see what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called his children
1 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
the healing of the man born blind and his progressive recognition of Jesus
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.
4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?”
9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.”
10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”
13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees.
14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them.
17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight,
19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”
22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”
24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”
28 They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.
32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind.
33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”
38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
Nicodemus telling Jesus no one could do the works he does without being from God
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from John 9, the account of a man born blind whom Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Pastor Carl walked through the story verse by verse, then circled back to draw out what it shows about how ordinary people encounter Jesus and what happens to them when they do.
What was said
The sermon opened with the disciples' question to Jesus: who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Pastor Carl pointed out that the question rests on a very old assumption, one that was actively debated in Jewish thought of the time, that suffering is a sign of personal or inherited guilt. Jesus flatly rejected that framework. The man's blindness was not a punishment. It was an occasion for the works of God to be displayed.
What follows is an act of deliberate obedience. Jesus made mud, applied it to the man's eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The man went, washed, and came back seeing. Pastor Carl noted that the verbs in those two sentences mirror each other exactly: go, wash, went, washed. The healing flowed from that simple compliance, and that pattern of plain obedience runs through the rest of the story.
The man then had to tell what happened, over and over, to his neighbors, to the Pharisees, to his own parents, and then to the Pharisees again. His story never changed, because it did not need to. Pastor Carl held this up as a model of Christian testimony: tell what you know to be true from your own firsthand experience. There is no strong theological counter-argument against a life that has been visibly transformed.
The Pharisees, however, were not interested in what he knew. They questioned him, refused to believe him, pressured his parents, questioned him a second time, and finally excommunicated him from the synagogue. Pastor Carl pointed out that the man's account of Jesus moves steadily forward through all of this, from "the man called Jesus," to "he is a prophet," to "sir," to "Lord," while the Pharisees move in exactly the opposite direction, becoming more certain and more blind at the same time.
When Jesus heard the man had been put out, he went looking for him. He found him, asked whether he believed in the Son of Man, and when the man said he was ready to believe but did not know who that was, Jesus told him he was looking at him. The man's response was immediate: "I believe, Lord," and he worshiped him. Pastor Carl described this as the natural outgrowth of belief, simple worship following simple obedience and simple testimony.
Pastor Carl closed by addressing Jesus' statement that he came into the world "for judgment," and distinguished that from coming to judge. The man born blind judged Jesus rightly, progressively, on the evidence in front of him. The Pharisees, convinced they already saw clearly, moved further into blindness. The point is not that Jesus came to condemn anyone. He came so that people would look at him honestly and decide what to do with him. The congregation, Pastor Carl said, is called to be witnesses to what God has done, not lawyers or judges arguing his case.
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The pastor pointed out that the disciples assumed the man's blindness had to be someone's fault, either his own or his parents'. Where do you see that kind of thinking, that suffering must mean someone deserves it, show up in your own life or in the people around you?
The blind man's testimony never changed, no matter how many times he was questioned or pressured. He just told what he knew from his own firsthand experience. What would your own version of that simple testimony sound like?
Oh, how sweet it is to be given love without it. Just to know. And live in good news. Jesus, my savior friend. All still alone.
I was walking a road
Preston 12. Preston 12. Thank you very much.
Beautiful. Thank you, guys.
Well, good morning, church. How are doing? It is a beautiful Sunday morning. Thankful. As as folks are coming in the door, would you stand, with me, and and we'll sing together, from Psalm one zero three.
Here's a a psalm to lead us in a worship. It says, praise the Lord, my soul, my inmost being. Praise his holy name. God, with our inmost being, may we meet with you joyfully, gladly. And, God, would you fill us with your presence, but with the the, the praise that we give.
Just exalt you, glorify you, lift you up in Jesus' name. Amen. So we are on down the hall, and we're in Mark chapter 10, and Felix and Guadalupe will be serving dinner tonight tomorrow night. So 06:00, meal, music, and a message.
