John chapter 9. Let's just start reading at verse 1 to catch up to where we are. John 9, 1. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground. made clay of the spittle and applied the clay to his eyes and said to him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated scent. So he went away and washed and came back seeing. Therefore, the neighbors and those who previously saw him as a beggar were saying, is not this the one who used to sit and beg? Others were saying, this is he. Still others were saying, no, but he is like him. He kept saying, I am the one. So they were saying to him, how then were your eyes open? He answered, The man who is called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went away and washed, and I received my sight. They said to him, where is he? He said, I do not know. Stop there. I've entitled this The Blind See and the Seeing are Blind. I just thought driving up here today, I thought another good title would be The Blind Eye Doctors. We'll get there in a second. You recall this, and this is just after the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus is still near the temple. We know that because he sends this guy to the Pool of Siloam, which is nearby. So he's near in the temple after the feast. Remember, during that Feast of Tabernacles, many big things happen. John wants us to see this. That's where he proclaims himself, if any man thirst, come to me and drink. I'm the water of life. And in saying that, he's calling up that huge Old Testament theme of the last days when the Messiah comes, God's blessing will be poured out like water, the spirit will be poured out. He claims that's me. It's also during that same festival, remember that big light ceremony, Jesus proclaimed publicly, I'm the light of the world. That again brings up a large Old Testament prophetic theme. In the latter days, the Messiah comes, God will open up the eyes of the blind, God will bring light, God will be the light. He said, my servant, and Isaiah, my servant will be a light to the nations. Or as Jesus said, I'm the light of the world. He claimed that all that Old Testament prophecy is me, and John wants us to see that, because now we're gonna see it again. Now what he does here in chapter nine is he finds this one man blind from birth and heals him. Now remember back in chapter five, he walked into the pool of Bethesda and we're told there were lame people laying all around her, probably dozens of cripples. He singles out one cripple, heals him, and then takes off. Now we saw that was a divine appointment. He did that so that what happens next happened. The Pharisees get angry, there's this big conversation. And Jesus gets to talk about who he is. That's what's going to happen here again as well. I'm sure in the temple, there were probably many other blind. We're told this guy was here begging every day. The beggars would go to the temple, because that's where all the people were. There probably were lots of people there who could have been healed that day. There probably were other blind men. He just healed this one, sends him off to the pool of Siloam, and goes away. And also note, it's on the Sabbath. That'll tell you again where this is going. But this is no accident. Jesus said, remember the disciples asked him, why is this guy blind? Did he sin that his parents? Remember Jesus said no. This is also that quoting that the works of God might be seen in him. In other words, this blind man is blind so he could be here at this day in this moment so I could heal him. So what's about to happen is going to happen. Can you say that this is one of Jesus' sheep? Yeah, yep. Just like the woman, remember, the Samaritan woman. She wasn't there that well by accident. Jesus wasn't there either. It was an appointment. He was supposed to be there to meet her, to do what he did. This guy was supposed to be here. We'll see that this morning. I hope I can get this clear to you. John is showing us something. John wants us to see this. This is no accident. This is God's appointment. This blind person has a special purpose in God's sovereignty. to elevate Jesus and to do several other things as well. Now, let's pick up at verse eight again. We just saw this, where we left off last week. Therefore the neighbors and those who had previously saw him as a beggar were saying, is this not the one who used to sit and beg? The neighbors investigated. You can imagine this. Imagine, you knew someone St. Pottsville here was blind. There's that guy that goes out here and plays the flute, man, that guy, he's a Christian. Imagine one day you saw him walking down the street singing. Aren't you that guy who used to play the flute? Yeah. Wouldn't you be amazed at that? This guy, they would see him every day. Every day, sitting there begging. People knew him. I'm sure probably the same people would throw him a few money or some pieces of bread every day. He was a common sight. In fact, it says, isn't this the guy who used to sit and beg? Imagine now you see him strolling down the street, seeing, what would you think? What happened to you? Remember, back then, they had no eye surgeons. They had no hospitals. This never happened. There is not a single instance of a blind man being healed in the Old Testament. This just doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. Now, Jesus has been healing quite a bit. We don't know what this guy knows. But all of a sudden, he sees. And people are saying they don't believe it's him. As I said last time, it may be. We don't know for sure. But maybe this guy either had no eyes or his eyes were horribly deformed. Which may be why Jesus mixed the spittle with the mud, like God made man out of clay or something. He was actually using the clay we're made from to reform this guy's eyes. I don't know. But either way, did you ever see a blind person? I'm sure you have. They have a special look to them, because their eyes don't see. Sometimes their eyes are a little cross-eyed or a little weird looking. And all of a sudden now, this guy has clear, 20-20 eyes. He looks you right in the face and shakes. He can see. You'd be amazed at that. They don't really believe it's him, some of them. But he says, that's me. It was me. I'm the one. And they asked him, who did this? And now we're going to see here, this guy's understanding of Jesus grows progressively through this section here. Here he says, the man who is called Jesus. Which basically means, I don't know this guy, but I know he's Jesus. The one that they call Jesus. That means he's heard about him. How would you not? He's heard about what Jesus does and says that he's this guy. And the man they call Jesus. whom he's never seen yet. Remember, Jesus tells