Sight to the Blind - John 9:..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Amen. Well, brothers and sisters and friends, this is the fourth time that we find ourselves in the gospel according to John in the ninth chapter.

This is the fourth sermon thus far. You'll be glad to hear that by the grace of God, we will address, we will consider the sign itself, the miracle itself. But before we do, what have we seen so far? We've seen so much in the few verses that have led us now to verse six is where we are at. And we'll find our way to verse 12 when we consider those verses.

But I just want to bring your attention to one major overarching point that we saw in the first few verses in chapter nine. And it's a very difficult point. It's a heavy point. Theologically, it is correct, it is the word of God, it is true, but for the flesh, it's difficult to swallow. You see, what we have before us here is a man who was born blind, from birth, never had eyes that ever worked.

From his mother's womb, he came out not seeing the light. You can just imagine the difficult life that this man has experienced over the decades that he's been alive. The Bible tells us it is a man, and that is what he is. How old he was, we don't know, but for decades, he'd experienced and endured a hard life that you and I, most of us, have not even come close to understand. The stigma in a society that says that if you are less than whole, less than complete, then you're under the wrath of God, even the disciples.

saw him to be under the judgment of God. This is the stigma that he carried. The difficulty that to his own dignity of having to rely on someone day in and day out to take him by the hand wherever he went because he couldn't do it on his own. He could not see from birth. The difficulty of doing the mundane things of life that you and I have come so accustomed doing on our own and have taken for granted.

He could not do on his own. and put all that into the mix, that he sat on the pathway there somewhere in Jerusalem, and day in, day out, he had his hands open like this, looking at the passers-by, not looking, hoping that the passers-by would come and put a few coins in his hands so that he can eat his way through another day of his life. This was the life of this man. This was the difficulties and the hardship that he endured. And then we're told in the first few verses, and this is where it becomes difficult, that all that.

The fact that he was born blind was fashioned and designed by the decree of God so that one day, decades later, Jesus will walk down the pathway where this man is sitting, begging for money, and Jesus will bring sight to his eyes, and God will be glorified. that the mighty works of God's hand will be seen through his son Jesus Christ when this man on this day receives sight from above. Have you struggled with that? Did you ever struggle with that thought, with that whole concept? Be honest.

Have you ever thought maybe couldn't have Couldn't God have been glorified without this man being dragged through the mud for so many decades? Have you ever thought that way? Did he really need to enjoy years of loneliness being carried and being a burden to others and carrying that burden himself? Was that really necessary? Is that really fair?

Have you ever heard of those words? Is that really fair? Have you ever asked yourself those questions? If you have, then naturally you might go on to ask a few more. You might go on to say, okay, this is this blind man.

And that was the case for him. But what about those that I know, those loved ones that I know who have received what seems to be unfair? The hand that could come towards them seems to be one of difficulty and suffering. Is it possible that they are going through that difficulty for the glory of God? And is that fair that some endure these things and some don't?

And God is glorified in it all. Is it fair? You can take it one step further if you really wanted to, because this is where it gets really uncomfortable. You see, this line, man, we've read the story. The first time we opened up John chapter nine, I took us through the whole chapter, and I wanted to do that on purpose so that you and I have the chapter in our hearts and our minds, and we know one thing for sure, actually two, that this man receives his sight here in the verses that we've just read this morning.

His eyes, who have never seen, his eyes, We never see the light, now see the light because of Jesus Christ, the light of the world, manifesting that light, the light in action, he sees physically. But by the end of the chapter, we also see that this man received the light of God, the light of God, through the light of the world, shining to his heart in a spiritual way, whereby his heart now sees the true and living God. Great story. Happy ending. You and I all, we all love happy endings.

If I imagine, if I ask you that question, not a single one will put their hand up to say, I don't like happy endings. I love them. And this was a happy ending for this guy, whether it was 20 or 30 or 40 years that he had to enjoy in that blindness. Well, when the Lord brought back his soul, gave him sight, created sight, and gave him eyes to see, all those years of difficulty had just melted away because now I can see. I was once blind, but now I can see.

Happy ending, but what if that ending is not so happy? What about the countless others who are born blind and they die? Look at them. Is God glorified through that? Have you ever toyed with those questions?

We did a few weeks ago. You remember that we toyed with some of these questions. But I want to bring them back to your heart and mind this evening before we begin to look at the miracle itself. This is a critical point to be learnt here, brothers and sisters. And I believe the disciples had failed to see it at least at first.

And I'm afraid that we would move on without seeing it ourselves. Does it all affect the way you perceive God himself? So this is really, really important. You see, it all comes down to this. What place does God have in this universe?

What place does God have in the universe? And then the second question is, what place does God have in your own heart? The thoughts that you know about God, where'd they come from? Are they fabricated by the mind or do they come from the authority of scripture because God has spoken and what he has spoken is true. Other than what he has spoken, you cannot know any specifics about God other than what he has revealed to your heart and mind through the written word.

