The Light of the World

Text: John 9

Condition of the blind man

  • Outside the temple (8:59)
  • His problem originated at birth (9:1)
  • Beyond human help (9:2, 32)
  • Jesus came to him (9:1)

Consolation of the blind (vss 1-3)

  • Tragedy is given a context in God’s redemptive power
  • God’s glory begins to show up in the strangest places
    • Man born blind for the glory of God
    • Fanny Crosby, blinded from 6 weeks old by a doctor.  She wrote over 6000 hymns. No telling how many millions of souls have been saved as the Holy Spirit moved in the invitation of a service while one her hymns was being played.
    • “Blindness,” she wrote in later life, “can not keep the sunlight of hope from the trusting soul. One of the easiest resolves that I formed in my young and joyous heart was to leave all care to yesterday and to believe that the morning would bring forth its own peculiar joy.”

Cure for blindness (vss 6-7)

  • Vision came as the result of cleansing.
  • Driving behind a truck who was kicking up mud and slop on my windshield.  And it got to the point where I could hardly see even with my windshield wipers going.  Driving so slow because I couldn’t see. Goliad cleaned the windshield and didn’t realize how dirty it was.  Got back on the road, no longer driving 45, but the speed limit… or more. Why? I could see now. Vision came as the result of cleaning.
  • Jesus Christ spits and makes mud then puts it on the man’s eyes.  You say that’s gross. I say, that’s the point. You need Jesus Christ to show you the dirt, so you’ll get clean.
  • Ephesians 4:17-18

Testimony of vision (vss 8-12)

  • Vision changes your testimony
  • Blind beggar no more
  • Seems like a different person
  • Behavior is different.  Or it should be if you were once blind but now you see.

Critics of the light (vss 13-26)

  • Vision introduces you to new enemies.  Now you didn’t think anyone would be opposed to you sobering up, loving God, loving your family, and trying to do right.  But you find out not everyone is in love with God’s goodness like you are.
  • You see the nature of your enemies when they scoff at the change in your life
    • Christian stops cussing, drinking, starts attending church, praying, loving his wife and children, becomes a better a employee and you mean there is someone out there against that?
    • If you did those things without Jesus Christ, it wouldn’t matter to them.  The person they are after is Jesus Christ. It’s because Jesus Christ made the change in your life.
  • Jews didn’t believe so they begin to make up stories like he wasn’t really blind.
  • The enemies say in verse 24 forget about Jesus, give God the praise.  And that is the thing enemies of the gospel hate. Jesus can be a teacher, he can be a philosopher, he can be a good guy, but don’t you dare equate him with God.

Revealing critics hypocrisy (vss 27- 34)

  • The blind man’s sarcasm is funny
  • vs 27 – blind man begins to get sarcastic telling them they’ve asked the same question several times now so maybe they want to become disciples of Jesus Christ now.  Then they reviled him.
  • vs 28 – childish enemies.  This is the equivalent of saying, “We’re not dumb, you’re dumb.”
  • vs 30-33 – blind man says, well here is a funny thing, people who claim to be closest to God don’t know anything about a man who does the works of God

Believe the God of the blessing (vss 35-38)

  • vs 37 – thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee