John 9:18-29 (Teaching)

[0:00] Morning. Back in John chapter nine. Last week we.

[0:17] I don't know if you say cut off abruptly or not, but I started reading about two verses into where I was at. I realized it just wasn't going to do a whole lot of good. I started reading a couple of verses and just cut it right there.

[0:32] But we technically ended with verse 17 last week in John chapter nine. But leading up to verse 17, of course, we covered how this man had been healed of blindness and he was brought to the Pharisees.

[0:54] The Pharisees were wanting to know how this happened. The neighbors wanted to know how it happened. And of course the Pharisees are looking to discredit the miracle. They're looking to discredit Jesus Christ.

[1:07] Jesus Christ has gained much momentum in his ministry here. And if we remember from John chapter eight, leading on into John chapter nine, John chapter eight, Jesus Christ was in the temple or on the temple grounds.

[1:21] When the woman was brought to him that was caught in the act of adultery. And of course he had some things to say to the religious elite there in the temple.

[1:32] We're at the temple and then we get into John chapter nine outside of the temple and Jesus performs yet another miracle. And this is all brought before the Pharisees.

[1:45] And we ended last week with verse 17, which is the Pharisee speaking to the blind man. It says, they said under the blind man again, what sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine eyes?

[1:56] He said, he is a prophet. And that's really the last verse that we ended with last week. And I explained then that this was this man owning the fact that Jesus Christ was come from God and he said that he is a prophet. Maybe he didn't quite understand that he was Messiah.

[2:16] Maybe he didn't understand that this is the one that was promised in the Old Testament that was to sit upon the throne of David forever. But he owned him as a man of God when he said he is a prophet.

[2:29] And he owned the fact that the words that Jesus Christ spoke were divine words and that the very words were from God in that statement that he is a prophet.

[2:41] So this no doubt got underneath the Pharisees skin just a little bit. Once again, the Pharisees looking to discredit Jesus Christ.

[2:54] They were losing their status amongst the people because of this man, Jesus Christ. And they saw Jesus Christ as a sinner because he had broken the Sabbath in their eyes and in their own rules and their own regulations, not the regulations set forth by God in the Old Testament, but by their own standards. He had broken the Sabbath day, which we know that was not the case.

[3:22] So all that being said, we'll pick up with verse 18 in John chapter 9. It says, But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.

[3:40] And folks, this goes the same for us. One verse here, as far as salvation goes and as far as our witness goes and as far as our testimony goes, this man had been brought before these religious elite people and he had been asked, How did this happen?

[4:02] And he had given them very plain speech as to how it had happened. He said, This man made clay, this man that is called Jesus. He made clay, he anointed my eyes. He told me to go to the pool of Siloam and wash.

[4:16] I went and I washed and I came seeing. I received my sight. It can't get any plainer than that. He had already told them what had happened. But here in verse 18, it says, The Jews did not believe concerning him, concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.

[4:38] And I remember when I got saved, I remember thinking, You know, this is wonderful. This is great. And I remember thinking how easy it's going to be to tell all my friends, tell all the folks that I used to party with, all the folks I used to drink with, all the ones I ran around with and done all sorts of all sorts of maintenance with and all sorts of, got into all sorts of mischief with.

[5:05] If they see that I got saved and they'll see that this is real and I'll give them my testimony and I'll witness Jesus Christ and how many of those are going to come into the fold with me.

[5:17] I remember thinking that. And I also remember when I give my testimony and I told them about what Christ had done for me and I told them that I was now a born again child of God.

[5:29] I remember them turning their backs on me. I remember them going the other direction. I remember them stopping, they stopped answering phone calls.

[5:40] This was the days before I was texting. They stopped answering phone calls though. They wouldn't enter their doors if I went by their house. And it's the same reaction now as these people here.

[5:53] It's because they would not believe, they did not believe concerning me. They knew what I'd been. They knew who I'd been. They knew what fun I was to be around quote unquote.