What place does God have in your heart? Is he the God who sits on his throne as the sovereign over the whole universe? The one who is the king of kings? The one who has supreme authority over everything, but not only that, the one who is in control over every single last atom on this planet and all the planets of the world. Is that the God you believe in?

Is that the God that you have enthroned in your heart? Because I'm afraid, at least in the beginning, the disciples had not so much this God in mind, but more they had a view of this world which was a little bit leaning towards the man-centeredness rather than the God-centeredness. Their question to the Lord upon seeing this blind beggar who was born blind was this, Rabbi Hussain, this man or his parents that he was born blind? I'm not gonna open that up or unpack that we've done in the last few weeks, but there's two possibilities you might remember that both of them had earthly origins. Hussain, this man, or his parents?

Both options were earthly. Both options were human options. That's the only answer that they thought in their mind. That the cause of this man's demise is a human cause. Where is God in their thinking?

Well, we know later that God is the judge in their thinking, that this man is blind, and he's born blind because someone had sinned, and God, the judge of the universe, and knew that much, had applied judgment upon this man. So God was seen in their eyes as the judge, but they had no category to make him responsible for everything, including this man's blindness. Everything. A lot of drawing. on our own intellect.

Thinking that we have the answers in and of ourselves, even through what we perceive with our senses, will necessarily lead us to a lower view of God. One that has Him less than sovereign. One that has Him as a God who is reactive. a God who reacts to human behavior, a God who reacts to the evidence that are taking place in the world, rather than a proactive God who is unashamedly in complete control over everything. And he makes no excuses for it, so don't try to defend him yet.

But Christ is saying no to his disciples. God is absolutely sovereignly in control. Everything is traced back to this sovereign decree. It is all ultimately all being played out in his universe for his glory. Nothing is left to chance, even salvation.

And Jesus is saying, and that's why I have come from him to save souls, because nothing is left. Chance. And so the reason we ask ourselves, beloved, Is it fair? Is it fair that this man was born blind from birth before he had a chance to do anything right or wrong? Is it fair that he endured decades of hardship?

It's because we may be a people who have a man-centered view and not a God-centered view. Or at least we lean towards that. Because if we had a God-centered view that no matter how difficult it is for us to accept, we would trust in what the scripture says about who God is, and we would reiterate the words of the psalmist who says, God is good, and what he does is good. Exceptions, no exceptions. He's good, and everything he does is good.

So therefore, who he is, is good. He is the focal point. He is the focal point. All our experiences in life, what we see, what we do, everything in our life is His story and not our story. Beloved, Scripture teaches that.

Everything is fashioned. Everything is designed. Not with man in mind, but with God in mind. And that's humbling. You know why that's humbling?

Because it's difficult to think it's not about me. It goes against our nature. It's all about Him. The first words of this book, the Bible, you can tell me, what are the first words of this book? It gives us a clue about what the rest of the book is about.

In the beginning. This is a story about God, it's his story, not ours. Everything in his creation, everything in his creation was made for his glory. His preachers are made for his glory, not ours. So my question to you is, we are his preachers, he's made us, how do we fare up in reflecting his glory?

How are we doing in giving Him the glory that He deserves since we were created for His glory? It's a difficult question to ask or to answer because sometimes we're thinking about the abstract in our minds and so it's always best to have something or someone to compare to and let me give you someone to compare to. the only one who ever had a perfect God-centered life in the incarnation. I'm speaking of Jesus Christ. Compare yourself to Him, because that's what we should have looked like.

No exceptions. Doing the will of the Father. Finding food, our food, to do the will of the Father, and only obeying Him, and only Him, always and continually. So looking to Christ, I ask the question again, how do we fare up against? You see, a God-centered view leads us to humble recognition of our brokenness and our worthlessness before a holy God who cannot look upon sin.

It's an assault at our pride. It's an assault at our flesh. It's an assault at our self-centeredness. All have sinned. and have fallen short of the glory of God, and before His glory, and if everyone has sinned, then everyone is deserving of what hellfire.

You see, with that in mind, with that in mind, seeing things from that point of view, then we no longer ask the question, like, is it fair? Or rather, oh, oh Lord, how great is your patience. How great is your mercy. How wonderful are you, oh God. A God who's perfect, who lives in unapproachable light, who cannot look upon sin.

How wonderful and patient are you that you would allow unrighteousness that is found in every single one of our hearts. How would you allow us to even take another breath? That's pure mercy. That is absolutely pure mercy. Anything more than hellfire is pure mercy.

More than anything we ever deserve, beloved. Hear this. Even if that means a lifetime of physical blindness. That's more than any of us deserve, even of ourselves. And we need to remember that.

