Introduction:
Four Signs Your Spiritual Eyesight is 20/20: (John 9)
- You Obey Jesus, even when it doesn't make Sense . (John 9:1-7)
- You let the Facts determine your Opinion of Jesus. (John 9:8-17)
- You are an Unafraid Witness for Jesus. (John 9:18-34)
- You see Personal reasons to Worship Jesus. (John 9:35-41)
Matthew 11:25 - At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children..."
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:14-00:18
This is our last message in the book of John for a while.
00:19-00:26
In our series, "Knowing Jesus," today we're going to be looking at knowing the one who gives sight.
00:28-00:30
And here's the short version of the sermon.
00:30-00:35
You ready? If you're in a hurry, here's the short version.
00:35-00:40
"If you acknowledge your blindness before Jesus, He opens your eyes.
00:40-00:47
But if you persist on trying to live your life without Jesus, God will let you remain blind.
00:48-00:49
That's the short version.
00:50-00:51
Now here's the long one.
00:53-00:54
We're looking at John 9 today.
00:55-00:57
You're like, "Well, which verses?" All of them!
00:57-01:00
You're like, "We're looking at the whole chapter?" Yes, we are. We're going to get through it.
01:00-01:02
We're going to get through it together.
01:03-01:07
Like, "Why are we going through the whole chapter?" Well, the same reason I don't tell half a joke.
01:08-01:13
because the whole point of this chapter is based on Jesus' words at the end, spoiler alert.
01:15-01:21
But this chapter is about a miracle from Jesus, and the fallout from the miracle.
01:21-01:26
And I want to remind you that Jesus' miracles always had a purpose behind them.
01:26-01:29
Jesus didn't do random miracles.
01:29-01:32
They always had some deeper spiritual truth behind them.
01:32-01:37
For example, remember when Jesus fed the multitudes with the fish and the loaves?
01:37-01:38
There was a reason behind that.
01:38-01:42
It was to point out that you need the bread of life from God.
01:43-01:46
Right? That was the spiritual reason.
01:48-01:49
This story is no different.
01:49-01:51
This is a story of a blind man getting sight.
01:52-01:56
This is a story of seeing men losing their sight.
01:58-02:00
This is a story... here's the punchline.
02:00-02:27
Verse 39, "Jesus said, 'For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." If you recognize that you are blind and you are helpless, and you cry out to God, "I need You!" He will grant you vision. He will let you see spiritually.
02:30-02:40
But if you think you can see, You're sitting here saying, "I don't need anyone, including Jesus." He's going to let you stay blind.
02:43-02:48
So today, I am your spiritual ophthalmologist.
02:50-02:54
All right? And God's Word is the eye test.
02:55-02:55
Are you ready?
02:57-02:58
Read the bottom line.
02:59-02:59
No, I'm just kidding.
03:01-03:04
It's not going to be the eye test in that way, but it is going to be the eye test.
03:05-03:10
And here's your outline today, four signs that your spiritual eyesight is 20/20.
03:12-03:15
Four signs that your spiritual eyesight is 20/20.
03:16-03:17
Number one, jot this down.
03:18-03:21
Here's a sign that you are able to spiritually see.
03:21-03:25
The first sign is you obey Jesus even when it doesn't make sense.
03:28-03:32
This chapter gives us insight into a question that we've all struggled with.
03:33-03:35
Why does God permit suffering?
03:35-03:36
Look at the first three verses.
03:37-03:40
It says, "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
03:42-04:01
And His disciples asked Him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." Stop right there.
04:01-04:16
You see, the disciples would have been raised in a Jewish tradition that believes that if you had any kind of an injury, any kind of a disease, any kind of a handicap, any kind of hurt of any kind, it was always directly linked to sin.
04:17-04:19
And Jesus didn't deny that.
04:20-04:23
Hurt is absolutely the result of sin.
04:26-04:28
But it's just not connected in the way that people think that it is.
04:31-04:34
You see, we live in a fallen and cursed world.
04:36-04:41
And somehow, even though we know that's what the Bible says, we go about our lives expecting things to be perfect.
04:42-04:44
They are not going to be perfect in this world.
04:45-04:51
This world is not what it was when God created it, And it's not what it will be when Jesus makes all things new.