this guy to go wash in the pool, then Jesus disappears. He'll find him later. He knew of Jesus, but he knew little about him. He's never saw him. Now notice verse 13. Never seen him. They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. Now, it was the Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Now, I don't think this is malicious. They didn't bring into the Pharisees that are turning them in. We caught this guy. They didn't do that. Remember, the Pharisees were thought to be the religious elites. They're the expert authorities on Moses. Many of the Pharisees were also scribes. A whole lot of the scribes were Pharisees. And these are the leaders, the teachers, the spiritual understanding people. These are the ones you go to when you have spiritual questions. These are the ones that were supposed to teach Israel God's law. Some amazing miracle just happened. You'd want the Pharisees to know about this. They should know. So they take this guy to the Pharisees to show him to the Pharisee. But John tells us, verse 14, this happened on the Sabbath. So probably it's the next day that they're bringing him into the Pharisees, probably. But now, let's pick up verse 15. And what's going to happen here, if you note, from verse 15 all the way down to verse 34, John's going to record this whole long thing with the Pharisees. And again, we saw this now almost four times. John records in great detail the Pharisees' arguments against Jesus. Here he's going to do it again, and he wants us to see this for a specific purpose. We'll get to it in a minute. John 9, verse 15. Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. He said to them, he applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see. Therefore, some of the Pharisees were saying, this man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath, meaning Jesus. But others were saying, how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs? And there was division among them. So they said to the blind man again, what do you say about him, since he opened your eyes? And he said, he's a prophet. The Pharisees investigate this guy. They check him out. Now think about this. Pharisees are supposed to be the religious leaders. They're the pastors, even more than that. They're the authorities. They're the ones who supposedly know the Bible best. They're the ones who regulate Israel's spiritual law. In their day, there was no such thing as separation of church and state. It was one. It was religious state. And the Pharisees were supposed to be the ones who knew the scriptures. When you bring a man who was blind from birth healed into their presence, what do you think, what should they have done? They should have rejoiced. They should have celebrated. Praising for God should have broken out. They should have called in his parents. They should have had a festival, started a celebration. God has done something wonderful, shouldn't they? Wouldn't you do that? Something wonderful just happened. But as soon as they know that Jesus is involved, it's a whole different story here. They don't, now everything changes. Keep your finger here. Jesus, this would get Jesus very angry. Turn back to Mark 3. Mark 3. Pharisees were good at this. Mark 3, verse 1. Mark 3, 1. So he entered again into the synagogue. As soon as you read that, you know trouble's usually coming. And a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching him to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath so they might accuse him. This is a setup. He said to the man with the withered hand, get up and come forward. And he said to them, to the Pharisees now, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill? An easy question, a biblical question, and they stay silent. They won't answer him. They know the answer to that question, but they won't answer him. And looking, notice this, looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to them, stretch out your hand. He stretched it out and his hand was restored. Back in Genni, they're the Pharisees. They know full well what the law says. Jesus asked them a question from the law. Is it right to do good, to heal a man, to help? Remember, you can pull a donkey out of a ditch. Is it right? The answer to that is yes, but they wouldn't answer him. It says Jesus was angry and grieved. They cared more about their petty laws than about helping people. Well, here in John 9, we see it again. They're not rejoicing over this, man. They should be singing and shouting. They should call a festival. We're going to celebrate. These verses aren't on your sheet, but they should have recognized. Remember, I mentioned those themes, the light of the world, the water of life. Here's another one. Here's three verses. You can write these down. Isaiah 29, 18. They should have known this. Isaiah says, when my servant, my servant comes, In that day, the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom, the darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. Isaiah 35, 5, talking about that time of Messiah. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Isaiah 42, 7, mentioning what his servant will do. Jesus quotes this in the Synagogue at Capernaum. to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison of those who sit in darkness. There are many verses that say that when Messiah comes, he's going to open the eyes of the blind. The Pharisees should have recognized right away, this guy says no one's ever done anything like this before. No one else can do this. Who's ever heard of someone being blind from birth being healed instantly? Who's ever heard of that? But they should have seen this. They should have recognized this. This should really have opened, wait a minute, didn't our scriptures tell us? Because this is an astounding miracle. We take it for granted because we know all the things Jesus did. In their day, this was unheard of. Just unheard of. So a division breaks out, a division among them. Of course, the first group wins out today. Notice they say there again, verse 16. Some of the Pharisees were saying, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. We've been here before. First of all, nothing Jesus did to this guy violates any of Moses' Sabbath laws, nothing, nothing at all. God gave Moses, there's like, 60 some major laws of the Sabbath, things you can and cannot do in the Sabbath. Nothing Jesus did here violates the law of Moses, nothing. But as you know, over the centuries, these Jewish leaders had added many of their own restrictions. They added a law around the law. In fact, there were 39 types of work that the Pharisee says you cannot do in the Sabbath, dumb stuff. They had laws like you're allowed to pick up your child. But if that