God is good. and all he does. And then to consider that this God would send forth his son, the light of the world, to redeem and save unworthy sinners. And the price he would pay is he's shed blood. Now we're rebels and enemies of God, not searching God, not seeking after him.

Enemies up until the point that he invades our lives and gives us faith and eyes to see, to embrace this Jesus through faith and to receive the salvation that is given to those who are found in him. How great is that mercy? How great is that grace? It's not understanding. If God were not sovereign, beloved, if God was simply reactive, simply acting or reacting to human behavior, then how many of us here this evening would be saved?

Are you glad that God is sovereign over all things, even over your will and your salvation? We're all born in darkness. The Bible's clear. And by nature, we despise the light. I felt the need that we would be reminded of these things again.

that we would once again have a God-centered view, just like our Lord, in order to understand and appreciate the mercy of God upon our lives, and in particular upon this man born blind in the passage that we have before us. But it wasn't just my thought, the Apostle John felt the same way as well. He felt it before me, and I'm just piggybacking on what he has done by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Because from verse six, and that's what we got to last time, we read, having said these things, Have those first five verses in your heart. Having said these things, what Christ has already said in those verses are paramount for us to understand what comes next.

The God is sovereign. that is in complete control, that all glory belongs to him, that he is given a work to be urgently done, and as long as it's day, it ought to be done with a sense of urgency for him to be glorified. And now, the next move for the Son of God, according to the divine calendar of God, is to bring sight to a man who was born blind, to bring glory to God, and to reveal himself as the light of the world. Keep that in mind. Otherwise, we're not gonna understand what comes next.

Keep that in mind. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent. So we went, and he washed, and he came back seeing. This man was blind.

He hadn't seen a single thing from birth. It made no difference to this man whether he was sitting in the midday sun or whether he was sitting in the darkness of night. It made no difference, maybe apart from a bit of heat on his body. He'd never seen, he'd never seen the light. He'd never seen a single thing.

And the nature of blindness, beloved, is he doesn't appreciate the light. So that means that when the light of the world walked by, it made absolutely no difference to him, in and of himself, who this Jesus was. He couldn't distinguish him from the rest of the crowd. He couldn't see him. Later on, we read in the narrative, he didn't know who he was.

I mean, he knew his name. We'll get to that. But beyond that, he didn't know much more about who this Jesus is. Others did, but not this man. His hearing would have been pretty strong.

We know that if you're lacking one of the senses, the others seem to compensate, they tell me, for it. So he didn't wear a crowd walking by after Jesus. He didn't know what was going on, it doesn't seem. He's sitting in the dark. 24 hours of unrelented darkness with his hands out pleading for coins for the passersby to give him something that he would get through another day.

Beloved, if Jesus Christ, our Lord, did not take notice of this man, he would have remained a beggar, a blind beggar, for the rest of his life. Jesus is the one who took notice of him, realize that. It's Christ who took the initiative. The sovereignty of God had decreed that Christ on this day would take the initiative and take notice of this man begging. See him in his pitiful state, take notice.

And then Christ would initiate the encounter with this man, not the other way around. I love that. I love the fact. that Christ is the one who initiated the encounter. We should not let that pass us by.

As I said, if Jesus Christ did not make the first move, this man would have remained blind until the rest of his life. And there is a spiritual reality behind that for you and I, isn't there? Because we know we were all born in darkness. We know that we have all sinned, as I said before, all born blind, spiritually speaking. We never knew God, we didn't wanna know God, we ran away from God, and in our sin and in our darkness, we held on to our sin, and whenever there was light, the word of God, or anything that could convict us, we ran the other way like a cockroach when you turn the light on, and they scatter into the darkness, into the shadows under the furniture.

That's who we were, but Christ took notice, beloved. If you're standing or sitting here this evening, and you know him and you've been united in him, it's because he took notice of you, not because you took notice of him, and that is humbling. No boasting here. There's no boasting here. Aren't you glad?

Aren't you glad that he took notice of you? Aren't you glad that God is sovereign even over your salvation and mine? You know, I suspect that this man who doesn't yet know Christ, sitting there begging, I suspect if Christ was to come up to him and ask him, what would you like me to do? What do you think his answer would be? Speculation, I know.

I would think he would say, you know what? If you can give me enough money to get me through a few days, no, give me enough money to get me through a week, no, actually, I'll restate that. If you can give me enough money to get me through a month, then I'm gonna be the happiest person in the world. That's what he probably would have asked. Do you think that he had any inclination at all that this Jesus would give him so much more than he ever, ever would have thought?

Absolutely no way, no way did he think on this day that Jesus would create sight to his eye blind eyes and for the first time in his history he will be able to see. There is no way. No way would he have known before the end of the narrative that he would receive not only sight to his blind physical eyes, but he would receive sight to his blind spiritual soul and enjoy eternal life in the one who is life. No way. Just like the invalid man in the pool of Bethesda.

