Welcome you to be seated. We turn again this day to the gospel of John. And towards the end of John's gospel, we read that the signs that Jesus did, if they should all be written, that the world would not be able to contain the books that should be written. which tells us that we need another world fully to celebrate the praiseworthiness of Jesus Christ. And there is another world which is large enough and broad enough, the broad heaven where there is a great assembly studying and speaking of the praises of Jesus Christ and all His glorious deeds. But what we've been given here upon earth is sufficient for us. The things that have been written have been written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by His name we may have everlasting life. And so I want to speak something of the glory of Jesus Christ in a particular work of His, which we are told others have been passed by, But this one has been recorded, and may the Lord open my lips to speak of it, and open your ears, open your eyes, indeed, to see the glory of the God-man. And we will consider concerning this miracle simply two things this morning, which will be the working of the miracle, and secondly, the fame of the miracle. So first of all, consider with me the working of this miracle, of the restoring of sight to the man who was born blind. And here God has set this down for us in the first seven verses of our chapter. The working of the miracle, consider first of all Christ's sight. In a miracle that has to do with a man who could not see, the first thing that we're told about the Lord Jesus is that He saw. And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. The initiative lies on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, it was impossible that this man could have seen Jesus as He passed by. If it had not been for the initiative of Christ, there would have been no miracle that day. And who was it that attracted the notice of Jesus as He passed by? Does it tell us that as Jesus passed by, He saw a very wealthy man, and He turned to pay attention, and He noticed what a nice car that man was driving? Does it tell us that as Jesus passed by, He saw a very well-dressed man, sitting in church, and he wondered, I wonder where he got his suit tailored. Does it tell us that as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who appeared so religious and super precise, a Pharisee of Pharisees with a long face, showing the world, oh, how much He mourned His sin and how sober He was before God. Maybe all those men were there, but Jesus didn't notice them. But He did notice a man who was blind from birth. So think about this. The Creator of the sun and moon is passing by. And he sees this man who is surrounded with the light of the sun, but who is unable to benefit one bit from the light of the sun that he had created. And not only that, but he was also poor because verse 8 will go on to tell us that this man had become well-known. He was in perhaps a well-known spot and he was begging He was unable to work for his living and to support himself. He couldn't afford things. He couldn't just go out and buy himself a change of clothes. He was begging indeed for the very necessities of life. Please give me money. My stomach is empty. a case of a truly needy and poor man. And we're told specifically that he was this way from birth, a man which was blind from his birth. And that means that he was like you and like me, because our problem is not something that has occurred to us, or our deepest problem is not something that's happened after we were born and came into this world, but our greatest problem is the way we were when we came into this world. We bring with us from our mother's womb, as David confesses, that surely in sin did my mother conceive me. We are indeed blind by nature and from birth. Think about that. If we would pity a man who cannot benefit from the light of the sun, so we by birth are incapable of benefiting from all the revelation that God makes of Himself, whether natural revelation or whether in the Word of God. By birth we're blind, so we could come again and again and again under the preaching of the Word of God and we could hear the law and we could hear the gospel and we could benefit not one bit. We do not have the natural power to take in the light that God so abundantly gives to us. We are spiritually poor. We do not have riches. God made man upright and he made him with spiritual strength and dignity in the beginning, but we've sinned away the spiritual money that God gave us in the beginning. We are by nature blind. Think about the isolation that blindness would bring, how it interrupts normal human relationships. Well, in the same way, All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, alone in the darkness by nature." That's you and me. The compassionate attention of our Lord Jesus Christ to this man, is contrasted with the kind of attention that His disciples paid. Evidently, Jesus noticed this man in such a way that His disciples began to pay attention to Him and started asking a question. And not every question that we might ask is actually a profitable or a good question. There are questions that come from mere curiosity. But this question was not only coming from idle curiosity, but