04:52-04:54
Today, hurt is a reality.
04:55-04:56
Okay? It just is.
04:57-04:58
I wish it wasn't.
04:59-05:01
It is. Hurt is a reality.
05:02-05:11
In the chapter of history that we live in, it's the result of the presence of sin.
05:11-05:12
Okay?
05:12-05:16
We are fallen people, we live in a fallen world, the world's under a curse, that's why there's hurt.
05:17-05:18
But here's the thing.
05:19-05:24
Hurt is not always the result of personal sin.
05:25-05:26
Sometimes it is.
05:27-05:37
What I mean is, it's not always, "Well, that guy got hurt because he's a bad person." But that's what a lot of people taught and believed in 1st century Judaism.
05:38-05:43
That if you had a handicap or an injury or something, that God just put the whammy on you.
05:43-05:45
Because of a sin that you committed.
05:48-05:54
And obviously that's not the case here, because this man was born blind, right?
05:54-05:57
He was born with this condition.
05:58-06:18
So that's what prompted the disciples to ask, "Wait a second, if he was born with it, then how did sin come into play here?" Well, Jesus tells us, He says it's so that the work of God would manifest.
06:21-06:24
This isn't just a whole other sermon, this is a whole other sermon series.
06:24-06:33
Do you realize so much suffering, the purpose that God allows it, is so that He has opportunity to show up and do something awesome?
06:34-06:36
That's why a lot of suffering exists.
06:38-06:42
You're not going to know God as a healer until there's a sickness, right?
06:42-06:48
You're not going to know God as a Savior until you're in some kind of a situation where you need save.
06:48-06:53
So there's so much suffering, and so God has an opportunity to do something that will blow your minds.
06:53-06:55
And that was the case with this guy here.
06:56-06:57
And that's what Jesus was pointing out.
06:58-06:59
Look at verse 4.
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Jesus said, "We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day.
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Night is coming when no one can work.
07:07-07:17
as long as I'm in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva.
07:19-07:30
Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam," which means "send." So he went and washed and came back seeing.
07:33-07:36
You know, it's hard to make sense of suffering, right?
07:37-07:41
You know what's even harder for me is to make sense of why Jesus did the miracle the way that He did.
07:42-07:46
Now, we're probably familiar with this story, most of us.
07:48-07:52
But could you try to imagine this story from the blind man's perspective for a second?
07:53-07:57
Okay, you're sitting there, you're blind, you're born blind, this is what you do every day of your life.
07:57-07:59
He's probably a young man, we'll see why in a second.
08:00-08:04
He's sitting there and all of a sudden, Jesus and His disciples come walking along.
08:05-08:10
I have to imagine the blind man, he's not seeing it, but I wonder if he's hearing from other people what's going on.
08:10-08:17
Like, "Well, who's coming?" "Oh, it's Jesus. People say he's the Messiah.
08:17-08:34
Some people think he's a joker, whatever." "Oh, well, what's Jesus doing?" "He just spit a giant mouthful of spit on the ground." Oh, now what's he doing?
08:39-08:40
You're not gonna believe this.
08:41-08:47
He spit on the ground and he picked up the dirt where he spit.
08:49-08:49
Well, that's kind of gross.
08:50-08:50
Now what's he doing?
08:51-08:53
He's rubbing it in his hands.
08:55-08:58
Okay, okay, this is very strange.
08:58-08:59
Now what's he doing?
09:01-09:07
"Looks like he's about to rub it in your eyes." I mean, can anybody else wrap their brain around, like, what was this guy thinking?
09:08-09:11
He's just gonna show up and rub spitting dirt in my eyes?
09:13-09:14
Apparently this guy didn't object.
09:15-09:18
I would hate to think that this was a normal thing for him.
09:22-09:23
Right?
09:24-09:24
Right?
09:27-09:32
Okay, so, and he doesn't know, really know Jesus yet at this point, right?
09:32-09:46
So a guy shows up, spits in the ground, makes mud, rubs it in his eyes, and says, "Okay, I'll go wash in the pool." I'd be like, "You'll fly a kite!" That's not what he did.
09:48-09:51
The Bible says he went and did what Jesus told him to do.
