Several years ago I was in the midst of trying to revamp our small group structures at the church. We simply were not reaching people and taking them deeper in their walk with God as effectively as we would have liked. We were thinking through it here, and so were many other churches. I connected with a few people to learn from and part of that was participating in a training class with a ministry. One of their mantras was “live out loud.”
What in the world does that mean?? Well it meant just that. Their evangelism strategy began with an intentional effort to talk about what God had done and was doing in their lives. It was Deuteronomy 6, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deu 6:7).
For one who is an inward processor this was quite a challenge. Just talk about what you are learning and what God is doing. Share where he has worked in your life. It has been the most encouraging thing I have done in the last ten years. I have grown more in sharing Christ through this than anything else I have done. It has helped me share with unbelievers, but also with believers. We need to be stirring others up to love and good deeds.
We have sought to incorporate this into our discipleship curriculum here in our Discovery Groups. We have a track on being witnesses, and it teaches these principles. My men’s group went through this in the Spring, and it was so helpful I thought, “I want to preach on this passage.” So that is what we are doing today.
I want to go through this passage in a way that helps us understand who Jesus is and what he is doing, but also in a way that helps us see how we can give God glory by verbally sharing that with others.
Thesis (False thesis)
This passage begins with the disciples passing by a man who was born blind.
This man is an outcast. He is probably begging. Nobody wants anything to do with him. Cut off from people. Cut off from seeing the world, separated and isolated.
The disciples show they have the contemporary view that if someone is blind it is the result of sin. It’s not a question of whether his blindness is the result of disobedience to God; it’s just a matter of who sinned, him or his parents. This was the disciples’ thought, and it was probably also the thought of the man who was blind. Everybody thought this! Don’t want to hang with sinners.
Jesus says his blindness is not the result of sin, but so that the works of God may be displayed. That is a very different approach to sickness. Not the result of sin, but so that God may be glorified. God may be seen as glorious.
Jesus goes further than just saying something unconventional. He proceeds to heal the man to prove it's not the result of his sin. Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud and puts it on the man’s eyes. It is unconventional. He can do anything. Many talk, but Jesus does. There is no instruction for how to do this. Jesus is greater than any who has come before. Greater than any who will come after. Does not leave a prescription.
Sight being restored is one of the signs of the dawn of the messianic age (Isaiah 29:18, 35:5, 42:7).
There is a clear thesis by which they are living and operating by. That gets challenged. It is brought into…
Crisis (Antithesis)
There was a problem in the passage with the man being blind. But it became a full-blown crisis. Jesus heals the man and a crisis erupts. Sometimes when God works it causes other problems.
The disciples are not the only ones with the misconception. The Pharisees also have problems with what happened. The Pharisees are the religious leaders. Sometimes when God calls you to do something you begin to care more about what you are doing than about God. Your thing becomes an idol.
If your thing is more important than God, he will make it clear your thing is actually nothing.
The Pharisees should be leading people to know God, but they are more trying to preserve their own laws. Jesus has been brought into contention with the Pharisees a number of times. He has been increasing in followers and they have become concerned he will take people from them and the temple.
Instead of celebrating the miracle they quibble about the law.
Like a lifeguard in the paper who saw a man drowning, swam out to get him, brought him to shore, administered CPR and saved his life. However he was fired. The drowning man was in a “swim at your own risk” zone and so the lifeguard company fired the lifeguard for not following proper protocol.
How can he heal on the Sabbath? Sabbath is a day of rest. Anointing eyes was forbidden on the Sabbath. Not in God's word, but in their own rules. So was kneading dough, and Jesus just kneaded saliva and dirt.
The disciples didn’t understand the situation of the blind ma,n but they are at least interested in learning. The Pharisees have no interest in adapting their view to God's. They double down on their own beliefs. They don’t align themselves with God.
The Pharisees are mad. Angry with Jesus. He is messing up their plans! Also angry at this man who has been healed! Can’t let that happen.
They are questioning him. Bring on the full-court press. It is an intense situation. Challenging the man who was healed: We know who this Jesus is. He is a sinner; give glory to God and bash Jesus. Pressure!
Even the man’s parents don't want anything to do with this. You got to mess up pretty bad to get to a place where your parents don’t even want to bail you out. They are going to throw this man out of the community of God’s people.
Jesus shows the real problem of this crisis. It is Spiritual Blindness. These Pharisees have no interest in God. They ask the man what he thinks, but they only want the man to say what they want him to. They are not interested in truth. They intimidate the parents so much they shrink back from saying anything at all! Resistance to God is one of the most damaging attitudes a person can have.
Jesus reveals the real problem here. *It is not the problem of physical blindness and eyes that don’t work but of spiritual blindness of hearts that dont listen.*
Disciples think the man was blind due to sin.
Pharisees think he’s blind due to sin. The pharisees think Jesus is a sinner.
The blind man thinks he was blind due to sin, but that Jesus healed him because he is a holy man.
Synthesis (Resolution)
The tension is resolved through breakthrough. Sometimes peace comes through things settling down, or fizzling out. Coke bottle shaken and then leave it sit. Sometimes they resolve by bursting the container and then settling. Coke that erupts and then settles. That is more what happens here.
The tension demonstrates the man’s confidence in Jesus. He is willing to lose all things to be right on this issue.
The pharisees were pressing the man to give glory to God. Well he does just that. He ignores their intimidation and speaks the truth. He tells what Jesus has done for him.