You remember the man who was invalid for almost four decades. You remember that guy. You remember when Jesus came up to him and he came straight to him. Remember what Jesus said? He said, do you want to be healed?

The guy was there at the pool of Bethesda because he was waiting for the waters to be stirred. You remember the story. And Jesus said, do you want to be healed? What is his response? Oh, Jesus, you can heal me, heal me.

No. No, that wasn't his response. The man, the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda, hearing Jesus say this, he said to him, oh, oh, I can't get into the water. Whenever this water is stirred, I try to get in and someone gets in before me. His hope was in a superstitious stirring of the water at the pool of Bethesda.

But he did not know that the one who stood before him is the one who can create, create limbs for him if he did. the one who can bring him out of that crippled nature that he's experienced for almost 40 years. No, as far as he went was, I reckon also, if we asked this man, Paul Bethesda, at that point, I think if he had a chance before Jesus healed him, he may have been thinking, well, what I need is help to get in the pool first. So if you really want to be merciful towards me, maybe you can hang around. And when you see the water stirred, maybe you can carry me and put me in the pool.

Who's he speaking to? This is a sad thing, brothers and sisters. But before him is a man who can make him well, make him whole. And yet he can't see it. So too is the blind man.

He didn't recognize Jesus in order to say the right words, to ask the right questions, not at all. He was blind. And the only reason why he received his sight on this day was not because he was clever enough to figure out that Jesus could do it, but rather Jesus took notice of him. And Jesus gave him sight. So the light of the world declared in the previous chapter, in chapter eight, in verse 12, I am the light of the world, is here light in action.

And it's twofold, really, if we look at the narrative, it's twofold, a demonstration of the light of the world. The first is that that light shines into a man's physical eyes, eyes that have been turned off. Eyes that had never seen, eyes that were dead, dead eyes, had never seen light. Here you have the light of the world demonstrating the power of God and demonstrating he is the light of God, the one who's able to bring life to death, the one who's able to bring light. He brings light to these dead eyes.

That's the first stage. The second also is that in a matter of time, By the end of this chapter, the light will shine in a man's heart as well. And that light will be revealed to the heart of this man. He will see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But here's the thing.

Why is it that Jesus does it in such an unusual way? Like, let's read. It's all saliva. I mean, he could have simply spoken the words. That's what he did here at the pool of Bethesda.

You remember the invalid man. Jesus just spoke the words. The guy was saying, no one can help me into the pool and all this. And Jesus said to him, get up, take up your bed and walk. And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked.

And of course, it was a Sabbath, same as here. And we'll get to that in a few weeks. And he found himself in a world of trouble, but he could walk. So why doesn't Jesus do that here? Jesus doesn't even have to say the word.

You remember the royal official in chapter 4 over in Capernaum, Jesus in Cana. He just says, go home to your son. He's going to be made well. He doesn't have to be there. He doesn't have to touch him.

He just needs to will. And the person becomes healed. So why doesn't he say that here? Instead, what we see is He makes some dirt and anoints the man's eyes and commands him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. How strange is that?

I think it's a bit strange. I think some of you do too. And we aren't completely surprised, are we? Jesus has used his saliva in healing various diseases before. You would remember there's two passages that are consecutive in Mark chapter 7.

You might remember the first one in Mark chapter 7, the deaf man who had a speech impediment. Jesus used his saliva to make him well. And in chapter 8 of the Gospel according to Mark also, probably a bit closer to home because there he was a blind man. But there was no mud. Jesus seemingly spat straight into the guy's eyes.

That's a bit more odd, I would think. Don't you think? He spat directly into this guy's eyes. That's strange. That's not normal.

Don't think for a moment, because we're far removed, 2,000 years removed from 1st century Palestine, don't think for a moment that this was normal behavior in those days. It's don't slide out some sort of additional value. It didn't. It's strange to them as it is to us. This is unusual behavior.

So, why is it? Why is it that Jesus would use such an unusual way of bringing healing to this man? Now, many theologians over the years have put their two cents worth, right? A lot of explanations, lots and lots and lots of explanations as to why this could have been. Some conservative theologians have put some very good explanations on the table, and some who are not so conservative have put some very strange, actually very, very strange, So we could, in a way, we could go through them and we can examine some of the ones that are more credible, some ones that are more fruitful or plausible.

But I don't think that'd be fruitful. And I'm not going to be one that speculates. So if you're waiting for me to give you a definite answer, a definitive answer as to why, I'm sorry, I'm going to disappoint you this evening because I don't have one. The fact of the matter is, we are just not told why. That's the fact.

So sometimes thinking about the sovereignty of God, as I said before, the one who's in complete control, who does things for a reason. Don't hear me saying that there is no reason for this taking place the way it does. There is. He does nothing. Christ did nothing without a reason.

