In chapter 8, Jesus taught at the feast of tabernacles (Sukkot), presenting himself as the true light who is the source of true life and true freedom for all who trust in him.
Chapter 9 continues with the theme of light and darkness as Jesus performs a sign miracle. o Remember, John tells us (20:31) that the main purposes of recording Jesus’ miracles is to help us understand who Jesus is so that we will trust him to give us true life. o With this miracle of healing a blind man, Jesus shows not only who he is but also a part of what it looks like to live this new life as his follower. (1-3) Who Sinned?
(1-2) We are introduced to a man who has been blind his whole life, and the disciples assume that his blindness must be a punishment for sin. o This is not an unusual assumption. o When I am counseling someone who is suffering, one of the most common questions is: What have I done that God is punishing me like this?
Sometimes a person’s suffering is the direct consequence of personal sin (Galatians 6:7-8). o It might be very natural consequences like getting drunk leading to injury in a car accident or cheating on your spouse (aka adultery) leading to a broken family. o It might be seemingly unrelated suffering sent by God as discipline to bring a believer who is unrepentantly sinning back to the right path (or, in extreme cases, remove their bad testimony from the world). ▪ E.g., 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 – people who are sinfully abusing the Lord’s supper are disciplined by God with sickness, weakness, and even death. ▪ My dad suffering a serious hamstring injury when he was prioritizing his track career over following God’s call to be a missionary. o Often, a person’s sin causes other people near them to suffer as well ▪ i.e., suffering can be fairly directly caused by other people’s sin. ▪ E.g. Joshua 7:1-12 – Achan’s sin causes Israel to lose a battle in which 36 men die (harming both him and those associated with him). ▪ In a previous example: a person whose drunk driving causes an accident or infidelity leads to a broken home has brought suffering upon other people. o The disciples assume this kind of personal connection for the blind man: either he or his parents must have sinned for him to suffer blindness. o Reading Scripture as a whole tells us that this is an unhelpful (even dangerous) assumption to make.
Broadly speaking, all suffering in the world is the result of sin in the sense that Adam’s sin brought death & suffering into the world and gave Satan a high degree of influence in it (Romans 5:12 – See Genesis 3). o Romans 8:22-23 – Even after we have trusted Jesus as our Savior, we continue to live in this broken world and in these mortal bodies. ▪ While our salvation is guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit, it is not fully accomplished until we receive our glorified resurrection bodies & Jesus makes all things new. ▪ This side of heaven, we will sometimes experience suffering as the result not of personal sin, but rather of living in this universe that is cursed by sin and influenced by Satan. o We must be very careful about assuming (like the disciples do here) that suffering (in our life or someone else’s) is a result of God disciplining personal sin. ▪ If your suffering is not a clear natural consequence of a past sin, if you have a clear conscience, and if serious self-examination turns up no obvious, unrepentant, ongoing disobedience, this probably isn’t about personal sin. ▪ It is incredibly unloving, discouraging, and quite possibly slanderous to tell a suffering person that God must be punishing them for unknown sins. o In the book of Job, his three “friends” repeatedly accuse him of hidden, unconfessed sin, claiming that must be the root cause of his suffering. ▪ We know from the first 2 chapters that the actual cause is Satan who has attacked Job because Job is so righteous that God delights in him… ▪ …and at the end of the book God is highly displeased with these three “friends” who dared to speak slanderous falsehoods on God’s behalf (Job 42:7-8).
(3) Jesus explains that this man’s blindness was not caused by personal sin; rather, it came about by God’s will for the purpose of allowing God to work in him. o A recently popular “Christian” book tries to help people feel better about suffering by teaching that suffering is never part of God’s plan. ▪ In this view, God lovingly experiences suffering with us and makes it come out right in the end even though it wasn’t his original plan for us. ▪ That is blasphemous nonsense that diminishes the authority, power, knowledge, and wisdom of our great God. o God is sovereign. ▪ Nothing happens outside the will/plan of God (Isaiah 45:5-7, 46:8-10, Ephesians 1:11-12). ▪ God purposely uses even difficulty, suffering, and tragedy in his glorious plan to bring us to spiritual maturity (James 1:2-4) ▪ He uses all things to make us more like Jesus with eternal glory so sure that it is spoken of as an accomplished fact (Romans 8:28-29). o God is going to work through this man’s blindness in at least two ways: ▪ It is going to give Jesus an opportunity to demonstrate his compassion and power to a lot of people (including us today & next week as we read about it). ▪ It is going to draw this man to faith in Jesus. (4-7) Jesus Does the Will of the Father (4-5) Jesus has been given a clear opportunity to glorify God, and he seizes it.