09:51-09:53
Now, he wasn't healed instantly. That's something else that blows my mind.
09:54-09:56
Jesus tells him to wash. He was still blind, apparently.
09:56-10:04
Apparently he didn't get his eyesight until he went and washed in the pool where Jesus told him to wash.
10:05-10:10
He had to listen to Jesus' command and do what Jesus told him to do.
10:12-10:28
So I have to ask myself, what if when Jesus came and did the thing, what if this man just dismissed Jesus as crazy mud spit guy He didn't do what Jesus told him to do.
10:29-10:31
Hypothetically, what if that would have happened?
10:32-10:45
Jesus rubs the dirt in his eyes and says, "Go wash." And the guy's like, "No, I don't know who you are. Beat it." Would the guy have gotten his eyesight back?
10:47-10:51
I know it's hypothetical, but from the best I can see from the passage, no.
10:53-10:57
didn't get his eyesight until he did what Jesus told him to do.
10:58-10:59
Right?
11:00-11:03
But this is where a lot of people fail to get out of the gate.
11:04-11:06
They want to try to make sense of the Bible.
11:07-11:12
I'll believe it if it makes sense, or when it makes sense, or when I can make sense of it.
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And I'm here to tell you this morning, write this down.
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Faith does not make sense.
11:17-11:18
Ever!
11:19-11:20
It does not make sense.
11:22-11:23
Faith does not make sense.
11:25-11:34
I'm not saying that our faith isn't reasonable or sensible because it's based on an objective truth grounded and rooted in history.
11:34-11:35
Absolutely.
11:35-11:41
But when God tells you to do something, it doesn't make sense.
11:43-11:43
Every time.
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Faith does not make human sense.
11:48-11:49
Let me give you an example.
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Talk about money.
11:53-11:57
In case you hadn't noticed, we've sort of been going through this pandemic thing, right?
11:58-11:59
Anybody notice that?
12:02-12:02
Economic collapse.
12:04-12:08
You know what the elders of this church did during the economic collapse?
12:08-12:10
You know what the elders of this church did?
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The elders of this church sent almost $8,000 to Nepal to feed starving Christians in Nepal.
12:17-12:22
It was like $7,800, I think, if we're going to be exact.
12:25-12:29
But some would say, "That doesn't make any sense.
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We're not going to have any money if we give the money that we have away." But you know what God said?
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God said if we give the money away to Him in His name, He gives back even more so that we have more to give to Him.
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That doesn't make any sense at all.
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But that's what the owners of this church really believed God was calling us to do.
13:00-13:01
So that's what happened.
13:02-13:04
It doesn't make sense. Do you know what else doesn't make sense?
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I was talking to our treasurer.
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The biggest month of giving for our church, do you know what it was?
13:11-13:11
March.
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And I don't mean by pennies.
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I mean exponentially higher than every other month of giving.
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What sense does that make during a pandemic, when people are losing businesses and jobs and got to save some for rainy days?
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It makes zero sense.
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You know what the second highest giving month was?
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You want to guess?
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April!
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[applause]
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That doesn't make sense.
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But our treasure is here. You can go ask Him.
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You can see the numbers. It makes zero sense.
13:49-13:59
But God says when you give to Him, He'll give back to you, and He'll give you even more so that you can give more to Him, and He'll keep the cycle going, and that's what our church experienced.
14:00-14:10
Now my question is, would our church have had such huge months of giving If we didn't give so much money away, I don't think we would have.
14:12-14:13
I really don't think we would have.
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But this is true for the church, this was certainly true for the blind man, and I want to tell you today it's true for you as well.
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In any area, whether it's money or whatever, any area where Jesus gives a command, You just got to do it, even if it doesn't make sense.
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Then you're going to see that when you look back, just doing what Jesus tells you to do is the only thing that really does make sense.
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And only then will you really see the blessing, right?
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2020, like this guy.
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Obey Jesus even when it doesn't make sense.
14:55-15:01
Secondly, four signs your spiritual eyesight is 20/20.
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Secondly, you let the facts determine your opinion of Jesus.
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Okay? Let the facts determine your opinion.
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Look at verse 8.
15:14-15:33
It says, "The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some said, 'It is he.' Others said, 'No, but he is like him.' He kept saying, "I am the man." That's so funny, you just got to admit, that's hilarious.