Felix and Guadalupe serving the meal. Band's doing the music. Yep. You got the message. What's it on?
Mark 10. Mark 10.
Yep. I I'm blanking right now.
Okay. That's good. Fantastic. Men's Alliance, first Wednesday of the month, and this is the fifth Sunday. So the first Wednesday is right around the corner here somewhere.
So first Wednesday month, 06:30AM. That's a good time for guys to get together in the morning. Good breakfast, good fellowship, fun fun time. There's a ladies fellowship that has been meeting down the hall at 6PM in the fellowship hall. Last week was the last week, and this is kind of taking its place.
It's not just for ladies. This is for everybody. Christian life and witness course, it'll be the next three weeks from seven to nine in the evenings. It should be incredible. So this past week, I didn't know about this ahead of time.
I didn't know about it last last Sunday, I announced that the office would be closed and all of the staff went to Idaho Falls. We all went over and we hung out at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's Church Encouragement blah blah blah. It was for pastors and staff. It was amazing. Like, it's the best thing that I've been to, like corporate stuff outside of this.
You know, this is wonderful. But it was it was way beyond anything that I expected. If if this is anything like that, we know the guy who's gonna be teaching. It's gonna be really, really good. So make a plan.
Thursday evening, seven to nine May 4, eleven and eighteen should be good. It's in anticipation of a big event that's happening with Will Graham coming in to speak in Idaho Falls in September. And you might think, why are we getting ready in May? But seriously, it was amazing, so, so, so good. So and all the staff was kind of in one accord.
Actually, we were in a pilot, but we were sorry, couldn't help it. We we loved it. It was a different Honda, but it was really, really, really good. So that's what I have to say about that. My Sister's Closet is happening May 20, it's a women's clothing exchange.
KC, if they have questions, can they ask you? There's a mic up here if you want to tell more about it or all right. There you go.
Okay. Yeah. So May 20 is when we're having the event. It's a Saturday morning. We'll start at ten.
Basically, what it is, especially if you're new and you've never heard of it, ladies go through all their things. They gather clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, whatever you want to donate. Things that are too big, too small, never fit you right. As long as they're in good condition and ready to go for the twentieth, you can drop them off on the nineteenth. You can also drop them off during the week.
I will designate a spot where you can put them and let the office know. But anything sooner than that, you need to talk to me, like if you're out of town. But it's a super fun event for the ladies of this church to invite their neighbor or other people that don't go to church because it's free. And then we donate all the clothes, anything that's left over to people who are in need. And so it's a great way for you to finally do spring cleaning now that the snow is melting.
And, yeah, it's just a great fellowship time. It lasts for a couple hours. We'll have dressing rooms, mirrors, everything, and we set it up like a store. So it's super fun. Can I announce something about Awana's as well?
Sure. Okay. Tomorrow Awana for the kids on Monday night is the Awana store, which they have been anticipating since Christmas. So they need to bring all their little Awana dollars to purchase things. Also, it is the last night for the TNT age group to get their car ready for the Grand Prix race, is the following week, which is the last Monday of the year.
So we break for summer. So just to let everybody know, if your child does not have their car ready, they need to bring it tomorrow and not forget it at home because that's when people will be here to help them get it ready before the race next week.
Okay.
That's it.
Thank you very much. My Sister's Closet, Iwana store, and then Iwana Grand Prix. Hey, that's the last announcement. Did I forget anything? Alright.
Would you stand and join in? Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
There was joy in the morning. There is nothing to live. There's a happening new year He's our deliverer. You are my deliverer. You are my deliverer.
Are my promise there. You are my deliverance. You are
Little reminder here from first Thessalonians. Let's hear this. It's always be joyful. And that's not just a feeling. That's not just a feeling.
That's something that we can joy is the grace of God that we recognize when we recognize God's favor on
us.
Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances. Why? Because this is God's will for us who belong in Christ Jesus. God, would those things, joyfulness, thankfulness well up in us as we pour out our hearts to you?
