Encountering Jesus - In Blindness [7] - Neil Ryan
August 17th, 2008 by sound
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Date: August 10, 2008
Passage: John 9:1-12
Message: Encountering Jesus – In Blindness
Series: Encountering Jesus [7]
Few years when Lyn and I, Jill and Chris traveled to England and Europe we went to Stratford on Avon - home of Shakespeare; so we thought the only decent thing to do was see a play at Shakespeare theatre.
We sat up on the highest balcony which was good for the view but not so good for ventilation. Coupled with the fact that I’m not big on Shakespeare I found myself nodding off.
You know what its like, your head flops around and when you regain consciousness you take a quick look to see if anyone noticed and you try and look like you’ve been wide awake the whole time!!
Problem is, with my periodic dozing, I lost the plot. I had no idea what was going on. The play didn’t make any sense. It was all disconnected. I had no idea how it all fitted together. Who was in love with who and who was trying kill who and why?
At half time I tried to make it look like it was a complicated story but I discovered the others knew exactly what was going on.
In the end I had to ask,
What’s it all about? Just tell me the story line? How does it all fit together?
Wouldn’t it be good if life was like that?
We could take time out and ask
What’s the story?
What’s going on?
How does it all fit together?
It’s all a mystery I don’t understand!
To some extent – the disciples had that with Jesus.
In John 9 they are walking along and they see a man who had been blind from birth.
There first reaction is –
What’s that all about?
Tell us the story?
Who did what, when and where….. that caused his blindness?
Will you notice something here in v1
Jesus saw a blind man; the disciples saw a theological question!
The disciples wanted an answer but they asked the wrong question.
We struggle to get this right.
At one extreme we can be so theologically driven that we don’t know how to respond to human need, or conflict or controversy or mystery;
Or we can be so focused on the human level that we leave Jesus out. We allow no room for the gospel to change lives.
You know deep in our human psyche there lurks a belief in punitive justice.
That everything that happens to us is some form of punishment or judgment for something we have done or what someone else has done!
No matter how hard we try, or what culture we live in – it sits there ready to rise up and condemn us at a moments notice!
William Barclay ... brilliant biblical scholar ... lost his daughter and son-in-law in a sailing accident caused by a sudden squall off the coast of Ireland. Someone who differed from him theologically wrote him a letter:
“I know why God killed your daughter. It was to save her from corruption by your heresies.” Barclay said, “If I had known the writer’s address, I would have written back in pity, not anger, saying, as John Wesley once said, ‘Your God is my devil.’”hh
Now it’s true, we can suffer because of the sins and failures of others.
We know about sexually transmitted diseases.
We know about crack-addicted babies ... HIV-infected babies ... babies born with fetal-alcohol syndrome.
We know about lives that have been damaged by a whole range of abuse and neglect.
But the issue here is one that is engrained in the human psyche….
That suffering is some kind of punitive justice, some kind of Divine displeasure!
But punitive justice meets its match at the cross.
All of God’s wrath, past present and future was laid on Jesus.
God does not keep some in reserve and say,
“You can pay the price for this one!!”
Old song says it right
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Read Colossians 2:13-15
Suffering, tragedy, pain, sickness – has nothing to do with God’s punitive justice!
In fact Jesus makes that clear because he doesn’t even explore their question – he goes to the heart of the issue.
That is – we need to find God in all this and let his light shine on it! [v3-6]
Now don’t read this to mean that God made the man blind so that Jesus could heal him, so that everyone would do
“Wow. We need to be followers of Jesus.”
That is human thinking not God thinking!
No – Jesus is teaching his disciples that the glory of God, the light of God can be seen even in THIS man!
That’s the gospel!
Jesus uses this man’s story to teach us some things about blindness.
1. Neighbors – Blinded by INDIFFERENCE v6-12
…..his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging…isn’t this the same man….
Don’t miss this.
To neighbors he was not their neighbor he was the beggar.
That’s how he is spoken of.
That’s his badge.