15:34-15:57
Everybody's like, "Is this the guy? Is this the guy? That's him. That's not him." The whole time he's sitting there going, "It was me. It was me. It was me. It was me. It was me." And they're like, "Is it him? Is it him?" And he's like, "Yes, it was me! But I'm not sure. Was that him?" "Ugh! Ugh! Now I wish I was deaf." He didn't say that.
16:00-16:01
That would be funny.
16:01-16:35
So they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind, stopped there, such reluctance to believe it happened.
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And at this point, apparently all the man knew was Jesus' name.
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But there's a huge problem here.
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You're going to see the Pharisees were livid Because all of this happened on the Sabbath.
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Look at verse 14.
16:57-17:01
It says, "Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
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So the Pharisees again asked Him how He had received His sight.
17:05-17:26
And He said to them, 'He put mud on My eyes, and I washed, and I see.' Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, "For he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was division among them.
17:28-17:34
We kind of laughed a little bit about Jesus spitting on the ground and wiping the mud in his eyes.
17:35-17:36
There is a reason he did that.
17:38-17:43
Could Jesus have just said, "You can see now," and the lights came on?
17:43-17:44
Could Jesus have done it that way?
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Absolutely, He could have done it that way.
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So why did Jesus go through all the...
17:50-17:51
Why did He go through all that?
17:55-18:07
It was like Jesus was trying to break as many of their man-made rules as He could in one act.
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That's what this is like.
18:12-18:24
God said, "Don't work in the Sabbath." The Jews made hundreds and hundreds of rules that were meant to help you keep the Sabbath, and they believed you were spiritual based on how well you kept these rules, and that's why they were so mad at Jesus.
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But it was almost like Jesus was like, "Let's see with one act how many of their rules I can break." First of all, he spit on the ground.
18:33-18:37
And did you know that was prohibited on the Sabbath by their man-made rules?
18:37-18:40
Because spitting on the ground is considered work.
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Do you know why it's considered work?
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if your loogie hits dirt and it moves the dirt, that's considered plowing.
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And you just... I'm serious.
18:50-18:51
And you just worked on the Sabbath.
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So they had a rule again, I'm not making this up, you can look this up.
18:55-19:01
You were allowed to spit on a rock on the Sabbath, but you were not allowed to spit on the dirt, because that's considered plowing.
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Secondly, the rule that Jesus broke, you were not allowed to heal on the Sabbath.
19:10-19:10
Again, look this up.
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If you broke your leg on the Sabbath, you couldn't do anything to make it better, but you could do things to keep it from getting worse, okay?
19:22-19:25
So basically, just sit on the couch till Sunday, right?
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So you spit on the ground, you weren't allowed to heal, and here's the third thing.
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Spit was considered medicine.
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I don't know either, okay?
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You tell me and we'll both know.
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But spit was considered medicine.
19:44-19:51
You were not allowed to use medicine on the Sabbath, and they considered spit to be medicinal.
19:51-19:57
So this was their reason for rejecting Jesus and this miracle.
19:57-20:02
But for some, they were saying, "Well, God really seems to be endorsing this stuff." And there was this huge division.
20:04-20:21
Verse 17, "So they said again to the blind man, 'What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?' He said, 'He is a prophet.'" The man's faith and understanding were developing.
20:23-20:26
Now Jesus wasn't just some random guy walking by.
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No, he must be a prophet.
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You know, church, we live in a day more than ever.
20:35-20:37
People aren't interested in facts.
20:37-20:38
You notice that?
20:40-20:42
It's all about how I feel.
20:46-20:47
Take politics, for example.
20:50-20:54
We're talking both sides, whatever political stripe you are, whatever.
20:54-20:56
We're not taking sides here.
20:56-20:58
I just want you to look at the issue as a whole.
20:59-21:00
Can we be mature enough to do that?
21:01-21:03
Okay, let's look at politics.
21:04-21:09
Fake news from both sides, whatever, Fox News, CNN, fake news from both sides.
21:11-21:17
You notice people let their opinions determine what they believe are facts.
21:17-21:18
You notice that?
21:19-21:20
Here's what I mean.
