Sermon for Parkrose Nursing Home by Geoff Thompson 30/3/14
Bible Reading : John 9:1-41
John 9
New King James Version (NKJV)
A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
9 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who
was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying,
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the
works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I[a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the
night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the
world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with
the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And
He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent).
So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was
blind[b] said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”
He said, “I am he.”
10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes
and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of[d] Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know.”
The Pharisees Excommunicate the Healed Man
13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now
it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then
the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to
them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because
He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such
signs?” And there was a division among them.
17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He
opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and
received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his
sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who
you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and
that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do
not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will
speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things
because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone
confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the
synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask
him.”
24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God
the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not
know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open
your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do
you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’
disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for
this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”
30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that
you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now
we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and
does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has
been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If
this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and
are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.
True Vision and True Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He
said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”[e]
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is
talking with you.”
38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those
who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words,
and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now
you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
Jesus Heals a Blind Man by Geoff Thompson
In His ministry while He was physically on
this earth Jesus healed many.
We are told about some of them and this report
about the healing of the Blind man was one of them.
There are 6 healings of blind men in the gospels.
If we look at the different healings Jesus
is usually teaching a lesson to those who are witnesses.
There are often 2 responses by those who
are there.
Some realize that Jesus is no ordinary man
and come to believe in Him because of the miracles He has done.
Others chose to remain skeptics and even
accuse Him of being the Devil on some occasions and are constantly trying to
diminish Him.
The Pharisees in particular are very threatened
by Jesus.
They see Him as a threat to their status
and standing in the community.It’s a little bit like an employer being
threatened by some new young employee as the employee may be smarter than them
and take their jobs.
These religious leaders in particular are
very set in their legalistic view of their relationship with God.
They think they are the only ones with a
true knowledge of God’s ways.
In the Gospels Jesus is in the process of
doing away with the age of the Law and ushering in the the age of Grace.
In the Bible there is always something
there for our instruction as well as the people who lived in Jesus’ day.
So what do we make of a story like this?
What are the implications for us?
Just a bit of background to the question “2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?”
It was a common belief in the times of Jesus that if
you were ill or blind or had some disability it was a result of your sin or
someone elses.
Sadly there are still some today who think like this
even in our own country.
Also in some under developed countries disabled people
including children are just hidden away in a corner of the house and never
given any help of any kind.
If we wanted to be pedantic we could argue that all
suffering is a result of the fall of man and sin, but that is a general
principle not to be taken in specific cases.
The blindman in this account was certainly so touched by Jesus healing him
he immediately became to believe Jesus was the Messiah when Jesus told him who
He was.
He became so bold when challenged by the
Pharisees that he suggested that they become Jesus’ disciples.
From verse 24 onwards we read
24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God
the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not
know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open
your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do
you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’
disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for
this fellow, we do not know where He is from.
They were so affronted by in their eyes, such a lowly person telling them what to do,
they excommunicated him from the synagogue.
Notice they were quite happy for the
blindman to give God the glory but not Jesus.
They hated Jesus.
They were plotting to get rid of Him and
try and catch Him out.
If we have received Jesus as our Saviour,
as the Messiah, how bold are we in confronting the skeptics and pharisees of
our day.
For example some people in our circle of friends, we value their acceptance and friendship but are
frightened that if we talk to them about
Jesus they will cut us off.
While most of us here were not born blind,
we have had our eyes opened by the Holy Spirit as to who Jesus is and if we
have let Him ,He has set us free from all sorts of things that we are captive
to.
That is is usually our own sin or the
effect of someone else’s sin on us.
How many of you have read the story in the
paper recently of former Adelaide Man John Short being imprisoned in North
Korea for daring to distribute Gospel Tracts in what is known as the regime.
A place that is cruelly controlled by someone who allows no personal freedom
whatsoever to the people there.
You have to worship him.
John Short was miraculously set free. He did not
compromise the Gospel at all while in captivity.
He was under threat of Death, and stared
death in the face but held firmly to His faith in Jesus.
There are many, probably many Christians,
who will criticize him for what he did but you see somewhere along the way in
his life he was blind but now he sees.
We sing amazing Grace often in Church and
we will be finishing with that today.
We sing with much emphasis and enthusiasm,
I once was blind but now I see.
Have you had the blindness removed from
your eyes, can you see clearly who Jesus is and what He has done for you?
Jesus tells us in today’s passage
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
He has brought us out of darkness
into light.
Have you so fallen in love with Him that
you can share Him with others?
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He
said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”[e]
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it
is He
Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And
he worshipped Him.
Steve . Thank you for your comments and interesting as they were I have removed them as they were not in my opinion relevant to this topic.I was not talking about in this passage the process of salvation.
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