Learning to See

Uh, we're going to continue on in our John sermon series, the Gospel of John, and we come to chapter 9. We come to chapter 9 in the Gospel of John. We spent 2 weeks in John chapter 8 talking about sin, and this one actually is a continuation of that conversation. What is sin and how does Jesus look at it and how does he handle it? John chapter 1, verses 1 through 5. We're going to dive right on in. And if you don't mind, if you're able to stand with me so that we can read this all together. John chapter 9, just the first 5 verses all together. Let's do it. As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, This man or his parents that he was born blind? Neither this man nor his parents sinned, Jesus answered. This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. This is the word of the Lord. The people said, thanks be to God. Let this word fill our minds, flow from our mouths, and free our hearts to live as the beloved children of God. You can take your seat. The title of the message today, if you're writing it down, is Learning to See. Learning to see, learning to see. Now, we're all wired to ask why when suffering enters into the world. We're just kind of hardwired to ask that question. And beneath the question why is almost another question, Lindsay, it's whose fault is this? So this is what's happened. Cancer has entered into the world. Whose fault? Who's responsible for that? The addiction that just can't be shaken. Who's to blame? The divorce that happened. Who's responsible? The mental illness that seems to keep circling around. The wayward child who hasn't found their way back home. The tragic accident. The mold that was found in the basement that you had no responsibility for. We instinctively look for blame when things go wrong because blame allows us to have the illusion of control. That someone is responsible, and if we can identify the cause, then we can protect ourselves from the effect. If we can assign fault, then we can maintain our distance. And the disciples here in this passage aren't being cruel when they ask their question. In fact, The Old Testament suggests that sickness is either the result of a personal sin or an inherited sin. So they're just being human and following the tradition that they were handed. Someone is responsible for this man's sickness, and they do what most of us do, Brian. When we encounter suffering that doesn't make sense, we look to see who's responsible. But that's the wrong question. Who sinned, this man or his parents? Is he personally responsible or did he inherit this impact on his life? And both options look backward. Both options, Chris, treat this man as a problem to be solved and not just a man to be loved. And notice what Jesus does not say in these first 5 verses. He doesn't deny that sin has entered into our world and has resulted in some brokenness. In fact, he already handled that in John chapter 8. He established that suffering does indeed impact our world and sin is the cause. And he doesn't minimize this man's suffering either. In fact, the first word in John 9 is that as Jesus was passing by, he saw the blind man. He saw him and he noticed him. And instead of asking who caused this situation, Jesus asks, how might God be at work in this situation? Rather than, uh, the past, Jesus looks to the future. And what we get is our first sort of aha in this passage, is that religion puts people in categories. What category are you in? Are you defined by that thing that happened to you in the past? Are you defined by the condition of your relationship? Are you defined by the status of your economics or your employment? Religion wants to put you in a category, but Jesus asks, what is God up to right now? What's God doing in the midst of this person's life right now? What's God doing in the midst of the suffering, in the midst of the trial, in the midst of the difficulty, in the midst even of this sin? The blame question isn't wrong because it looks backwards. The blame question is wrong because it stops there. It stops by just looking backwards. It never looks forward. It never handles the situation honestly and openly. Jesus does both. He looks backward and he looks forward. He addresses the situation honestly. This man is blind. He sees the suffering that it has caused. It has ostracized him from community. And yet Jesus refused to let his condition be the ceiling of his life. He refuses to let his identity be formed by his blindness. He refuses to allow his condition to be formed by his relationship to other people. Jesus doesn't see his blindness as a ceiling. He sees it as an opportunity for God to do something new in his life. It strikes me that Jesus doesn't answer the disciples' question. He doesn't answer it with why, he doesn't answer it with who, he answers it with a question, what can God do? And that's a fundamentally different orientation. This isn't just ancient wisdom, this is best practitioners in positive psychology and solution-focused therapy who've been making this observation for decades, that excessive excavation of the past can actually reinforce the very wounds that we're trying to heal. In other words, when we keep