John, pt. 56 | John 9:1-11

Well, as Tony announced earlier, it is Palm Sunday, where Jesus comes into Jerusalem. He's announced as King and rejected as King that same week. I didn't make mention of this earlier in the announcements, but like last year, Good Friday, we will be having another Good Friday service.

Starting with the, let me get this on. Starting with the Passover, we will have the Lord's Supper and we'll end at the burial of Christ and come that Lord's Day, we will speak on the resurrection. So hopefully everyone is able to make it.

John 9:1-11 and the Rejection of a Miracle

If you will turn with me to your copy of the scriptures, we will continue in John chapter nine and consider verses one through 11, John chapter nine, verses one through 11. Let me open this up in prayer.

Our gracious God, father, son, and Holy Spirit, Lord, we ask God that you will speak to us through your word. Lord, I know that you have been walking with me throughout this week as I have been laboring over this text.

Lord, I pray that you will help me to articulate well what's going on. Lord, I just pray, I pray for your people. I pray that the spirit that's in me will bear witness with them and that you through this vessel will use your spirit to teach us all in Christ's name, amen.

Needless to say, this text has humbled me the last couple weeks because when I first looked at it, I thought, well, there's not much here. I'm always say that and then I'm always wrong, right? And so the Lord has really been dealing with me in this text.

John’s Gospel as an Evangelistic Book

So let's read it, chapter nine, verses one through 11. And as he, speaking of Jesus, passed by, he saw a man born, saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud. And he said to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent.

So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, is this not the man who used to sit and beg? Some said it is he, others said no, but he is like him.

He kept saying, I am the man. So they said to him, then how were your eyes opened? He answered, the man called Jesus, made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went and I washed and received my sight.

The theme as we're going through this chapter is the rejection of a miracle. And my proposition is this. This chapter is not only a historical narrative, which is why I thought it's really hard to preach narratives.

You have to follow that story. But it's also a spiritual narrative. And this is where God's really been working on me and the spiritual portion of this text. This has been John's pattern throughout this gospel.

This is what he's been laying out for us. The pattern has been the earthly versus the heavenly. We've seen that all throughout this gospel. And yet I come to these things and I'm thinking, at first glance, I'm thinking there's not going to be anything spiritual here, which is why the Lord's been dealing with me.

We have seen things like natural birth and spiritual birth and physical water and spiritual water and physical bread and spiritual bread, so on and so forth. And I may mention, ever since we began this book, that this gospel is evangelistic.

John tells us why he wrote this gospel in chapter 20, verses 30 and 31. And it is for the purpose of evangelism, evangelism, what we are all called to do. I may mention last week that whenever we actually give someone a Bible and they ask, well, where should I start?

Myself and most Christians I know will say, start in the gospel of John. We start there because it's in the gospel of John where you truly know who Jesus is. It's a simple book to read, 21 chapters, and we try to tell people, we encourage them to read 20, read a chapter a day to get to know who Jesus is.

In John chapter 20, verse 30 through 31, it says this, now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. And I would take that as the book of John. You can read about these other signs in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

The book of John records, I believe it's seven signs, if I'm not mistaken. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that right here, by believing, you may have life in his name.

He wrote this so that people would read it and believe it.

Why?

Because Romans chapter 10, verse 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing from the word of God, the message of Christ. You can read these words, and it is as if someone is in front of you, articulating to you the gospel, and you can be given faith to believe.

John, although he is dead, he is still one of the greatest evangelists of our time. John, the moment he was called by Christ, left everything he knew to follow Jesus, left.

It all.

Left his career, left everything.

Left his dad in a boat, mending the nets.

Something changed in John that caused him to walk away from everything, and that is that the Christ hath come. The Christ has come.

This is what we've all been waiting for. What do you mean, mend nets?

I'm following this Messiah, this Christ, and I'm going to do whatever he tells me to do. John's witness to the unbeliever is to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. Your and my witness to the unbeliever is to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ.

John's witness to the believer is that this life is not about you, and it's not about.

Me.

It's not about us, but it's about Christ, and our witness to the believer is that it's not about you, and it's not about me.

It's not about us. It's about Christ.

From beginning to end, Christ. You should structure your day based upon Christ. Christ is the end all and be all, not you and I.

Christ.

Our life should be based on Christ. When we as Christians start thinking in that way, that our life is about Christ, we won't need anyone to tell us to go out and make disciples, because we will be following Christ.

We will be doing what our leader did.

Right?

I've gave that analogy plenty of times. Follow the leader as a kid, and maybe y 'all played that game growing up, so I'm not the only one of you.