God, would would we center ourselves on you this morning? We have a lot of distractions. But, God, could we just meet with you this morning and enjoy your presence and your company this morning? Amen. So as we sing those lyrics, I want you to know where where this is coming from.
From Revelation 20, it says that we will overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony. We do have a sure a story to share. Every one of us who have put our faith in in Christ and Jesus, we have a story to share. It can be simp as simple as Jesus. Amen.
Jesus. That's the difference in my life. It's Jesus. It doesn't have to be a complicated testimony. It can be this is the it's the power of Christ in me.
I believe there's scars in your hands. That your goodness is good without it. And you'll never change. And I will tell. And I will tell of your wonders, sing of your grace.
Yesterday, yesterday You are. You always will be God. Let's sing that again. You were. You are.
You always will be God. Yes. You always will be God. And I will sing. I will tell of your wonders, sing of your
Amen. You you can have a seat here for just a a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service, and we're gonna sing savior and friend from first John three one and see what great love the father has lavished on us that we should be called his children. And that is what we are, through belief. Before we sing, Ray, would you
pray? The gathering of saints, Lord. You have called us holy, where we were just not holy, Lord, but you have justified us. Lord, ask that you would continually be filling us up with your love and with your truth, that you would be spilling over into the sphere around us, that we'd just be overflowing, that what's in our heart would be what's coming out of our mouth, Lord. In Jesus' name, may we walk and live, breathe, and have our being.
May we go forward. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the continuing body of Christ on earth. We ask that you would use us, that would you be be able, Lord, to be just filled with the knowledge of God. Something that's been bouncing back since last week over and over is the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Lord, the offerings that we give right now are are living sacrifices. We want to give you our time for you to use as you see fit. We want to give you our resources, finances to give them to you to see you use them as you see fit. Lord, would you allow us to walk in the center of the good old gospel way? Would you allow us, Lord, to do your will and your way right here this morning, but also as we go out into the field.
In Jesus' name, we ask that you would impact someone's life today. Amen.
Live in good things. Jesus, my savior friend. I'll stand alone. I was walking a road.
Downstairs, and there they go. Fun. Fun. Fun. How are you all this morning?
We're We're here. I heard that we're here. Oh, man. I love this story. I've been going through the synoptic gospels.
So Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but this one fits right here in the narrative. And John, if you're reading along in John, it kinda seems like it just is a pericopes, something you can cut apart and have it set apart from the story. It doesn't really necessarily seem to flow in John, but it fits right here. The Harmony of the Gospel study, I feel like this is a good one. It reinforces last week's message from Luke, but we'll just go right into it.
Here we are. There are a lot of verses. I'm going to go through them first, and then I'll come back and try to just simplify the points, right? I don't usually do that. I usually just go through it and say, well, that's the last slide.
But here we are. And the whole song service, Carl, the whole song service tells the story. It's so good. As Jesus passed by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he'd be born blind?
That's a big question. It it There are some underlying assumptions that go along with that question. Like if you're suffering, it's got to be because of something you did. Maybe it wasn't you, it's somebody else. Right?
It might not have been you, but it could have been your parents. It gets down to fate. It gets down to destiny. Is this the way that it's going be? Was he punished from the beginning because of something he would do later?
Oh my goodness. There are some assumptions that underlie the question, and it's something that was hotly debated in the time. We have a lot of writings from this time, Jewish writings from this time, and they're bouncing this back and forth. Last week, we were talking about Sabbath controversy because they had all of the list of 39 different categories of possibilities of working or sinning on the Sabbath. But there are a lot of things that are being hotly debated because there had been the intertestamental silence.
Right? 400 where God's, prophets had been pretty silent. God had been silent. He he gave them his word, and he carried them through, and he told them the things to keep telling each other over and over about his goodness and his providence provision. But after a while, start bandying ideas about forming teams, sadducees, pharisees, that sort of thing.
