Our sermon today is on the blindness and miraculous
grace of sight here during this Lenten season.
Let us pray together. Our God and our Father,
we come before you this Lord's Day in this Lenten
season and we thank you for how you have always
provided for us. And so we ask you now to grant
us ears that truly hear, minds that understand,
and hearts that fully obey you. joyfully obey
you and in so keeping let the words of my mouth
and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable
in your sight for the sake of our dear Savior
Jesus Christ amen as we prepare here today I
just want to make mention to you in preparation
for the Lord's Day we do send out the lectionary
readings and I want to encourage you to read
the lectionary in your preparation for the Lord's
Day. So if you're not on our email list, I would
encourage you to get with us and we'll share
that information with you by midweek. Our gospel
reading today, we'll be looking at that in some
detail. We'll read two portions of John 9 to
remind us of a few things before we begin today.
Now Jesus passed by and he saw a man who was
blind from birth. And his disciples asked him,
saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind? Jesus answered, neither
is this man nor his parents sinned, but that
the works of God should be revealed in him. I
must work the works of him who sent me while
it is day. The night is coming when no one can
work. And as long as I am in the world, I am
the light of the world. 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 clay. And he said to him, go and wash
in the pool of Siloam, which is translated scent.
So he went and washed and came back seeing. Therefore,
the neighbors and those who had previously seen
that he was blind said, is this not he who sat
and begged? Some said, this is he. Others said,
he is like him. And he said, I am he. Therefore,
they said to him, how were your eyes open? And
he answered and said, A man called Jesus made
clay and anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go
and wash in the pool of Siloam, and wash. And
so I went and washed, and I received sight. Then
they said to him, Where is he? And he said, I
do not know. Dropping down to verse 35, we see
this. Jesus heard that they had cast him out,
and when they had found him, he said to him,
Do you believe in the Son of God? And he answered
and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe
in him? And Jesus said to him, You have both
seen him, and it is he who is talking to you.
Then he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped
him. And Jesus said, For judgment I have come
not into this world that those who do not see
may see, and that those who see may be made blind.
And then some of the Pharisees who were with
Him heard these words and said to Him, Are we
blind also? And Jesus said to them, If you were
blind, you would have no sin. But now you say,
We see, therefore your sin remains. These are
the words of Almighty God. Receive them in your
hearts. There are three things that I would like
you to think about as we go through this passage
in some detail today. First of all the blind
man simply obeyed the blind man simply obeyed
Second beware the grace of God did not fit the
paradigm of the Pharisees Beware the grace of
God did not fit the paradigm of the Pharisees
and finally The blind man had simple courage
with gratitude under worship. The blind man had
simple courage with gratitude under worship.
Now I want you to imagine with me a young man
awakens to another day in his life. And unlike
you and me, he cannot appreciate the beauty or
joy of a sunrise. He is blind. His daily routine
is to get up and make his way to the temple This
man born blind is not only cut off from sight
But he is also unable to enter the temple Because
of this blindness he is considered ceremonially
unclean and therefore cannot draw near to God
So he's left outside the temple walls begging
He's hoping that the worshipers who come to the
temple will be generous as they enter into the
house of God and The blind man on this particular
day is very very optimistic You know, he doesn't
know yet that he's gonna encounter Jesus. That's
not why he's optimistic No, he's optimistic because
worshipers have come all over the realm for the
feast of the tabernacles We know that three times
a year that God commanded the believers in God
to go to the temple and worship and have feasts.