Right?

So you understand.

What did Jesus do? Do the same!

His sacrificial love, no one else, spread in this message. We saw that his apostles do it, and we're supposed to do it. Being an evangelist and making disciples will be the overflow of Christ in us when we start thinking that way.

Believers, according to Romans 8, verse 9, have the spirit of Christ. It goes on to say that if you don't have the spirit of Christ, you have no part of Christ. And you and I, who profess faith in Jesus, have the spirit Christ is in us.

We should live in light of that truth. John did. Right? Did John have more of that spirit than we have?

No.

I mean, he had a unique ability that was given to the apostles to do certain things, but he didn't have more of the spirit, more of the power. He wasn't more in Christ than you are. And Christ wasn't more in him than you are, than he is in you.

Physical Blindness and Spiritual Blindness

In our outline, we're going to compare and contrast what seems to be taking place in chapter 9, and that is physical blindness, that's the earthly, and spiritual blindness would be the heavenly, and physical sight, the earthly, and spiritual sight, the heavenly.

As we transition, we have already looked at the first five verses, so let's give those a quick overview. In this chapter, Jesus runs into a blind man. Verse 1, as he, Jesus, passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

This man has never seen anything. Blind from birth, never seen anything but darkness, nothing. Has anyone ever been around a blind person?

I have.

I was at a church service one day, I was in a Sunday school class, and a young lady, she actually worked at the school of the blind. She went there her whole life. I think it's in Oak Hickory, Tennessee, it's right in that area.

And she took her glasses off, and I'm going to be honest with you, it was really hard to pay attention at that moment. It was really hard to pay attention. I imagine that at this time, there wasn't any kind of covering that went over their eyes, that would keep their eyes doing what it did.

This young lady, one of them was completely, almost shut, and the other eye was just moving, like it was just, she had no control over it. It was very apparent that she was blind, right? You look at her, you know that something's not right.

I felt compassion for this young lady, and I'll never forget her, just her heart for the Lord, it was amazing. She was blind. She's been blind all of her life. She's suffered all of her life, and she's serving the King of Kings and the Lord of.

Lords.

She's not able to open a copy of the scriptures and read it. Ray Comfort's pretty famous for asking people, would you sell one of your eyeballs for a million dollars? And people are like, no, absolutely not.

He said, how about both of them for 20 million? No, absolutely not. You would not sell an eyeball, you would not sell two eyeballs.

Why?

Because your eyes are precious to you, and he goes on to make the point, well, how much more precious should be your soul? Because your eyes are only the windows of your soul. This man lost his windows to his soul.

And in verse 2, his disciples, Jesus' disciples, they ask a question about this man who was born blind. Look at verse 2. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born.

Blind?

Who sinned? They equate this man's sin with his suffering, with his blindness. I made mention last week that a parent's sin can be passed on to the child, and this would be by way of a curse. A parent is worshiping a false god, and they're raising up children in their home, they're going to be pointing their children to this false god, and more than likely, unless they hear the gospel and God grants them faith, they're going to grow up worshiping this false.

God.

That parents can pass on addiction, that if a mother is on heroin or methamphetamines or crack, cocaine, whatever it may be, and she's pregnant, that child can be born addicted to the same drug. And doctors have to, in some way, give them that drug, or they'll die.

Or, if they have some sexually transmitted disease, and I mentioned last week gonorrhea, that even now today, 48 of infants born to mothers with gonorrhea are born blind. The statistic was much higher, especially in these days.

Like, it was probably 98 to 100 at that time. I can't remember what it was, I was reading it, but I forgot. Y 'all know me, for the most part, if I don't write it down, I forget. Especially percentage-wise.

And listen, as Christians, we know this is true because of Adam. We're born dead in our trespasses and sins because of the one sin of Adam. That one sin, that taking a bite of that fruit has caused such a ripple effect in creation that everyone, even creation, is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God to appear.

And that babies are born utterly depraved in their sins and trespasses following, following the ruler, the prince, and the power of the air. Which is why we should be evangelists. Which is why Paul tells Timothy to do the work of an evangelist.

We have a mission to accomplish, and that is to free those who are following Satan. Each of us will die for our own sins. The soul that sins will die, the wages of sins is death. We pointed that out last week.

But the good news of the gospel is, is that in Christ we have the substitutionary atonement. That although we will die for our sins, Christ dies for us. And although the wages of sin is death, our sins were placed upon Christ.

