Don't Harden your heart!
Notes
Transcript
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13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
16 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 a division among them.
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.”
18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)
23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”
28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
31 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.
32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.
33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
Our passage this morning is staggering. DO you remember what is going on from last week?
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; 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 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
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
We need to keep this fresh in our minds as we examine our text this morning. What is the significance of Jesus performing miracles? Let us look at a passage from Isaiah that was written over 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
When John the Baptist was in prison what did he ask Jesus?
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
So as we look at our passage, we are looking at the response the religious leaders of Jesus day was having to this miracle. Look at verses 13-16 of our text John chapter 9
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
16 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 a division among them.
So were the religious leaders excited! Praising God and asking Jesus to lead them s the Messiah? No! They are saying John 9:16 “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 a division among them.”
They are calling Jesus a sinner? What, why? They are accusing Jesus of violating the Sabbath. Let us examine the evidence according to this charge. But before we do that. Why is this question so important? If Jesus is a sinner than He can’t be a savior why? Let us begin with why do we need a Savior. Do remember our Old Testament reading this morning from Leviticus 16?
29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.
30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.
31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever.
32 And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments.
33 He shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
34 And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses.
The day of atonement. Where the High Priest would kill the sacrifices and carry the blood into the Holy of Holies that is how he made atonement. Animals had to die and the blood of bulls and goats
The Hebrew word for "atonement" is kaphar or kippūriym. Kaphar means "to cover over" and is often translated as atonement.
Kippūriym means an "appeasement of anger due to sin" and is related to the verb kippēr, which means "to atone" or "to appease anger due to sin"
Another Hebrew word for atonement is kippur, which is literally translated as propitiation.
So Leviticus 16 is the feast of Yom Kippur or day of atonement. It was the day animals would die and their blood was used to cleanse the priest, the tent of meeting (or the Israelites mobile temple) and the people. But did was that enough for our salvation. Let’s look at Hebrews 10 for our answer.
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him:
26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”
27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand.
2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.
3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”
4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.
5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Did you pick up from Mark how the Pharisees missed Jesus as the Messiah? How could they label Jesus a sinner and miss that He was the Messiah? Let’s look closely at Mark 3:5
5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
This is a warning for all of us today. Did you know that you can still harden your heart?
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”
Let’s take a closer look at the Greek word here translated harden
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (σκληρύνω)
σκληρύνω (sklérunó) ‘harden’; in our lit. only in fig. sense: to cause to be unyielding in resisting information, harden
Let’s summarize what is happening, the religious leaders are struggling to explain what happened here. The story they are told is what? A man was born blind and Jesus healed him. We have read that this is evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. They know the scriptures better than anyone, that is the Old Testament. They know Isaiah 35.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
So how are they missing it? Why have they hardened their hearts to the truth. They know the Old Testament that testifies to Jesus and proves that Jesus is the Messiah but how did they miss it? They hardened their hearts. Why were their hearts dried up? Why couldn’t they see the truth?
8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Let us look at the Old Testament commandment
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
This is the commandment of God. He does not detail every situation. Can you mow your lawn, can you go to the store, can you drive a car, can you pick up a pen. But we as men have made many rules to follow. Listen to how Paul describes being a Pharisee or religious leader during Jesus’ time on earth.
14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
They religious leaders knew their Bible better than anyone and they crucified Jesus. Paul knew the scriptures and killed Christians why? Their hearts were hardened and even though they knew scripture they didn’t know God. They didn’t love their neighbor as themselves. You can know this book better than others. You can quote it and use it to prove positions and doctrine. You can use it to attack and tear down others, but completely miss the heart of God. I know I have shared this multiple times but I proves my point so well.
Banner of truth. Let’s examine that interaction with the heart of God.
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
It is easy to sit back and judge others. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day are an easy target, but we all can be susceptible to this. We can latch on to our own interpretations of scripture and divide over it and grieve the Holy Spirit. It is so important we don’t loose the weightier matters of the law.
Justice, Mercy, faith, and love of God. Paul urges us in Ephesians 4 to walk with
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Can we honestly say that this morning that we are always eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? How well have we done this since Paul wrote these words? How many protestant denominations are there world wide? How many do you think a couple thousand? Ten thousand? No there is an estimated 41,000! Why are we so fractured? Because we still harden our hearts and value our own opinions over “eagerly maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace!” and I am guilty of this, that is why I am here. I broke this commandment at Williamsburg Alliance. I knew I was right to the point I broke fellowship!
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