else as if it were the law of God.
That's the very heart of legalism. When we take our personal standards, I see this in a lot of churches. Well, you can't be a member here unless you're this, this, or this. Well, guess what? That's your personal standard.
That's not the law of God. And it really bothers me. The Pharisee spirit is still alive in many churches today. Whether it's how long your skirts are, to the point of they have to cover your feet, to how long your hair is, all these different things become standards.
Can we talk about modesty? Yes. Modesty is important. But let us not create a standard that is above God's word. Romans 14 warns us against that. And that's what the Pharisees had done. The Pharisees had done that.
Jesus healed on the Sabbath. He did not break God's law. But we'll see that the way they argue against Jesus is because he healed on the Sabbath, he cannot be the Messiah. Because he's a sinner, from their perspective.
Verse 15, So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight, and he said, He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see. Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.
But others said, How can a man who is a sinner do such things? And there was a division among them. Understand this, verse 16 is very important because verse 16 is actually showing us that not all the Pharisees thought the same thing.
And this was the division among them. Some said, He broke God's law, he broke the Sabbath, therefore he can't be the Messiah. That's how some of them are making their case. That's their syllogism. He broke the law, Messiah can't break the law, therefore he can't be the Messiah.
But the other side is saying, He's doing miracles. Only if a man is from God can he do miracles, therefore this man must be from God. So there's two warring factions among the leadership. There's two warring factions.
And I know the text doesn't say this. And if you want to tell me later I'm wrong, you can have an opinion and I'll have my opinion. And I know that preaching is not supposed to be just sharing your opinions.
But there are some times when we are allowed to simply say, here's what I think is behind this text. I think that men like Nicodemus are on the other side. Nicodemus has already shown himself at least once to be willing to go to Jesus at night.
We see that in John 3. But earlier, in chapter 7, Nicodemus actually was one who stood for Jesus. And he said something to the other Pharisees. You know what the other Pharisees said to him? Are you also from Galilee?
When Nicodemus tried to at least stand up for Jesus and say, Hey, wait a minute, nobody gets charged around here unless we first hear his case. And they say, Are you also a Galilean? So I tend to think that whoever this other side was, who was saying, how could he do these things?
Remember what Nicodemus said to Jesus on the night he came to him? He says, We know you're from God because no one could do the things you do if he wasn't from God. Well, that's the very thing they say here.
How could this man not be from God? He's doing miracles. But as is often the case, the voices of wickedness often drown out the voices of good. That's still the truth today. It's true in many churches.
It's a danger in many churches. It's the voice of wickedness. The voices of wickedness are often so loud that the voices of truth are muted, ignored or cast out. You realize there are seven mainline denominations in modern Christianity.
And every single one of the mainline denominations is absolutely heretical in their view of Jesus, in their view of morality and in their view of God. All seven of the mainline denominations, and I could name each one of them, have heretical views about Christ, about God, about human morality, sexuality and sin.
And they are the mainline denominations. This is what happens when the voice of truth is silenced and the voice of wickedness is allowed to flourish. And that's what's happening here. Verse 17. So they said again to the blind man, What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?
He said, He is a prophet. Now, is he right? Yes. Jesus is a prophet. Now, you might say, Jesus is not only a prophet, and that would be true. Jesus is not only a prophet. Jesus Christ is Messiah, which means he is prophet, priest and king.
Hebrew, Mashiach. Greek, Christos, which we say Christ. By the way, those are the same word, if you didn't know. Messiah in Hebrew is the equivalent of Christ in Greek. And so when you call Jesus the Christ, you're calling him Messiah.
You're saying he's prophet, priest and king. So this man says, Jesus is the prophet, knowing very little about Christ. All he knows, and he's going to say it in a minute. I was blind, but now I see. But he knows this.
That's not just a normal dude. That's not just a run-of-the-mill, off-the-street guy. That guy right there is at least a prophet. And later we'll see in the end of the story, he worships Jesus, understanding him to be the Messiah.
But at least right now, I say this is the seed of faith. The seed of faith is you recognize at least that Jesus is more than a mere man. He is a prophet of God. The Jews did not believe that he had been born blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight.
They questioned whether or not the miracle even happened. Here's the thing that was so amazing about Jesus' miracles. Jesus' miracles were unquestionable. In fact, at a certain point in the other Gospels, you'll remember, they actually go and they accuse Jesus of doing what he did by the power of the devil.