[6:06] And they did not believe the things concerning me that I got saved but at the same time they wanted no part of it. And they certainly didn't want me talking about Christ in their presence.

[6:20] So the same thing happens to us. And it was my fault being a new believer in Christ. I didn't understand that it's God that's got to do the convincing.

[6:34] I can testify and I can witness and I can preach the gospel and I can tell people about the goodness of Jesus Christ and I can tell them you're a sinner but God is a great and a mighty and a wonderful Savior.

[6:47] But it is God who must do the convincing. I can't do it. God must do it through the Holy Spirit. Verse 19, And they asked them saying, Is this your son who you say was born blind?

[7:03] How then doth he now see? And this is something that again takes place even now. They called in the parents.

[7:14] They were seemingly finished with the one whom the miracle was wrought upon. The blind man that Jesus opened his eyes, they were seemingly done with him, which we learn later on in the chapter that they really weren't.

[7:29] But they called in the parents and they said, and they asked them, the religious elite, asked the parents saying, Is this your son who you say was born blind?

[7:41] And when demons still seek to discredit the witness of converts by doing what? By getting other people to witness against the converts. And this is an age-old way of doing things.

[7:56] This is a war strategy really and truly. This is what people will do in wars. This is what they will do in personal life. This is what they'll do in business life. If you cannot convince someone or extract out of them that they're wrong, if you can't do that, what's the next best thing to do?

[8:17] You villainize them. You turn them into the bad guy and you cause others to witness against them. Now these parents, what else could they say?

[8:30] These were the parents of the child. Now one other thing to keep in mind is all this didn't just happen in the course of a few minutes. It couldn't have. Obviously the man had been home at some point.

[8:42] He didn't just wash and then receive his sight and all these things that we're reading here, there were some time-lapse that happened here.

[8:54] This meeting with the religious elite, with the Jews, as John's Gospel puts it, with the Pharisees, it wouldn't have just happened, lickety-split, we might say.

[9:05] It would have been something that would have been formed. They would have brought this man that was born blind but now saw before the Pharisees. It says that they brought the parents as well.

[9:18] There were some time that happened here and the man almost assuredly went home at some point. In fact, in verse 8 you read, the neighbors therefore, and they wish before had seen him that was blind said, is this not he that bed?

[9:32] The neighbors. So would this have been the neighbors of maybe some other beggars that were there next to him that could have been? But I have a feeling it was the neighbors from where they had lived.

[9:44] People that knew him, people that had known him off his life, that had lived close by and around him. But they called in the parents and they asked them, saying, is this your son whom you say was born blind?

[9:58] How then? Nothing I see. And again, we see this word how. We've seen it with the religious leaders here with the Pharisees. We saw it with the neighbors. It's how, how, how.

[10:10] And the real question there who here is whom? Who caused him to see this one that was blind off his life? Who has done this?

[10:23] But they're seeking the testimony of other people, those closest to the one that is really a picture of a new convert in Jesus Christ, a babe in Christ.

[10:35] They're seeking the witness of those closest to him to discredit the miracle and discredit him, therefore discrediting Christ as any kind of miracle worker.

[10:46] Verse 20, his parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But by what means he now seeeth we know not.

[10:58] Or who hath opened his eyes we know not. He is of age, ask him, he shall speak for himself. This is a sad thing for these parents to say. When I said if, and I strongly believe that this man had visited home and showed his parents that he could now see, and his neighbors obviously knew that he could see, but says his parents answered them, answered the religious elite, the Pharisees, we know that this is our son.

[11:30] That's good. That's a good start. And that he was born blind. That's an excellent continuance there. They got a good start. They've continued well. But by what means he now seeeth we know not.

[11:42] If this man had gone home, and I believe that he did, and showed his parents, I can now see, do you not think that he would say the same thing to them that he told the Pharisees?

[11:54] There was a man named Jesus that made clay and anointed my eyes and told me to go wash, and I went and I washed, and I received my sight. Do you not think he would have relayed the entire story to his parents?