going back to the past and we stop there, we just reinforce the trauma. We reinforce the wound. And we're trying to be healed, but we're trying to be healed by going backwards, and Jesus is trying to lead us forward. The question, when did this start and who caused it, beloved, keeps you leaving— living in a geography of the wound. It keeps the, the tape playing over and over in your mind, the loop that never gets out of. It keeps you actively engaged in the geography of the past rather than the opportunity of the future. Jesus asks a second question: what does it look like to be well? What does it look like to be healed? What does it look like to start moving somewhere new? And he redirects the disciples from focusing in on the present and the past so that they would change their perspective to look at the future. Some of us get stuck in sin and we just want to just have the conversation around the brokenness. We want to have the conversation around, you know, what didn't get fixed. And we want to have the conversation around what's not working, and Jesus says, "Yes, okay, but at some point, we've gotta take a step towards the future." And Dr. Jesus gets to work here in verse 6. He says this, "After he said these things, Jesus spit on the ground and made some mud from the saliva, and then he spread the mud on his eyes. 'Go,' he told him, 'Wash in the pool of Siloam,' which means 'sent.' And so he left, he washed, and he came back seeing. And not too long— a couple years ago, I saw one of the most disturbing sermons I had ever seen in my life on this passage. The pastor, in order to make an illustration so that people would see how uncomfortable this situation was, invited someone from the congregation, somebody he knew, somebody he prepared for this moment, and he literally spit in his hand and then wiped it on the dude's eyeballs. Any takers? Any— no, boy, you better put your hand— you don't want me to do that. It was nasty. It was absolutely disgusting. Maybe he thought I would be the one who received the healing. Did you think I would be the one who received the healing, Rocco? Yeah, yeah, you're gonna see the healing. I wouldn't want anybody to do that to me either. And I'm certain the man in this passage who doesn't see but can hear, he hears Jesus making the noise. Didn't quite— you know what I'm saying? Jesus could have easily got the water from the Pool of Siloam and mix it in the mud, in the dirt, to make mud. Come on, Jesus. Hearing all of this, he hears it. The point of what Jesus actively being a part in it, though, rather than going to the pool of the of salam, but using his own body, using his own function, actually hearkens back to Genesis chapter 2 when God creates Adam from the dust of the ground. He gets actively involved in the creation. And the Gospel of John, the writer John wants us to see and understand that this isn't just a healing that's taking place, it is a transformation. It is something new that's happening. He's not just healing this man's physical blindness, he's about to heal his spiritual blindness by making him brand new, by actively getting involved in the process of his healing. He stoops down low and he reforms this man's vision and his eyes. But I want us to understand and notice something here too, critical in the passage. Is that he doesn't see after Jesus puts the mud pie on his eyeballs. You would think that's the miracle right there. But the miracle happens when the man goes and obeys what Jesus tells him to do. We don't know how far he was from this Pool of Siloam, but he had to make his way all the way to the pool and get into the pool and then wash his eyes. And in the process of washing the mud from his eyes, then is he able to see. Which brings us to our next revelation, that healing comes through trust before it comes through understanding. Healing comes through trust before it comes through understanding. For those of us who are trying to find our way out of our sin-boundness, our sin-death, we want to understand everything before we can be healed. And Jesus asks us to trust him. Trust in my way before you have all of the understanding. Trust in my path before you have all of the details. Trust in me me before you're able to see everything. Do you trust me? Do you trust that my pathway is good? Do you trust that my word is good? Do you trust that my strength is sufficient and is enough for you? Healing oftentimes comes through trust before it comes through understanding. The man didn't see this miracle. He doesn't fully understand even who Jesus is yet. But maybe because he's tried everything and everything has been tried on him, that he figures What do I have to lose? I've been here my whole life. I haven't been able to see. I've been reliant on others my entire life. What do I have to lose by trusting in Jesus? But this passage, John chapter 9, is an entirely long discourse. And it's these few verses that deal with the miracle. The real question is how people respond to it. And over 30 verses, from verse 8 to 41, deals with the response from neighbors, people who grew up with this blind man, his parents, the Pharisees who were around. And it deals with this question