child's holding a rock or a toy, you can't pick him up, because that's work. Dumb stuff like that. These were laws. They would punish you for it. They had 39 kinds of work you cannot do on a Sabbath, et cetera. So you could light a candle, but you can't pick it up. That kind of thing. Dumb stuff. Well, for example, they were not allowed to heal except necessary to save lives. You found a guy, for example, who fell off a cliff, and he's bleeding. You could go down there and stop his bleeding, but you couldn't carry him out of there. That's work. You could do just enough to make sure he lives until the next day. Then you can give him all the medical. You could not set a bomb. Jesus did something. Jesus opened this guy's eyes. They would consider that to be illegal. This might be a stretch, but they had a law. You could not knead dough on the Sabbath. Well, Jesus spit in the mud and made mud. Maybe that, too. I don't know. You could not anoint anything. The priest could. What went on in the temple could happen. But you could not, say, anoint someone or rub oil on someone, or if someone had a wound or was tired for the day, you couldn't. They would rub their shoulders with oil, that kind of thing. You couldn't do that. And you couldn't have any ceremonial washings if you weren't a priest. Maybe that's what they were thinking. But they're convinced because he did this on the Sabbath, he broke the Sabbath. He must be a sinner, he can't be funny. I don't care how stupendous this miracle is, he can't be a good man. He has to be a sinner. This has to be an evil man because he broke the Sabbath, never mind. That means they write him off automatically. Now remember, they had this conclusion before they even knew this. This is kind of like these January 6 hearings. The conclusion's already determined, we hate this guy. I don't care how wonderful this miracle is, because it's Jesus, we hate it, and it's wrong, and we hate him, period. Now there's another group, another, some verses. Jesus said in Matthew 23 about these Pharisees. He says, they tie up heavy burdens that are hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They made obeying God a burden with all their laws and all their restrictions. I imagine the average Jew hated the Sabbath. You had to watch what you did. If you did just the wrong thing on a Sabbath and one of these leaders saw you, man, you were in trouble. They would beat you. They could arrest you. You were a blasphemer. Terrible. I'm sure a lot of these people ended up hating the Sabbath. Remember Jesus said a Sabbath was made for man, not man but a Sabbath. They would tie these burdens. You can't do this, you can't do this, you can't do this. God's law, it never meant to be like that. Matthew 15, 9, Jesus said, quoting the Old Testament, in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. They make up these laws that God never said, and insist you must do it. Remember they complained about Jesus' disciples. Why don't they wash their hands before the meal, during the meal, after the meal? They had all these washings you had to do. And over the centuries, they became law. Why do they break the command? They don't break anything. Jesus said, your commandments are commandments of men. But their hardcore position was that no matter what he did or said, because he broke our Sabbath law, he cannot be of God. He's a sinner, he's an evil man. Now there's another more reasonable group, probably a much smaller group, and we don't hear from them again. Remember Nicodemus when he came to Jesus, he was a Pharisee. Remember what he said to his sheep, John 3, 2? We know that you are a teacher come from God. Why? For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. That's obvious. To anyone whose eyes are even a little bit open, you'd have to conclude no one can do what he does unless God is with him. No one. In fact, Jesus himself taught this. Let's do a quick verse. Look at chapter 10, verse 38. There's many others, but 10, verse 38. Go back to 37. If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and understand the Father is in me, and I in the Father. Look at chapter 14, verse 11. John 1411. Believe me that I am in the Father, the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. Even if you don't like what I'm teaching you, you don't like my teaching. Look at the things I'm doing. It's obvious who I am. Jesus says that many times, and it is. If you follow him around, healing the blind, raising the dead, healing lepers and all kinds of sicknesses, demons screaming out, you're the son of God. How could they not see who this is? The works themselves tell you who he is. And this second minor group says, now wait a minute now. This guy opened the eyes of a man born blind. How could you do that if God wasn't with you? They're right. They're right. But we don't hear from them again. I guess the larger group says, no, this guy's a sinner. We hate him. He can't be any good. It's obvious. The Pharisees are seeing the obvious and missing it. Because they're blind. As I said, they're the blind eye doctors. So look at verse 17, what they do. The question Carla just asked, second verse, chapter 9. Prepare yourself. So they said to the blind man, again, what do you say about him since he opened your eyes? And he said, he's a prophet. They reject him. We say he's a sinner. We say because he broke the Sabbath laws, our Sabbath laws, he can't be from God. He's an evil man. All right, what do you say about him? And of course he says he's a prophet. Now, earlier we saw, he basically said, I don't know anything about it. He asked him, who did this? That man called Jesus. Here, this guy has some common sense. He's starting to realize what's going on here. But he says, he's thinking about what the Pharisees have just said. No one can do this unless God were with him. He tried to think, that's right. That can't happen unless God, how could this possibly be? So he says, he's a prophet. He's a prophet. That's not high enough praise, but it's growing. This guy's admiration for Christ is growing. These Pharisees are driving him that way. We'll see that in a minute. But their opinion is, well, this could not have happened then. You say you think he's a prophet. We know he isn't. You're lying. This is a fake. This is a fake miracle. Because notice it says there, verse 18, then the Jews did not believe it of him that he'd been blind and received his sight. until they called the parents. They don't believe it. We think you're lying. This is, this is a hoax. You weren't blind. So they order his parents to come in. Pharisees would keep the synagogues and all kinds of records who your parents were, your grandparents, their parents, their parents. They