And that eternal life is by believing in Jesus Christ. And in verse 3, Jesus clears up their confusion on the matter. Look at verse 3. Jesus answered, it was not that this man's sin or his parents, but that the works of God may be displayed in him.

This man's blindness had nothing to do with his own sin. A baby in the womb can't sin. It would make more sense if they would have said, was this man born blind because of the sin of Adam? Nor the sin of his parents.

This man was born blind for the purpose of being healed. And to that I would say, the elect of God are born in Adam for the purpose of being.

Healed.

The purpose of being saved. I believe John here is comparing and contrasting this physical blindness and spiritual blindness and physical sight with spiritual sight to show us that what this man is taking place in this man is actually taking place in all of us who are born in Adam.

But just like this man was pointed out alone, that was said about him, alone it can be said about the elect. What I just said to you cannot be said about the whole world. For this purpose, if you are the elect of God, you were born dead in your trespasses and sins so that the gospel could reach you and you could be rescued.

You could be freed from the tyranny of Satan. His whole life, your whole life, his whole life of struggle, life of blindness, having to be led around to places because he was unable to see where he was going was for one moment.

This moment that we are looking at in our text and it was to display the works of God. So too with us. Everything that you've experienced in your life, your life before Christ was for a moment to when you heard the gospel and your eyes were opened and you were able to see the kingdom of God and you saw Jesus as beautiful and you believed that he is Lord and you called upon his name and you believed that he lived the life that you could not live and took upon himself the death that you deserved and he was buried and he really did rise from the grave.

He ascended and he's coming back. You were able to see this and in our text, verses four and five, we saw that God had a predetermined work for them to do while it was still day. Look at verses four and five.

We must, Jesus speaking, work the works of him who sent me while it is still day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. The predetermined work of the disciples was to follow Jesus.

Listen, it was to follow Jesus, listen, and obey Jesus, heal the sick, and cast out demons. The predetermined work of Jesus was to heal the sick, cast out demons, open blind eyes, keep the law of God perfectly, and to die as a substitute for those who are his.

The day here in our text, which I mentioned that this was a hard text to understand, here I believe it's speaking about the works of God that was to be done during the three and a half years of Jesus' public ministry.

And when it says, while the night, I believe that this is speaking about his death and burial, and we'll look more at that this coming Friday. However, in his resurrection, when God raised him from the dead, Jesus overcomes the darkness because he is the light of the world, and light always overcomes darkness.

Darkness cannot defeat light. He put light in the presence of darkness. Darkness flees. Darkness runs away. This is why Jesus talks about the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, because we as the church are called lampstands, and we are to be holding this light, and that gate of hell, that gate of darkness cannot prevail against light.

And yet we look around in our world, and it looks like we're failing. And the one reason could be because Christians are hiding their light under a basket. They're not letting it shine. They're not going to war for the God they believe in.

They're not telling people about this Jesus who are dead in their trespasses and sins, and so it looks as if we're being defeated. We have to stand on scripture, because looks can be deceiving. Now, as we pick up in verse six, we will see Jesus heal this blind man.

The Miracle of Mud, Siloam, and New Sight

In verses six and seven, we're going to see the miracle. Read with me verses six and seven. Having said these things, he sped on the ground and made mud with saliva, and anointed the man's eyes with the mud, and said to him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent.

So he went and washed and came back seeing. That's the miracle. That's what took place. That's what this whole chapter is about. He, Jesus, gave this man sight through the act of spitting on the ground and making mud.

Could Jesus have done this another way? The answer is yes. Return with me to Matthew chapter nine. Matthew chapter nine, we'll read verses, what is it, 27 through 31. Matthew chapter nine, verse 27. As Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying out, Have mercy on us, son of David.

Remember what I told you son of David meant, right? It means that they believe that he is the prophesied Messiah. When they said son of David, when you say son of David, you believe that he is the Christ, the Messiah.

These two people know, these two blind men know that Jesus has come by. They have faith. They believe that he is the Messiah. Verse 28, when he entered the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this?

They said to him, Yes, Lord. And when he had touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it done to you. And their eyes were open and Jesus strictly warned them, See that no one knows about it.

Verse 31, but they went away and spread his fame throughout the district. Turn with me to chapter 20, another pair of blind men. Chapter 20, verses 29 through 34. And as they went out from Jericho, a crowd followed him and behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside.

And when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. The crowd rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but they cried out all the more, Lord, have.

Mercy on us, son of David.

