Spiritual Blindness

I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me this morning to John chapter 9. And Lord willing, we will finish this chapter today in our continued study of John's Gospel. Now as we begin, I want to begin, as I often do, with a question.

Have you ever met a person that you would describe as being spiritually blind? Spiritually blind. Years ago, I remember sitting at a table. It was a long table with a group of men from different backgrounds.

And across from me was a man who I believe was a Christian. And several seats down was a man who was a Jewish man. He was not a Christian. And the man in front of me, just in the conversation, just happened to say, Well, Jesus is all over the Old Testament.

Because that's something that Christians certainly believe. And it's something that I think is rather obvious. But from the other end of the table, I heard, No, he's not! In a rather abrupt and matter-of-fact way.

I'd like to tell you that I took him to task and solved the problem. But in our positioning and everything in the way we do all the time, how spiritually blind must one be able to be to say that they can look to the Scriptures between Genesis and Malachi and not see the promise of Jesus Christ?

And that's what the Bible says. I mean, it says that, in fact, God has given them a certain form of blindness to the Jewish people. And so it's not a surprise to hear him say, No, I don't see Jesus there anywhere.

Well, of course you don't. You are spiritually blind. Well, today we're going to address the subject of spiritual blindness as we finish this chapter in this narrative about this man who, if you'll remember, we've been studying the last several weeks, he began the situation in a way that many of us can't even imagine.

This chapter says there was a man who was blind from birth, which means he had never seen anything in his life. He never saw the face of his mother. He never saw the hands of his father. He never saw a sunrise.

He never saw the moon or a mountain or a stream. He may have felt these things with his hands. He may have heard them with his ears, but he never saw them with his eyes until Jesus reached down, took some of his spittle and some dirt, put it in the man's eyes, told him to go and wash.

And when he washed, not only was he able to see, but he was able to understand what he saw. For think of someone who'd never seen anything. They wouldn't even know what they were looking at. They'd never received information through their eyes.

And now he's receiving the information through his eyes. He's understanding what he sees. And he goes and begins to proclaim the wonder of what has happened to him. And is there celebration in his healing?

No, there's investigation. The Jewish leaders pull him into a heated discussion over what has happened to him. Tell us what happened to you. A man put mud on my eyes and I washed my face and now I see.

Couldn't be, you must not have been born blind. Get his parents, pull his parents in here. Is this man born blind? Yes. Well, how can he now see? We don't know. Ask him. So they ask him again. And the man becomes indignant.

And says, I've already told you what happened. And you will not believe. And so they accuse him of being a disciple of Jesus, which at this point he was moving in that direction, certainly. And it says in our last verse from last week, they ekbalo, they cast him out.

They threw him out of the synagogue. He is now persona non grata. He is not welcome to come among their religious practice anymore. He is now excommunicated. And yet in a better condition than he has ever been in his life.

He's excommunicated, but he can see. And in a moment, we're going to see that he could actually perceive why he can see. Because he perceives that not only is Jesus a prophet, which he has already confessed, but Jesus is Lord.

The Son of Man Revealed to the Man Born Blind

Let's stand together and read the text beginning at verse 35. Jesus heard that they had found him. He said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered, And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?

And it is he who is speaking to you, for you have worshipped him. Jesus said, For judgment I came into the world, that those who see may become blind. And said to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt.

But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. Pray now, Lord, that you would strip away all of my pretenses and make this message about your Son. Lord, may I decrease and may Christ increase. May your Spirit be the teacher.

And Lord, may it be that when we are done, we have heard about a great Savior. Sitting here with their hands over their eyes, unwilling to see. I pray, O God, that you would give them the deception of Satan himself as this world seeks to deceive and blind us to the truth.

I pray, Lord, that you would enlighten them. And Lord, may we know of this. That the believers would be edified and the ones who have not yet believed would be saved. In Jesus' name, Amen. Spiritual blindness is one of the conditions of man's fallen condition in the Bible.