were, they've gotten sent for his parents. So now they bring in his parents. That's a good verse 18. The Jews did not believe it of him that he'd been blind and had received sight until they called the parents of the very one who received his sight and questioned them, saying, is this your son who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see? His parents answered them and said, we know that this is our son, that he was born blind, but how he now sees, we do not know. Or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is of age. He'll speak for himself. I'll stop and think a minute. Probably after Jesus healed this guy on the Sabbath, he probably went back trying to find Jesus, couldn't find him. Where do you think he went next? Home, wouldn't you? And what do you think his parents thought when he walked in the door? Mom, dad, he's seeing them for the first time. What do you think they thought? Our son, you can see. Can you imagine the misery and sadness and heartbreak they went through when they had a baby? They realized this baby's blind. and all the misery of going through a life of begging and needing everything done for him. Imagine how hard that is on parents, the burden they bear to have a blind son. And all of a sudden, now he walks through the door of 20-20 vision. Can you imagine the joy parents would have? They would probably cry their eyes out, thank you, God, thank you, thank you, thank you. And they would ask him, how did this happen? That guy called Jesus healed my eyes. So what do you think they think of Jesus now? I'm sure they have a very high opinion of him. He healed our son. They know better than anyone what just happened. They know he was blind. He can see. Imagine him walking around his house. Wow, that's what our chair looks like. That's what he never saw it before. That's what our dog looks like. They didn't keep dogs, but et cetera. He sees. A parent would rejoice with joy unspeakable. And I'm sure Jesus, wherever they understood of Jesus before this, now they have a very high view of Jesus. but knows what they do before these Pharisees. This is sad. You know, neighbors can be mistaken who you are, but your parents won't get it wrong. So they call them their parents. And here's what they say, you know, how he sees who did this to him, we don't know. Now they're lying. They're afraid of these Pharisees and they're lying. That's sad. They're lying. They're scared. Remember, back in those days, most common people would never even talk to a Pharisee. Pharisees didn't hang out with the rabble, with the common people. They just didn't. They were the elites. They had their nice homes. They were in the temple. They had their own circle. They considered the common man to be kind of unclean, unwashed. We don't hang with them. Now, you could come and ask questions. You could come with needs. You could get circumcised and baptized, all that stuff. But most people had very few dealings with a Pharisee. Here they had probably the temple guards went out to their house. The Pharisees want to meet with you. Brought them in. There's their son sitting over there. And now they're being grilled. Is this your son? Well, of course it is. Was he born blind? Sure he was. How'd that happen? Now they're thinking. They probably know what's happening here, too, just by the way things are going. They're scared. They lie out of fear. And notice what it says there. This is sad. Verse 22, his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had, notice the word, already agreed that if anyone confessed him to be the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Now they know. Jesus did this. And I'm sure there are opinions of Jesus. This is a stupendous, amazing work of power, grace, and kindness. God did this. Jesus is of God. You'd have to think that. But before these Pharisees, they're like, we don't know what happened. We don't know who did it. They're lying. but they're scared. It's that, and the Pharisees had threatened people. The Pharisees were bullies. They were intimidating people. And they'd already, there weren't no Johnson's that were, they'd already made it clear. If anybody confesses Christ, Jesus as the Christ, we're going to kick you out of the synagogue. Now, the big kick out of the synagogue was that communication. That meant the synagogues had roles. Here's who we accept. But they also had a role that says, we do not know. And there were names that they're not allowed in this synagogue. Remember when Peter denied Christ? One of the things he said was, I don't know the man. And some think that's this exact language. He's using synagogue language. I wouldn't know such a man. The synagogues had these lists. We don't know so-and-so, so-and-so. In other words, they're not allowed in the synagogue, meaning your life is ruined. No one's gonna talk to you in your community. No one's gonna come to your business. No one's gonna buy your food because you're excommunicated. They threatened that anyone who confesses Jesus is gonna be excommunicated. That's scary. That would ruin your life. So they're scared. Look at some verses here. We've seen this before. Go back to 518. Pharisees did a lot of this. John 5.18, this is where it started, when he healed that man born lame, or lame for 38 years. 5.18, says, for this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, he was calling God his father. Look at 7.11. 7.11. 7.11. So the Jews were seeking him at the feast, and were saying, where is he? By Jews there, it means the Jewish religious leaders. There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning him. Some were saying he's a good man, others were saying no, and a contrary, he leads people astray, those 13. Yet no one was speaking openly of him for fear of the Jews. The word got out. The Jews, the Pharisees, the scribes, they're looking to kill him. And if they catch you talking about Jesus, they might arrest you, too. You better watch your mouth. The word got out. There's things that were verboten. There's things you don't say, at least not publicly. Look in chapter 7, look at verse 48. This is when Nicodemus speaks up to the Pharisees about Jesus. Just give them a fair hearing, 48. Not one of the rulers or the Pharisees have believed in him, has he? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is cursed. The crowd likes them because they're cursed. But the Pharisees, we know better. We don't believe in this Jesus. The Nicodemus, he who came to it before, being one of them, said, our Lord does not judge a man until at first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it? Answered, you're not also from Galilee, are you? In other words, don't you dare talk to us about Jesus. The crowds, they're unwashed, they're sinners, they're ignorant, they're fools. They believe this stuff, but we Pharisees, we know better. We haven't believed in him, we're not going. That's the attitude. And these parents come in there and figure out really quickly what's going on here. This is a trial already set against Jesus. If we say Jesus did it, they're going to get in trouble. They might get thrown out of the synagogue. So they lie. We don't know how this happened. We don't know who did it. That's the last we hear of these parents. It's sad that they do that. It's sad that it has to happen. The picture here is what kind of people these Pharisees are. They're bullies. They're intimidating the people. They're threatening the people. So, verse 24, they call this guy back in again. So the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. And you gotta love this guy. He then answered, whether he's a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. So they said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I told you already, you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to be his disciples, do you? Talk about poking somebody in the eye. They reviled him. You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, literally this fellow, we do not know where he's from. The man answered and said to them, well, here's an amazing thing, that you do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he hears him. Since the beginning of time, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him, you were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us? So they put him out, meaning kicked him out of the synagogue. Yeah, they kicked him out. First of all, they say, verse 24, give glory to God. Now that's not, they're not saying, listen, praise God. That's actually a technical legal term taken from Joshua. I have it in your sheet there. This is a quotation from Joshua. Remember when Achan, when they took out Jericho and God said, take nothing out of there. Well, Achan did. He took some gold or whatever he took back to his house, hid it in his tent. And the very next time Israel went out to battle, he lost badly. But Joshua, then the Lord led Joshua to find that it was Achan. And he said, and the quotes are in his sheet, Joshua 7, 19. Joshua said to Achan, my son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me. That phrase then became a legal phrase. Give glory to God and confess. That's basically what you're saying. Son, give glory to God and confess what really happened. We know you're lying. Jesus did not do this. Confess what really happened. That's what you're saying, confess. So he does, verse 25. You gotta love this guy's honesty. He then answered, whether he's a sinner, I do not know. But one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. That's been the confession of Christians for the last 2,000 years. I can't tell you exactly how he did it, but I can tell you what I've experienced. That's a powerful testimony. I don't know how he saved, there's a song he sang, I don't know how he did it. But I can tell you this, I was blind, now I see. I was an alcoholic, and he saved me from it. I used to be a drug addict. He cleaned my life up. I used to have no hope. I was suicidal. I hated it. I was whatever. I don't know how he did it, but I can tell you what happened to me. I was lost, and now I'm found. I had no hope, and now I'm alive in the Lord. He said, I don't know. Next he'll say, I know he's not a sinner. He said, whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know, but I can tell you this. I was blind, and now I see. Balls in your court, do something with it. That's basically what he's saying. I was blind, and now I see. I love that. Or John Newton, amazing grace, how sweet the sound saved the rest of me. I once was lost, now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. That's the confession. That's how almost every Christian alive would describe his salvation. In fact, the proof, I read those prophetic verses, that when Messiah comes, open the eyes of the blind. The proof of that standing right in front of him. He said, no one's ever heard of this before. Who do you think this guy could be? They should know. No one's ever done this before. But right in front of them is the proof. I don't know how, but I know this. Yesterday I couldn't see. Now I do, and Jesus did it. That's actually a great pattern for when you give a testimony, which we'd like to do more of here. I can't explain everything, but I can tell you this. My life was like this. Then I found Jesus, and now it's this. That's testimony. That's a good testimony. That's a witness for the Lord. And he does that. And I love this guy's attitude. He's waking up. You can see here, first thing he says about Jesus, I don't know who he is. I know of him, but I don't know anything about him. Then he says, he's a prophet. Here, he's telling this guy, listen, I don't know much about him, but I know he healed me. He'll go on then. It's his faith. He's going to grow more here. But then verse 26. So they said to him, what did he do to you? They don't believe the fact that Jesus just healed. What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I told you already, you do not listen. You want to hear it again? And he goes, you do not want to be his disciples, do you? He's a little tired of this. This guy's not stupid. In fact, he has a lot of confidence. He sees what's going on there. He sees what's happening. This former blind man, again and again, they're asking the same question. They don't believe that Jesus just healed him miraculously. What did he do to you? How did this happen? It can't be that Jesus just did this. We won't accept that. He sees what's going on here. This is probably the first time he's ever talked to a Pharisee, probably. This is probably the first time he's ever been put on trial like this. And he's realizing right away who these guys are. He's scoping out, as we say, he gets their number. These guys hate Jesus. These guys are not going to believe even when the proof is right in front of their eyes, which it is. These guys aren't going to believe. He's figuring out what's really happening here, probably when he saw how scared his parents were. that they would come in there, they were probably shaking in their boots, and they lied. They were afraid of the, he's seeing all this, and realizing these Pharisees are a bunch of snakes. Yeah, a bunch of snakes. And he sees all this. Kind of like this generative system, the conclusion's already drawn, guilty. And proof means nothing. But this guy realizes at this point, no matter what I say to you, your minds are made up. So he gives him some sarcasm. He gives him some attitude. I like this. He gives it right back to him. You keep asking me the same question. I told you what happened. Do you want to be his disciples, too? And note that word, too. He's including us. Do you want to become a disciple like I am, too? But it's sarcasm. He's rubbing their noses in it. This is a very brave thing to do, because the Pharisees are vicious. Notice what they said. The Pharisees said, we don't know where this man is from. Turn back to 727. I don't know this is the same Pharisees, but it's the same group. Remember what the Pharisees said back in 727, when they were arguing with Jesus there? 