[12:09] But by what means he now seeeth we know not? Or who hath opened his eyes we know not. He is of age, ask him, he shall speak, and he shall speak for himself.

[12:22] And there's all kinds of people all throughout the Scripture. And there's all kinds of people in this world right now that had the attitude if I could only see.

[12:34] These parents had seen. They had seen a miracle that could only be worked by Almighty God. They had seen this miracle of their son which was blind from birth and his eyes were open.

[12:47] He was seeing now for the first time in his life. That was the first time he had ever seen his parents. And here they are denying what they're seeing.

[12:59] Now, granted the Scripture goes on to tell us why they were denying what they were seeing. But folks, the world is full of people. I remember being like that before I was saved. When I was denying the very existence of God, I was like, well, you know, if God would just do that, do this or do that, I would believe.

[13:17] If God would, you know, turn a blade of grass into a tree right before my eyes, I would see if God would perform some great miracle before me. I would believe.

[13:28] But folks, that's not true faith. That's faith according to what I've seen. According to something physical in our surroundings that I've seen and the Bible makes it plain that we walk by faith.

[13:42] We don't walk by sight. We walk by faith in God. I have faith that God saved me. I know good and well that God saved me. And I see the change in my own life.

[13:54] But I've got faith that God did that. These parents, they didn't disown their son. They said, this is our son.

[14:05] And yes, he was born blind. But by what means he now seeeth we know not. Or who opened his eyes, we know not. He is of age. Ask him. He shall speak for himself. Now the very next verse tells us why.

[14:17] Verse 22, these words speak his parents because they feared the Jews. That tells me these parents knew exactly what had happened. They knew exactly who had done what to their son.

[14:29] But it says they spoke these words because they feared the Jews. Fear brings a snare, people. Fear brings a snare. And I'm as guilty of it as you all are.

[14:42] All of us have been afraid at some point in our Christian walk. We've all been afraid at some point to testify or to be a witness or to declare the goodness of God.

[14:54] Every one of us have experienced that fear, whether it was while we were a very young baby in Christ, whether it was last week or maybe even today, all of us have done the exact same thing that these parents of this man that was born blind did hear.

[15:10] They cowered to their fear. They cowered to their fear and it tells us why. These words speak his parents because they feared the Jews.

[15:21] For the Jews had agreed already that if a man did confess that he was crossed, he should be put out of the synagogue. This was their fear, to be put out of the synagogue, to be excommunicated, in other words, from the assembling of God's people.

[15:41] And let me tell you something else. These Pharisees, under no biblical terms whatsoever, had any right to excommunicate them out of the synagogue or out of fellowship.

[15:57] They have done just for confessing that the man was crossed. They saw it as right. They saw it in their minds as blasphemy, this man that was making himself equal with God.

[16:11] He was God and he is God. But it says the Jews had agreed already that if a man did confess that he was crossed, that Christ was crossed, in other words, he should be put out of the synagogue.

[16:28] And this was their fear. Not only would they have been excommunicated from the synagogue, which is where they would have heard the reading of the Word of God. This is where they would have heard the Word of God expounded. This was basically church for these Jews.

[16:41] This is where they would have gathered to hear the Word read and to hear the Word of God talk and to pray. And this is where they would have had communion and fellowship with other Jews that believed like them, much like our church services are today.

[16:55] And the Pharisees were saying, we will throw you out of the synagogue if you confess that this man is crossed. Now, the sad part about this whole thing is, the parents had said, this man's of age.

[17:09] Why don't you ask him? Essentially, they were throwing their own son under the bus. Instead of doing as a parent should have and defending their son, they were throwing him under the bus, leaving it up to him for fear of the Jews and for fear of being cast out of the synagogue.

[17:29] Not only would they have been cast out of the synagogue, had that fellowship and heard the Word of God expounded on all these other things, but any help that would have come from that synagogue, whether it had been food, whether it had been monetarily, regardless of what it was, they wouldn't have been able to have received any of that either.