And this is one of them that was almost a given among various teams. Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind? And Jesus answered, it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must carry out the works of him who sent me. Jesus is saying, we must carry out the works of my father.
Oh, go back to the Lord's Prayer. On earth as it is in heaven. If he gives us direction, and he's given us the the means and the opportunity, Do it. Go for it. Jesus said, we must carry it out as long as it is day.
Night is coming when no one can work. There's limited time, he's saying. So let's just go for it. And then this, while I am in the world, I'm the light of the world. That's interesting when you add it to some of the synoptics.
Right? While I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world. But when I was praying a minute ago, I got verklempt because I said, this is the continuing body of Christ on Earth. Just a little representation of it right here in these walls. But we are the light of the world.
That's a reflection of God's glory. Jesus said, while I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world. He also said to his disciples and still rings to us to say, you're the light of the world. Go into the places that are dark. When he had said this, Jesus, spit on the ground, made mud from the saliva.
What would Jesus do? I think of this every time anybody asks what would Jesus do because this is crazy to me. Right? He spit on the ground. He made mud out of the saliva, and he applied the mud to the man's eyes.
And he said to him, go. Wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated sin. I think John adds that little note because it's funny. Jesus sent a man to a place called sent. Go.
Wash in the pool of Siloam. And so he left, and he washed, and he came back seeing. Amen. Obedience is important. I mentioned that last week in passing too.
He did exactly as Christ commanded. Actually, the verbs in those two preceding sentences, go wash. The next sentence says, went washed. Asked and answered. Perfect.
Came back seeing. So the neighbors, the neighbors and those who previously saw him as a beggar were saying, is this not the one who used to sit and beg? And others were saying, this is he. Still others were saying, no, but he looks like him. He must had a twin we didn't know about.
The man himself kept on saying, I am the guy. I am that one. I was the one that was sitting there begging blind. Yes. That's me.
I am the one. He kept on saying it's an emphatic. And so they were saying, how then were your eyes opened? If I remember correctly, you've been blind since birth. This is not you've got something in your eyes, am I plucked out?
You've been blind since birth. We've never heard anything like that. How then were your eyes open? And he answered, the man who's called Jesus made mud, and he spread it on my eyes. And he said to me, go to Siloam and wash.
So I went away, and I washed, and I received sight. That is just about as simple a testimony. We just heard the story, and he told it exactly like it happened. It's interesting too if you track the progression from this man. He he the first thing that he calls Jesus is the man who is called Jesus.
He he doesn't really know him, and he received his sight. Right? The man who is called Jesus, some guy named Jesus, came along, and he told me what to do, and I did it. And I received my sight. And they said to him, well, where is he?
He said, I don't know. He sent me away. He sent me to go to Siloam. I went. I just told you the story.
I went. I washed. I came back seeing. I don't know where he is. And so they bring the man, that little asterisk in the new American Standard Bible means it's a historical present.
It's something that happened in the past, but the story draws you in by saying, and they bring the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees. Oh, gracious Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath. Oh, you know what's gonna happen. There's gonna be controversy and outrage.
It's terrible. Last week, same thing. Right? It was synagogue leader last week. He was not specifically called a pharisee.
He was a synagogue leader. And this week, they brought this man who previously was blind to the pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath day on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes and making the mud. Sounds like work. Last week, you remember Jesus had done nothing that was against the law, not even against their traditions.
He had not done anything when he told the guy. Right? When he told the woman before that, when he told that guy, when he told them what to do, the hand, the lady who had been stooped over, when he told her to come forward and she did, when he said, there's nothing against the law about that. There's certainly nothing against Torah, and there wasn't even anything against their halakah rules, 39 categories. He hadn't done anything.
Now this week, this is why I think this fits here. This week, there is more to it than that. He did something. He spat and made mud. I think it's interesting that Jesus hardly ever does the same thing twice when He's healing somebody.
You know we'd institutionalize it if He did, right? Spit on the ground, make a little mud, rub it on the guy's eyes. That's supply of medicine. That is work for a doctor, especially. So no doubt about it.