Everything was according to the will of God and according to the divine calendar of God. The means he used is exactly what God wanted him, the Father wanted him to use in the incarnation. There is an absolute reason, don't hear me say there isn't, but sometimes things are left best in the hands of the sovereign God, but we want to know. So let's have some observations. One that I want to make is it's striking to me that unlike any other blind man who our Lord healed in scripture, that this man, we're told, was born blind.

Here in John chapter nine, we're told he was born blind. And the apostle Paul wants us to know that and take note of that point, that he is born blind. That this man's eyes had never worked. This man's eyes were dead from birth. And that Jesus does, what he does is essentially not simply restore the man's sight.

This is not a restorative miracle, but a creative one. There was nothing there. The eyes had never worked. He came out of his mother's womb and the eyes did not work. Whatever Jesus does was create sight in a place in the eyes where sight had never been seen.

His eyes were inanimate. That means they were dead. They were lifeless. And Christ made life from that which was dead. The light of the world in action is a light that creates beloved.

I've said many times this is the sixth miracle and every one of the miracles speaks something profound to the person of Jesus Christ. And here we hear that he created sight where there was no sight. So he is creator. He's the one who creates something where there was nothing that worked. So although I said that earlier we can't be sure why Jesus used this method with the dirt on the ground, I must say that it reminds me at least of the creation story in Genesis when dust was used also to form from the ground and God made dust.

I can't be sure. Dust from the ground is used in both. Both are acts of creation. I can't push the point any further, but it does strike me eerily similar. But one thing I can emphasize to you is that what Christ did is creative power.

And we know creative power belongs to who? God alone. Only God can create. You see, this man doesn't know it quite yet, right? He doesn't know it.

I want you to put yourself in his shoes and experience what he's experienced. And if you did, you'll experience no doubt a form or at least a sense of humility. It's a humbling experience. I can't imagine that this blind man had been sitting there and gone through this whole process and was oblivious to what was taking place. He might be blind, but he's not foolish.

My grandma was completely blind for decades, for decades. It was a medicine error. And she was rendered with no eyesight, complete blindness. She wasn't born that way, right, for decades. But one thing that's, she's passed now.

One thing that always used to surprise me is this, how little we as little kids could get away with when she was in the room. Incredible. hearing was so incredible, you're left thinking, how did she know? Respectfully speaking, I remember vaguely actually testing to see that she was actually blind, because how could she be so aware of her surroundings? They tell me that when you lose a sense or two, the others make up for it.

And I think experientially, I saw that in my grandma. I think the same is happening here. I think this guy in Jerusalem on that day, he must to some degree of being aware of what's going on, at least in the movements, at least. Unlike the other blind man I mentioned in Mark, where one moment Jesus is leading him by the hand outside the village, and with absolutely no notice, bang, he gets a bit of spit in his eyeball, this guy here, and the miracle that we have here in John 9, which is not a parallel account, by the way, it's unique to the gospel according to John, what happens here requires some preparation. He does.

Jesus needs to stop. He needs to come by the blind man's side. We don't know if any words are spoken. We're not told, but irrespective, he had to conjure up enough saliva to spill on the ground. You have to bend down to the ground.

You need to mix that saliva and make up some mud from the Mediterranean dust in order to make enough of the wet compound to smear on this man's eyes. I wouldn't think it was long before this process, before this man sort of had at least some awareness of what was going on. It would have been a humiliating experience, even offensive to some degree, right? but not a hint in the text to remotely suggest that he objected or had any objections. No objections to the sliver of mud being smeared on his eyes.

No objections to the command that Jesus said, go to the pool salon and wash yourself. This is so different to Naaman. You remember Naaman, the leper, who was also the Syrian commander back in Second Kings. And Elisha's servant comes out to him and says, go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River, and you'll be made well. And his pride swelled up.

So I'm not going to do that. We've got good rivers where we are. There's none of that here. Actually, the narrative before us is written in a way, the Apostle John, by inspiration, writes it in a way to suggest that there's nothing else other than complete. Submission and obedience.

You see, once this guy figured out what was going on, he put it on, whoa, whoa, whoa, I might be blind, but I still have a sense of dignity. You're not gonna put it in that spittle on my eyes. No, what are you doing, Jesus? No, there's none of that. There's none of that.

He accepted, and not only accepted, but he obeyed the command of Jesus Christ to walk down the valley to the southeastern wall to a place in the pool of Siloam, which is called Sint, and wash himself there. He simply obeyed. Verse 7b, so he went and washed and came back singing. He came back singing for the very first time. What would you have done?

Put yourself in his shoes. What would you have done? What would you have done if you'd been born blind, never seen for decades? Jesus does all this, mud on your eyes, sends you away. Go wash up this pool of slime, and you do.