it was actually a cruel question, which was assuming something, that either he or his parents must have sinned in some special way, that this affliction had come upon this man. And there's a reason God tells us that this was the reaction of the disciples, and that is because it's a very common thing to think We have a whole big long book of the Bible called Job, and that book is chock full of this kind of thing. friend saying to a righteous man, Job, you've sinned in some way that you've brought all this upon you. And Job will readily say, I know I'm a sinner, but yet I'm upright. There's no glaring inconsistency or special sin in my life. Job's friends and then also the natives on the island of Malta. Paul takes the sticks and his hand gets bit and they think, ah, he must be a murderer, must be that God is pursuing him. It's a common thing that bubbles up in the heart of man. And you need to look within and see, do you think this way about people? It makes everything kind of, neat and tidy in our minds. Because when you see someone suffering terribly, it's not comfortable or bearable to think, what if that was me? Or what if that was my child? So the neat and tidy thing that we want to think is, he must have done something really bad that I've never done. And so that's not going to happen to me. Or maybe his parents did something really bad. And it's a good thing I'm better than that, because now this won't happen to my child. It's very neat and tidy, but it is ice cold and cruel. Whereas we ought rather, when we see someone suffering, remember the words of our Lord Jesus, that do you remember the tower of Siloam? It fell, were they worse sinners? No, but repent, or ye shall all likewise perish. When you see a sufferer, God is calling you to repent of your sins. and the answer of our Lord Jesus, which He gives to this kind of thinking. On the one hand, it vindicates man, and on the other hand, it honors God. Vindicates man, because Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents. Jesus is not claiming sinless perfection for this man or his parents, but nonetheless he is arising as their advocate and as their vindicator. We are not told whether or not the blind man hears what Jesus' disciples are saying about him. And perhaps you've been left in a position and you've wondered, here I am, and I'm suffering greatly. And maybe you hear someone hinting, oh, it's because they really must deserve it. Or maybe you just think, this is what they could be saying, because you know the way your own heart works. Well, in either case, the Lord Jesus is the advocate of this man and his parents, speaking up for them. And if in this case, He's giving a limited advocacy for them, clearing them from some special kind of sin that would have brought this affliction. If in this general case, he's the advocate, how much more is that true for his own blood-bought people, for whom he clears not only of some special gross sin or another, but whom he clears from all sin. We have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous, Christ not only the advocate before men, but with the Father. So to whom should we trust our name and our reputation? But we should trust our name and reputation into the hands of Jesus Christ. If you were to attempt to go around and to try to change the way that people think about you or maybe the way that they talk about you when you're not listening behind your back. Number one thing about that is that it would be an impossible task and it would consume you entirely. Maybe you've experienced something like that. Your whole inward self is consumed with thoughts of, it's not fair, they're saying that or thinking that. Here's what you need to do. Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Trust Christ to be your advocate. So Christ, He vindicates man, but He also honors God. Verse 3, the second part of the verse. but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." So, miseries and weakness provide room for God to work. It's actually a profound statement. Jesus tells us the why behind this man's suffering. And it's in a particular case here, but there's a general truth that is being conveyed to us. It's often the question that we're asking, why? Why suffering? And the answer fits. In fact, in any case, the end of God in everything that He does is His own glory, the manifesting of His works. Why does God allow misery and suffering for His glory? If we attempt to find the answer in man, we will always be unsatisfied. If we attempt to come up with a solution, why is there suffering? How does that serve a man-centered purpose? like my happiness. Well, God's end is not centered on man at all. The end of God in everything he does is himself, and specifically the manifestation of his glory, so we can rest secure that whatever happens, God will get his glory. And notice how we're being told this as well. Jesus is instructing His disciples. The why behind the suffering is that the works of God should be made manifest in Him. This is the great prophet and teacher of the church. And I was thinking this week about what a blessed thing it is to be enabled to think God's thoughts after him and to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so here's a situation, here's