Blinded by the Light

## Introduction Today, we get the privilege of telling the story of John 9. The story is one of my absolute favorites. It has conflict, politics, miracles, threats, sarcasm, deceit and irony as thick as molasses. Today is one of those days when the most important job I have is to not get in the way of the story. So that’s the goal. Let’s begin by re-reading from last week: That’s basically where we stopped last week. We were given this insight into God’s sovereign purposes for suffering. We discovered that nothing ever happens to us, but rather it happens for us. Why was this man born blind? Was it his sin or his parents’ sin? Neither. Rather, he is a miracle waiting to happen. Every artist needs a canvas. The blind man was God’s canvas for his wondrous works. Now what’s the work? And knowing the story we immediately think, “Well, he’s going to heal him.” Yes. But that’s secondary. The blindness Jesus is concerned about isn’t physical. Yes, he’s here to bring light to the eyes but mainly he cares about bringing light to the soul. Jesus is going to heal his blindness. This healing is a SYMBOLICALLY LOADED miracle. Jesus says, I am the light of the world and there is work to do while I am still here on earth. In other words, Jesus is acknowledging what is true for all of us. The only gospel ministry we will ever do is in this life only. After this life is over, ministry is over. You only have the day to work - all the opportunities we have to work for God are right now. So Jesus sees this man not as occasion for a theological discussion but as a person needing human kindness and compassion. So Jesus says, I need to get to work. As the text unfolds, we are going to discover that this blind man is a metaphor for all of us. Why? Because in a sense, we are all born blind. We all lack the sense organ to perceive spiritual reality and are unable to cure it. Have you ever spoken with a person who was born blind and tried to understand their world? All you have to do to understand their world is close your eyes. But how can they understand your world? Very quickly you realize that without the sense of sight, entire domains of reality are inaccessible to them no matter how many words and analogies you use. If the blind person asks you, “What is red like? Is red like the sound of a rooster? Does red feel like sandpaper?” Red isn’t like anything. Red is like red. Blue is like blue. Unless you can see, you will never know what it is. Sight isn’t an enhancement of your other senses. It opens up a whole dimension of reality that is inaccessible to your other senses.In that exact same way, we are all born spiritually blind. Spiritually speaking, there’s not one of us in the room who is born with spiritual eyes. And until that is fixed, spiritual realities are inaccessible to us. Here’s an example of what I mean. It’s a common testimony for people to say, “I grew up in a church that didn’t teach the gospel.” And for many this is probably true, but I’m always a little slow to just accept their experience at face value. I’m certain that’s how it felt. But that’s like a formerly blind man complaining, “I grew up in a house where my parents literally never turned on the light. Why did they never turn the lights on for me? Light is so amazing.” And this man is born doubly blind. He is physically blind but he is also spiritually blind. When the text says that Jesus passed by and looked at the man born blind, which blindness do you think he was concerned about? The blindness we care about helps us see the blindness that Jesus cares about. So right out of the gate, we are given indicators that this entire chapter is going to be rich in symbolism. It becomes for us a powerful metaphor for salvation. Jesus is physically and spiritually the light of the world. Now lots of commentary goes into the method of healing here. What’s up with the spit? This isn’t the only time. In Mark 7:33, Jesus healed a deaf man by spitting on his finger and sticking it in his ear. In Mark 8:23 he spits straight into a blind man’s eyes. What’s up with that? Now here’s the answer: who knows? Some people cite that Rabbis thought there were healing properties in the saliva of a firstborn male child. The pagan cultures definitely associated spittle with magical properties and for that reason other Rabbis condemned it. Was Jesus being intentionally controversial? Calvin sees this as making the miracle more dramatic; kind of like Elijah pouring extra water on the altar. The most obvious thing about this miracle is rarely pointed out. Why the mud pack? The reason the text itself suggests is so that Jesus can conceal his identity from the man he is about to heal. If he healed him on the spot and suddenly he sees, well then now the man knows the face of Jesus. But Jesus has reasons for wanting to be