He did something that broke their traditions. He'd already told them, isn't it good to help someone on Sabbath earlier? And that one, he made a show of it again just out of compassion. This week, they brought him to the Pharisees. It was a Sabbath on the day he opened his eyes and the Pharisees Pharisees Pharisees.
Gosh. Pharisees also were asking him again. This is the man. He's already been questioned by the neighbors. And the neighbors brought him to the Pharisees, and the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight.
And he said to them, he applied mud to my eyes, and I washed. Washing's against the rules too. Oh, boy. So Jesus has broken their traditions, and the man has broken their traditions. Last week, neither did either.
Right? The man the woman did not break any rules. Jesus did not break any rules. This week, not only did Jesus break them by applying the medicine, but he applied mud, and I went and I washed. And I see.
Followed up with that. It worked. Therefore, some of the pharisees were saying, this man's not from God. No way he's from God. No.
Because he does not keep the Sabbath. When I read this sentence, I think of Nicodemus' interview with Jesus in John chapter three. Right? He comes to him and says, we know that you're from God because nobody could do the works that you do without being from God. Now Nicodemus may have been just an individual among the Pharisees, but he was a Pharisee.
And like I said, they debated back and forth which way this should go just like we still do. Therefore, some of the pharisees were saying, this man's not from God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath. How could he be from God? He doesn't understand things exactly like I do.
How could he be from God? But others were saying, how can a man who's a sinner perform such signs? And there was dissension among them. When I see dissension actually, some translations say division. When I see that, I think immediately to Jesus' words, said, do you think I came to bring peace on earth?
No. It's a dividing point. What people do with me will cause deep division. Remember the long list of family relations, brother against brother, mother against mother-in-law, whatever, daughter against mother-in-law, that sort of thing. How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?
There is some interpretation of the Old Testament that would say that they're right about that, that God doesn't listen to the wicked. He he listens to the humble. We know that. How can a man who's a sinner perform such signs? And there was dissension among them.
That actually, that question is probably why people credited his miraculous works to Beelzebub. Because if it's not God, they're they're recognizing that there's power, spiritual realm stuff. Others are saying, how can a man who's a sinner perform such signs? And there was dissension or division among them. So they said again to the man who was blind, what do you say about him since he opened your eyes?
We wanna listen to you. Firsthand evidence. And he said he's a prophet. Now the last thing that he said about Jesus, some some guy called Jesus. And now, well, he's a prophet.
In in his experience, the only one who had ever done such a miraculous feat before had to be a prophet of God. He's he's not gonna attribute the power to the devil. He's not gonna say this man's a sinner. I don't really really know, but he's a prophet. So it goes from Jesus, some guy, Jesus, they call Jesus, and then prophet.
The Jews then did not believe it about him. They didn't believe it. He's standing there telling them what happened, and they didn't believe it. That he had been blind and that he had received sight. He had been sitting there begging, pretending to be blind all these years until they called the parents of the very one who had received the sight.
Alright. Let's get more witnesses in here. He's telling us something we don't wanna hear. Have you all ever heard of confirmation bias? Oh my goodness.
Where you're just able to just get rid of anything that doesn't fit your paradigm, just talk it away? Well, we're not listening to him. Let's get his mom and dad in here. And they questioned them saying, this is Leading the Witness by the way, is this your son who you say was born blind? How does he now see?
Well, his parents then answered and they said, We know this is our son. We got that. I mean, no, he didn't have a twin. We know this is the guy. And we know that he was born blind.
The question the disciples asked think about this. The question the disciples asked at the beginning, who sinned, this guy or his parents? These are his parents. They have been living under a cloud, this man's whole life. His parents then answered and said, we know that he's our son and we know that he was born blind, but how he now sees, we don't know.
Or who opened his eyes? We don't know. Ask him. He's of age. He'll speak for himself.