a grave suffering, and the thoughts of Jesus' disciples are way off track over here, cold as ice, cruel, et cetera, but Jesus, He's meek and lowly in heart. Come unto Me and learn of Me. If your thoughts are a thousand miles removed away from the thoughts of God, and you're full of cruelty and accusation, etc., here's One who's willing to teach you. And He's saying, here's how to think. when you see suffering, think in some way, God is going to manifest His glory. It's actually a blessed thing to have our thoughts brought in line with the thoughts of Jesus Christ. Especially so, there's blessedness in it if the suffering is ours. I'm suffering. What should I think about suffering? Well, let me seek to have the mind of Christ. He will teach me, really, He'll give light within by His Spirit, so that what I truly think about my suffering is, this is that God's glory may be manifested. And then that actually quiets the heart, because that's what I love most of all. If I'm a new creature, God will manifest His glory. So Christ's sight, in the first place. First part of the working of this miracle. The second part of the working of this miracle is Christ's diligence. Christ's diligence in verses 4 and 5. And there are two sayings here that have to do with light. And one of them has to do with the limited amount of daylight that there is in a given day. the limitation on the number of daylight working hours. Verse 4, I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. Now, our Lord Jesus is clearly here speaking about His earthly life. and the limited amount of time that he had in his life on earth. He's teaching us. He's not saying every truth that could possibly be communicated all in one moment. He's giving us an illustration that is communicating a truth. So he says, night cometh when no man can work. Does this mean that Jesus is not working now? Absolutely, it doesn't mean that. But there is a point that's communicated, and we need to not wiggle away from underneath of the point that is being communicated. So Jesus saw the limited amount of time that He had on this earth, and His understanding and feeling of the limited time He had spurred Him onwards, propelled Him forwards, so that, among other things, He worked this work of healing upon this blind man, and then propelled Him all the way onwards to the cross where He bore our sins. Notice what our Lord Jesus does not do. He does not say, well, it's okay, because I'm going to rise from the dead. And so, and then I'll ascend to heaven, and so I'll have as much, I'll have ages upon ages to work from heaven by my Holy Spirit. So I need not concern myself very much with whether I redeem the time that I have today. He didn't say that. And praise God that he didn't say that. So praise God, because we should look on Christ and we should behold his perfect righteousness. So you, in order to stand before God, who's perfect, you need a perfect righteousness imputed to you. And part of righteousness is redeeming the time that God gives you, using the time that he gives you to do his works. So we need to behold in Jesus Christ, here is one who in his days worked the works of God, And yes, it happens. This was a Sabbath day. Jesus never misspent a Sabbath day. He never misspent any day. He never looked back with regret upon a day or an hour of His life and said, I wasted time. He's perfectly righteous. Trust in Him and His righteousness will be yours. to cover you before God. Trust in Him, and God will look at you and see His righteousness clothing you, and not the omniscient and holy eye of God will be able to see one spot or blemish in the righteousness of Christ that you will have upon you, if you will but trust Him. See His perfect righteousness. And then, Imitate Him by the Spirit's power, because the double gift Christ gives is righteousness and life by the Spirit. Trust in Him and live by Him, and take His words on your lips. I must work the works of Him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. So those words echo where they're not just personally and exclusively for Jesus Christ and no one else, because God's already given instruction in His Word. Ecclesiastes 9.10. This is instruction for everybody. Ecclesiastes 9.10. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, Do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest." So we cannot take Ecclesiastes 9.10 and flush it. We cannot do that. We cannot say, oh, that's the Old Testament, and that's because Solomon didn't understand the resurrection, and he had a gloomy view. No, because Jesus said, night is coming when no man can work. There's a reality to death. Death ends your time in this life. When you draw your last breath, that is your last opportunity to do anything on earth. If you're in Christ, you go to heaven, praise the Lord. But as for earth, you're done. How you spent your days is how you spent your weeks, is how you spent your months, is how you spent your years, is how you spent your short life. So is there a work of God that lies undone today? In the strength of the Spirit of Christ, arise and work the works of God. The Spirit came on Jesus and filled Him, and He will give you His Spirit so that you will say, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. Arise in his strength. Well, Christ's diligence. One thing he said about this was about the limited hours of light during the daytime. Another thing he said was there in verse 5, about being the light of the world. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Christ diligently fulfilled His prophetic office. Notice how He is preparing us here for the miracle that He is going to work. He is going to give sight to a man who's been all his lifetime in the darkness. And that's a picture of particularly His prophetic office. He came to teach us that which we were blind to about ourselves, about God, about His law, about His gospel. He came to teach, but He had, again, a limited amount of time on earth in which to fulfill this work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And this harkens back to what we had seen before, chapter 7, verse 33. Yet a little while I am with you, and then I go unto him that sent me." So Jesus knew that the limited time he had on earth, but do we realize this? Do we prize the means of grace while we have them? And now Jesus has gone to heaven and He's executing His prophetic office from there. Yes, He is. Praise God. However, there's also a sense in which we, there are special seasons in which we're given a light. We're given means that then can be taken away from us. So the Sabbath day is a special and a short season in which we have for getting light, our youth, before more cares come upon us. It's a short opportunity for getting light, having a particular minister with us. It's a limited opportunity, having means with us. We need to redeem the opportunities that we have. I was with a sister in Canada On Friday, she was diagnosed with grave cancer. On Saturday, she was released from the hospital. On Monday, she was going back for a bone marrow biopsy. And I was sitting in the car with her on the way to church. And I said, you're out of the hospital yesterday and going back tomorrow. It's so good to see you coming to church. She knew. Time is short. You don't always have the same opportunity to come to the light. She redeemed her opportunity. Well, it shows us Christ's diligence. Praise God that Christ is diligent. Oh, that we would be diligent to understand the day of our mercy and of our visitation and to improve it. So Christ's diligence, also then Christ's miracle. In verses 6 and 7, when He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and so forth. So what does this teach us? One thing is that it teaches us the true and full manhood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember that John was used by God in a particular way to declare that mind-blowing truth that he does. In chapter 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then later, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. man's ideas and turns them upside down. This personal word who has been from the beginning with God, who is God, the second person of the Godhead. How could he become flesh? Those are high and lofty statements that the Lord gives us in chapter one of this gospel, but here, The same truth is also being trumpeted in a very down-to-earth way. He spat on the ground. The Lord Jesus was made flesh. How do we know? He had spittle. He spit on the ground. And indeed, He had moisture in His mouth, moisture that would be taken away when He came to suffer on the cross. when his tongue would cleave unto the roof of his jaws. Christ is true man. That's one lesson of the spittle on the ground. Another lesson of the spittle on the ground is that Christ chose lowly and despicable means to work this miracle. The means he used varied, sometimes touching eyes, sometimes simply a word. But here, he spat, and we would think about Naaman, the leper from Syria, and told to go to wash in the Jordan, and he despised the Jordan. Aren't the rivers of Damascus better than this lowly Jordan? He despised God's means. But how much more, actually, lowly are these means? Spittle on the ground, making mud, smeared and applied to the eyes. And it shows us how God leaves no room for pride in those whom He saves. It's wonderful, actually. God saves us, and there's any number of things that He allows a saved person to keep. We have the same fingerprints that we were born with. Being born again doesn't change that and it doesn't disrupt our marriage. We continue in our marriage and so forth as the Lord graciously allows that. There's a bunch of things that stay and that don't change. However, pride has to go and we have to be willing, as it were, to have our eyes spat upon. Pride in the part of those whom God saves, but also pride on the part of those whom God uses to save is absolutely stripped away because Christ still uses it means to save, just as He did to give sight to the blind man. What are preachers? Except dirt with a little bit of moisture. And so I pray that God will use me to open eyes, and I think, well, Christ used mud to open eyes. And so as long as I don't think myself anything better than mud, then God can use me. The glory goes entirely, don't you see, to God and Jesus Christ. So Jesus spat, also Jesus anointed, we're told. He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And now that is surprising because if you were to have mud put on your eyes, would