727. However, we know where this man is from, but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where he's from. Here they're saying in chapter nine, we don't know where this man is from. They said earlier, when the Christ comes, no one's gonna know where he's from. We don't know where this guy's from either, but they don't put two and two together. Then those verse 28. And they reviled him. That word's in a continuous tense. They're insulting him. You're an idiot. You're a moron. You're stupid. What do you know? The Pharisees are good at this. They're just casting insults at him, reviling him. They look down on this guy. You're a scum. What do you know? Who do you think you are? They reviled him. And then it says, you are his disciple. We are disciples of Moses. Can you imagine how they said that? You are his disciple. We are disciples of Moses. We are of Moses. They're mocking this guy. They're insulting this guy. They say it probably with venve, you're his disciple. We are disciples of Moses. And they sold themselves that way. We sit in Moses's seat. We're protectors of Moses's law. We're the ones, we're the defenders of God's word. We're the righteous. We have the right hats. We are the ones who protect God's word. You are this fellow's disciples. It's a sad thing. You are, and those who said, we don't know this fellow, is literally what the Greek said. This guy, we don't know, we don't, this guy, this guy's a sinner. We don't know anything about him. It's contempt. But Jesus already told him, and you have to say, go back to John 5. Jesus told them publicly several times, you are not the defenders of Moses. John 5.39, remember Jesus said, Pharisees are arguing with him. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me and you're unwilling to come to me that you may have life. I don't receive glory from men, but I know you. You do not have the love of God in yourselves. And notice verse 45. Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. One who accuses you is Moses, in whom you've set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me. For he wrote about me, but if you don't believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Jesus gave it to him full throw. You are not defending Moses. You are not disciples of Moses. Moses wrote about me. If you really knew and loved Moses, you would love me. And come Judgment Day, it's not going to be my words that condemn you, it's going to be Moses' words. Because you didn't believe Moses when you read it. But here we are, we are disciples of Moses. We are the righteous in the land. Jesus said in Matthew 23, verse 2, large section in Matthew 23 is Jesus just giving it to these Pharisees. That's when he calls them snakes and vipers and whitewashed graves. Here he says, the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. That means they have authority. So do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do, for they preach and do not practice. They're hypocrites. He called them blind fools, blind guys. They sit in Moses's seat. They have the authority, so listen to them. But don't imitate them because they're wicked men. They're vile men. And they're blind. Now notice verse 30, this guy now at the end speaks up for Jesus. Now he's gonna defend, he's figuring this out. The lights are coming on. The man who was physically blind, now spiritually his blindness is going away and he's starting to figure out who Jesus is, verse 30. Remember the group earlier said, no one can do these things unless God is with them. He's thinking now, that's gotta be true. I was blind, who else could do that but God? And so here's his final statement here in verse 30. Go back to verse 29. We know, this is the Pharisees, we know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he's from. The man answered and said to them, well, here's an amazing thing. I can imagine him putting his hands like this. Well, here's an amazing thing. Here's an amazing thing. You don't know where he's from, yet he opened my eyes. You guys are the authorities. You're the big bosses around here. This guy walked up to me and healed someone blind from birth, and you have no idea who he even is. What kind of leaders are you is what he's saying there. You're not very much on top of things here, are you? But it goes on, it gets better. You gotta love this guy. Verse 31. We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he hears him. Since the beginning of time, it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. There's no record of that in the Old Testament. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. He's now concluded, I don't know a whole lot about Jesus, but I know God is with him. I know he's from God. This could not have happened unless he was sent here from God. I know that. And he's telling me, he's giving it to me. He's not afraid of these guys. I believe at this moment, his soul is coming alive. The Holy Spirit's enlightening him. In fact, the very next thing that happens is he's going to see Jesus. But here he defends Jesus. Notice he says there, it's an amazing thing. You don't know where this guy's even from, yet he opened my eyes. God doesn't hear sinners. It's never been heard of. Again, we're so used to hearing all these amazing miracles by the thousands. It doesn't shock us. Imagine this guy. I was blind all my life, and I see now simply by the touch of Jesus. That's astounding. No one's ever heard of such a thing. And he says, if he were not from God, he could not do anything like this. That's obvious. I gave you the verses already. Jesus said that himself. If you don't believe the words I say, believe the miracles I say. No one can walk on water but God. No one can calm a storm but God. No one can raise the dead but God. No one can heal blindness and leprosy and deafness and all these diseases. No one can do that but God. The demons themselves screamed out, you're the son of God. They know who he was. It's obvious. And he just says, he says, we know, everybody knows, he says, no one could do this unless God were with us. Satan doesn't do things like this. Oh, look