John goes on to give an explanatory note here as to why they would say that. They they don't know. They've already testified to what they know. They don't know. But ask him.
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. And in this case, it's the probably the Pharisees or the the religious structure, synagogue leader last week, Pharisees maybe. They said this because they were afraid of the Jews for the Jews had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Jesus to be the Christ, he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue, cut off, shunned, banned, losing all of the privileges of being of the chosen people of God. Excommunication is a big deal, And it was for this reason that his parents have said, he's of age, ask him. We don't want to be cut off.
We and presumably, they were glad he was he could see and was not blind, but they didn't want for their life to be significantly altered. So for a second time, they summoned the man. All right, get back over here, The man who had been blind. I love phrases like that. Like Carl said, there's transformation, right?
Jesus, That's the difference. So for a second time, they summoned the man who had been blind, and they said to him, give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. They had already made up their minds about him. They'd already made up their minds about Jesus.
We know this. We know it. We've been keeping up with everything that he does. We're trying to get him on something, and we just can't do it. We know he's a sinner.
Now you give glory to God. Not to Jesus. Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. And he said, whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know.
He was just a guy named Jesus. I mean, now I think he's a prophet because I went and washed, and I was made whole. Whether he's a sinner, I don't know. But one thing I do know that though I was blind, now I see. Simple testimony right there, isn't it?
Just about as simple as it gets. So they said, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? Listen. I told you already.
He he's already told him. We've we've heard him tell him in this passage. Love the story. I told you already, and you didn't listen. Why do you wanna hear it again?
I'm not gonna change the story. You don't wanna be his disciples do to you. He's being sarcastic. Or you want me to tell you the story of Jesus so you could come alongside? They spoke abusively to him, made him so mad, indignant maybe, and said, you're his disciple, but we're disciples of Moses.
We'll take law. Was it grace that's was it grace that restored that man's sight? Unmerited favor. He hadn't done anything to he hadn't done anything to Jesus. Didn't even know who he was, had not professed faith, didn't reach out to him, didn't say anything.
Jesus just told him what to do, and he did it. So man named Jesus, prophet, somebody who has disciples. You wanna become one of his disciples? You're his disciple. We're disciples of Moses.
We know that God has spoken to Moses. We got that. We have absolute faith in that, and that's true. But as for this man, we do not know where he's from. We don't know where this guy came from.
The man answered and said to him, well, here's the amazing thing. Here's the amazing thing. You don't know where he's from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. Right?
He's arguing their point right there. We know this. God doesn't listen to sinners. But if someone is God fearing and he does his will, he listens to him. Must be that must be that.
Since the beginning of time, it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. There were other instances, prophetic instances of people doing that. There were other stories, but this had never happened to somebody born blind. If this man were not from God, he could he could do nothing. And they answered him, you were born entirely in sins, and yet you're teaching us.
So the same assumption surfaces again right here. The assumption is primitive religion. Like, how how many of y'all I don't know. I I heard this a lot living from in the South, right? Man, you have flat tire car wreck, flat tire in the snow a week ago.
Man, you must not be living right. If you were living right, you wouldn't have all these obstacles in your pathway, right? You wouldn't have this problem. If you're living right, gotta treat you right. That that's not true.
That's not true. What did Jesus get for living right? Crucified. Oh, our example is he, as the song says. Goodness.
You are born entirely in your sins. That raises up again. The disciples had asked the question, who who was it that sinned? It had to be sin. You were entirely born in your sins, yet you're teaching us.
We're the learned. You illiterate. Nothing. So they put him out. That's excommunicated him.
That's what that means. He lost all the privileges of the fellowship of Israel. Now there are Old Testament examples, Old Testament laws if you go back to Exodus and Leviticus and things that were worthy of putting someone out of the assembly. Disagreeing with you is not one of them. Right?
They put him out, And Jesus heard that they had put him out. I bet he was moved with compassion. Doesn't say so, but Jesus heard that they had put him out. And upon finding him oh, finding him. He was looking for him.