And he stopped and stopping Jesus called to them, What do you want me to do for you? Verse 33, they said to him, Lord, let our eyes be opened. And Jesus in pity touched their eyes and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

In Matthew, he heals two blind men for simply, simply because they believed and another two by touching them. And in our text, John chapter nine, he does so by anointing their eyes with mud he made from dirt and spit.

Why the mud? From my studies, there is no good answer. Like you look into it, it's all over the board. One believes, well, one commentary says that they believe that it was because men were created from the dust.

And so there's in dirt, there's this healing quality that we can have when mixed with saliva. And another one just believes that because it was he spit into the saliva and he spit into the mud, that there's healing qualities in our saliva.

It's kind of like if you ever heard that thing, like if you cut yourself a dog lecture or something, it'll, it'll heal you. Maybe it's just a trailer park thing, I don't know. I've never, I never tried it, right?

Don't let a cat lick you because they got bumpy tongues, right? I don't get cut and lick myself, but I'm just saying like it's all over the board. I read a bunch of weird stuff. However, I have an answer.

It might not be the right answer, but I'm convinced that I have the answer. My answer, I believe, just follows the story, which is something I don't think these commentators were doing. They weren't just following the story.

I mean, even John MacArthur, he's like, I have no, I have no clue, I have no clue. One of the greatest expository preachers in our time had no clue. And I'm not saying I'm better than he is because this, this is just my opinion, right?

My answer is my opinion. And to be honest with you, Jesus spitting on the ground, like, like him making mud by spitting on the ground could absolutely mean nothing, and that's okay. However, I think my answer will un-muddy the story, if you will, if you catch my drift.

I think I have the answer. I've kind of, I was proud that I saw this, and then immediately felt like I was sitting, so please give me grace. Now in order to understand my answer, we're going to have to see it play out in the text.

So let's read, let's begin reading verses 6 through 10. And afterwards, if you don't think my answer is correct, please feel free to come up and rebuke me. Look at verses 6 through 10. Having said these things, he spit on the ground, made mud with saliva, and anointed the man's eyes with mud, and said to him, Go wash in the pool of Silom, which means since.

So they went and washed and came back, he went and washed and came back sin. The neighbors and those who had seen him begging as a beggar were saying, Is this not the man who used to sit and beg? Some said it is he, others said no, but it is like him.

He kept saying, I am the man. So they asked him, How then were your eyes opened? This man went from being blind to have mud put in his eyes, then told to go to the pool of Silom to wash. He goes and washed and he comes back sin.

He goes from being blind to sin, from once blind to now sin. The difference that has taken place in his life, in this man's life, can be seen by all who know him, whether they were his neighbors or someone that flipped him a coin.

This, my friend, in one sense is regeneration, regeneration. This man goes from being a beggar and someone who probably had to lead him around as he traveled to seeing for the first time. And in regeneration, we go from being spiritually blind to seeing for the first time.

He becomes so recognized by his neighbors and those who saw him begging in such a way that they saw him and they weren't even sure if it was him. Some said, No, it's not him, but he is like him. And he kept saying, No, I really am him.

I'm the same guy. I'm the same guy. And I have to ask myself, Do people say that about me? The people that I hung out with 25 years ago, if they saw me today, would they say, That's the same guy? Or would some say, No, but he's like him.

There's characteristics about him that are still the same. But this is not the guy that I grew up with. Christian, can people say that about you? Can people say that about you? It looks like him. He kind of has the same style a little bit, but man, he's so different.

His dramatic, I mean, his change was so dramatic. It would have been as different from night is today. Is that true about you? Do people recognize you from the life you had before when they see you now?

Look at verse 11. He answered. Well, let's go back to verse 10. So they said to him, Then how were your eyes open? Verse 11. He answered, The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to Salem and wash.

So I went and washed and received my sight. How many of you know that in evangelism, we are to tell the spiritually blind to go and wash in a fountain filled with blood and receive your sight. That song, There is a Fountain.

I won't sing it. I'm going to read some of it, but this is what we should be doing. We should tell people that there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilt and stains.

To point to that dying thief that rejoiced to see the fountain in his day. And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away. That's our testimony, right? The dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power.

And yet we're afraid to tell people about the Christ. Till all the ransomed church of God are safe to sin no more. Every since by faith I saw the stream, thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die.

When this poor, whispering, streaming tongue lies silent in the grave, then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save. This last verse, when this poor, whispering, streaming tongue lies silent in the grave.

How do we part that with this, then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save. When we die, we are going to still be singing thy power to save. But listen to me, saints. The life that we live while we're here will still speak while those who remember us.