Verse 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."
This man, who was an outcast, is healed, and more than being healed he becomes a worshiper of Jesus. In the end he worships. This shows his devotion. He is willing to lose all for what he has in Jesus.
It also shows Jesus is on par with God. He is not just another person. He is worthy to be admired, emulated, and worshiped.
Through this crisis the eyes of his heart have been opened.
Regeneration
God revitalizing a person by implanting a new desire, purpose, and moral ability that leads to a positive response to the gospel and relationship with God.
Palingenesis. Renewal of the world (Matthew 19:28). Renewal of the individual. Here the emphasis is on the individual. Without regeneration we cannot even see the kingdom of God. Regeneration; faith and repentance.
He came to see Jesus as the one to hope in. The one to trust. The one to look to in all things. He was his everything.
This man was willing to lose everything for Jesus and the way Jesus changed his life. Yes, eyes being opened is a big deal. It is unique. But there were people Jesus healed who never returned to praise and serve him. The greater miracle that happened is this man has become a worshiper and a follower of Jesus. I have tried a lot of things in life. I have tried
He is what makes sense of life. He is what heals your sickness, lights the darkness, restores what is lost. He promises to one day heal all our physical problems, to change our circumstances, he is able to bring hope to our hopelessness, joy to our depression. Nothing else can do this. These are effects of sin and the fall. Medication, education, expert consulation cannot provide these for you.
The pharisees are the ones who are blind. They are spiritually unable to see. A Great irony.
He gives glory to God. He testifies. He worships. God has been honored through what was deemed to be his ruin. Jesus takes the outcasts, the ruined, and restores them for his glory. This man can’t articulate the doctrine of the trinity, but he can tell what Jesus has done for him. He was blind but now he sees. It’s simple but profound. And if you asked him 20 years later what happened, he would say I was blind but now I see.
His testimony is powerful because it is true, it is authentic, it is bold. One thing he knows. I was blind but now I see. It is powerful.
Transformation. People don’t recognize him. He can walk. Joy. Boldness. Active. HE went from sitting to proclaiming. Jesus changed him.
What is your story?
What has Jesus done in your life? What is the story of how he opened your blind eyes? You were probably living with a thesis, a way of life, an understanding of life. May likely have come into a crisis, where you have to rework your thesis. And you experienced a synthesis or resolution by finding hope in Jesus, the Savior of the world.
Does anybody know your story? Will you give him glory?
My Story
Jesus opened my eyes. I remember being 18 and completely confused about life. I experience a lot of dysfunction in my family and didnt know how to deal with it. I was mad at God. I turned to alcohol and drugs and they made things much worse. I watched a lot of people flush their lives down the toilet and I was looking for more. That when I met a guy my first day at college who invited me to a Bible study. I remember sitting in a bible study hearing that Jesus could save me from all my problems. It blew me away I could have a new beginning, that I could have life with God. That I could be forgiven for all my faults.
My eyes were opened to having new life. That was important because I lived in fear of death all my life. I remember being little and having a dream where I was walking around the woods of a lake when a tiger jumped out and ate me. It’s funny now, but I was so scared of death and dying. I didn’t know what would happen. I would wake up crying and scared. Honestly, that fear didn’t go away until I was 18 years old and heard for the first time that Jesus died to take away my sin, and that through him I could have a relationship with God. Brought me peace.
Jesus has opened my eyes other times. I remember moving to MD for my dream job, theological assistant at a college for pastors. I was at a big church, nice position, lots of opportunities with publishing companies and more. The tide of ministry success was pulling me away from my family and causing tension. Jesus began to help me see how insignificant it is to have people you don’t know talk about you. Not worth time with those precious kids.
I remember about ten years into our marriage Amanda and I were getting frustrated at each other. And the little things that we were able to overlook in the past seemed to grow roots and go deeper down. We were frustrated with each other and lacking joy. Jesus opened my eyes to see I had elevated my preferences to supreme importance. Jesus showed me my role as a husband is to serve my wife. I remember coming to a point of lucidity with that and sharing it with Amanda. As I owned my mess, it was like the pressure just released. I said she was more important and I want to put to death my selfishness. As a husband I needed to lead in loving her and also owning my sins and mistakes. Jesus saved me. He opened my eyes. I was blind and now I could see.
You may say this guy is a mess. How many different ways does he need to be saved? In every way. And Jesus is able to do that. Sometimes he brings you to the end of yourself, and it when you
Disciples are not those who know everything, they are those being shaped by Jesus and continually learning about him and how to follow him. We need him to open our eyes.
Jesus has worked in my life and I want others to know that. He saved me. He can save anybody.
How has God intervened in your crisis to give you a testimony? Can you share how God has worked in your life? I want us to be a place that is talking about how God is moving and working in our lives.
The man born blind becomes the teacher.
There was a time in my life when I was
_____ and ____
But I trusted in Jesus and now I am
_____ and ____.
Example:
There was a time in my life when I was proud and arrogant
But Jesus humbled me
And I found grace and kindness
Example:
There was a time in my life I was angry and confused
But I trusted in Jesus as my Lord
And I found joy and peace.
There are people all around you who need to know there is hope in Jesus. You might just start telling them what the Bible says and how they have missed it. But there are also times to let them in on the mess you have made of life and how Jesus helped you. They need hope that people who have messed up can still find hope.