21:21-21:26
If you love Donald Trump, you believe everything good that you hear about him.
21:27-21:30
And if something bad is said about him, that can't be true.
21:33-21:34
Same with Obama, right?
21:34-21:41
If you're an Obama fan, everything that was said about him that was favorable, you're like, that has to be true.
21:42-21:47
And everything that was said negative, if you hate Obama, everything negative said about him, you're like, well, that can't be true.
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You get the point.
21:52-21:55
You base your facts on whatever your opinion is.
21:57-21:59
I'll believe every positive thing about Trump if I like him.
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I'll believe every positive thing about Obama if I like him.
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I'll believe every negative thing about him if I hate him, either one.
22:11-22:26
But very few people objectively are honest enough to say, I'm going to look at all the facts, I'm going to check the facts, and I'm to determine my opinion based on the facts.
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Now, I don't really care about your political views.
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What I do care is when your opinion of Jesus is not based on facts.
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That's what I care about.
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And that's why we're going through this whole "Knowing Jesus" series.
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That's why we're walking through John's Gospel.
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Because too many people out there have a twisted opinion about Jesus.
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despite what the Bible actually says about him, and that was the Pharisees' problem.
22:57-22:58
You see, they already hated Jesus.
22:59-23:05
And everything they could gather to reinforce that hate just fueled that.
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That's why in verse 17, again, this is almost laughable.
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I wouldn't say almost, this is laughable.
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Here's a guy that was born blind, never saw a day in his life.
23:19-23:28
Jesus shows up, the man sees, And the Pharisees go to him and say, verse 17, "What do you say about him?" "What do I say about him?
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I was sitting here blind for my entire life and he opened my eyes.
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What do I say about him?
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I think he's awesome!
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That's what I say about him.
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Like, what kind of a stupid question is that?
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Like, I don't really know.
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I mean, he did do it on the Sabbath.
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Like, what did they expect him to say?
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It's just, it's idiotic.
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What do you say about him?
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What do you think?
23:53-23:56
What do you say about the man who brings you ice cream?
23:57-23:58
What do you say about him?
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He's awesome!
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That's been my goal with this series, is to simply present the facts, that's knowing about Jesus, and encourage you to let the facts determine your opinion of Jesus.
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to go from knowing about Jesus that will lead you to want to know Jesus.
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And your spiritual eyesight is going to be 20/20.
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If you let the facts about Jesus determine how you feel about Jesus.
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Number three, four signs your spiritual eyesight is 20/20.
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Number three, you are an unafraid witness for Jesus.
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in verse 18.
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"The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight.
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So they called the parents of the man who had received his sight." Again, it must have been a young man.
24:58-25:00
Like, "We don't believe you, little boy.
25:00-25:08
We're going to call your parents." "And asked them, 'Is this your son who you say was born blind?
25:08-25:15
How then does he now see?' His parents answered, "We know that this is our Son, and that He was born blind.
25:16-25:20
But how He now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened His eyes.
25:22-25:23
Ask Him." He's of age.
25:24-25:25
He will speak for Himself.
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His parents said these things because they feared the Jews.
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The Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, He would be put out of the synagogue.
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Therefore His parents said, "He's of age. Ask Him." So for the second time, called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God.
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We know that this man is a sinner." Stop there.
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"Give glory to God." What they meant was, that was kind of their vernacular in our day.
25:54-26:00
We say, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" That was their way of saying that.
26:00-26:10
Like, look, you better say the absolute truth for Almighty God right now. Right? That's what that meant.
26:10-26:18
Verse 25, "He answered, 'Whether he is a sinner I do not know.
26:18-26:27
One thing I do know, that the heart was blind. Now I see.'" This man wasn't looking to get into a theological debate about Jesus.
26:29-26:32
Side note, this is just a powerful witnessing tool.
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Just tell how Jesus changed you.
26:35-26:40
If you're looking for how to witness to someone, just tell them how Jesus changed you.
26:41-26:54
So many people are afraid to witness because, "What if they ask me this question?" Look, there's one thing you know better than anybody else on the planet, and that's your life story. You know that better than anybody.
26:54-26:58
So when you share Christ, just tell people what Christ has done to you.
26:58-26:59
And that's what this man did.