In fact, I want to consider for a moment just how the Bible describes man's fallen condition. In Isaiah chapter 43 verse 8, it says, Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears.

You see, it's not that they can't see physically, they have eyes, but they won't see. It's not just perception, it's reception. It's not that they can't, it's that they won't. Jeremiah, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.

Men are blind, they are all without knowledge. They're like silent dogs. They cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. This is a reference to those who are unwilling to see the truth. And we see this metaphor throughout Scripture of darkness.

You know, the Bible says when Jesus came into the world, he came. What did men love rather than the light? They loved the darkness. That darkness does not simply mean physical darkness, but it meant the spiritual darkness of imperception.

The spiritual unwillingness to see. The spiritual darkness in the hearts of men. Proverbs 4 19 says, The way of the wicked is like deep darkness. They do not know over what they stumble. Proverbs 2 13 says, Who forsakes the path of darkness?

This is the fool who does this. Who takes apart and unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Colossians 1 13 says, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son.

A passage I quote all the time is a passage that we see lived out every day. It's Isaiah 5 20. Isaiah says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who exchange darkness for light. That's what the natural man does.

He is unwilling to perceive. He's unwilling to see. He's unwilling to receive the truth of God. And therefore he prefers the darkness. And this is the spiritual blindness that the Bible is referring to when it talks about those who are outside of Christ, who are spiritually unwilling to see the truth.

They are, as I have said many times, like children whose hands are over their eyes, whose fingers are plugged into their ears. And again, I don't know how many of you have ever done this, but maybe when you were younger, your mother was trying to tell you something and you put your hands over your ears.

She says, I can't hear you. Or you put your hands over your eyes and say, I can't see you. It wasn't that you couldn't. It's that you wouldn't in that moment see or hear the truth. The Bible describes three kinds of blindness, three kinds of spiritual blindness.

There's obviously the physical blindness that we could say that's a fourth kind, which is a metaphor in Scripture for spiritual blindness is physical blindness. But there's three kinds of spiritual blindness that the Bible describes.

The first is the one I have been describing, which I have called willful blindness. Willful blindness is our natural lack of desire for the things of God because of our sinful nature. I mentioned a few weeks ago, I had a debate on this.

Do we have a sinful nature? And the man that I was debating said we do not have a sinful nature. My argument is simply this. Why then is it the universal condition of man that we reject the things of God until we are born again?

That we turn our face away from the truth that we do not want to follow God until our hearts are changed. Why do we naturally incline ourselves to evil things? Why do we naturally pursue the darkness?

And why does the very Scripture say men loved darkness rather than what? Light, that's not talking about physical dark, physical light. That's saying we love the sin and we rejected our creator. That's what we love.

It says men love the darkness rather than the light. That's willful blindness. And it results in our inability to even understand spiritual truth. First Corinthians 2 .14 says what? The natural man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are what to him?

Folly, foolishness to him. This is why when we go and speak to the atheist or when we go and speak to the unbeliever and we tell them about the things of God, what do they perceive them as? Their foolishness.

Why would you serve a Jewish carpenter who was stapled to a tree 2 ,000 years ago? How ridiculous is that? But what does the Bible say? The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. I remember when I thought the cross was foolishness.

I remember throwing my Bible across the room. I've told that story before because I said who could believe such things? This is too incredible to believe. This is too outrageous to believe. That's the natural man.

The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. And we would call that a willful blindness. It's an unwillingness to see. But the Bible also describes another type of blindness. The Bible describes what I have called a satanic blindness.

2 Corinthians 4 .4 says, speaking of some, it says in their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.

These are those who have been taken in by the deceptions of the devil. Not only do they have their hands over their eyes to not want to see the things of God, but Satan has so confused them and deceived them into believing that the things of this world are better.

This was the deception of Satan to Eve in the garden. What did God say to you? God said, don't eat of the fruit of the tree. Do you know why God said that? Because he knew when you ate of it, you would be like him.

And Eve wanted to be like God. You see, that's Satan's deception. Satan's deception is all around us. He is influencing this world system around us. And there is so much deception in the world. And there are people who are absolutely fooled by it.