We are to live in such a way that we direct our lives, conduct our lives in light of who Christ is and what he has done for you. If you're planning your life out and Christ is not a part of that life, my friend, you are failing in this walk.

Jesus the Sabbath Breaker and the Trouble He Made

Now, before I read verses 12 through 17, and in two weeks we'll come back and we'll walk through that again and explain it a bit more, let me tell you my opinion. Again, this is my opinion. I believe that Jesus used mud because Jesus is a godly troublemaker.

Jesus is looking to pick a fight. In modern days, Jesus would have been looking at his disciples and said, here, hold my beer. I'm going to go start some trouble. All throughout this gospel, when Jesus sees an opportunity to stick it to the religious leaders, he takes it.

This time, just like in chapter 5, it's healing a man on the Sabbath. He uses mud because it was the Sabbath.

Let's read that.

12 through 17. They, this group of people, his neighbors and those who saw him, said to him, where is he? Speaking of Jesus, he said, I do not know. Let me stop there for a second. If Jesus would have just touched his eyes or said, open your eyes, he would have seen Jesus and he would have probably not have walked away from Jesus.

He could have followed Jesus. And if that would have took place, this storyline wouldn't have taken place. Jesus puts mud in his eyes. The guy has no other choice but to go and wash his eyes. He says, I don't know.

Verse 13. They brought him to the Pharisees, the man who had been formerly blind. 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 asked again, asked him, asked again, the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, he put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see. You see the work being done there.

He put mud on my eyes. I had to go and wash. You see the work. 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. And again, they said to the blind man, what do you say about him? Since he opened your eyes, listen to his confession. He said, he is a prophet. This man is seeing more than we can recognize.

His side is more clear than most people today, right? He can actually see with his eyes, but he's also seeing in a spiritual realm. And he knows that this man is a prophet. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 31.

We've read this before concerning the Sabbath, but I feel like we need to do so again. Beginning in verse 12. And the Lord said to Moses, you are to speak to the people of Israel and say, above all, you shall keep my Sabbaths.

For it is, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generation that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death.

Whoever does any work on it. That soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days you shall work, shall work be done. But the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath, they shall be put to death.

Therefore, the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath observance. Observing the Sabbath throughout their generation as a covenant forever. Verse 17. It is a sign between me and the people of Israel. That in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth.

And on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony. Two tablets, I mean tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

In the same way that circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant according to the flesh. Sabbath keeping was the sign of the Mosaic covenant. And according to Galatians chapter 3, the Mosaic covenant was added to the Abrahamic covenant.

But it does not, listen, it does not negate the promise. That promise which Tony was talking about in Sunday school. And Paul says that that covenant, the Mosaic covenant, this Sabbath keeping circumcising male children was only until Christ.

And I would argue that if there is no sign, there is no covenant. We know from scripture that the circumcision according to the flesh has been done away with. And that Jesus himself is our rest. It was only until Christ.

But we'll dive more into that in the future than I have in the past. But right now let's look at the book of Jeremiah which tells us what else cannot be done on a Sabbath day. Jeremiah chapter 17. We'll look at verse, we'll begin with verse 19.

Lord speaking, thus says the Lord to me, to Jeremiah, These gates, thus says the Lord, take care for the sake of your lives. And do not bear a burden on the Sabbath. This burden here, it means load. Do not carry a load.

Or to bring it by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden, carry a load out of your house on the Sabbath or do any work. But keep the Sabbath day as I have commanded your fathers. On the Sabbath they are not to work.

And in the gates of Jerusalem they're not to carry anything. They're not to carry a load. Jesus tells his mind man, he's put mud on his eyes and he tells them to go and wash. You see the trouble? Because of their misuse, their mishandling of things.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 12. This will better explain it. Matthew chapter 12 verses 9 through 14. Matthew chapter 12 verses 9 through 14. Verse 9. He went on from there and entered a synagogue.

Speaking of Jesus. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they, the religious Jews, asked him, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? So that they might accuse him. And he said to them, this is Jesus speaking.

Which of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath. So this must have been a common occurrence that was taking place. Will not take hold of it and lift it out. Think load. They're not to carry a load.

Which one of you, if your sheep falls into a pit, will not reach down and pull it out? How much more value is a man than a sheep? So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. And then he said to the man, stretch out your hand.

And the man stretched out his hand and it was restored healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him to destroy him. In this text, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath by telling him to stretch out his hand.

Jesus did no work. All the man did was this. Jesus didn't do any work and they wanted to destroy him. He then points out to them that they themselves would do a good deed on the Sabbath if it benefited them.