what the Pharisees said. And it seems the more these vicious Pharisees grill him, the more they're driving him towards faith in Christ. His eyes are coming more and more open. Here he's openly confessing, I know that this Jesus is from God because of what he's done to me. But again, note what the Pharisees do. This is the point of this section, 34. They answered him, you were born entirely in sins and you're teaching us, so they put him out. Here's that prideful, self-righteous arrogance. You're a sinner. You were born in sin. You live in sin. You dare try to tell us? Who do you think you are? Now, get that attitude. These are the religious elites. These are the ones who are leading Israel. These are the ones who are the spiritually, quote, enlightened ones. And they hate this guy. They have this religious pride. We are of Moses. You're nothing but a rotten sinner, and you're going to tell us? They look down on this guy. They despise this guy. Think of it. They're supposed to be shepherding him. Instead, they're beating him in the ground, they're bullying him, they're intimidating him. These are the religious elite. You hear stories over the years, I've heard of the pastors in churches where they just browbeat their people or are miserable and cruel to people. There's rare examples of that happening. Someone mentioned Catholicism is big on that, especially back in the past. These Pharisees hate this guy. Who do you think you are to lecture us? and they put him out, meaning they threw him out of the synagogue. They put the word out to the synagogue leader, put this guy on the we do not know list, he's excommunicated, he's banned. All right, just stop there. What's going on here? Remember, John told us in John 20, the last two verses, there's many more things Jesus said and did, but I haven't got space to tell you, but these were written so that. John has to cherry pick what he writes. There's only so much space. Here, John took up almost a whole chapter to tell you about this hearing with the Pharisees. By the way, how do you think John knew all this? Well, certainly the Holy Spirit could have revealed it to him, but more likely, what happened? John wasn't here. None of Jesus' disciples are here. But this man's here, this man probably became a disciple and told him. That's probably how John knows this. He come out of there following Jesus. Did you believe what they said to me in there? That's probably where John got this. But get the big picture of what's happening here. John says, I've got limited space, but there's certain things I think you have to know. Now John is the last gospel written, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are written at least 20 years before John probably. He would have known of their gospels. He's writing things those gospels don't have. What's he doing here? First of all, remember this. From chapter 519 all the way to the end of chapter six, that's like a whole chapter and a half, John goes into great detail to record the opposition to Jesus from the Pharisees, from the people, and that results in Jesus saying what? I am the bread of life. One of those I am sayings. That whole long controversy that started, John records the whole thing. to get us to where Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Also, we saw in almost all of chapter 7, all 37 verses in chapter 7, John goes into great detail to show us. It almost gets tedious, this argument. The Pharisees just keep arguing and arguing and arguing his opposition. And that results in Jesus claiming, if any man is thirsty, come to me and drink. It leads to that great statement of Christ. In the midst of all that long controversy, In chapter 8, the entire 59 verses, John goes into great detail to show the Pharisees' opposition. Remember, he saw all this. They argue, and they argue, and they argue. And that leads to Jesus standing and saying, I am the light of the world. See what's happening here? These long controversies of the Pharisees leading to Jesus proclaiming who he is, these great I am sayings. Well, here's another one. What's going on here? Why does John give us so much detail about these stupid Pharisees? Well, consider again how cruel they are. They're self-righteous. They're so proud of themselves. They're unloving, unkind, and these are the Jewish religious leaders. They're supposed to be leading, nurturing, and feeding these people. Instead, they're bullying them. They're cruel to them. They're oppressing them. They hate them. This is all going somewhere. The people they were supposed to serve are intimidated. Keep this guy's parents in mind. They're scared. They're lying. They're scared. They know if we say the wrong thing, oh boy, they're going to punish us. What kind of religious leader is that? They're intimidated. Well, the Old Testament speaks a whole lot about this. And I'm going to show you. This is another one of those great Old Testament themes that leads to who Christ is. It was prophesied in the Old Testament. Again, here the prophets are talking about the leaders of Israel, the kings, the priests, the prophets, the advisors, all the things that were going on. Just look at some of these verses here I gave you from Jeremiah. For the shepherds, by shepherds he means the leaders of Israel, the spiritual leaders, the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord. Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep. Get that, shepherds are supposed to gather and protect the sheep. They destroy the sheep and scatter them. declares the Lord, you've scattered my flock, you've driven them away, you have not attended to them. My people have been lost sheep, their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away in the mountains, from mountain to hill they have gone. In other words, the sheep, remember Jesus says, remember he said they look like sheep without a shepherd? He hid his heart, was broken over that? That's what this is talking about. They've forgotten their fold. Ezekiel 34, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Ah, shepherds of Israel, who've been feeding yourselves. Should not shepherds feed the sheep? Get this, you eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. Imagine going to a sheep fold, and there's a shepherd, clothed in wool, eating mutton. He's feeding off the sheep. He should be feeding the sheep. Instead, he's getting rich from the sheep. He's clothing himself with wool. He's eating sheep. That's awful. And God says, this is who you are. You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with wool. You slaughter the fat one. You do not feed the sheep. The weak, you have not strengthened. The sick, you have not healed. The injured, you have not bound up. The