That’s who he is!
These neighbors had emotionally distanced themselves from this man.
He was just part of the background that made up their broader landscape.
They SAW HIM but they SAW VERY LITTLE IN HIM!
How easily we become blind –
· to the little people, the unimportant people.
· to those who cannot demand a response.
· to those who cannot contribute much to our lives.
· to those who we think have contributed to their own problems.
There are people we find it easy top pass by.
There are people we find it easy to excuse or ignore.
They are the backdrop, not the main picture!!
On this incredible day the best they can do is drop the man off to the Pharisees and let them investigate the matter.
Then wander off and they are lost to the story.
They miss the final encounter with Jesus.
They miss the joy of standing with the man when Jesus reveals himself.
They miss the opportunity to worship Jesus with this man
As we see in v38
They miss the best part of the whole story.
They fall asleep and miss the punch line!!
Indifference!
2. Parents – Blinded by FEAR v18-23
The Pharisees are more worried about this man SEEING than they are that he was BLIND.
In their frantic attempt to prove that he hadn’t been healed by Jesus they turned to his parents.
It’s almost comical in one sense because the Pharisees cast suspicion upon the parents claims that he was blind from birth.
Read v19
….is this the one you say was blind from birth
Talk about Psychological pressure!
Here are these ordinary people – parents of a man blind from birth.
They knew that most people thought his problem may be related to some sin of theirs.
They had no connections and no claim to fame.
They were humble insignificant people – confronted by the most powerful, most intimidating, most knowledgeable people in the land!
In response to this intimidation they blurt out the obvious…this is their son and he was born blind but how he was healed you’ll have to ask him…he is of age!
v22 …..his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews…put out of the synagogue
Here was a moment for these parents to stand with their son in the moment of crisis.
Here was a chance for this poor man who spent all his life begging to have his parents rise up and say,
“If my son says he was healed by a man who put mud in his eye then that’s what happened!”
It’s like this poor man who begs for a living has now to beg his parents to believe him!
They missed the opportunity to stand with their son on the greatest day of his life.
They missed the opportunity to fall on their knees and thank God for the miracle that had happened to their boy!
Why? For -
· fear of being cast out of synagogue….
· fear of ridicule…..
· fear of losing what little they had….
How often are we blinded by fear?
I have some sympathy for these parents.
Not because they blew it but because I do too!
All the while the world is watching to see us live out our faith with courage!
That we have a different paradigm –
It’s not a matter of being seen with the right people
Its not a matter of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours
Its not survival of the fittest
Its not about the winner takes all
Its not about, ‘He who has the most gold rules!’
Faith calls us to stand up when, where and with whom God calls us!
3. Pharisees – Blinded by Arrogance v24-34
I love this passage.
This man, this insignificant man is fighting back.
He doesn’t know much, but he knows enough to put some steel in him!
v27 ….do you want to become his disciples too
v30….remarkable...you don’t know…yet he opened my eyes
How come you of all people have not heard of this man?
Where have you been?
You’re out of touch?
You need to get out among the people!!
v34 ….you were steeped in sin at birth, how dare you lecture us! They threw him out.
You know I had an eye check up a little while back and the optometrist put some liquid in my eye and told me I would not see properly for a while.
The pupils stay wide open and unresponsive to the changes in light and dark for several hours afterward.
I didn’t think much of it until I went outside and the world looked so bright.
In fact it was so bright I didn’t see the person in front of me and walked straight into them.
He just looked at me and said,
“You alright?”
I wanted to say,
“Yeh, I’m alright but the world looks so bright and I can’t get in focus. I just fell all spaced out…”
Not sure how he would have responded so I said nothing!
That’s how these Pharisees lived all the time.
They were so busy walking in the light they couldn’t see obvious.
They were so self righteous that they couldn’t see the miracle that was standing right before them.
Their spiritual pupils were wide open but unresponsive to the changes that were happening in front of them!
They don’t know what to make of problem so best way to deal with it is to throw the problem out of the synagogue!