This past week, a couple who have a very large internet presence, four million or so followers on their page, announced that they had aborted their child because it had Down syndrome. And they wanted the world to celebrate along with them the decision that they made.

That is satanic deception. Absolutely satanic deception. And that's what it means. It says the God of this world has blinded the mind, blinded the mind of unbelievers. So yes, there is willful blindness, there's satanic blindness, and there is a third type of blindness that the Bible speaks about.

This is what I have called judicial blindness. There is the judgment of God that befalls those who continue in their willful blindness against God, refusing what light has been provided to all men. Romans 1 tells us this, right?

It says that they see with their eyes the creation around them. They know that the God of creation exists. But what do they do? They suppress that truth and unrighteousness. And instead of worshiping the God who exists, they end up worshiping created things, the creatures, the creeping things.

And what does God do to them? He turns them over to a debased mind. We call that judicial hardening, the hardening of the heart or judicial blindness. God has taken the one whose eyes were over their hands or hands were over their head, metaphorically, of course.

John chapter 12 says, therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah says, he has blinded their eyes. He has hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn that I would heal them.

There is a point where God does. I know some people don't believe that. God would never harden the heart. It's all over the Bible. Romans 1 28, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up.

Who seemed like their hearts are hard as stone. Absolutely, you do. So knowing that these types of blindness exist, these types of blindness are described by Scripture, foundation for our examination of our text today because our message on this man who was blind and now can see and he's been kicked out of the synagogue and now he comes face to face with Jesus and what we're going to see first is we're going to see his response to Jesus.

I'm calling that and this is I do have an outline for this. We call that the worship his response to Jesus is going to be which is huge by the way, and we're going to talk about that in a minute. The fact that Jesus did not rebuke him for worshiping him, but actually received his worship and then we're going to see Jesus give a warning not to the man.

But a warning to those who remain in unbelief those who will not see and then we are going to see the winnowing to winnow means to separate and in the end, we're going to see Jesus say to the Pharisees listen, your blindness is actually because made even worse because you tell everyone you can see you tell everyone you are the ones who can see Jesus separated the wheat from the chaff in his calling men to repent and seeing those who didn't so let's begin with verse 35 beginning with verse 35.

We have the man born blind coming to Jesus says Jesus heard that they had cast him out and found him. He says do you believe in the son of man? First of all very quickly just for verse 35 sake. I want to say this Jesus heard about this man's situation.

Jesus recognizes that this man's excommunication is because he has actually stood strong on his conviction about what Jesus did and who Jesus is this man's excommunication had obviously been made public and no doubt also were his words now known.

It takes very little time for information to travel amen and right here we see this information has traveled. This man has been rebuked by the Pharisees. He has called into question their understanding remember what they said to him.

Would you teach us you were born an utter sin and he took him to task about the truth. He said how could this man heal anyone if he was not from God? How could this man do this? Those words I think rang out among the Jewish people and Jesus has heard about this man's situation.

He has heard about this man's words and he has heard about this man's excommunication and that's what we see the very first phrase Jesus heard that they had cast him out and having found him I like that Jesus found the man.

It's noteworthy that Jesus was actually seeking him out in this text. Last week we discussed that when we receive Christ and we trust in Christ often this can cost us relationships. Often this can cost us standing in the community.

Often this can cost us our very families or our jobs and yet when we are cast out one of the things we need to remember when someone casts us out for the sake of Christ they are actually casting us into the arms of Christ.

When someone casts us out on behalf of Christ we are not alone. We are not forsaken because the Bible says if we trust in Christ we will not be forsaken. We will never be forsaken if we trust in Christ and so I love the fact that not only did Jesus hear of this man's situation but Jesus found this man in his situation and could I just say and I know that this might be speaking a little bit just a little early about application but can you can I help you understand something wherever you are Jesus knows where you are and if you are his you are not alone and if the world casts you out Jesus is there with you.