26:59-27:04
Like, look, you're asking me all these theological questions, I don't really know anything about that. Here's what I do know.
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I was sitting there blind one minute, and I'm walking around seeing the next, and the difference was Jesus Christ.
27:14-27:15
Look at verse 26.
27:18-27:21
"But I said to him, 'What did He do to you?
27:23-27:32
How did He open your eyes?' He answered them, 'I've told you already, and you would not listen.'" Why do you want to hear it again?
27:33-27:39
"You also want to become His disciples." Yeah, that was it.
27:42-27:42
Nailed it.
27:43-27:44
He was being sarcastic.
27:44-27:45
I think we all caught that, right?
27:47-27:48
And they reviled Him.
27:48-27:48
Oh, they got it.
27:50-27:55
They reviled Him, saying, "You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
27:55-28:11
We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, "You do not know where he comes from." If you're keeping track, that's four times in this passage the man was asked how he was able to see.
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Four times.
28:13-28:16
Verse 10, verse 15, verse 19, verse 26.
28:16-28:21
"How'd this happen? How'd this happen? How'd this happen? How'd this happen?" How many more times is he going to be asked?
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Why do they keep asking him how?
28:27-28:38
I believe they wanted the man to say, "Well, Jesus spit, and He made mud, and He rubbed my eyes." And they're like, "Oh, so we have the testimony that He violated the Sabbath.
28:38-28:45
Testimony right here! We have an eyewitness. He violated the Sabbath." I think that's why they kept asking him.
28:47-28:49
But they made a huge mistake here.
28:51-28:51
Did you catch it?
28:52-28:55
They admitted for something they did not know.
28:56-28:59
The man pounced on it. Look at verse 30.
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The man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing!
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You do not know where he comes from!" And yet he opened my eyes.
29:07-29:13
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him.
29:16-29:36
He's like, "Well, I got you now, because you started a line of debate that you can't get out of." Verse 32, the man says, "Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind." If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.
29:36-29:39
And do you see the guy's faith is developing even more.
29:39-29:47
He went from, "He's a prophet," to now he's like, "He's straight from God." See, his faith is growing, faith is developing.
29:48-29:58
Verse 34, "They answered him, 'You were born in utter sin, and you would teach us." And they cast him out.
30:00-30:02
That's what you call sore losers.
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Right?
30:05-30:06
They're done with facts.
30:06-30:07
They're done with facts.
30:09-30:15
Just like they did with Jesus, when you didn't win the argument, you resort to a personal attack, right?
30:16-30:32
And when they lost the argument with this guy, they're like, "Oh, you were born as a rotten sinner, "You're going to teach us religiously." But the man was like, "Guys, you totally missed it.
30:33-30:35
No one has ever done anything like this.
30:39-30:45
You guys were just here to witness the greatest miracle ever." And I'm sure this guy thought this was the greatest miracle ever.
30:46-30:53
And you just witnessed the greatest miracle ever, and all you want to do is write it off as a Sabbath violation.
30:56-31:03
It would be like a woman rejecting a diamond ring because it came in a plastic box.
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Like, wow, you are so missing everything.
31:11-31:13
So in this passage here we have quite a contrast.
31:14-31:20
We hear from the man's parents, who didn't know anything, why don't you ask him? He's old enough.
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Go from that to this man's boldness.
31:25-31:36
Again, when it comes to witnessing, so many people are afraid, and so many, even people that call themselves Christians, end up just like the parents here.
31:39-31:42
When it comes time to share your faith, you say, "You know what, I don't really know what to say.
31:43-31:45
I'd rather not talk about Jesus, can you go ask somebody else?
31:48-31:50
And hey, I can teach you how to share the gospel.
31:50-31:52
I can teach you how to give your testimony.
31:52-31:58
I have a stack of books in my office all about witnessing, personal evangelism.
31:58-32:02
I can guilt you into trying to witness, but it's ineffective.
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If your witnessing just becomes a mechanical spouting of information.
32:13-32:15
I'll tell you who the best witness is.
32:17-32:19
The best witness in the world is somebody like this guy right here.
32:22-32:25
Somebody who's had a radical, life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.
32:25-32:30
Somebody who has a story to tell, and is unafraid to tell it.