Jesus heard that they put him out. And upon finding him, he said, do you believe in the son of man? So what was the first thing? It was this man called Jesus, and then he I guess he's a prophet. And then somebody who has disciples, and then do you believe in the son of man?
It's Jesus asking the man. And he answered and said, and who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? I'm ready. I'm ready to believe in him. I don't know who he is, but I'm ready to believe in him.
Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him, you have both seen him. Isn't that great? Right here. Now, Jesus put the mud on his eyes and the guy wanders through the streets blind with mud on his eyes on a Sabbath and gets there and washes, and then Jesus is nowhere around.
But when Jesus has found him again, he says, do you believe in the son of man? He answered by saying, who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? Jesus says, you just you just saw him. Oh, so sweet. And he's the one who's talking with you.
Jesus never claimed deity. Come on, people. He did. The son of man. This is this is a term for Jesus.
His favorite name for himself used the most. You've seen him, and he's the one who's talking with you. And he said, I believe the Lord. Isn't that a great thing? It's so good.
Just some guy they call Jesus. Must be a prophet. Who is he? Sir. I believe, Lord.
And he worshiped him. Amen. Alright. So here we go back over it. Assumptions.
Natural theology of primitive religion. Primitive religion is that, oh, you did something wrong to get something bad. You did something right to get something good. If you're living right, God will prosper you. If you're living off the path, then you're gonna die destitute and alone.
That's that's not the way the world works, is it? I mean, there are some things that we can do that have natural consequences, good and bad. Yeah. That's true. But natural theology and primitive religion is that concept that bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to good people.
Suffering is reserved for those who deserve it. And that's just not true. And we must resist this kind of thinking. If you're tempted to think that way, it stinks to be them. They ought to clean up their life.
They'd be better off. Jesus had compassion on that guy, and he said it wasn't his sin that put him in that position. Right? So here are three suggestions on seeing the way the works of God in our everyday lives. First of all, simple obedience.
I love the go and wash, went and washed. I just love it. Go and wash, imperative verbs, completed action verbs by the blind man, went and washed. Simple obedience. And he came back seeing.
So that's the result. The neighbors were confused. I I can think of a guy in this church that that says after he was moved out of the kingdom of darkness and into marvelous light. He couldn't really speak much. But with his friends and family, it's like, what's gotten into you, man?
You are totally different. What is wrong with you? What's going on? And he'd go, Jesus, man. It's just Jesus, man.
That's it. Jesus, man. And he'd cry. And he cried for several months actually because the neighbors were confused. And they asked him what happened, and and this guy told him what happened exactly.
He just said that simply, there was this guy, they called Jesus, he told me what to do, I did it, now I see. So word gets out. That's the results of his obedience. And they brought they brought the man some attention. I think that's an understatement.
So the simple testimony. When he was asked, he had to tell that story to the neighbors, probably a lot of different ones, a lot of different times. Then he had to tell it to the Pharisees. Then they asked him to tell it again. Then it was the parents.
Now come back to the man. His simple testimony never changed. Tell him what you know. Let's put it in our laps instead of just being him. But tell them what you know to be true based on your firsthand experience.
That's your story, right? Simple Christian testimony instead of like traffic accident testimony. Tell him what you know to be true based on your firsthand experience with Jesus. I once was blind, but now I see. That's that's that man's testimony.
I like this. There's no valid theological argument against a changed or a transformed life. And since that's true, if God has transformed you, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Don't be afraid to say, it was it was the power of God working to me. I know that sounds crazy to you, modern person, but there is a higher power who can restore me to sanity.
I'm going to let him. I turned over my life to him, and I saw great change. If God has transformed your life, don't be afraid to say so. So the results of his simple testimony, naysayers got involved. Doesn't always happen.
They questioned him, and they didn't believe him. They threatened him, and they bullied him. Ultimately, they excommunicated him. And you might think, well, that's terrible. No.