[17:47] But they denied the work of Jesus Christ and the life of their son out of fear, out of fear of a bunch of religious elite people who claimed to be so lawful and so righteous and so holy, but they did not allow the law of God to apply to their lives.

[18:13] Not the way that they thought that they did, and they added and added and added to the Word of God. This reminds me so much of some people that I know personally in my life right now, they're depending upon things that aren't even biblical, but yet they deny the things that are true, like salvation coming to someone.

[18:35] Well, that person couldn't have got saved. Just last week I saw them doing this or doing that, or eight years ago I saw them doing this or doing that. Folks, that's the type of people that God saves.

[18:47] He saves sinners, Christ made it very plain. He came into the world to seek and save that which was lost. So to say I saw them commit this heinous sin 10 years ago or 10 days ago or 10 minutes ago does not mean that God can't save them right now.

[19:05] But these parents here, they put all the weight back on their son. Shame on them. Shame on them not only for throwing their son under the bus, but for not owning what Christ did.

[19:18] They're not completely denied. They're in as much denial as to what happened as the Pharisees are. Now, I think I explained it last week. It's not that the Pharisees couldn't see the miracle.

[19:29] It's not that they couldn't see that God had worked this miracle in a blind man's life, a man that had never ever seen. It's that they refused to see it.

[19:40] They saw it with their physical eyes, but they did not want to accept the fact that God was there among them and God was there working miracles, working a miracle that according to the New Testament, this was only something that God himself could have done.

[19:56] So his parents left it all in his hands for the Jews agreed already that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.

[20:07] Therefore said his parents, he is of age. Ask him, verse 24, then again called they the man that was blind and said unto him, Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner.

[20:19] This tells me that while the parents were called in, the man was put out. It says that they called him back in. So he had to have been put out from where the Pharisees were.

[20:30] This was basically a court case that was taking place and they were going to see what the parents had to say. Then they brought this man in and they said, and they said, it says, then again called they the man that was blind and said unto him, Give God the praise.

[20:44] They knew that this man is a sinner. What was said in the conversation between the Pharisees and the parents that would cause the Pharisees to know that Jesus Christ was a sinner?

[20:56] Absolutely nothing. They were using the fact that he was out of airshot of them. His parents were in there.

[21:07] They were pretending that they had found something out. That they had found something out about Christ. That this man didn't know. They say, Give God the praise.

[21:18] For we know that this man is a sinner. This isn't the first time in this whole account here in John chapter 9 where they have claimed to know that Christ was a sinner.

[21:31] We read last week in verse 16, they said therefore some of the Pharisees said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.

[21:43] Others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? There was a division among them. Then we went into the previous chapters in John where people were saying this man has a demon and now we know that this man has a demon.

[22:00] These Pharisees here are now saying we know that this man is a sinner. They're trying to get him to agree with them and they're trying to deceive him into thinking that they have now found out something about Christ that he didn't know about.

[22:18] They said unto him again, I'm sorry, we know that this man is a sinner. Verse 25, he answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not.

[22:29] One thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I see. Now folks, this was a new babe in Christ as I've already said.

[22:41] This was a wonderful picture of a new believer, of a new convert. Someone that far from knows anything theological or doctrinally or anything along those lines.

[22:56] He says, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I see.

[23:08] What was he holding to? He was holding on to the work of Christ, the work that Christ had done in his life. He was holding to the fact that Christ had showed him mercy.

[23:22] He wasn't holding at this point to the person of Jesus Christ, to who the man was. He was holding to the work that he had performed in his life. He said, one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see.

[23:41] He's holding to the fact that this was indeed a miracle and what Jesus Christ had done for him. Folks, that is what we have got to do. You will be confronted in this world if you testify any amount of time or to any length or a few witnesses of Christ for any amount of time or to any length.

[24:01] I promise you, you're going to come up, or someone's going to come up with a rebuttal to you. Some of the rebuttals may sound quite convincing to you, but you hold on to the fact that you were in the same shape that this blind man here was that could now see that you was once blind, but now you see.