And you wash, and then your eyes are opened up. Wouldn't you? I know what I would've done. I'd run back to my family and friends and my name and say, I can see. I can see it for the very first time.

I know what it is to see. I know it. Imagine the joy. and the jubilation in this guy's heart to be able to see for the very very to have washed his eyes at that pool. And then as he opens his eyes, he can see through the ripples of the water, his reflection for the very first time.

Looking over, he can see his handler, who'd handled him down to the pool for the very first time. Looking upon the pathway, seeing the people in Jerusalem hustling by, some short, some tall, different colors. How wonderful. Looking at the sky, oh, the sky is blue. That's what blue looks like.

And then looking at that ball that is the sun and gold, immediately looking away and saying, I'm not gonna do that again. That was the wrong move. Imagine the joy and the tribulation in this man's eyes, in this man's heart. He expresses it here in verse 25. He says, one thing I know, once questioned about what he'd gone through, he says, one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.

It's almost like he's saying, I was once dead, but now I'm alive. At least to some degree already. His neighbors, his friends. I've become so accustomed to seeing this beggar day in and day out in the same place, probably in the same place every day, having his hand out pleading for mercy just so that he can get enough to get through the day has now changed. Something foundational has changed.

He has a new spring in his step. He has a different type of countenance that some like they've never seen before. They're probably rubbing their eyes and scratching their heads thinking, is this even the same guy? We're told some said, yes, he is, probably because they knew him well. They could see maybe some birthmarks, same birthmark, same clothing as you are.

It's amazing, he's so different, but what we think he is, he's gotta be the same guy. He looks the same. He's got the same top. It's gotta be the same guy. But then you have others who say, no, no, no.

It cannot be the same guy. This guy is different. This is another guy. The other guy, he looks like the guy that we're used to begging, but he's definitely not him. They were more happy to, at least in their mind, convince themselves that the blind beggar had disappeared somewhere, rather than believe that this is the same guy.

Sounds like him. But he can't be him. This guy can see. This guy is joyful. This guy is completely different.

Could it be him? No, no, no, no, no. It can't be him. He kept saying, it is me. It's me.

It's me. He kept saying, it is me. I'm that guy. It is me. And his neighbors and his friends would rather say, no, it can't be you.

You're such a huge change. It can't be you. They forbid to believe it's the same guy. But of course he was different. He had an encounter with the light of the world.

How could he be the same? Now, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Up until this point, this man is still unregenerated. He's still not in Christ. He's still not a born again Christian.

He still hasn't placed his faith in Jesus Christ, the son of man. That doesn't take place until verse 38. Until then, he identifies Jesus, as we read, as the man they call Jesus. Until then, he'll advance his declaration of who Christ is and say in verse 17, that this is a prophet. You say, this is a prophet.

But when verse 38 comes and Jesus presents himself once again and opens his heart, shines the light into the heart, not only to the eyes, but to the heart, this man, this man would say, Lord, and then fall on his face and worship Christ. His eyes were spiritually opened in verse 38. So up until then, he's still an unregenerate man. But beloved brothers and sisters, there's no doubt in my mind, the Spirit of God is working here. He's not quite in Christ, but the Spirit of God is at work here.

And so what we have before us is something greater spiritual reality. In other words, what we have is a physical the the physical opening up of the eyes of this man which is pointing to a greater spiritual reality that takes place when the eyes of the heart, the eyes of the soul are shown through the face of Jesus Christ to bring life and light where there once was none. I think that's the way we Because although Christ is not yet his Lord, he still had a joyful encounter with him. And if the light of the world opened up his physical eyes, and his physical countenance was turned upside down, no, that's not the same man I was saying. And these aren't strangers, by the way.

These are, we're told, his neighbors, his friends. These are people who had known him. not those who came by every now and then and saw him once or twice. These are his neighbours. They knew him.

His countenance has changed so much that they could not believe it's the same guy. So if eyesight brought to his eyes, his physical eyes, had brought about such a change in him that people couldn't recognise him, how much more true should there be a change? in those pitch black hearts when one has an encounter with God through the light of the world, Jesus Christ. These are, these are piecing words. They're confronting words.

Because the question that we ought to ask ourselves is this, those who know us before and after, Do they look upon us and say, you're pretty much the same guy. You're pretty much the same girl. Or do they see a change in our hearts, a change in the way we live our lives, a change in the way we speak, and the change in the way we deal with others, the change in the way we manifest, our lives are manifested. Do they see a change that is so profound that they cannot but say, it's a different person. You're a different person.

You're not the person I used to know. How could you be? How could you be? You've had an encounter with the living God. How could you be, if you've come to know Jesus Christ, because he's made himself known, he's strong, he's lightened to your heart.