He knows that there is a limited time for this phase of his ministry. o He has referenced this a couple times already when warning the crowds that the opportunity to accept him as their Messiah is brief. o At this point, he is visibly, physically present: the light of the world that people can directly interact with using their physical senses… o … but the time of his death, resurrection, & ascension is near when this will no longer be the case.
Interestingly, Jesus includes his disciples in doing the works of the Father while there is still opportunity (We must work…). o Jesus is the one sent by the Father to save us, and all of us who follow him are brought into this rescue mission to bring people into a right relationship with him. ▪ There are parts of this mission that only God can do (like healing this blind man and actually changing people’s hearts)… ▪ …but all of his followers should be involved and willing to take the opportunities that occur. o In Mathew 5:14-16, Jesus tells his followers that we are the light of the world. ▪ By our good works, we bring glory to our heavenly Father. ▪ These good works include telling others about the true life that comes through faith in Jesus…as we see Jesus doing in the Gospels. ▪ These good works include treating others with the same kind of love and compassion that we see in Jesus. ▪ We are supposed to reflect the light of Jesus in a dark world, the way the moon reflects the light of the sun in the dark night. ▪ All too often we reflect the sinful values of our society or favorite political party rather than the love and goodness of Jesus (what Jesus refers to as hiding our light). o One application of this right now: in our society there is currently an attitude of increasing hostility and hateful generalizations toward pretty much all immigrants. ▪ Non-Americans living in America have become the national scapegoats: the cause of all that is wrong in the country. ▪ Pleas for asylum (even from war-torn or famine-ridden countries) are dismissed with sneers that they’re just here to be freeloaders & criminals. ▪ Unjust violations of due process and defied court orders are overlooked, excused, or even celebrated as long as they target non-Americans. ▪ One recent video from the white house came with a caption celebrating the sound of clanking shackles & chains on deportees. ▪ The DHS is considering a TV game show in which desperate immigrants compete for citizenship for the viewers’ entertainment. ▪ One of our missionaries who works with refugees tells me that some who are doing everything legally are still being ordered to self-deport. ▪ He urged me to remind you to pray for these people and to love your neighbor as yourself, whoever they are. o Don’t become part of this present darkness that deems people unworthy of compassion based on their ethnicity or nation of origin…reflect Jesus, not society. ▪ This same thing could be said of other issues that devalue human life like abortion & euthanasia… ▪ …I focus on this one this morning because it is one in which many professing believers in our circles are deeply complicit.
Like Jesus whose time of earthly ministry was limited, our time is limited. o The day of Jesus’ return and the final judgment is coming, after which it will be too late for those who have not trusted in Christ as their savior o We must act as the body of Christ (his visible, physical presence in the world) while we can. ▪ Hebrews 10:24-25 – Working together to show Jesus’ love in our words and deeds becomes all the more urgent the closer we get to his return: For the watching world and for our own encouragement to persevere in the faith. ▪ Galatians 6:9-10 – We have God’s assurance that the good things we do (and here he places a high priority on helping fellow-believers) are not in vain if we persevere.
(6-7) We’ve taken a while to get there, but we’re finally at the part where Jesus miraculously heals the blind man in an amazing display of compassion and power. o For some of us, we’ve heard stories of Jesus’ miracles so much that we barely think about them. ▪ At the will of Jesus whatever is broken in this man’s body is fully restored. ▪ A man who has only ever experienced darkness can suddenly see perfectly. ▪ There is coming a day when all suffering will be wiped away never to return. ▪ During his earthly ministry, Jesus gave us numerous displays of his authority and ability to do so to whet our appetite (one of the biggest ones is coming up in chapter 11). o There are probably as many guesses as to why Jesus used spit and mud as there are commentaries. ▪ There’s a fun linguistic connection between the pool being called sent and Jesus earlier referring to himself as the one sent by the Father. ▪ Whatever other symbolism may or may not be intended, healing this way give the blind man an opportunity to demonstrate that he trusts Jesus enough to do what he asks.
True faith in Jesus results in obedience because I trust that he has my best interest at heart when he gives me commands & principles.
This man’s faith is still in its earliest stages, but it is going to mature very quickly. ▪ This temporarily sending him away gives him some time to think about the significance of what has happened…and that’s where we will pick up next week. Applications
Don’t let hardship or tragedy shake your faith. Trust the goodness of God. o Just as this man’s blindness was part of God’s plan for God’s glory and this man’s good, God uses all things to accomplish his perfect will. o That perfect will includes the eternal good and glory of all who belong to him. o Make sure that you belong to him by trusting Jesus to forgive your sins and transform your life.
Seize the opportunities you have to do the will of God right now because the night is coming. o Telling others about the hope that you have in Jesus (much more on this next week). o Speaking and acting with love & compassion toward all. o We must be shining lights, reflecting the goodness of Jesus to an increasingly dark world as we look forward to the day that he makes all things new.
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