unknown. The story really brings this out in the next section: Now, apparently this healing wasn’t a public spectacle with a lot of fan-fare. But very quickly the word gets out and there’s all this commotion. Like anything, everyone’s got their own opinion to explain it. For some, identifying him was obvious. He was a fixture at the temple. He probably had a nickname, “Billy the Blind Beggar.” He had his station. Nobody can fake blindness for 40 years. And some were totally confident. I know that’s him. There were others who thought it was him but weren’t totally sure. He’s recognizable but not. And that makes sense for two reasons. First, one of the main things you notice about a person is their eyes. So if his eyes were fundamentally changed, there would be a bit of uncertainty associated with that. I’m not used to looking into his eyes and seeing him look back and see me. But secondly, you just can’t believe it. There must be another explanation. This is where the skeptics come parachuting in to save the day. A good skeptic just loves to poke holes in good news. They love to be the fact checkers. They hate the feeling of being duped so they just hold back before they buy in. And it is so humorous. Everyone is talking back and forth right over top of his head. One group yells out, “He really was healed. I knew him. He lived right next door to me. I’m telling you, this is legit.” The skeptic retorts, “Whatever. I’m so sure. You can’t heal blindness. The guy had patches of skin for eyeballs. Maybe he has a twin.” I know it was him. I saw Jesus do it. No you didn’t. Yes I did. No, it was someone who just looked like him. And he stands up in the middle of the shouting match and says, guys, “I’m the man.” “Look at me. Come test my sight. Ask me a question only I could know. I am the man.” Now four times in the text he’s going to be asked the same question. How? It’s an understandable question. This kind of thing just does not happen. A claim that large better come with an explanation. Healed from blindness, huh? How in the world, pray tell, did that happen? There was just absolute astonishment. Complete and utter astonishment. Take this miracle at face value. Consider what is going on at the atomic level to make a blind man see. This is a supernatural act of creation. You begin with something deformed, unmade, undeveloped, withered, or broken, and you replace it with something new. Which means there are atoms spinning into existence out of nothing. Those atoms are obediently assembling into moleculesdefying all the laws of physics. Those molecules are folding into proteins which assemble to make nerves and rods and cones and retinas. And the point is quite simple. There’s no natural explanation for it. There’s no medical or psychological explanation for it. This wasn’t an imagined illness where the warm presence of Jesus made him feel better. There’s no medicine. It’s not repeatable, nor is there a formula to which you could refer to explain the miracle. It’s a miracle performed by a word of the maker of all things. Just as God took earth and formed it into Adam, God takes dust and makes new eyes. And of course nobody has ever seen or heard of a miracle like this. So it’s totally and completely normal to be a bit skeptical. What do you mean you used to be blind? If you were once blind, HOW is it you now see? HOW? And all through the text the man who was formerly blind answers the how with the who. How are you healed? He says, that’s the wrong question. You’ll never understand the how till you understand the who. You need the who to understand the how. If you force me to answer “how I see” without letting me explain “who made me see” then “you will never see.” So they say, “Fine, then where is this Jesus?” And he helpfully responds, “How should I know? Remember the whole part about me being blind? I don’t even know what he looks like. How could I possibly identify him?” This is all part of the setup. Much like many of us, this man was a recipient of the work of God but had not seen God. He knew he must be some sort of divine prophet or messenger of God because of what he was able to do for him. But he had never seen him. Faith was operating without sight. ## Counterfeited? So there’s all this questioning…how, how ,how? And the onlookers say, if you can’t give us an answer we understand then the only possibility is that this is a case of mistaken identity. It must be a trick. He’s got a double. He’s got a twin. They just can’t figure it out. It’s just too amazing and there’s too much of a commotion to not investigate it. So they haul the guy into the courts of the authorities. Now as we read the gospels it’s almost as if Jesus is purposely choosing the Sabbath as his favorite day to perform miracles. There are 7 miracles in the gospels that we are explicitly told were