John asks us when he goes beyond the miracle and gets into the conversation with the people. He says— he's asking us, "Which one are you like? Are you like the neighbors? Are you like the Pharisees? Or are you like the parents? And how are you responding to the miracle of healing and deliverance?" in your life and in the lives of others. The neighbors, they're confused. Wait a minute, um, aren't you the boy who was born blind? We know you. And then somebody else is like, uh-uh, he, he looked like that, he looked like him, but he can't be him. You know how all of us got a twin in the world. It ain't, it ain't him. That, that's not the same man born blind. And they're confused. They can't make sense of this healing because their experience told them that it is impossible for him to be changed. Anybody confused on somebody's life? How is it that you are you today? How is it that you are healed and set free and delivered? How are you different? That's why some of us can't go to high school reunions, because everybody see the way we was back in high school. They don't see us the way we are now. Some of us only see other people the way we saw them back in high school, and we can't imagine them being different any way that they are now. How are you the same girl from high school, the same guy? The neighbors are confused. And so they question this man, and he responds. He's like, man, listen, I know the guy who healed me. I'm healed. And so then they get his parents. Go get his parents. And his parents are afraid. The neighbors are confused. The parents are afraid. And John tells us why they are afraid. They're afraid because of how the Jews are going to respond to them, that they might put them out of the religious community, that they might ostracize them from their social networks. And so they say, "Listen, he old enough. He can answer for himself. That ain't got nothing to do with me. My name is Bennett and I ain't in it." Like, "I have nothing to do with this situation right here." And they absolve themselves not just from responsibility, they absolve themselves from the accountability that comes with relationship. Some of us, again, we're so close to somebody who is like going through their own healing journey that, listen, that ain't got nothing to do with us. They're on their own. And the fear is that if you're associated with them, that how are other people gonna see you? How are people gonna look at you if you're associated associated with that person or with that crowd or with that community. And so they distance themselves. Not because they're hostile. They're afraid. And many of us know what the cost of following Jesus is like. That it could actually cost us something. It may cost you friendships. It might cost you your job. It might cost you relationships. It might cost you churches. That you would join in with what God is doing in the work of healing. That other people are not able to see it. And are afraid to be associated with it. The neighbors are confused, the parents are afraid, and the Pharisees are just dogmatic. They know everything there is to know about religion, and they know that God don't heal on the Sabbath. This was a Sabbath day healing. God does not do that. And they challenge this young man, 'How is it that you could be healed on the Sabbath?' And he's like, "Mm, how does a sinner heal a sinner? He must be God. He must be a prophet. He must be who he says he is." And then they debate with this blind man who's now healed to the point where they are unsatisfied with his answers and they kick him out. They kick him out of community. "We don't know how you got healed, but we know it wasn't God," they conclude, and their dogma created a boundary for them being able to see God. Does your doctrine turn into dogma that keeps people from seeing God? Does your doctrine turn into dogma that keeps people from their pathway towards healing? Have you become so fixated on your doctrine that it becomes dogma that other people can't get around in order to see Jesus? Do you see the possibility of what Jesus wants to do? Or does your dogma that came from your doctrine help you to feel so comfortable? So cozy that no one else could be a part of it. But the healing man— notice the man who is healed growing in his faith. The intensity turns up. Uh, he goes from just saying, uh, that Jesus is a man. Who is it that healed you? The neighbors asked. He said, a man named Jesus. That's all I know. And then when his parents are interrogated and they bring him back and say, "Who was it that healed you?" And he said, "He must be a prophet if he could heal because only prophets could do the impossible." And then the Pharisees challenge him even more. How could he be a prophet if he heals on the Sabbath? And he says, "Well, if he's not from God, he wouldn't be able to do any of this. But because it happened, he must be from God." And after they kick him out, Jesus goes to look for him. And he asks him directly, do you believe in the Son of Man? And he says, I would if I saw him. And he said, the man who's standing in front of you is him. And he says, well, Lord, I believe. So he, he went from somebody who was unrelated to