[24:25] You hold to that fact with everything in you. You hold to that fact because that is an essential part of salvation. That is an essential evidence of salvation.

[24:36] I was once blind to the things of God. I was once blind to salvation. I was blind to Jesus Christ, and I was blind to the mercy of God and to the patience of God, to the long suffering of God.

[24:50] But when I got saved, I was no longer blind to those things. I can look back at my life and I can see what I was, and I can see who I was, and I can see just how merciful Almighty God is.

[25:03] And if someone rebuts my testimony, and there's a lot of people folks in this world that can walk through the doors of this church right now and say, Spent your youth to do this and you used to do that, and they would not be lying.

[25:15] But folks that's past tense, you used to do this and you used to do that, but I could look at them and say, I once was blind, but praise God, now I see. That's what we hang on to.

[25:27] That's what this man was hanging on to. He didn't care about how deep these Pharisees wanted to get. He didn't care what anything along those lines.

[25:40] All he knew is what Christ had done for him. And folks, that's all I really know is what Christ has done for me. And I can pass that along to people.

[25:51] I can say, Christ saved my soul. Christ hung and bled and died on a cross. He suffered immensely, and he did it all for me, and he did it all for you. And all you have to do is repent of your wicked ways and trust in the work that Jesus Christ accomplished on a cross at Calvary.

[26:09] And you can be saved as well. I once was blind, now I see. Verse 26, then said to him again, what did he to thee?

[26:22] How opened he thine eyes? And here's that word again, and here's that word how again. All in the same verse, and we see this over and over these Pharisees, they just keep going back, keep going back.

[26:34] What do they do? They're hoping that this man stumbles. They're hoping that his testimony that he gave three minutes ago doesn't match the one that he's about to give, but they have cause to accuse him.

[26:47] So it says, they said to him again, what did he do to thee? How opened he thine eyes? Verse 27, he answered them, I have told you already, and he did not hear.

[26:59] Wherefore would you hear it again? Will he also be his disciples? My goodness. This man stand firm. He stand firm on Jesus Christ. He is standing firm on the work that Christ has done in his life.

[27:13] And folks, that's what we had to stand firm on. I understand we stand upon the promises of God. We stand upon the word of God. The folks, what do those promises tell us? What does the word of God tell us?

[27:25] It tells us that if any man confess with his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe within his heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That is the word of God. That is the promise of God.

[27:36] And that is all we have to stand upon. And that's how I got saved. Because I confess Christ. And I believe the work that God, the Father done in the life of Jesus Christ and in the death of Jesus Christ and in the resurrection and in the ascension of Jesus Christ.

[27:54] I believe all of these things and that's all we can stand on. And this man here, it says he answered them, I have told you already, and he did, and he didn't stumble around. He didn't stutter. He didn't speak in parables.

[28:06] He didn't hide his speech. Nothing like that. He told them very plainly, a man named Jesus anointed my eyes, told me to wash. And I received my sign. He said, I've told you already, and he did not hear.

[28:19] And it's not because they were deaf. And it's not because their ears were plugged. That's what happened. This man's in the same shape that the people at the end of Acts chapter 7, toward the end of Acts chapter 7, in Acts chapter 6 and Acts chapter 7, Stephen gives this scathing sermon, very truthful sermon, but a scathing sermon to a bunch of religious people, a bunch of religious Jews.

[28:53] He rakes them over the coals and they're towards the end of Acts chapter 7. It says that they ran upon them with one accord and they stopped their ears. Why did they stop their ears?

[29:05] Because they didn't want to hear the truth. Because the truth hurts. The truth hurts. It hurts me, folks. This Bible, it does the same thing to me sometimes. It'll rip me all over the coals.

[29:18] It'll throw me down, sling me against the wall, kick me in the gut, slap me in the face, all kinds of things. But folks, it's in love that it does that to me. And it's in love that it does that to you.

[29:29] That's one of the purposes of this Bible. Not only does it have wonderful promises that God has given us, but folks, there's all kinds of warnings in this Bible. Not only to those that are out there lost and unregenerated, there are warnings to those who believe in Jesus Christ within these scriptures.