How could we say that we can stay unchanged? For others and sisters, there are different degrees of change, and the change is continual, because we're sanctified by the word of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. But how can there not be a change from what we once were to once what we have now become? This is a sad thing, brothers and sisters, that the modern day religion has reduced Christianity to subscribing to a set of beliefs or holding to a set of doctrines or membership in a church or to be born in a Christian family or praying a prayer five, 10, 15 years ago and holding to that and say, I belong to Christ because I prayed that prayer so many years back. Find that in scripture.

Find that in scripture. You know can buy their fruit. Those who have had an encounter with Christ, the change should be like life and death, at least in one's own soul. Because he changes us from the inside out. The people who knew this man best, Many forbid to believe he was the same guy.

Because he had a physical encounter with Christ. How much more when he changes the very epicenter of your soul? How much more when you've had a nature change? Plucked out of the kingdom of the darkness and placed into the kingdom of the sun, the kingdom of the light, now to be called children of the living God. This is the way the apostle Paul says it.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. He is a what? A new creature. Brand new. The old things passed away, behold.

The life you once lived in the passions of the flesh, submitting to the desires of the flesh, that life that was bondage to the flesh, you're no longer, brothers and sisters, you're no longer bound. You're no longer bound by the enemy. Jesus has come to set you free, and if you trust in him, you've been set free indeed. Because you've known the truth, and the truth is Christ. And it changes you from the inside out.

It's changed your nature. Most important thing is that you know it. Most important thing is that you can examine your own heart and see that change. To see that you indeed have faith that is holding to Jesus. Don't hear me say that we're looking for perfection.

Don't hear me say that. Perfection is the goal. Because Christ's likeness is the goal. Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. That is the goal.

Let's not deny that and let's not put that down. But you need to see that you have a faith that has embraced Christ and the power of the Spirit working in and through you, that the desires that you once had are being slowly stricken away. And now you desire Christ, his word, his people, his laws, his righteousness. The countenance changes. The life changes.

and it ought to be seen not only on the inside, but on the out also. Can't be concealed. You're a new creature. You know what the response is for those who witness that change? Those around us who say, I knew you before, and now I see you now, and I've been following your life, You're a different person.

Do you know what response they elicit? Similar to what we had before us. They end up asking questions. Questions like, tell us what happened. And beloved, in your response, that's where God is glorified.

Because it's his hand through his son upon your life. Tell me what happened. What's happening here? One man kept saying, I'm the man. And many among him were saying, no, you can't be the man.

He said, I'm the man. And they said, no. He said, I'm the man. I'm the guy who sat on the corner with my hand out. And you guys were coming by.

And some of you gave me. I don't know who did and who didn't. So I'm not going to hold a grudge. But I'm that guy, I'm that guy who sat at the corner and begged every single day, I am that guy. And they're going, but how could that be?

He says, I am that guy. And they finally say, okay, if we submit to you and say, okay, you are the guy, then something supernatural must have happened. This is not ordinary. This is unusual. Something supernatural you couldn't see just this morning.

And now you can see you're a different person completely. Tell us what happened. How did this change come about? Who opened your eyes? Who's responsible for making you see?

We accept that it is you. Tell us how this miracle occurred. Tell us. And he answered in verse 11. He answered, the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to the salon and wash.

So I went, washed, and received my sight. They said to him, where is he? He said, I do not know. He had to give it to him. It's not a very elaborate description of the events that have taken place, but they're concise, and they are accurate.

All I know is this man called Jesus. I don't know much. I know that His name is Jesus. And I know that He put some mud on my eyes and He told me to go and wash in that pool called Siloam. And I did.

And all I know is I came back and I could see for the very first time. That's all I know. I obeyed and now I can see. I received my sight. I can see.

Then they ask him, okay, where is he? Where is he? Introduce him to us. Tell us where he is. We want to meet this one who has the power to create sight.

We're intrigued. We must meet this one who gave you sight. Where is he? I don't know. I don't know.

I said that these few verses paint a picture through the physical healing or the physical creating of sight for this blind man, who was born blind, that that physical picture that we see before us is meant to point to a greater, deeper spiritual reality. So what is happening in the physical sense is also what takes place to some degree in the spiritual sense. I said it's analogous to some degree, but that analogy breaks down at some point, as you would expect. Because the physical can't be a perfect correlation to the spiritual. And brothers and sisters, this is where it breaks down.

This is where it all breaks down. Who did this to you? How did you, a man born blind, how did you receive your sight? And he tells them what he knows, the best of his ability. I know this much, the man called Jesus, he did this.

He put the mud on my eyes. He's the one who commanded me to go down and get washed. And then I came back and I came back seeing this man called Jesus. That's true, he was this man called Jesus. But this is where the analogy breaks down because this man, Jesus, is far more than a man.

but he didn't know it yet. So we can only go as far as he understood, as far as he knew this man called Jesus. Later on, he'll be thinking about this whole process. And in verse 17, I said earlier, when they asked him again, who do you make out him to be? He says, he's gotta be a prophet.