Jesus, unrelated to the Savior, to somebody who had a personal encounter that kept getting closer and closer and closer, that turned into full-on worship. And the blindness that is healed from this man is not just a physical one, it is a spiritual one that John wants us to be able to grasp for ourselves. The impact of sin has something that is weighed out on your personal life. You feel it, and Jesus doesn't deny it, but he says, don't stop there with the physical healing that could happen in your life. I want you to go even deeper. To become spiritually healed, where you understand that your identity is not based on that sin. Your identity is not based on that past. Your identity is based on this relationship that I have with you. And that because I am the one who heals you both inside and out, I want you to worship me. Everyone's looking at the same miracle. The neighbors, the Pharisees, the parents, the disciples. But only one comes back worshiping. Here's where it says where Jesus went to look for him. Verse 35: Jesus heard that they threw the man out, and when they found him— when he found him, he asked, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man? Who is he, that I might believe in him?' And Jesus said, 'You've seen him. In fact, he's the one speaking to you right now.' 'I believe, Lord,' he said, and he worshiped him. Again, this is the whole gospel in the Gospel of John, that everybody has moved on from this blind man now healed's life. The Pharisees have already determined that his healing didn't come from God, it must have come from someplace else. The neighbors have all disappeared, the parents are afraid and they don't support their own child. And when Jesus hears that he has been abandoned by everyone else, he doesn't say, "I'll pray for you." He doesn't say, "Well, he'll figure it out." He goes and he looks for him. Which is something to be said for us even as a church. That when we see people alone, do we just leave them out there and just pray for them? Do we just say, "Well hey, I hope they make it." You know, "I hope they come back around." "I hope they show up next Sunday." I hope they come back to group, you know, next time we gather. I hope they make it to the prayer meeting. Or like Jesus, do we go ourselves to meet with them? To show them the presence of God is with them and is for them and sees them in their new creation. I just finished reading this book called Theo of Golden. Anybody? Anybody read Theo of Golden? A couple people, right? I don't read fiction, all right? I just don't read it. It's just a waste of time. But I needed something. I needed something to take my mind off of all of the stuff dealing, you know, in my world. And so Shala recommended Theo of Golden. So I was like, all right, I'mma check it out. And then because the man that I am, I can't just read something and not like see deeply into it, right? The man's name is Theo. Which is short for the Greco-Roman word God, theosis, that God in something. And so Theo of Golden, he shows up to this town of Golden and he walks into this cafe and he sees 92 portraits on the wall and he's amazed both by the artists and the portraits themselves. And he finds out that the portraits are of people from the town of Golden and he purchases the portraits on his own, out of his own pocket. And then he writes a letter to the individual. He finds out who they are and where they live, and he invites them to come meet with him on a bench at a promenade so that he could gift them with this picture, this portrait of who they are. And it's amazing. One after one, someone comes down and they sit next to him, cautiously, of course. Thankfully, because he's an old-looking man, it makes them feel a little bit more secure. And then he tells them what he sees in them. What he sees about them. Something that they didn't even see themselves. People who didn't see themselves as the way Theo of Golden saw them. He saw them healed. He saw them free. He saw them with gifts and with strength, Sarah. And he was amazed at who they were, just for who they were. The light bulb didn't go off for everyone. Somebody refused what Theo had to say about them. Some even got very angry and resented him even purchasing their portraits and their pictures. But for others who embraced and heard what he had to say about them, they came alive. They embraced the newness of this. And this is exactly what Jesus is doing at the end of John 9. He finds the man who everyone else has discarded. Someone who saw himself only in one condition, only saw himself as blind, only saw himself as rejected, only saw himself as not being welcome. And he saw him in his giftedness and his beauty. In fact, that pool, "salam," meaning sent, it actually means messenger or missionary. And that's what this man becomes. He sees them as a testimony. He sees him as a missionary who goes on to carry the message of Jesus. That I no know much. I do know this: I once was blind, but now I see. I don't know a whole lot. I used to be caught up, but now I'm delivered. I'm not where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. And Jesus sees him in his beauty. My God. And, and, and just to make sure