You know why they accused Jesus of what he did by the power of the devil? Because they couldn't deny that he was doing it. They couldn't deny that it was real. So what do you do if you hate the guy, but you can't deny what he's doing?
You've got to say, well, he's doing it the wrong way. He's doing it by the power of the devil. And let me ask you this. Are there people who fake miracles? Yes. Back then, there were people who fake miracles.
And today, there are people who fake miracles. In fact, several years ago, there was an audio recording that was published. And it was recorded from one of the crusades of one of these healing ministries.
And the recording was of the man who wore an earpiece, and his wife, who would talk to him on a radio frequency. And she would, when people were walking in the door, she was getting their names, getting their ailments, finding out what their prayer requests were, and all these things.
So that when he was up on the stage, he would walk forward, and she would say, hey, there's a man in the second row. His name's Frank. And Frank just became a member of the church. So let's talk about Frank.
Frank, Frank, is your name Frank? Of course. Yeah, right. And that would tell him what to say. And it was as if he had some type of spiritual insight into the lives of the people. Just a few months ago, they found out, a church in California, there was a man who was going and researching people's Facebook pages to find out information about them, so that when he was preaching, he could call people out in the audience and talk about things in their life.
But he was doing it by going and researching their social media pages. There are fake miracle workers out there. But Jesus wasn't one of them. But that's what they said. He couldn't have really been blind.
This must have been a hoax. This man must have been faking it. Well, nobody fakes blindness from birth. You got a little baby, can't fake it. So now, they call his parents and ask them, is this your son, who you say was born blind?
How then does he now see? His parents answered, we know that this is our son, and that he was born blind. But how he sees, we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age, he will speak for himself.
Now, in a minute, we'll look at the next verse, which tells us their motivation. But just for a moment, it's hard to believe that his parents had no idea what had happened. I imagine that one of the first things this blind man did when receiving his sight was go to his family and proclaim the blessing of him now receiving his sight, and who did it.
But it is possible that news had not reached them. And for the benefit of the doubt, we can say maybe they really didn't know. It's hard to believe they didn't know, it's hard to believe they hadn't heard, even if they didn't hear it from the mouth of their son, that they heard it from the mouth of someone, but they are not willing to get involved.
All they're willing to do is say, yep, I identify him, he's my son, yes, he was born blind, but I don't know what happened, I don't know who healed him, and if you want to know, ask him, don't get me involved.
He is old enough to speak for himself, I don't want to be involved. Now you ask yourself, why wouldn't they want to be involved? Why wouldn't they want to rejoice? Why wouldn't they want to follow Jesus?
Well it says, verse 22, His parents said these things because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.
Therefore his parents said to him, said, he is of age, ask him. The fear of excommunication, the fear of social ostracization, the fear of losing standing in the community, the fear of losing their connection to their faith, caused them to say, we don't want to get involved, ask him.
Yes, that's our son, can't deny that. And oh yeah, he was born blind, now he sees, can't deny that either. But we don't know. If you want to know, ask him. So for the 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. Now that phrase, give glory to God, can be taken in different ways. Some assume that what they were saying was, don't give glory to Jesus, if you've really been healed, give glory to God.
It's obvious you've been healed. It's obvious you have received some form of miracle. Your parents said you were blind, now you can see. We're not denying that anymore. But give glory to God, that man's a sinner.
Right, give glory to God, not to him. That's one way that it could be taken. It could also be, because this is a court, they could be saying something similar to our modern use of language, when we say, take an oath, or say what you say in the sight of God.
When you go to the court, what do you have to do? Put your hand on the Bible, what do you say? I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So, it could be that what they're saying is, so far you have not glorified God in your words, because you're telling us that man did it.
Tell us the truth in the name of God. That could be the other way this could be meant. And so, they have, as I said at the beginning, they've already assigned guilt to Jesus, they have already assigned him to being a sinner.
They said, give glory to God, we know. Not we think, not we have determined, not we have interpreted, we know this man is a sinner. Let me tell you something they didn't know. They didn't know that, because it weren't true.
How many people in this world know things that just ain't so? That's one of the greatest things Ronald Reagan ever said. Ronald Reagan was an interesting politician. He had a lot of leadership charisma.
He had an interesting way of presenting himself. Many people loved him, many people hated him. But one thing he said one time, he says, the one thing about my opponents that's so difficult is they believe so many things that just aren't true.
He says, they know so many things that just ain't so. How many people know things that just ain't so? And that's what this is. They say, we know this man is a sinner. No, you do not. You absolutely don't know that this man is a sinner.