And this is the feast of the tabernacles. It's
one of the mandatory times of feasting. In Deuteronomy
16, we see it says this, seven days you shall
keep a sacred feast to Yahweh your God in the
place where Yahweh chooses, because Yahweh your
God will bless you in all your produce and in
all the work of your hands so that you surely
rejoice. One of the reasons this blind man was
very excited perhaps on that day was because
we know that over 100 ,000 people would swell
into the city, not counting the 60 ,000 that
already lived there. So they almost tripled in
size. People are everywhere. They've come to
worship and feast and tabernacle and booths made
of trees. And as God's word instructs us, they
would have had money that they were bringing
to feast with. And one of the things that they
point out with that feasting is that you are
to be generous. If the person beside you has
none, invite them to your table. Share, drink,
be merry, eat well, celebrate God's goodness
to you. So he's excited. that all these people
would be there and be generous. Now Jesus, we
learned in chapter 8, slipped into Jerusalem
unnoticed and went to the temple. And Jesus taught
in the temple where he declared the doctrine
of the one who sent him, God the Father. The
Jews and the religious men of the temple argued
with Jesus, especially concerning his good works
on the Sabbath. The Pharisees and chief priests
even attempted arrest Jesus, but the temple guards
would not arrest him because of the words with
which Jesus spoke. He spoke as one who had authority,
unlike their own leaders. On the day of our text,
Jesus returns to the temple and thwarts the Pharisees
and chief priests at every turn. In fact, Jesus
says to them, if God were your father, you would
love me, for I proceeded forth and came from
God, nor have I come of myself, but he sent me.
Why do you not understand my speech? Because
you are not able to listen to my word. You are
of your father the devil, and the desires of
your father you want to do. He was a murderer
from the beginning and does not stand in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources,
for he is a liar. and the father of it. But because
I tell you the truth, you do not believe me."
Now Jesus will continue to challenge these religious
leaders in Judea and Jerusalem, but they will
cling to their religious views, not to honor
God. But as we were reminded last week, remember
last week we thought we learned about or were
were reminded of, Jeroboam, who was elevated
into leadership by God and who desired to cling
to his own power and authority for himself and
his children. And so what did he do? He was afraid
that during these three feasts that all the people
of his kingdom would go down to the temple and
worship God. And so what did he do? Man, I don't
want him to do that. That's going to take the
kingdom away from me. And so he perverted worship
and brought in idolatry. And he didn't just build
one idol, he built two so that people could travel
and go any direction and not be able to worship
the Almighty. And so too now, the chief priests
and the Pharisees cared more for the retention
of their power and desired to kill Jesus. And
chapter 8 ends with this very tense scene. It
says, then they took up stones to throw at him.
That's Jesus. But Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of
them, and so passed by. It's not that Jesus was
like hiding in the sense he just got up, walked
out, there's crowds, swelled everywhere. And
certainly God prevented them from being able
to throw those stones at him. But you know what
happens at this time, right? We see all this
great tension. Then all of a sudden. As Jesus
leaves the temple, he passes by and he sees this
blind man. And his disciples see the blind man
as well, and they ask Jesus, who sinned, this
man or his parents? And like Job's friends, the
disciples held to a view that if hardships, especially
the ones that made one unclean and unable to
draw near to God, meant that either the parents
sinned or that man sinned. As if a child... could
sin in utero. We're all born in sin, but he hadn't
yet committed the sin against God. And Jesus
answered, neither this man nor his parents sin,
but that the works of God should be revealed
in him. John 1 tells us that Jesus is the light
of the world and that the darkness could not
comprehend it. And then we see a little further
down. This unimaginable thing that Jesus came
to his own and his own did not receive him Go
down a little farther and John 1 We see this
the wonder of grace But as many as received and
to them he gave the right to become the children
of God To those who believe in his name who were
born not of blood nor of the will of flesh nor
the will of man but of God So what did Jesus
do with the blind man? He spat upon the ground
and made clay and anointed the blind man's eyes.
Jesus says to the blind man, go and wash in the
pool of Siloam, which means scent. So Jesus sees
the blind man. He does this thing that we think
is pretty strange, although we see him do it
several other times. And he anoints the blind
man's eyes and he sins that man. down to the
Pool of Siloam. Now the Pool of Siloam, we don't
know exactly where Jesus encounters the blind
man, but it's about 70 yards downhill through
those crowds. Through those crowds. So it wasn't
a quick walk, it wasn't an easy walk. There are
all kinds of people and on top of that he can't
see. But what does the blind man do? He simply
obeys. Jesus speaks, and unlike so many in and
around the temple, the blind man does not delay.