This is the promise of Romans chapter 8 that says neither height nor depth nor angels nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's the great promise of our faith in him. So Jesus heard Jesus found and finally Jesus asks the man do you believe? Do you believe in the Son of Man? Now the Son of Man is a title that Jesus uses often for himself and it is not simply a reference to his humanity even though it is a reference to his humanity because Jesus is fully divine and fully human.

We say he is vera homo vera Deus truly God truly man. We know those things are true. But in this sense when he's referring to the Son of Man he's referring to the title that was given to the Messiah in Daniel chapter 7.

In Daniel chapter 7 verse 13 it says I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom and a people's nations and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed. That is Messiah. That's referring to the kingdom of Messiah. That is the promise of God that is found in this text.

And we have in this text a promise from God that Jesus Christ would come that he would do his work and then he would be presented before the ancient of days where he would receive the kingdom. You understand we're in the kingdom of Messiah.

He is our king. He has been inaugurated. He is sitting on his throne and all he is waiting for now is to return to take his people unto himself where the new heaven and the new earth will be established and we will go into that kingdom and live with him forever.

He will be the sun. He will be the light. He will be our Savior forever and forever we will be in that kingdom that's promised there in Daniel chapter 7. Now having said that the term son of man was a term that was very well-known among the Jewish people.

In fact, I will say this. This man never read scripture. You understand that? How do I know this man never read scripture? Because he was blind until yesterday or whenever this happened probably within that same amount of time.

He had never read scripture. They didn't have Braille in the first century but he had grown up going to the synagogue. Remember his parents were afraid to get kicked out of the synagogue. So this man knew enough scripture.

He knew enough theology to know when Jesus asked him, who do you believe in the son of man? What Jesus is asking him is do you believe in Daniel's Messiah? Do you believe in the one that was prophesied to be the Messiah?

Do you believe in him? And his answer, who is he sir that I may believe in him? Now the ESV says sir. Some of your translations say Lord. I think that this is one of those times where we need to understand that the word Lord can have a various variation in meaning such as in older English terms where there would be lords and ladies, right?

And there would someone would be described as like Lord so-and-so or what have you. That term Lord can be a title of respect like our modern word sir. And so that's why the English Standard Version is translating it were the word sir here, but the underlying Greek word is the word Lord, but how it's being used in this context.

He doesn't seem to yet know that Jesus is the Lord. But if you think he's calling Jesus Lord at this point, I don't have a problem if your translation says Lord, that's no problem. But at this point, I think there's a shift between this and the next time he uses Lord.

Because here he's saying who is this Messiah Lord? Who is he sir that I may believe in him? I don't know yet. Don't know who he is yet. And I just want you to know this particular question is the most important question anyone could ever ask.

Who is Messiah? Who is the Messiah? In fact, I'll say this to you. If there is a question you ought to be able to answer, it's that one. Wouldn't it be great if someone came up to you and said who is the Messiah?

But wouldn't it be awful if you didn't know the answer or how to give that answer? We ought to know how to answer this question. Who is the Messiah? Remember Jesus asked his disciples that question. Who do the people say that I am?

Actually that's not in one of the Gospels. He says who do the people say the Son of Man is? Who do the people say Messiah is? Do you know the answer? Jesus gives the answer. Jesus said you have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you.

This is almost the exact same thing he said to the woman at the well. Remember he said to her, he was talking to her and she says we know Messiah comes and he says the one who's speaking to you is he.

I am Messiah. By the way, anyone who ever says Jesus never claimed to be Messiah, he claimed to be Messiah all the time. Every time he referred to himself as Son of Man, he was referring to Daniel's prophecy.

He was referring to being the Messiah. But in this case, he specifically says, sir, or he says do you believe in the Messiah? Do you believe in the Son of Man? The man says I don't know who he is. Tell me who he is so I can, so I know who he is and I can believe in him.

By the way, he says I want to believe in him. Jesus said the one who's speaking to you, that's who it is. That's the Messiah. Now, this next verse, verse 38, is beautiful and simple, but it is not without at least a little bit of difficulty.