performed on the sabbath. And every time it just infuriates the religious establishment and this is no exception. The frowning eyebrows create crevices so deep you could pinch the head of a Q-tip off.These guys are obviously not happy. Let me ask you, “What kind of person does not rejoice when a blind man is healed?” Answer: a jerk. They love their rules more than the rule giver. So they haul him in and the religious leaders say, “We know this is not possible. This is an outrageous claim. What do you say happened?” And the personal testimony of this man just kind of sits there. And I love that. It just stands on its own. What do you do with that? He finishes his story and there is this long pregnant pause. Mmmm. That’s not what we were hoping for. But what can you say? The thing about a testimony is you can’t deny it. If I say to my neighbor, “Man, I really love Jesus Christ. He has totally and completely changed my life.” He can’t then say, “No he hasn’t.” “Yes, He has. It’s my story.” And so he’s saying, guys this happened to me. I’m telling you. He’s simply establishing the facts. Now the testimony must have been powerful and convincing because there is instantly a division between them. Some are convinced by it and others are not. Now listen to the reasoning, it is sound both directions. Sinners can’t perform miracles. He sinned. Therefore he couldn’t have performed the miracle. It must be counterfeit. Others try to reason in the opposite direction. No, I agree, miracles can’t be performed by sinners. The miracle is obvious. He must not be a sinner. The logic is good either way. Either you refute the claim that he’s a sinner or you refute the claim that there has been a miracle. One thing is certain and they all agree: Both can’t be true. It’s like saying dead people don’t drink water. That guy’s dead so no matter what it looks like, he can’t be drinking water. Dead people don’t drink water. That guy’s drinking water. He must not be dead. So, since they can’t agree, they turn to him. What do you say about him? Now what they mean by asking him this question is this, “Do you think he’s a sinner or not?” But all this guy cares about is testifying to what happened to him. He says, “He’s a prophet.” In other words, the miracle is real which means he must be from God. I know that. That answer is not acceptable. We very quickly come to realize this is not a neutral investigation. This is not an attempt to discover the truth. It’s an attempt to erase the truth. The Pharisees are looking around, “Anybody have a flashy pen where we can all put on our sunglasses and erase people’s memory?” There’s an outcome that must be achieved. We must find an alternate explanation for what we are witnessing. We must show that the miracle is fake. Because if the miracle is not fake there is only one conclusion: this man Jesus is not asinner. He really did heal this man. Which means He really is of God. He really is the light of the world. And everything he claimed is true. This non-neutral posture is exactly how many people today approach Jesus Christ. Not to conduct an honest investigation of his claims. No, they can’t let it be true because they love darkness because their deeds are evil. That’s exactly what’s going on here. So they are determined to prove that this is a case of mistaken identity. So first, they call in JUST the parents privately. The problem the Jews are bumping up against (and it’s only getting worse) is that the evidence is getting stronger and stronger. There’s just no getting around it. The miracle is of a quality that it is absolutely irrefutable. It’s non-counterfeitable. Here’s what’s meant by that. It’s difficult to counterfeit a dollar bill. But it’s doable. People do it. People get away with it. They trick people with the counterfeit. Miracles can be of that sort of quality. I could claim to have a really bad back. I lean over and hobble and then my cousin who claims to be Messiah could come over and say, “Be healed of your bad back.” And I could stand up and yell and dance and scream. And depending on how good of an actor I was, it could be pretty convincing. But it lacks the one necessary component of being truly non-counterfeitable. What is it? You can’t confirm that the ailment really existed. The actual infirmity was invisible to the onlookers. But not so here. There’s no way this miracle can be faked. This man had been blind his entire life. The fact that he was blind was irrefutable. Thousands and thousands could testify. The fact that he could see was irrefutable. All you have to do is run a simple eye test. So the only remaining option is mistaken identity. It must be a trick. The parents are in on it. Somehow the seeing twin got swapped in. It’s a hail mary but it’s their only option. So they begin to apply pressure. They begin to intimidate and