Spiritual Blindness
Notes
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Introduction
I thought this morning we would take a little test.
Here is the first picture.
Here is the second picture.
Color blindness is not something that is new - but there is something that is new in the world of color blindness - glasses that correct the issue.
Let’s watch a quick video of a young man seeing colors for the first time.
Video
We have taken three weeks to look at - and the idea of spiritual blindness.
Jesus is like those glasses - when you meet Jesus your whole world changes
Let’s take a look at - Stand if you are able!
John 9:35-41
35 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”
38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
Let’s Pray
John 9:35
35 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The church grapevine worked in Jesus’ time too - He heard that the Jews had put the blind man out of the synagogue
So Jesus went out and found him.
John Chrysostom said, “The Jews cast him out of the Temple, the Lord of the Temple found him.”
This is beautiful isn’t it - Jesus found him.
John Chrysostom said, “The Jews cast him out of the Temple, the Lord of the Temple found him.”
How many of us did Jesus find?
Jesus put the man to the test - “Do you believe?”
36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”
38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
John 6:
36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.
37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
We have a beautiful picture of a belief in Jesus in this chapter
Faith
Verse 11 - A man called Jesus
Verse 17 - Jesus is a Prophet
Verse 38 - Lord, I believe you are the Son of Man
This is true for us as well
First - we know of Jesus - maybe we hear is name. Or Jesus is what those “Christians” believe
Then we think - maybe Jesus was more than just a historical man. Jews know Him, they may not believe Him, but they know Him, Muslims recognize Him as a prophet along with Moses and others.
Finally, we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior and we believe in Him and worship Him.
Now this is important.
John 9:38
38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
Jehovah Witness’s do not believe that Jesus is part of the trinity
They will knock on your door and they will tell you that the trinity is not in the Bible.
They will tell you that Jesus is not God.
And yet - right here in - it says, the man worshipped Jesus. Jesus didn’t say, “Stop worshipping me, worship God.” That’s not what happened.
Jesus accepts the formerly blind man’s worship
Now if a Jehovah Witness comes to your door, be sure to grab your Bible. Don’t let them read from their Bible - their Bible says “He said: “I do put faith in him, Lord.” And he did obeisance to him.”
Define Obeisance
Obeisance - a gesture expressing deferential respect, such as a bow or curtsy.
This is important - did he worship Jesus or did he simply, bow and curtsy.
See why you need to use your Bible - one says, And he worshipped Him. The other says, he bowed to him.”
Jesus did not stop him from worshipping Him and if he was simply bowing out of respect, Jesus did not stop that either.
Jesus deserves our worship - He is why we worship.
John 9:39-41
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
The conclusion of the story of the blind man comes to a comparison of the physical blindness and spiritual blindness
Some of us are spiritually blind - we see people as an us versus them
Christian vs. Non-Christian
The tattooed vs. the non-tattooed
The skinny vs. the fat
Those sinners vs. me
Black vs. White
Gay vs. Straight
We forget that we are all made in the image of God. There is not one of us better than another.
William Barclay put it this way,
“It is a tremendous thing about Jesus that the more we know Him the greater he becomes. The trouble with human relationships is that often the better we know a person the more we know his weaknesses and his failing; but the more we know Jesus, the greater the wonder becomes; and that will be true, not only in time, but also in eternity.” - William Barclay
The more you get to know me - the more you will realize that I am just a sinner, called by God, to preach the word.
The more I get to know you - you are just a sinner like me.
We both need Jesus.
We are both spiritually blind if we look at someone and don’t see them as the image of God.
All the more important now as we hear all the war rhetoric - this week we heard our president say, we will utterly destroy another country. If that happens, how many images of God will be lost.
It’s not us versus them.
May the Lord remove our spiritual blindness.
Conclusion
Let’s take a spiritual blindness test.
Who needs Jesus?