So why difficulty? Because it straight up says not only did he believe in him, he worshipped him. You understand this particular phrase, he worshipped him. This is the first time we see this in John. In fact, this particular use of proskuneo, which is the Greek here for worship.

By the way, this is not mere respect. This is not mere reverence. Are there times where words like this can be used different ways? Yes, but in this particular text, in this context, and as it is used by John, we know this is referencing worship.

That which is applied only to God. Now, very quickly, what happened when people tried to worship Peter? Don't do that. What happened when people tried to worship Paul and Barnabas? Don't do that. What happened when John tried to worship the angel in Revelation?

Get up. Don't do that. What happens when Jesus receives the worship of the blind man? The man born blind. Jesus receives his worship. By the way, if anyone tries to argue with you and say that Jesus Christ is not God in the flesh, this is one of a myriad of verses that proves otherwise.

And this is why, when we confess this morning, we confess the Athanasian Creed, because in the first four centuries of the church, the first major ecumenical councils of the church, and the major meetings and theological disputes of the church, were seeking to try to figure out how to properly say what we know the Bible is saying.

The Bible says that there is only one God. But the Bible also says there are three persons who are called God. The Father is called God. No one disputes. The Holy Spirit is called God. And no one disputes.

But when you say the Son, Jesus Christ, is called God, you have all kinds of dispute and argument from people who don't want to believe that Jesus Christ is fully God. But had he not been fully God, let me rephrase, if he were not fully God, he would not receive worship.

And yet he does. In fact, so powerful is this text in regard to the authenticity of Jesus' divinity, many scholars will say this is a later scribal addition. Not because the textual information warrants it, but because they say it just couldn't be that this early in Christ's ministry and life and existence on this earth, did people understand that he was to be worshipped.

And guess what that is, my friends? There's a Greek word for it. Baloney. That's baloney. They say no one could have known that he could receive worship at this point. This man knew. This man worshipped him.

And Jesus received it. And Jesus received it. David Guzik said this, he said, The religious leader said, you can't worship with us at the temple. Jesus said, I will receive your worship. Think of that distinction there.

You can't worship with us. You're excommunicated. Persona non grata. You're not welcome here anymore. Kick you out. Out you go. And he goes right into the arms of the one who deserves his worship and he worships him.

This is the blessing of God. The blessing of God. A .T. Robertson said, It is tragic to hear that men today deny that Jesus should be worshipped. He accepted worship from this new convert as he later did from Thomas when Thomas called him my Lord and what?

My God. My God. So this is the response of the man. He believed and he worshipped. Oh, by the way, and this is the second time he says Lord. I said that earlier. I didn't clarify. The first time he says Lord, it's somewhat obscure as to whether or not he really understands the lordship of Christ.

But now he certainly does. I am the one. I am the one who is Messiah. And he says, Lord, I believe. Can I say this to you this morning? If you have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer is for you to say that right there.

My prayer is for you to look to heaven and say, Lord, I believe. That God would take your hands from off your eyes and unplug your ears. That you would believe and know that he is savior. So we have the worship of the man.

And now we move to what I've called the warning. The warning is verse 39. Jesus says, for judgment I came into the world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind. Again, spiritual blindness is the theme of this section, this whole chapter.

Now there are those who would argue that John 939 contradicts John 317 and John 1247. And why would they say that? Well, John 317 says this. Jesus said, God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but in order that the world might be saved.

And John 12 says something similar. He says, if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. And people will say, well, wait a minute.

In John 3, Jesus said, I didn't come to judge. And John 12 said, I didn't come to judge. But here in John 939, Jesus says, for judgment I came into the world. Which is it, Jesus? You can't have it both ways.

It's a contradiction if you say in one breath, I came to judge, and another breath you say, I didn't come to judge. What is it, Jesus? Are you unable to keep your story straight? What's the problem? This is the attitude of the unbeliever when he comes to the text of scripture.