[29:47] And we need to heed to it all. It says, I've told you already and you did not hear. Wherefore would you hear it again? Will you also be as disciples? You think the man was being a little bit sarcastic here?

[29:59] Maybe a little bit of a smart alec I like this guy. He says, why would you want to hear it again? Would you also be as disciples? In other words, if I tell you the story again, will you believe it then?

[30:13] Will you be as disciples? It says they reviled him and said, thou art his disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. They reviled him.

[30:25] And in the Greek, this word here that's used for reviled, really doesn't do it a whole lot of justice. In the Greek, this means that they were cursing him with anathema.

[30:37] They were cursing the man at this point. It says they reviled him and said, thou art his disciple. Well, praise God, they realized who this man was.

[30:49] They understood that he was a disciple of Christ, but they were hurling this at him like it was supposed to be an insult. And folks, we will run into that in our very own lives.

[31:01] How many of y'all have been testifying to someone or been witnessing of Jesus Christ or whatever the case is, and some unbeliever will start making fun of you, they'll start mocking you, they'll hurl insults, they'll hurl names, they'll call God your sky daddy.

[31:18] And they'll say ridiculous things like, well, if God is real, then why is there so much suffering? If God is real, why is there death? If God is real, why is this and why is that?

[31:31] I saw a bingo card one time for atheism, and it had all these things on it that atheists constantly say. And every one of them were true.

[31:42] Because that's all they've got. They hurl insults. They hurl insults. It's not logical arguments that they hurl. It's not deep thoughts that they hurl at all.

[31:54] It is insults. They said, thou art his disciple. And I say, praise God, this bunch of religious folk that didn't believe in Jesus Christ, didn't even believe the Old Testament the way that it was written.

[32:09] They recognized who this man was. Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. And to that I say, big whoop. We are Moses' disciples.

[32:20] That's what they were dependent on. They weren't depending upon God. They were depending upon Moses. But not only on Moses, they were depending upon the writings of Moses, plus everything that they had added to the writings of Moses.

[32:37] There's nothing wrong with depending upon the Word of God. But there's so many out there, even nowadays, there are so many out there in the days that this was being written that were depending upon the Word of God, plus this and plus that.

[32:53] No, folks, we depend upon the Word of God. We depend upon this written Word of God, and we depend upon the living Word of God that we have in Jesus Christ. And that's all we are to depend on.

[33:05] Them saying, thou art his disciple, was not insulting to this man. But again, this was them trying to villainize the man. Here before their little court, they were saying, you're a disciple of Jesus Christ.

[33:22] And we already read just a couple of verses before this that the threat was there. If you confess this man as Christ, and you're following this man as Christ, you'll be put out of the synagogue.

[33:36] This man just standing his ground. What lessons we can learn from this man? We know that God spoke unto Moses. As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. We know that God spoke unto Moses, and God did speak unto Moses.

[33:50] And I say praise God for the scriptures that we have, that show us God speaking to Moses, but they went on to say, this man, we know not from whence he is. When Jesus Christ, in the chapter before this, in chapter 8, makes it very plain that he is the light of the world.

[34:07] He makes it very plain that he is from God. And these are the same religious elite here in chapter 9 that were being talked about and talked to, and that were part of that scene in chapter 8.

[34:21] And they're saying, we don't know where he's from, even though Christ himself has told them where he is from. Folks, it's not that they didn't know. They didn't want to acknowledge it.

[34:32] They've refused it. They rejected it. They suppressed the truth and unrighteousness, as Paul writes to the Roman church in chapter 1 of Romans.

[34:43] They were suppressing the truth, and it was right there before their eyes. And we got a whole world full of people that do that exact same thing now.

[34:55] Let's stop right there. We'll finish off that chapter next week. I've got about 10 minutes, but it'll take longer than that. I hope to finish off that chapter, but we didn't.

[35:07] Anybody got any questions or comments on any of that? God bless you all.