And I love the response. This is where I believe this man gets a little sideways with them. And by sideways, I mean a little sarcastic. And again, I appreciate, I actually do a sermon. I've never preached it here.
Maybe I'll preach it here one day. But I've done a sermon. I've been asked to do it out of town a few times. And that is the value of humor in the Christian life. I've done that in Ohio and in Nevada.
Because I was asked to teach on that subject. Because I do comedy and I love humor. And people want to know why. Because I think it's valuable. I think it's important. I think humor is good. And one of the things I say in that sermon is that sometimes the very best way to point to a truth is to do so in a way that is meant to be sarcastic and cutting.
And you say, well, no, we're never supposed to use sarcasm. Jesus used sarcasm. Jesus said, judge not lest ye be judged. For with the judgment that you judge, it will be judged. You will be judged with it.
He says, why would you look at your brother who has a speck of dust in his eye while you've got a four by four sticking out of your forehead? Now that isn't exactly what he said, but that's what he meant.
And that's basically how he said it. If you don't believe in sarcasm, you really don't believe Elijah did right when he was outside of the prophets of Baal making fun of their gods. When they were trying to call down fire from heaven.
And he said, what, is your god on the toilet? Is he busy? Is he taking a nap? Is he tired? And this man gets sassy. This man gets a little sideways with these guys. And I think for right reason. I think at this point he's starting to get emboldened because he sees this is not a righteous court.
He sees that these men are not seeking to ascertain the truth, but instead they are seeking to condemn Jesus just because they've already condemned Jesus. They just want more ammunition and he ain't going to give it to them.
So he answered, whether this man is a sinner I do not know, but one thing I do know, though I was blind, now I see. Though I was blind, now I see. You know what that's called? That's called a testimony.
Now I am the first to say, a testimony is not the gospel. Meaning this. Just sharing your testimony is not sharing the gospel. Unless your testimony includes sharing the gospel. Testimony or witness is sharing what Christ did for you.
And that's what this man is doing. He don't know much else. At this point all he's been able to confess is Jesus is a prophet, I was blind, now I see, that's all I know. What do you want? I don't know if this man is a sinner.
You're convinced he's a sinner. I'm convinced he's a prophet. Those guys are convinced he's from God. But I'll tell you this, I know what I was and I know what I is. I know my life has been changed. Do you have a testimony?
Has Christ changed your life? In fact that's... And I fully admit that Brother Mike influenced me on this. Not that I would mind mentioning that. But I admit that this didn't come from me. I learned this when I met him.
One of the things that he'll often do instead of asking someone, Have you been saved? Is he'll simply ask, How has Christ changed your life? Because that's a much more open question. You ask somebody, Have you been saved?
Well sure, I got saved when I was seven. I got saved when I was ten. I went forward, shook the hand, got wet. You know, those things. But the question is, How has Christ changed your life? Do you know that you once were dead and now you live?
That you once were blind and now you see? That you once were lost, but now you're found? It's a much deeper question and a much more valuable answer. If you know how Christ has changed your life, then you know that he did.
And so, this man says, I don't know if he's a sinner. I think he knew. But I think he said, I don't know. I don't know. You guys are the theologians. I'm just a man who yesterday had never seen anything.
And now I can see everything. And I love this part, man. I got to move a little quicker now. They said to him, What did he do to you that he opened your eyes? And I love this. He said, He answered, I've already told you.
And you would not listen. That's the way I think he said it, by the way. I get a little, you know, I enjoy reading this as if I'm there. Call it existential reading, right? Like this existed. This man didn't just say, I've already told you and you didn't listen.
No, no, no. I've already told you and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to be his disciples? That's a slap. That's a direct shot. You want to hear it again because you're wanting to be his disciples?
Of course not. You're wanting to hear it again because you want my story to change. You don't want the truth. You want to condemn Christ. And they reviled him. Meaning their words were filled with venom and hatred.
Reviling means to be angry. They were angry with him. And they said, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. You know, excuse me, we know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don't even know where he comes from.
By the way, just two chapters earlier, they knew all about where he came from. Because they said, You can't be the prophet because you're from Galilee. Now they're saying, We don't even know where you're from.
So not only are they condemning Jesus before hearing his case, they're also contradicting their own previous testimony. And the man recognizes this. He says, This is an amazing thing. You don't know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners. But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. This is important. I will make this distinction. When he says sinners, this is actually a true statement.
