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Jesus Wants to Work in Our Lives - Part 1
The Gospel of John
John 9:1-7; 35-38
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - February 15, 2017
(Revised September 30, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*Most of you know that here in John 9, the Feast of the Tabernacles had just ended in Jerusalem.
A large crowd was still in the city, and Jesus had been preaching in a very public part of the Temple (John 8:20).
He confirmed His identity as the promised Messiah who had existed for all eternity.
He warned the unbelievers that they were in danger of dying in their sins (John 8:21-24).
*Jesus spoke about His death on the cross, which was about 6 months away (John 8:28).
He also spoke about the everlasting freedom He will give to everyone who believes in Him (John 8:31-36).
And in John 8:59, when the unbelieving Jews took up stones to kill Jesus, He miraculously "hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."
*After the Lord got away from those would be murderers, He made Himself visible again, and John 9:1 tells us that "as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth."
*The Lord miraculously healed that blind man, and his story shows us how Jesus wants to work in our lives too.
This miracle is only recorded here in the Book of John.
We began studying it last week, and over the next two weeks we'll continue our study to help us learn how Jesus wants to work in our lives.
Let's start by reading John 9:1-7.
MESSAGE:
*Is God at work in our world today?
The answer is most certainly yes! Countless testimonies from millions of Christians confirm the truth that God is surely at work in our world today.
And this great miracle in John 9 shows us how the Lord wants to work in our lives.
1. FIRST, JESUS WANTS TO SPEAK TO US.
*Think about how the Lord worked in the life of this blind beggar.
It probably started with what the man heard.
Do you think this man heard the conversation going on between the Lord and His disciples?
He most likely did hear it.
In vs. 6, it seems that Jesus was close enough to simply bend down and anoint the man's eyes with wet clay.
*It's also true that blind people can hear better than seeing people, especially if they were blinded at an early age.
Brain scans suggest that parts of the brain normally used in processing sight may be converted to enhance a blind person’s ability to process sound.
And this man was born blind.
(1)
*There's no strong reason to doubt that the blind man heard the conversation between Jesus and His disciples.
But what did he hear?
In vs. 2, he heard the Lord's disciples ask Jesus, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?''
Well, there was nothing new about that.
*The blind beggar had heard heart crushing comments like that all his life.
Albert Barnes explained that in that day "it was a universal opinion among the Jews that calamities of all kinds were the result of sin."
So all his life this blind man had been rejected and scorned by people who looked down on him.
(2)
*But then in vs. 3-5, the man heard something he had never heard before!
He heard Jesus say:
3. . .
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
4. I 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.''
*Don't you know the blind man was overjoyed to hear that!
He might have thought, "What?!? God cares about me?
God hasn't abandoned me?
God wants to do something in my life!?!"
*YES HE DID! AND YES HE DOES! God cares about us just as much as He cared about this blind man, and Jesus wants to speak to us too.
He primarily speaks to us through His Holy Word and His Holy Spirit.
*God will always speak to us through His Word, but we have to listen.
Eight times in the Gospels Jesus cried out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Then in Revelation 2, the Lord spoke to the churches, and said:
7. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.
11.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
17.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. .
."
*Then four more times in Revelation 2 and 3: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
*God wants to speak to us, and when we listen to Him, we will hear Jesus say challenging things like: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).
And "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).
*When we listen to Jesus, we will hear Him say the challenging things we all need to hear.
But we will also hear Him say great, comforting things, like Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
*In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you. . .
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
*In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus said: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."
*In Matthew 11:28-29 He said: "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, you will find rest for your souls."
*In John 11:25-26 He said, "I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. .
."
*In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Lord told Paul, "My Grace is sufficient for you..." Or as the New English Bible says, "My grace is all you need."
And in Hebrews 13:5, Jesus "Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'''
*God wants to speak to us, and great things happen when we listen.
2. JESUS WANTS TO SPEAK TO US.
HE ALSO WANTS TO GIVE US SPIRITUAL SIGHT.
*Again in vs. 5, Jesus said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.''
And in vs. 6-7, Jesus miraculously brought physical light into a blind man’s life:
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.
*Now to me, this was a very strange miracle.
I'm a bit of a germaphobe, and I don't want anybody's spit on me.
But Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva.
Then He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.
*Why did Jesus do what He did that day?
He could have healed that man with a word, or with a thought!
Jesus even healed people long-distance more than once.
So why did Jesus do what He did to this blind man?
*A.
T. Robertson and Albert Barnes explained that the Jews of that day believed that saliva was effective for helping eye-trouble, but it was forbidden by their man-made laws for the Sabbath.
They considered the preparation and use of any medicine to be illegal on the Sabbath.
And it was especially forbidden to use spittle on that day to heal diseased eyes.
*Jesus then was showing that their interpretation of the law of the Sabbath was against God's will.
Anointing the blind man's eyes may have also been done to strengthen his faith.
(2)
*It is also possible that this man was born without eyeballs.
This is a very rare, tragic, and incurable birth defect called "anophthalmia."
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