bully and introduce threats. We are told that nobody was allowed to confess Jesus as Messiah. If they did, they would be put out of the synagogue, literally un-synagoged. Aposynogogais. In Jewish culture, everything revolved around the synagogue, so to be put out would be to lose your career, your social standing, your opportunity to interact with your friends. It’s a big deal.And his parents seem to be terror stricken by this and step back. He’s been bar mitzvahed. He’s of age. Ask him. He can legally answer for himself as an adult. So they call him in again. Give glory to God. You know what they are almost certainly referencing here? The sin of Achan. Remember Achan in the OT. Joshua and the nation of Israel march in and conquer Jericho with the Lord’s help. But they were told in this first city to not touch any of the spoil. It was all put under the ban. But one man did not obey. Achan stole that wedge of silver and hid it in his tent. And because of that sin, God caused Israel to be defeated in their next battle. And when the sin was discovered what did Moses say to Achan? “Give glory to God and give praise to him and tell me what you have done.” In other words, you have lied. Your lie has caused great trouble in Israel. God’s name has been defamed because of your self-serving schemes. So give glory to God and let the people of Israel know that it was not because God was weak that we were defeated. It was because you sinned. So the Pharisees are pulling out this card. We know you are lying. We know this man is a sinner. Give glory to God and don’t continue this stunt. Let’s be done with this. Give glory to God and agree that this man is a sinner and that you are lying. His answer is awesome. If I had to guess, I’d say he was a Jack-Jew. I think he was totally disillusioned with this all because his entire life he’s been told that the reason he’s been born blind is because of some sin he knows nothing about. The people with gold rings sit up front and he’s always in the back. He’s been unfairly judged. He’s been poorly treated. And I think in his heart he’s like, “I want nothing to do with that.” Maybe like some of you, you’ve had a bad church experience and you say to yourself, “I want nothing to do with that church, that place.” But then he met Jesus and it changed his life. He said, listen man, I could care less about your spiritual mumbo-jumbo. You guys go bury yourself in all your rules for all I care. You’re ridiculous. Is this guy a sinner? Why is that even a question? Why are you not listening to the obvious thing here? I don’t know all that stuff. Here’s what I do know: I can see. That, I know for sure. I don’t know all your rules and laws and mandates. But I know this, FOR SURE. Once I was blind. NOW, I see. Listen, this is our testimony. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, this is your testimony. Listen, I don’t know a lot of things, but this I know. I was blind. Now I see. This is the verse John Newton used to write amazing grace. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found was blind but now I see.Now for this blind beggar, his eyes opened up in two ways. Of course, he sees physically. But he also begins to see spiritually. I had no reason to live, no purpose, no value, no worth and then I met Jesus Christ. And I don’t even know a thing about this guy, but whoever he is, I’m going to follow him the rest of my life. That’s spiritual sight. So this is the fourth time he’s been asked the “how” question. I don’t know how much time you’ve spent talking to people who live on the streets, but as a rule they have nothing to hide. They are typically willing to call a spade a spade. They will answer any question you ask. They are typically jaded, cynical, and have no issue standing up to the pomp of authority. And so this just totally rings true to life. This formerly blind man can see right through them. He knows fear, jealousy and insecurity is driving this whole thing. He just roasts them. His words are just dripping with sarcasm. He’s like, “Wait. I can’t quite understand why this is confusing to you. See my eyes? They work. They used to not work. And now they work. How? Jesus. You keep asking, how. Oh. Oh, now I get it. I see, you aren’t confused, you are just really interested. The reason you are asking SO MANY “how” questions about Jesus is you want to find out HOW to become his follower, like me. You’re jealous of me. I get it. There is just steam out the ears. Just sweating with rage. As badly as they want to, they can’t deny the miracle. So they just affirm what they know: 1. We know we are disciples of Moses. 3. We know that God has spoken to Moses. 