32:30-32:33
You find that guy, you're not going to shut him up.
32:35-32:38
He doesn't need coerced into witnessing.
32:41-32:46
Maybe you don't witness, because you don't have a testament.
32:48-32:53
Because maybe deep down, you realize that you're more like the parents in this story after all.
32:54-33:00
Jesus didn't really change me, but I know somebody that He did change, and you should go talk to Him about it.
33:02-33:11
Because here's reality, If you're anything like this guy, transformed by Jesus, you don't need motivation to talk about Him.
33:12-33:15
You don't need a pep talk for the courage to talk about Him.
33:17-33:20
You just simply see who He is, and you're not afraid to tell people what He can do.
33:21-33:21
That's it.
33:23-33:25
So that's a sign that your spiritual eyesight is 20/20.
33:26-33:27
You're an unafraid witness.
33:28-33:36
And finally, number four, your spiritual eyesight is 20/20, is you see personal reasons to worship Jesus.
33:38-33:40
You see personal reasons to worship Jesus.
33:43-34:06
Verse 35, "Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He answered, 'And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?' Jesus said to him, "You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshipped Him.
34:09-34:15
I think it's just awesome that Jesus found him.
34:16-34:20
I would think that the guy would be looking for Jesus who opened his eyes.
34:20-34:26
Like, "I'm not leaving until I find him again." Jesus tracked him down. Did you see that?
34:28-34:30
Because Jesus wasn't done with him.
34:30-34:36
Just like Jesus opened his physical eyes, right here Jesus opened his spiritual eyes.
34:38-34:43
Verse 39, Jesus said, and here's the punchline, here's the purpose of this whole story.
34:46-35:00
Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." This is a teaching throughout the Bible.
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God will exalt the humble, and He will humble the self-exalted every time.
35:07-35:21
Matthew 11.25, Jesus said it this way, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children.
35:23-35:24
That's what God does.
35:25-35:27
If you're willing to humble yourself, God exalts you.
35:28-35:32
But if you exalt yourself, God will knock you down.
35:34-35:39
Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world." You're like, "Wait a second. Hang on a second.
35:39-35:41
I thought Jesus didn't come to judge.
35:41-35:53
Isn't that what we covered back in John 3?" Yeah. But understand here that this was self-condemnation that we're dealing with here.
35:54-35:57
Jesus didn't judge these people.
35:58-35:59
They were judging themselves.
36:01-36:06
Because they were looking right at Jesus and didn't see anything desirable in Him.
36:06-36:11
They were looking at the Son of God and saw no compelling reason to follow Him.
36:12-36:13
Self-condemnation.
36:15-36:28
Verse 40, "Some of the Pharisees near Him heard these things and said to Him, 'Are we also blind?' Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no guilt.
36:29-36:40
But now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains.'" They get that Jesus was using a metaphor.
36:43-36:45
But they refuse to admit their blindness.
36:46-36:47
Are you calling us blind?
36:50-37:00
Jesus here basically was saying, "You're guilty because you're not ignorant." You aren't even claiming ignorance.
37:00-37:08
You're walking around saying that you're able to see, but in your pride, you willfully refuse You spiritually see me for who I am.
37:09-37:17
You know the Scriptures, you watch me work, and you refuse to believe in me, all the while claiming that you are the enlightened ones, that you can see.
37:18-37:19
That's what Jesus was saying to them.
37:22-37:28
But notice that while they kept trying to argue, what was the formerly blind man doing?
37:29-37:32
Verse 38, it says he worshipped.
37:35-37:37
and how his faith matured throughout the chapter.
37:39-37:50
Went from, "He's a prophet!" to, "He's from God!" to, "He is God, and I'm going to worship Him." This man had reasons to worship.
37:52-37:57
He realized who Jesus is, and he was grateful for what he received from Jesus.
38:00-38:01
Can you say that?
38:04-38:06
Can you say that? I can't help but worship Jesus.
38:06-38:08
To me, this is very personal.
38:08-38:11
I don't just worship because I know about Jesus.
38:12-38:13
He's the Lord of the universe.
38:13-38:15
I mean, that's true, and that is a reason.
38:15-38:18
But I worship because I know Jesus.