What we must understand is in John 3 and in John 12, Jesus is referring to his mission. And in John 9, Jesus is referring to what happens as a result of his mission. See, the mission of Christ was to save.

I came to seek and save that which was lost. That's the mission. And he's coming again, isn't he? And what's his mission the second time? Is he coming to save again? No, because he came to save the first time.

He comes next time with what? The winnowing fork in his hand, right? He comes to judge. The axe is laid at the root of the tree. That's what he's coming to do. But understand this. Every time Jesus is preached, a division comes among men.

A division between those who receive him and those who are under the condemnation for rejecting him. And in that sense, he can say, for judgment, I came into this world. If we want to say it maybe a different way, for division, I came into this world.

For separation, I came into this world. Because the natural result of Jesus coming into this world was that men would be divided. And there is nothing that divides men more than Jesus Christ. In fact, I would even say this.

If you think of this, and this is actually from John Piper. John Piper in regard to this text. He said, think about a rescue mission. Think about military men, maybe SEAL Team 6 or some other elite special forces group.

They're called to go rescue someone from behind enemy lines. But when they go, they've got their M16s. They've got their M9s. They've got their knives. They've got their grenades. They've got their rockets.

Why? Because in going into the enemy territory, on a saving mission, there's going to be a battle. And there's going to be the result of casualty. Even on a rescue mission. Jesus came into the world to save.

But even when he came to save, there were those who would not hear his words. They would not receive his words. And they received the judgment of rejecting him, even though he came to save. And this is where Jesus is.

For judgment, I came into the world. Because in his coming into the world, there was going to be a necessary division. Between those who received him and those who did not. As Warren Wearsby says, it's interesting man, I haven't quoted in quite a while.

Warren Wearsby said, the same sun that brings beauty out of the seeds also exposes the vermin hiding under the rocks. The same sun that melts wax hardens clay. Jesus came into the world to save. But those who would not receive his salvation received judgment.

And notice the judgment that is in view. He says, for judgment I came into this world that, and this is the judgment that he's referring to. That those who do not see may see. And those who see may become blind.

Those who do not see may see. He's not just talking about the man born blind. Understand this. That man born blind, given sight, given the ability to see, is a metaphor for all of us. And I said that two weeks ago.

That man represents us who were unable to see, unwilling to see. And God gave us the ability to see. And that's what it says. Jesus says, I came into this world that those who do not see may see. But those who see may become blind.

You say, wait a minute. Why would God do that? Why would Jesus do that? Why would he take those who can see and make them blind? Well you have to understand, he's about to explain this in the very next section.

Because the problem with those who see is that they don't truly see the truth. They see what they want to see. They believe their traditions over the words of Christ. They don't truly see, even though they say they do.

And this is what we're going to see. Let's look at verse 40. I'm sorry, yeah, it's verse 40. Some of the Pharisees said, are we blind also? By the way, there is indignancy in that question. That question is meant to be scoffing.

It's smug. They are saying, are we blind too? I think the NASB actually says, we're not blind too, are we? And that's the idea of that verse. The Pharisees are far away, but they can hear Jesus' words.

They're far away, but they can hear what Jesus is saying. And they say to Jesus, hey, you just said that you came so that those who can't see will see. And those who do see will be blind. Are you saying we're blind?

Are you saying we can't see? Now you might think, and it would be natural to think, that Jesus' next words would be, yes, you are blind. Because quite frankly, he called them blind before. In fact, in Matthew chapter, I think it's Matthew 15.

Yeah, Matthew 15, 14. He says they are the blind leading the blind. Remember what he says. He says when the blind leads the blind, what happens? They both end up in a ditch. So in one sense, they are spiritually blind.

But in this particular context, they said, are you saying we're blind? And they're calling to Jesus, are you talking about us? Are you saying we're spiritually blind? And Jesus said, if you were blind, you'd have no guilt.

If you were truly blind, you'd be guiltless. Nobody says to a blind man who can't find something, hey, you're at fault. Jesus said if you were blind, you'd have no guilt. But here's your problem. You say, we see.