that tend to help your ability to see or tend to hinder it? It would actually normally hinder your ability to see. And so the Lord works by something that is lowly, but also by something that appears to be like a step backwards. And growing in wisdom often means beginning to recognize that something that seems like a step backwards actually has the fingerprints of the Lord upon it. And we learn to expect, ah, now the step forwards is going to come. Jesus, notice, he anointed the man's eyes. So the eyes, clearly they're made by God and they are the faculty that God has given us for seeing. So Jesus, he took this lowly and seemingly contrary means, but where did he apply it? But to the man's eyes or to his faculty of seeing. So Jesus has done certain things for sinners and in their place. For sinners, He became incarnate. For sinners, He died. For sinners, He rose again. But He didn't say to this man, step back and I will see for you. He enabled this man, He renewed his faculties so that this man himself could see. So we pray, open mine eyes that I may behold wonderful things out of thy law. My eyes. So Christ here is showing that it's He who enables sinners to see. But that also means you have some seeing that you need to do. So the opening of the eyes, that would represent things like principally faith, trusting upon Christ, beholding Christ, looking unto Him. Also sight is associated with things like wisdom and discernment and God's Word being a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. looking with our faculties and considering in the light of God's Word, what shall we do? And so forth. So Christ saves, but yet He does so by renewing the faculties that sinners have. We took our faculties in Adam and we trashed them. And we threw away the spiritual strength that God gave us. but Christ gives, renews, creates, and abilities to see where there was none before. So that means we need to depend on Christ, and we also, we need to think, we need to meditate. Jesus told one man, stretch forth thy hand. So he had no ability to stretch forth his hand, but it was his hand. And Jesus didn't say, I'll stretch forth my hand in your place, but by his word, he gave ability to that man to stretch forth his hand. So Christ comes in the gospel and he says, believe, believe, he's calling on you to do something, namely to repent and to believe. Well, so Jesus anointed this man's eyes. And then he told him to do something, and said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation sent. He went his way therefore and washed, and came seeing. So the Lord Jesus here is actually sending this man away. And that, among other things, this was a test of this man's obedience. Would he trust Christ and go away? Maybe there would have been the temptation to say like, I'm not leaving until I can see again. But by the act of going away, he had to obey the word of Christ, which would reveal whether he trusted Christ or not. And Christ sent him to go use means. Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. Why did he tell him to use means? Was it because he lacked the ability to work the miracle directly? Absolutely not. But rather, it's not because Christ is limited by means, but that He ties us to means. And truth be told, I think that we make many quarrels against the Lord in this area about the use of means. So He ties us to prayer as a means. And how quickly we are to, you know, go halfway to the pool of Siloam and to come back and to say, it didn't work. Or he ties us to the use of the sacraments. And we might say, you know, I tried to remember my baptism. I tried to prepare for the Lord's supper and to receive in faith, but I don't feel like I benefited. I was on my way to the pool of Siloam, but Lord, it didn't work. or maybe in other areas as well. Lord, you told me to go and use this means, but it doesn't seem like it's working. I tried disciplining my son, but all I got was more resistance, was kicked up. I tried to be diligent in my daily job and performing my tasks, But as soon as I set my hand to apply myself with diligence, it seems like there's more problems, and things got harder. It's not working, we might be tempted to say. I tried. I tried to give a soft answer. Your word says a soft answer turns away wrath. But still, there's anger. It's not calmed down. I tried. Or, I tried to go. according to Matthew 18, and to speak to my brother, myself and him alone. And I couldn't gain him. I couldn't win him. It's not working. Your means aren't working, Lord. Well, I have a couple of responses to that. One is that if that's truly the case, if you did with all your heart, set yourself to use the means that God gave to you, and you lifted up your faith to Him, and you looked to Him for the blessing, and if you didn't succeed, congratulations, because now you can pray according to Psalm 44. We remember, Lord, what you did in the past, but Lord, now you're not going forth with our armies. we're not getting success in the battle. And it's not because we've been false to you or broken your covenant. If you sought to use the means and it didn't succeed, now you can come back to the Lord with holy violence and say, I used the means in faith and Lord, you didn't come out with our armies. How will