strayed, you have not brought back. The lost, you have not sought. Notice this phrase. With force and harshness, you have ruled them. My shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves that have not fed my sheep." God here, through the prophets, is disgusted with these shepherds of Israel. You're supposed to be leading and tenderly caring for my sheep, feeding them, protecting them, guiding them. Instead, you're getting fat off of them. You're harsh to them. They're lost. You don't help them at all. And God is angry. angry about that. That's a large theme in the Old Testament, these shepherds of Israel who do not care for their sheep. But then there's also another theme next on your sheet. I want to give you two verses. It was prophesied. This is one of those big themes in the Old Testament. In contrast to these shepherds of Israel who were cruel and harsh and miserable, God promised them in Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40 is all about that servant of the Lord, my servant who will prosper in my hand. It says, he will tend to his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with the young. You ever see those pictures of Christ holding a little lamb? That's the picture here. This shepherd, God says, my servant's going to love my sheep. He's going to care for the young ones. He's going to be kind. He's going to gather them together. Instead of scattering them, he's going to feed them. Notice, he's going to gently lead those. My shepherd, God says, my servant who's coming will be loving, he'll be gentle, he'll be kind, he will love the sheep, and the sheep will love him. Ezekiel 37, I've only given you two verses, I could give you quite a few here. My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. My servant David, my shepherd, when he comes, will gather my people together, and they will all follow him and obey the Lord." Now all of this, what I'm trying to tell you, what John is doing here, all of this in chapter 9, this awful picture of these harsh, miserable shepherds of Israel Pharisees, is to set up what happens down in chapter 10. Chapter 10, of course, follows chapter 9. All of this, this blind man was there at just that right time so Jesus could heal him. So this whole controversy could erupt. So you could see, again, a glowing, vivid picture of who these Pharisees are so that Jesus could stand up in chapter 10 and say this. Look at chapter 10, verse 7. Jesus said to them again, truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he'll be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Look at verse 11. I am the good shepherd, as opposed to these awful wicked shepherds you saw in chapter nine. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his hide for the sheep. Look at verse 14. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Even as a father knows me and I know the father, I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are now this fold. I must bring them also. They will hear my voice. They'll become one flock with one shepherd." Get the picture there. It's beautiful. Look at verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one's able to snatch them out of his hand." You get the picture here? This is all meant that John's painting this contrast. Jesus is the fulfillment of all those Old Testament prophecies of that good shepherd. Israel has a long history of evil shepherds, of worthless shepherds, of bad shepherds. And this is another picture of that, which was set up by this man being healed, so that Jesus could say, in fact, you should take the chapter division out. It is one continuous thing here. Jesus meets this guy. The guy gets saved. He confronts the Pharisees for their blindness. And he goes on to say, I'm the good shepherd. This is all meant to elevate, to get to the point where, as you have had all these wicked, self-centered, bullying, evil Self-righteous shepherds. But finally, the good shepherd has come. I'm the good shepherd. And chapter 10, as I've said several times now, is one of the most blessed chapters in scripture, where Jesus just displays himself. I am the good shepherd. I love my sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. I know them. They know me. They follow me. I care for them. I gather them. I won't lose them. I give them eternal life. My father loves them. What a picture. Imagine how this healed blind man's feeling for the Pharisees. Rejected, dejected, insulted. They hate him. They kicked him out. They want nothing to do with him. Jesus finds him and says, I'm the son of man. The guy falls to his knees and worships him. Jesus is a good shepherd. And we're going to see that now, again, in Chapter 10, what this is all about. John masterfully sets this up. John wants us to know this. This is all set up. Jesus healed that blind man at just that moment to start this controversy, which leads to him, this next I am saying, this is the sixth discord, I am the good shepherd. Cool stuff, isn't it? This is all men, as Jesus said, that seeing Jesus as son of God and believing in his name, you might have life. This is all meant to display Jesus for who he is in contrast to what Israel had before him. Let's close. Oh, our Father, how we thank you for your goodness in sending us a shepherd. Lord, we were lost. Lord, we were lost sheep. We were roaming on the mountains. We were easy prey for Satan. And Lord, the world's shepherds are vicious, are cruel, are evil. Lord, even the spiritual leaders today, Lord, most of them are blind. Lord, we thank you that you've sent to us the good shepherd, the true shepherd, the lover of our souls, the one who truly care for his flock. Lord, no one's ever cared for us like Jesus. And Lord, we thank you that in Christ, though we were once blind, oh, now we see. And how good is that sight, Lord? Thank you, Lord, for opening our eyes. Lord, help us to understand these things and to see the contrast John is painting for us here, and how good and kind and wonderful our Savior is. Oh, Lord, give us a heart to follow Him, to elevate Him, to love Him. Lord, He truly is the lover of our soul. Help us, Lord, to love Him in return, to be grateful and be thankful for the shepherd we have. Lord, we know sheep are stupid, sheep are helpless, and Lord, we are. For though we have a great and mighty shepherd who holds us in his hand, who being held in his father's hand, Lord, he's given us eternal life. And oh, how good it is to have the good shepherd, Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Help us to relax and to love these truths. And again, Lord, help us to believe these things and to experience these truths in our lives. May it all be for his glory and his elevation, we ask in Jesus' name.