Jesus transformed his life, showed him literally the light of the world, saved him in his distress. All those other things are secondary. You know, a lot of stories by the way say, and the crowd gave glory to God. This one said they were amazed. It it doesn't it doesn't go into that.
It doesn't say the crowd gave glory to God. It says, oh, I can't wait. Run tell that. This is a tattle tale. Let's tell the Pharisees.
This ought to be a good show. And then this is what happened. Just know that there will always be naysayers. If if you share something that God is doing in your life, don't be surprised if somebody says, I don't believe that's really why they're going to Romania. If you share something with somebody that God is doing in your life, they might not understand it.
It's just the truth. There's always there are always gonna be naysayers, and there will always be costs involved. Next communication in this guy's case. Yeah. The new lease on life being able to see though.
Simple worship. So the next thing that happened, just simple obedience first, simple testimony second, and then simple worship. I like this is who is he that I may believe in him? And he says, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. It was the natural outgrowth of belief, which is good.
So I believe, Lord. Amen. And he worshiped him. So that's the three right there. And I it's a it's a great story.
I feel like it's got a little humor in it. I feel like it's got a a lot of truth in it, and it also heightened the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees again. Like, it's just it's getting steeper and steeper. Can you see how this on the way to the cross, there's there's more and more of a division happening, and people either are with him or they're against him. And then Jesus says this.
This is the last few verses. Jesus said, for judgment, I came into this world so that those who do not see may see. Perfect example. Right? And those who see may become blind.
For judgment, I came into this world. Now, if you look in John before this and after this too, for God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. So he came on a salvation, a rescue mission, not on a mission of judge for judging the world. If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. So with that being said, how about this?
For judgment, what's the difference in judgment and judging? The man judged him to be a man called Jesus, a prophet, sir, and lord, progressively in that order. And throughout the book of John, we see the pharisees and the leaders go in the opposite direction. And this is happening. It's what we do when we see Christ for judgment, for you to judge what's going on here.
It's not for him to judge. It's for us to look at the way that Jesus is based with all our Old Testament stuff helps too. But look at objectively this situation. Look and see what we should do with Jesus. That's what he came for.
The ones who do not see or are seeking the answer, he is giving them the answer. And the ones who are saying they already know the answer are becoming more and more indignant, frustrated and blind. So that's the difference in for judgment versus to judge. And again, I've said this before here, we're called to be as witnesses. If if if God has done something in your life and has transformed you, please be a witness to that.
But we're not called to be his lawyers or his judges. Okay? For judgment, he came into the world. Looking at Jesus and seeing his compassion, seeing his goodness, seeing his mercy, seeing his grace, seeing his wisdom, seeing his authority, all of those things should cause us to question our own presuppositions and assumptions and be drawn into a world where we're seeing. Last couple verses.
Those who are with him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to him, you're not saying we're blind. We're not blind too, are we? And Jesus said, if you were, if you were blind, if you recognized your blindness, you would have no sin. But now now that you maintain, we see, we've got it all right, we're we're disciples of Moses, we've got this figured out, your sin remains. The law only points out your sin.
Right? It doesn't save. The law points to our need for a savior, and Jesus saves. So application points. Allow God to challenge your natural assumptions.
Simply obey. When he directs you through that still small voice, simply obey. When he does something to transform your life, simply testify of that and simply worship him. Realize Jesus came for judgment, and that's a good thing. If you feel like your mission as the body of Christ is to judge, you're probably mistaken.
Your job is for judgment so that others will see our good works and see and glorify our father who's in heaven. I think that's the last slide. Would you all stand, and we'll sing whatever comes up on that screen. Amen. God, help us.
Help us, Lord. Help us to listen and obey right away and with a happy heart. And, Lord, if we, are stuck in a morass of fair sake and religious notions that are dangerous for us, Lord, would you help us to see that too? Amen. Sing a song.
Can we sing the doxology? Y'all know the doxology? I'm blanking on the first line. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below.
Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.