He doesn't get caught up into debate. Now, he
may have heard of Jesus, we don't know, but it's
likely. And yet, not knowing who he is, he's
the prophet, he's the son, he doesn't know. He
simply obeys. He goes, and he comes back seeing.
For so many who claim Christianity as their own,
they hear God's words and they delay. We delay
obedience in so many ways. We debate and listen
and often pause and hear scoffers. We question
among ourselves. We hear only what our itching
ears want to hear and ultimately we don't receive
the grace of God because we delay. we simply
disobey. Now let me say about delayed obedience.
Children, are you listening? Are you listening?
When your parents or authorities speak to you,
you should obey right away. Children, are you
listening? You obey right away, and you do it
joyfully. Ah, but parents, how are you catechizing
your children? When you hear God's word, Do you
joyfully obey right away? Are you angry because
God has put you in a circumstance and you know
the right thing to do? And what do you do? You
delay. Do you become impatient with what God
is doing in your life? Do you delay with ingratitude?
Or do you obey joyfully right away? Simple obedience.
joyfully. So this blind man, he simply obeys.
He goes and he washes, and the grace of God is
given. The blind man returns to the temple, and
all those who had seen him begging probably very
often wondered if it was the same man, and he
declares, I'm he, it's me. Astonished, they say,
how were your eyes opened? And he responded,
a man named Jesus came and he anointed my eyes.
with clay. He made clay and anointed my eyes
and go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So I went
and I washed and I received sight. They want
to know where Jesus is and the man doesn't know.
These men take the man to the Pharisees because
his sight had been given to him on the Sabbath.
How? Because Jesus worked. He spat on the ground.
He made mud and he went up and put it on his
eyes. They asked that man Again the Pharisees
ask him and he retells a story Some of the Pharisees
begin to question Jesus being from God because
they think he violated the Sabbath Since the
earliest days of his ministry Jesus the son in
whom the father is well -pleased Has pointed
out that man was not made for the Sabbath. We
are not to be a slave to the Sabbath but that
the Sabbath is for man to be blessed by God and
for men to bless others with Sabbath rest. Now
Jesus we're told in Mark 2 is called the Lord
of the Sabbath and he is continuously forgiving
sins and healing people of sicknesses and infirmities
especially those people ceremonially unclean
and unable to draw near to God. These self -righteous
Pharisees cared more for their extra religious
rules That they had added for the Sabbath than
the people who would be forgiven and healed and
restored to temple worship people of God Don't
be like Jonah the reluctant prophet who drags
Right to Nineveh put him through a lot of hardship.
All right, God I'm gonna do what you tell me
to do and he goes out and he preaches By golly
those dirty rotten sinners they repent How awful
they get their bad sinners they they need to
get what they've got coming Don't be like that
Jonah You see there was no room in the Pharisees
and chief priests paradigm for the grace of God
They desired to cling to the darkness Even though
they had been given the words of God the culture
of God and the covenant of God For what purpose
to be the priests to the world? To them was given
to lead and to provide Sabbath rest to all men
You know, there's a great irony here. They fought
so hard to find cause against Jesus. They totally
ignored the evidence of the grace of God found
by the former blind man. The Pharisees seek every
means to discredit the miraculous grace of God
in their midst. They call the man's parents to
prove that he was in fact born blind. And the
parents acknowledge that this is their son who
was born blind, but instead of joy for their
son's sight and the fact that he now has been
restored to the temple. They create a plausible
done deniability by saying their son is of age
and he can testify for himself And we learn that
they that that why they did this because they
feared the Jews for the Jews had already agreed
That if anyone confessed that Jesus was the Christ
that those people would be put out of the synagogue
So the man he's called back and we know They
say that we know Jesus is a sinner and he answered
and said whether he's a sinner or not. I do not
know One thing I know Though I was blind now
I see simple boldness simple obedience simple
statement of fact This man doesn't understand
what the conspiracies are he doesn't live in
the world of the movers and shakers and plotters
The man points out to the questioner their fullest
their fullest grasping about as if they're blind
They deny the obvious Because if they know anything
at all they know that they are superior to the
average person this formerly blind man and most
certain Jesus The man is given his sight Excuse
me the man given his sight responds calmly with
the facts Since the world began, it has been
unheard of that anyone open the eyes of one who
was born blind. If this man were not for God,
he could do nothing." Totally enraged, these
Pharisees point back to the idea that this man's
a sinner. He was born completely in sins. So
how dare you present the truth to us? Saints
of God, God has called you before the foundations
of the world to be his You are here today because
the grace of God has been given to you that his
works may be revealed in you Dearly beloved do
not be concerned concerned about those who conspire
against Jesus God's will will be done And why?