38:18-38:21
I have personally experienced His goodness.
38:24-38:28
The salvation that He's offered through His death on the cross, I've received that gift.
38:29-38:31
So worship is a very personal thing for me.
38:32-38:32
Can you say that?
38:35-38:41
When you can, your spiritual vision is 20/20.
38:44-38:51
People say this phrase all the time, "Oh, you had to see it to believe it." Have you ever used that phrase?
38:51-38:54
I used that phrase a lot over the last week.
38:55-38:56
Let me tell you why real quick.
38:57-39:00
You did it. You get a sticker for going through the whole chapter today.
39:00-39:08
But last weekend, I use this phrase, "You had to see it to believe it." "You had to see it to believe it." I use that phrase so many times.
39:09-39:12
Because last weekend was crazy.
39:12-39:24
We went to the Thompsons' house for a free back-to-church party with some small groups, and there was a wild turkey just hanging out.
39:24-39:25
Right Dan?
39:26-39:27
There was a wild turkey.
39:27-39:39
I mean, it was like playing with the kids, and like Ross Howes was holding it, and Cade's like, "Can I hold it?" My son Cade was like, "Can I hold it?" And Ross is like, "Sure." And Cade had this turkey perched on his arm.
39:40-39:43
And I had pictures of this, and I said, "You look like the world's poorest pirate."
39:44-39:44
[laughter]
39:46-39:51
And I kid you not, Dan has this fire pit, and he has these stumps around the fire pit.
39:51-39:55
We're all sitting around the fire, and the turkey is sitting on a stump!
39:55-39:57
with us, a wild turkey.
39:58-40:00
And I have pictures, I don't know if my phone's in my office.
40:01-40:02
I have pictures, he's sleeping.
40:05-40:06
You had to see it to believe it.
40:07-40:09
Like we hung out with a wild turkey.
40:09-40:19
And then the next day, we were out at my in-laws, we were riding the side by side through the woods and we stopped at this one place where Aaron's mother actually grew up.
40:19-40:23
She goes, "I'm gonna show you." It was like deep in the middle of the forestry.
40:23-40:28
And as we're walking on the path, there was a fawn right there!
40:29-40:34
I mean, I could have literally bent over and picked the thing up, and it was just like completely not moving.
40:35-40:37
It wasn't injured, it wasn't sick, it wasn't dead.
40:38-40:39
It thought it was camouflaging.
40:40-40:41
And it was right there.
40:44-40:56
And I'm like, "Man, you had to see it to believe it." And you know, there's so much - I could keep going, but I'm not - You see it to believe it. You had to see it to believe it.
40:56-41:01
But listen, church, when it comes to spiritual sights, the exact opposite is true.
41:03-41:05
You have to believe it to see it.
41:08-41:08
Do you see?
41:11-41:12
Can you see?
41:13-41:14
Let's pray.
41:15-41:19
Father in heaven, we are all born blind spiritually.
41:21-41:30
And thank You that the light of the world has come to give eyesight to people who are humble enough to admit that they're helpless.
41:31-41:40
To people that are humble enough to obey the simple commands to believe and follow Jesus Christ.
41:44-41:46
Father, I pray for those sitting here.
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I pray for those listening online, watching this streaming.
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We're going to be listening to this podcast later.
41:58-42:04
Father, I pray that we would see ourselves like the blind man in desperate need of an encounter with Jesus.
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You would open our eyes to the fear like the parents had or the arrogance like the Pharisees had.
42:16-42:17
Bring us to the place of repentance, Father.
42:20-42:22
Thank You God that You're in the business of opening eyes.
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Open ours.
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We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read John 9
What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
Would the man have been healed if he didn’t go wash in the pool (John 9:7)? Why do you think Jesus healed the man this way, instead of just healing him “instantly”?
Their opinions ignored the facts (John 9:24, 34). What are ways people do that in our day, especially regarding Jesus and the Bible?
Why do you think people repeatedly asked the man HOW he was healed? See (John 9:10, 15, 19, 26).
Explain John 9:39 in your own words. How do you reconcile these words with Jesus’ previous statement that He came not to judge (John 3:17-18).
Breakout
Pray for one another! And pray, by name, for someone you know who needs to invite Jesus to open their eyes.