you glorify your name? That's one thing. Here's another thing. You sought to use the means. It feels like it didn't work. Well, there was also a case where Jesus spit in a man's eyes and the first time he saw men like trees walking. So did you use the means? Can you really say nothing whatsoever happened? Is it possible that you got something in the use of God's means? Then come back again. This man, he encourages us, doesn't he? To use the means that Christ ties us to. He goes, he washes, he receives sight. Think of that. He's going down into the pool. He's washing away the mud smeared upon his eyes. He's coming up from the pool and he can see. He's looking around. And Jesus isn't there, because Jesus hasn't come just to be adored as a mere miracle worker, but He sees. Glory to God. So, we've spoken about the working of the miracle. Secondly, the fame of the miracle. There's two questions that pop up in verses 8-12. The first question is, who? Who was it that was healed? God's providence ordered these things so that lots of people knew this particular blind beggar. Verse eight, the neighbors, isn't this him? The one that sat and begged, you know, they walked by the spot perhaps, they came to recognize his face. Isn't this the same guy? So God, maybe if God has converted you, he's done so for his own glory, You're good, but when God saves one person, there's also a network of people who recognize you. And if he's done anything for you, he's also done that with an eye towards this network of people who recognize you. So try to buy up those opportunities. There's a radical change in conversion. Physical miracle represents something spiritual. So this man went from no ability to see to being able to see. And there are people who are asking, can this possibly be him? Isn't this him? I think it's him. In verse nine, some are saying, it's him. And then others are saying, he's like him. It can't possibly be. So in conversion, the same person who was born is then born again and radically changed. And you can recognize, you know, that's John Smith. That's the same guy. Then in another way of looking at it, conversion is such a change that some people will say, can that really be the same guy? So glory to God. for the greatness of the change that he works in conversion. And then this man, he confesses himself, but he said, I am he. And we ought to, if we've experienced converting grace, we should press every opportunity that we have. not that we glory in a past life of sin, but every chance we get to say, I'm the same guy who used to be totally stone blind spiritually, and now by the mercy of God, I can see. I. If we're born again, we love to speak with the word I. There's places in the Psalms where we do that. I. I was in it, the Lord has set me in a large place, and so forth. It's delightful and refreshing to the soul. I have been changed. There's the question of who, and there's also the question of how. Verse 10, how were thine eyes opened? Notice what the man does here. So one is that he confesses the name of Jesus, A man that is called Jesus made clay. So this man had, as we see when we keep reading the chapter, he had a limited amount of knowledge, but he knew the name Jesus. And that has a meaning. He shall save his people from their sins. Simple, but wonderful. He confessed the name of Jesus. And in fact, if we don't know Jesus as the Savior from sin, then we don't know the very first thing about Him. But if we know that, and we trust Him as such, and confess Him as such, then we have a saving knowledge of Him. He confessed the name of Jesus. He confessed the works of Jesus. Here's what he did, made clay, anointed my eyes, so forth. Then the Pharisees again are going to ask him, how did it happen? And then the third time he's going to be asked, and then he says, I already told you, et cetera. But the point is, he confessed again and again and again, here's what Jesus did for me. And so we should find it our delight to confess, here's what Christ has done for me. But he also confessed his ignorance, or at least in part his ignorance in verse 12. Where is he? He said, I know not. And this would be a good position for a new convert. I'm not pretending that I'm saying to you at this moment, I'm sure he was converted here in this verse rather than later when Jesus came and found him. That might deserve some thought to be given to it. But my point is this. In a way, he's like a new convert who's suddenly able to see, but good for him, where he's ignorant, he doesn't Pretend. He doesn't make something up or speculate. He says he doesn't know. And there was a purpose behind Christ's withdrawing at that time, as we will see. Well, a wonderful miracle of Christ. Praise God for everlasting, for this work of Christ. and where Christ has worked in a life, he is deserving of being recognized and having the fame of his work pondered and spread. Let's draw to a conclusion there, and let's stand for prayer. Would you stand with me? O Lord, our God, we do praise thee for little bit of a sight of this glorious Savior, please grant that we should be transformed in this sight of Him. Open our eyes that we might see Him, and grant that the knowledge of Christ should not be ineffectual or unfruitful, for we ask in Jesus