God does not listen to sinners in this sense. When we talk about sinner and saint, we're talking about those who have faith and those who do not. All people of faith sin. Amen? And therefore, as the Reformer said, We are simul justus et peccator, which is Latin for we are at the same time just and sinner.
Because we all struggle with sin. We agree. But there is a category that we move into when we become believers in Christ. We go from the category of sinner to a category of saint or holy one. Right? And that's the only two categories.
And that's the distinction he's making. He's not saying sin in the general sense. He's saying that we know God doesn't listen to people who don't worship him. We know God doesn't listen to people who don't trust him.
We know God doesn't hear the prayers of the unrighteous. If this man weren't from God, if he weren't righteous, why would God listen to him? Here's the thing. This man is a better theologian than the theologians.
Some of the best theology lessons I've ever learned are from non-theologians. Because sometimes they have the best questions and the most profound answers. Sometimes it's little children who will ask the most profound questions.
And cause you to have to really think through your answers. This man knew nothing. But he knew enough to say, if this man wasn't from God, he couldn't do these things. In fact, he goes on to say, never since the world began...
...hasn't been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. I'll tell you. There's a lot of miracles in the Old Testament. Water split in the Red Sea when Moses opened the waters for the Israelites to pass through.
Manna fell from heaven. Elijah called down fire from heaven. But the healing of the blind is the sign of the Messiah. In fact, the Old Testament says, this is how you'll know that the Messiah has come.
The blind will receive... And this guy says, never since the beginning, all the things that have been done, this hasn't happened. And now it has. How can you be so blind as not to see? You're blinder than I was yesterday.
Because this is an obvious thing. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. And now their response. They answered him, you were born in utter sin. Now, very quickly. There is a sense in which theologically we are all born in sin.
Just did a debate on that last night actually. Are we born with a sin nature? Yes. Are we born with a sinful heart? I believe that we are. In fact, it demonstrates itself. Even in small children, who while they are not actively, willfully sinning, they do demonstrate sinful behavior.
And if you don't believe me, I will send my three-year-old home with you. And when you bring him back to me this afternoon, you will agree. He demonstrates a sinful inclination. But that's not what these men mean.
When they say to this man, you were born in utter sin. This isn't the general sense of us having a sinful nature that we are born with. I believe they're actually attacking the fact that he was born blind.
They're actually going back to the original thought of the apostles. Remember the apostles' question. Well, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? You were born in utter sin. And you would teach us?
What right do you have? You're not a theologian. You're not a Pharisee. You're not a Sadducee. In fact, you were reared in sin. You have no voice here. You have nothing to say to us. You can teach us nothing.
And they cast him out. Ekbalo in Greek literally means to throw out of the synagogue. Three attempts were made to deny what Jesus had done. One, he couldn't have really been blind when they discovered he was blind.
Well, if he was blind and was healed, it couldn't have been Jesus. And now that the man won't step off of that, they say, you've got to be silenced and put out. Friends, this man has now been put in a situation where everything he grew up and knew and believed has been shaken.
Shaken for the good, but shaken. And he has been put out of his house of worship, of the place where he would go to worship God. I have three quick applications I'd like for us to consider from this passage before I draw us to a close.
Number one, and I've said it from the beginning, but I'll repeat it now. Number one, faith in Christ will inevitably produce conflict in your life. It may not produce immediate conflict. It may not produce the conflict that happened in this man's life where he was excommunicated from his community.
But faith in Christ produces conflict. And we know that because Jesus said so. In Matthew chapter 10, verse 34, he said, Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. You understand, there are people who from one day to the next become a Christian and their lives change.
And as a result of their lives change, it disrupts their family. It disrupts their home. I've seen marriages disrupted. I've seen so many relationships disrupted because somebody became a follower of Jesus Christ.
I believe it was Donald Barnhouse who said that there was a man who was fighting in World War II. While he was overseas, he got saved in an evangelistic event, a crusade. He believed in Jesus and Barnhouse was talking to the man.
And the man said, I'm so excited because I'm going to go home and I'm going to tell everyone that I've become a Christian. And Barnhouse said, listen, be careful who you tell and how you tell it. Because not everybody's going to be happy for you.
Not everybody's going to be happy. He says, when you go home and you begin to proclaim Jesus, I'm not telling you not to do it, but understand this. It's not going to be the reception you expect. And the man got off the boat on his voyage home and he got off excited to tell his family.