Happens all the time.
People form a view of God, or Jesus or the Bible and doesn’t matter what happens there eyes are glazed over, unresponsive. Best way to deal with all this is shut it out!
Jesus catches up with the man and here’s the twist.
Everybody thought this man was blind because of some sin – but Jesus turns the tables and says everyone is sinful who chooses to be blind!!
Read v39-41
One last thing…..
Why the mud?
Jesus could have healed with a word.
This man had to hike across town with mud in his eye, presumably with someone to help him. He washed off the clay and received sight for the first time in his life – while Jesus was nowhere to be seen.
I think Jesus did that to show us that the real problem here was not the blind man but the people who could see!
PRAY
Questions
Intro –
These days if you want to find out about anything you just type a few words in Google and you have your answer. Wouldn’t it be good if we could get answers for some of those things we find inexplicable or uncertain or mysterious about our lives or about God etc.
If you could get an answer to ONE thing, what would it be?
1. Read John 9:1
The disciples saw something that didn’t make sense to them and they immediately turned to Jesus for an answer. Will you notice something here in v1
Jesus saw a blind man; the disciples saw a theological question!
The disciples wanted an answer but they asked the wrong question.
Can you think of any ways in which we are like this?
Is this why people are so afraid of admitting their failure in the Church because they think we will see a theological problem rather than a personal need?
2. There lies deep in the human psyche this belief that we get what we deserve. That bad things happen because of something we have done, or that good things are some kind of reward.
Isn’t that the basis of karma?
Why is it so strong?
What does the gospel say about it?
3. Read v3-6
Does this mean that God ‘made him blind’ so that Jesus could heal him and God gets the glory?
How does this sort of thinking reflect the way WE think rather than the way GOD thinks?
Why are we so impressed with the spectacular?
Jesus is showing his disciples here that the great miracle is not so much that the man is healed of his blindness but that God is interested in THIS man. Even this man who everybody else thought was a sinner yet God was going to be glorified in HIS life.
What does that mean to us?
4. Jesus uses this man’s story to teach us some things about blindness.
1. Neighbors – Blinded by INDIFFERENCE v6-12
…..his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging…isn’t this the same man….v8
Don’t miss this.
To neighbors he was not their neighbor he was the beggar.
That’s how he is spoken of.
That’s his badge.
That’s who he is!
How easily we become blind –
· to the little people, the unimportant people.
· to those who cannot demand a response.
· to those who cannot contribute much to our lives.
· to those who we think have contributed to their own problems.
There are people we find it easy top pass by.
There are people we find it easy to excuse or ignore.
They are the backdrop, not the main picture!!
Discuss.
2. Parents – Blinded by FEAR v18-23
v22 …..his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews…put out of the synagogue
Here was a moment for these parents to stand with their son in the moment of crisis.
Here was a chance for this poor man who spent all his life begging to have his parents rise up and say,
“If my son says he was healed by a man who put mud in his eye then that’s what happened!”
They missed the opportunity to stand with their son on the greatest day of his life.
They missed the opportunity to fall on their knees and thank God for the miracle that had happened to their boy!
Why? For -
· fear of being cast out of synagogue….
· fear of ridicule…..
· fear of losing what little they had….
How often are we blinded by fear?
What do you fear most as a Christian?
Why do we fear others or what they think or what they will do to us?
How can we help each other?
3. Pharisees – Blinded by Arrogance v24-34
v34 ….you were steeped in sin at birth, how dare you lecture us! They threw him out.
They were so busy walking in the light they couldn’t see obvious.
They were so self righteous that they couldn’t see the miracle that was standing right before them.
They don’t know what to make of problem so best way to deal with it is to throw the problem out of the synagogue!
Is it possible that we get so entrenched in our faith that we can no longer see what God is doing?
What did these Pharisees have to lose if Jesus really was the Messiah?
Have we built up a ‘Christian lifestyle’ that we want to protect no matter what Jesus says or does?