That the works of the living triune God may be
revealed first in His church. When we stand firm
as this man, we know this. We were just like
this man. We were poor, blind wretches. But Jesus
comes to us, and we have an encounter that we
didn't know was coming. When we baptize our babies,
those children don't know what's coming. If you
were saved as an older person, you don't know
that day. One day you were going along and Christ
came in your life. You didn't see it coming.
He pursued you. He gave you sight. He gave you
understanding. He gave you hearing. Listen, we
can rest in His mercy and grace no matter the
pressure, the persecution. or the denials of
the greatest society in our society. And we may
even be cast out of society. On a Sabbath day
some 2 ,000 years ago, a man born blind who begged
at the temple gates had what he thought was a
chance encounter with Jesus. He didn't know who
Jesus was. He did not know how this day would
change his life. God gave him sight to see his
beautiful creation, and God give him sight and
wisdom unto true understanding. The Pharisees
and the chief priests and scribes are just as
the prophet Isaiah said of the people of his
time before the day of the Lord. And this is
Yahweh speaking to Isaiah telling him to tell
this to these people. Go and tell this people,
keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep
on seeing. but do not perceive. Make the heart
of this people dull and their ears heavy, and
shut their eyes." After all the hubbub and public
debate, Jesus heard that the man was cast out.
He goes and finds him. He seeks him out, and
Jesus asks him, Do you believe in the Son of
God? And the man responds, Who is he, Lord, that
I may believe? And Jesus said, You have both
seen him, and he is the one talking to you. What
is the man's response? He says I believe and
he worshiped Jesus the seeing man responds with
gratitude and all and the action of worship simple
obedience and action beginning with worship Now
Jesus continues and speaks judgment for judgment
I've come into the world that those who do not
see may see, and that those who see may be made
blind. Now notice this contrast here, because
in the next verse it says that some of the Pharisees
who were with him, with the blind man, right?
They're walking around. All right, maybe this
guy, Jesus, is going to come back around. We're
going to catch him. We're just going to follow
this blind man around, or former blind man. And
they asked Jesus this, are we blind also? And
Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would
have no sin. But now you say, we see, therefore
your sin remains. This Lenten season, we must
put off our pride and arrogance. Ask God to reveal
our sin. Ask God to give you true sight of yourself.
We must have a humble and contrite heart before
the Lord, living in gratitude. That God has chosen
us to reveal his works in us No matter the circumstances
we find ourselves in see that's our problem That
that our gratitude and our whole life gets gets
turned up because we say why is God doing this
to me? instead of Why is God doing this for me?
It is God's grace to us and the world and for
his glory. Remember our epistle reading from
today? Ephesians 5, for if you were once darkness,
but now you are in the light. Walk as children
of the light, for the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding
out what is acceptable to the Lord. People of
God, rejoice, for we were in darkness, but now
by the grace of God and Christ Jesus, We not
only see the light, but because of His works
revealed in us, we are the light. Be encouraged,
because Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy
out of Isaiah 60. And then you shall see and
become radiant, and your heart will swell with
joy. Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, we
thank you for redeeming us by the work of your
Son, Jesus Christ. Help us, we pray, to see our
sin, repent, and rejoice. Help us, we pray, to
simply obey right away, even at... circumstances
that may be hard so that you may reveal your
work in us we ask all this for the sake of Jesus
who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit forever
and ever amen let us continue our worship here
by the giving of our tithes and offerings goodness
we have these gifts to share. Accept and use
your tithes and offerings for your glory and
for service in your kingdom. Blessed be God forever
and ever. Amen.