4. We don’t know where this guy comes from. Now listen to his response. The blind man opens up the theology 101 book they wrote. Bro, you told me from birth that I was blind because of sin. You told me it was either my sin or the sin of my parents that caused this blindness. That’s what you told me. You wrote the book. Here’s a guy who cures blindness. Here’s a guy that undoes the effects of sin, and you are telling me, he’s a sinner? AMAZING. You are telling me that you don’t know the origin of a guy who restores sight and heals blindness? Astounding. You guys are as dense as a post. No, a brick. No, a black hole. Seriously, what is wrong with you? Curing blindness is a miracle reserved for Messiah. Isn’t that what you told me? Isaiah 35 right? Jesus just pulled off the miracle of causing the blind to see from Is. 35 and you still don’t know where this guy is from? Huh. Curious.. It almost feels to me like you are the ones who are blind. They church disciplined him that Sunday and made an example of him. They posted formal declarations of disfellowship. They kicked him out. Now this is my favorite part of the story. Jesus got wind of this conversation. He finds the man and approaches him, but remember, the man who was formerly blind doesn’t know what he looks like. He couldn’t pick Jesus out of a crowd. His faith was ready. God moved. God worked. God healed. He had experienced the power of God and all he needed was the God of that power to reveal himself. How was this man healed? Answer: Jesus. The man born blind didn’t see Jesus. Jesus sees the man born blind. The man born blind didn’t take the initiative with Jesus - how could he? Jesus takes the initiative with the man born blind. The man born blind doesn’t reach out and touch Jesus. Jesus reaches out and touches his infirmity. The Bible says very clearly, that it’s God who seeks us, not us who seek him. Romans 3 says, “There is none who seek God. All have turned away.” Well, that initiating power does finally reveal himself and the blind man falls on the ground and worships. He’s just bowing. And the fundamental movement of his heart at this point is total surrender. Jesus I know nothing about you, but whatever you say, I will do. I know you are good. I know you are powerful. Whatever you say. This is the story of every one of you in the room who knows Jesus Christ. He has been working. He has been initiating. He has been softening and restoring and awakening and healing. And all of the sudden you discover the God whose power you have experienced and you fall on your face and worship. Jesus doesn’t say, “Get off the ground. Stop worshiping me.” Instead he says, “That’s exactly right.” The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. Unless God opens your eyes, you will see no light. You will have no interest in him. Whatever vision you do have will be blinded by the light.If light is too bright for you it pains you. You begin to despise it. It gives you a headache. You want it to go away.Now the text closes with this incredible zinger. It’s the explanatory sentence that locks it all together. Apparently, some Pharisees overheard Jesus talking to this man. And they have caught on to the implications. They aren’t stupid. They understand now that he’s trying to make a spiritual point:Now I imagine this to be just utter sarcasm. I imagine this to almost be a showdown of wills. I imagine them to be just daring him. Do you have the guts to say that the spiritual leaders of Israel are blind? I dare you. And the response is both kind and truthful.It is the confident assurance that you are right, the pride of being certain, that you can see that in the end is what lead to ultimate blindness. Notice that it doesn’t say, “If you were blind, then you would see.” But since you say, “We see,” you are blind. Jesus pounds it home. The most blind person in the world is the person who believes they have no guilt. If you say, “I’m a pretty good person,” you are as blind as a bat and your guilt remains.ConclusionJoni Erickson Tada, who was wheelchair bound most of her adult life, said very simply, very profoundly, “Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don’t need God as much.” The man who was born in total darkness lives forever in the light. Why? The men born with the light will live forever in total darkness. Why?It all has to do with how you answer this simple question, “Do you see?” The blind man who has been healed answers “Yes, I see.” The Pharisees answer, “Yes, I see.” One does not have the light. One has the light. What’s the difference? The difference is this. The Pharisee says, “I was born seeing! Of course I see.” But the man born blind says, “Once I was blind, but now I see.”If you want to become a child of God then you need to admit your need. You need to admit the darkness of your sin, your complete inability, and you need to come to the end of yourself and cast yourself at the foot of the cross and say, “Lord I believe.”Slideshow for this message is available