True, Jesus is a man. And true, Jesus is the mouthpiece of God. He is a prophet. He is the word, the means, the full communication of God. But is that what he is?

Is he a mere prophet? No. Is he a mere man? No. Even the prophet.

that was promised in Deuteronomy chapter 18, the promise like Moses that will come among your brothers. And when he comes, listen to him. That prophet was well known by the Jewish people to be Messiah. When he came, you know that this is the Messiah, the one who was sent by God, even if you declare him to be the prophet. Is that enough?

We have an example of this. In John chapter six back in Galilee, you remember on the day after Jesus fed the 5,000, or actually on the day he fed the 5,000, people were so enamored by his power and the fact that he could feed their bellies. You remember what they said? This is the prophet in that article. They recognized him.

as being the prophet, like Moses from Deuteronomy chapter 80. And they wanted to, by force, make him king. And the very next day, what they do, they turn their back on him. They reject him because they did not know him. They professed with their mouth that they did not know who this Jesus was.

Beloved brothers and sisters, it is far more than what we say with our mouth. Our mouth needs to be a reality in our soul. It needs to stem from the spirit within and that is only a truth that is placed there by the power of the Holy Spirit who is the one who can press the word and the truth of his word in our soul and it comes into our soul through the light of the world who reveals the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. No other way. And this man hasn't yet come to that point.

I know that he's a man but he's more than a man. I know that he's a prophet but he's more than a prophet. He's more than a prophet. I said earlier that the time will come in verse 38 when Jesus will come back and confront this man. He'll come and he'll stand before him and he will ask, have you believed in the Son of Man?

He said, here we go, Jesus said in verse 36, he said, we'll go from 35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out and found him. He said, do you believe in the son of man? He answered, and who is he so? You've got your eyes back.

You can see like the rest of us. Are you telling me that you can still not see that this Jesus is Messiah? It takes far more than being able to see with your physical eyes, even if those eyes have been touched by God. Even though you've only received those eyes by the Son of God who said and looked, who gave you sight supernaturally, you need more than the physical eyes to be able to recognize that Jesus is the Son of Man. You see, to know him as a man is not enough, although that is partly true.

To know him as a prophet is not enough, although that is partly true. Jesus Christ. Beloved, it requires Jesus Christ to say, I am here. It is me. And to open up the eyes of the soul.

The physical eyes play no part. Zero part. The physical eyes play zero part. Thousands of people saw Jesus walking down the streets in He teaches with authority unlike the scribes. He's full of truth.

He's full of grace. No one taught like him. Not a single teacher in this planet is greater than Christ. And thousands rejected him. They had eyeballs.

They had ears. But it requires that he to shine his light, to pervade, to push back the darkness so that the heart will be able to see, receive sight, and see him as the all-glorious saviour, the messiah, and embrace him as lord. To embrace him as lord Jesus said earlier in John chapter 8, that unless you believe that I am, you will die in your what? In your sins. And if you remember, our translations say, unless you believe that I am he, and back then when I explained that passage, that he's not there, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

And here in verse 38, we find this man saying, I believe, and what's the very next thing he does? There's so much more that happens between now and then, and we'll get through it in the next few weeks, but what does he do? He falls on his face and worships Christ. He worships Christ. It sounds to me like this man has come to believe that he is the great I Am, because no one is worthy of worship except the great I Am.

And the thing that breaks the heart at this point is that there's many here who are asking, teach us, tell us, introduce us to this Jesus, to this one who's supernaturally opened your eyes, but we're still in verse 12, brothers and sisters, we haven't gone down to 38. So at this point, he's unable to say anything other than, I don't know where he is. I don't know. But can I propose to you that after verse 38, After Jesus does penetrate his heart with the light of God, after this man is made to know Christ as Lord, from that point, even after the ascension of our Lord, if ever again he is asked, where is he? He'll have a far better answer then, I do not know.

And in that, God is glorified. When they ask us, where is he? Where is the one who has changed your life? Where is the one who has made you from what I remember you being and who you are now? Tell me, who did this?

Where is he? Brothers and sisters, we must have an answer. Those who are found in Jesus Christ have a far better answer than I do not know, but rather I can tell you we're talking about Jesus Christ, the son of God. guardian flesh who roamed this earth as one of us, as our representative, and who willingly, willingly obeyed the will of the Father in absolute perfection, faultlessly, and then laid down his life. It wasn't taken from him.

He laid down his life willingly and shed his blood upon that cross so that his blood will cleanse the unrighteousness of those who come and believe in him. He died for his people. His people were enemies. His people said, we don't need you. But he invaded their lives and showed himself to them through the light of the world.

Revealing the light of God to the heart of man so that you would come to know him truly and intimately. So that when the next time you're asked, who is he that changed your life? Where is he? You'll have an answer for the hope that is in you.