And the first person he came to was someone he went to school with. And he says, I'm so excited. I have great news. And they said, what happened? Did you meet someone? Did you get married? And he said, no, I became a Christian.
And the man said, the person said, oh, well, good for you. And walked away. And he said, it happened over and over. I have great news. What is it? I became a Christian. Oh, no. A religious nut. Oh, no.
A Bible beater. Faith in Christ can produce conflict. It often does. And we see that in this text. But conflict is good. It sharpens our faith. It sharpens our testimony. It reminds us that God is with us even when others aren't.
Number two. Fear of consequences keeps people silent. Fear of consequences keeps people silent. What kept his parents from talking? We don't have to wonder, do we? The text tells us. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the synagogue.
That's what happened. Fear of man is what leads so many of us to be quiet when we should speak. I can't help but think of the biblical examples. Peter, he wept. Why did he weep? Because he knew he had an opportunity to speak.
And instead, what did he do? I've never known the man. I've never seen the man. In the first four centuries of the church, when the church was facing tremendous persecution, particularly in the third century under Emperor Decius, and then later under Diocletian, we have some of the most important moments in church history because there were times where persecution arose, and many people refused to trust in Christ in the moment of the sword, and they rejected Christ.
That led to three major controversies. The Lapsi controversy, the Novationist controversy, and the Donatus controversy. And all of them had this question. What do you do with someone who rejects Christ in the moment of persecution, and then later wants to come back?
What do you do with a person who's a minister and does that, and then later wants to come back? What do you do? Do you receive them? Do you not receive them? And that became a big point of issue in the early part of the church.
But it proves my point of this. When faced with the trial is when we are faced with the opportunity to speak or be quiet. And oftentimes, fear keeps us silent. Jennifer and I were watching a movie not too long ago, and it was about when persecution of the church in Russia, and there was a Russian minister who was in a town square meeting, and they were talking about all these new laws, all these new rules for the ministers, and the things they wouldn't be able to say, the things they wouldn't be able to do.
And his wife looks at him, and she says, Honey, somebody has to say something. And he looks at her, and he says, If I say something, you won't have a husband. And she said, I would rather not have a husband than have a husband who's a coward.
I just think, Jennifer, listen. No, that's that moment of fear, right? If I say something, I'm going to die. And we see this in his parents. They knew they were afraid. What does scripture tell us? Don't fear the one who can only kill the body.
But fear the one who can cast both body and soul into hell. Trust the Lord. Lean not on our own understanding, as you said earlier. Third application and final. Following Christ may cost us earthly acceptance.
You may experience forms of excommunication. Maybe not from the church. You may be welcomed into the church. But you may feel the social ostracization or the social excommunication of following after Christ.
Modern day, we call it cancelling. You may be cancelled for following Christ. Cancelled from events. Cancelled from job opportunities. I asked Mike if I could say this, so I have his permission. Brother Mike, as you know, owns a painting company.
And Brother Mike paints houses and he paints buildings and he paints all over Jacksonville and all over Florida. But Brother Mike is also a man who can't keep his mouth shut about Jesus. I mean that in a good way.
And there have been times where he was talking to people on the job site about Jesus. And they said, you can't do that. You can't talk about Jesus here. And he's lost work over that. And praise God for your faithfulness.
And I say that not to lift him up. I'm saying that's what can happen when you stand for Christ. It can cause you to be cancelled. It can cause you to be excommunicated. It can cause you to lose friends.
It can cause you to lose place. But Jesus is worth it. And that's what we're going to see next week. Because here's what it says. It says he is cast out. The word is ekbalo. I like that this Greek word is one I can remember.
Bal means to throw. And I think of throwing a ball. So balo means to throw. So ekbalo means to throw out. They threw him out of the synagogue. And you know where he landed? In the arms of Jesus. Amen.
If the world casts us out, Christ will catch us. So do not fear the one who can only kill the body. But trust the Lord. He will catch us. Beloved, today, if you've trusted in Christ, there is a cost. But I hope you know it's worth it.
And if you haven't trusted in Christ, I encourage you to recognize that there's no other person in history that deserves your fidelity, your worship, and your surrender than the Lord Jesus Christ. So my encouragement to you today is to turn from your unbelief, trust in him, and be saved.
Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word. And I thank you that now we have this opportunity to be reminded in the bread and the cup of what Jesus Christ has done for all who believe in him. I pray now for those who believe that they would be reminded that you are worth it.
And those who have not yet believed would realize that you are. In Jesus' name, amen.