that the Pharisees understood and and could hear what was going on. Jesus says this: I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see, and those who do see become blind. Some of the Pharisees who are with him heard these things and asked him, uh, we aren't blind too, are we? Sarcastic, because I can see. Jesus says, if you were blind, you wouldn't have sin. But now that you say we see, your sin remains. My, my, the closing here of John 9 goes back to John 8, and where people who believe they did not need Jesus for their healing says, you already received your deliverance. Actually your death. You already wrote your death sentence by saying you don't need me. You already wrote your death sentence by saying you, you don't need to be delivered, you're, you good. So go on and be good then. But if you need me, you would understand what I have for you is a great deliverance. And this leads us to the last thing he wants us to be aware of: that great blindness is not failing to see, it's being convinced that you've already seen enough? Have you been convinced that you've already seen enough of what God can do? Have you been convinced that you've already seen enough of what God, how God could heal, set free, deliver, and liberate, whether that's physical or spiritual? Beloved, both. That God could work a miracle of physical healing and deliverance, that God could do it today in 2026, just as well as God could heal somebody spiritually and set them on a new path in 2026, that God could do it. The greatest blindness is not failing to see, is being convinced that we've already seen enough. I want to ask God for more. God, I want to see more. I do want to see the, the healings physically. I do want to see the deliverance physically. And I want to see the spiritual life change. I want to see the impossible. I want to see when someone, uh, who, who denies Jesus as Lord and Savior becomes one of the biggest fattest, loudest worshipers that you've ever seen. I want to see both. I want to see all of it, and I want to be a part of it. I don't want to be like the neighbors, uh, who, who, who are so skeptical that they don't see that it could happen. I don't want to be, uh, like the parents who are afraid to, to link arms with it. I don't want to be like the Pharisees whose, whose dogma has got in the way of actually being a part of the miracle. I want to be a part of Jesus's team that says, Lord, what might God do in this situation? What might God do in me? There's an image by an artist named Brian Jekyll, and he gives the image of the man born blind. We use it often in spiritual direction. The man born blind. This man who at the roadside his entire life was dependent on others. Whose entire life was defined by his blindness. And one of the beauties I see in this image is that we don't see Jesus, we only see the blind man. We don't see what Jesus's face looks like, we have to imagine it. Is it a smile? Is it a— is it something other than a smile? Is it filled with hope or is it the last opportunity? And the man, uh, who is blind here also doesn't just sit and receive. He reaches out. He reaches out to be a part of this healing journey, that he's, he's so dependent on Jesus that he doesn't cross his arms or fold them. He's open. He's willing. Lord Jesus, Would you do that for me? The miracle of the man born blind is also the progression of his healing. And I wonder where we are in our stage of healing, particularly in our recognition of Jesus. In our stage of healing, are we blind or do we have the mud on our eyes? And Jesus invites us to go to that pool of Siloam. Have we made it to the pool yet? Have we started to wash our eyes? And in the way that we see Jesus, are we seeing Jesus as the man called Jesus, the prophet? Are we seeing him as the one who is worthy of our worship? I invite you to just gaze for a moment at this image on the screen. As you see the whole gospel in this one picture, Jesus— every person here can see themselves in this man. Blindness of all kinds, we can see ourselves in this image. And in the process of our healing journey, God, may we embrace and reach out to you who desires our whole healing— mind, body, and soul. Let us pray. Heavenly, most gracious Lord and Savior, we thank you for Another story where we ask the question, where did this sin come from? Where did this brokenness come from? And to hear you say, that's an important question, but it is not the most important one. The most important question is, what might God want to do in your life right now? What might God want to do on your healing journey, physically, spiritually, right now? The most important question is, what are we going to do when Jesus is right here with us, in front of us? That trust oftentimes comes before understanding, and that healing comes in participation with following what Jesus invites us to do. God, I thank you. I thank you that you are on a healing journey with each and every one of us. That you see us from beginning to end. You saw the man before he saw you, and when his eyes were opened, you showed him yourself again. Thank you for being the author and the finisher of our faith. It's in your name that we do pray. Amen.