Open Identification With Christ

Transcript

GR 370
9/7/1980
Open Identification With Christ
John 9:8-23
Gil Rugh

John chapter 9 in your Bibles. John’s Gospel, the 9th chapter. We began our consideration of this chapter in our last study together. It deals with the healing of the blind man. It is a unique miracle in Scripture in that Jesus is the only one ever recorded in Old Testament and New Testament alike as ever having opened the eyes of the blind. And this particular miracle of healing is recorded of Christ more often than any other miracle of healing. It follows immediately on John chapter 8 where Jesus declared His deity—to be the great I AM of the Old Testament, and now He demonstrates that deity by the work that He does. We noted the passages in the Old Testament which focus attention on the fact that it is God who gives sight to the blind. And here Jesus demonstrates that He is the God that He claimed to be, because He is the One who can and does give sight to the blind. Also, the Old Testament makes clear—and we looked at several passages in Isaiah—that when the Messiah comes He will give sight to the blind. It will be a characteristic of the millennial earth, the earth when Jesus Christ rules and reigns as King that bodily and physical afflictions will be removed. There will be world-wide healing taking place. The curse will be lifted from the creation, and at His first coming He gave us something of a glimpse of that in demonstrating that He was the Messiah by healing certain afflictions.

This was a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus noted he was blind from birth because it was in the purposes of God to glorify Himself in this person. And in verse 4, He noted there was an urgency about carrying out this ministry. "We MUST work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming, when no man can work." It is important to see the connection. At the end of verse 3, this man was blind in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. But those works must be worked by us. So it is God who is going to do the work but He is going to do it through us, particularly through Christ but He includes the disciples here. WE must be about working the works of Him who sent Me, while we have opportunity. I think that principle still follows through, that it is God's plan to carrying out His work in demonstrating His power and greatness in the lives of people today. That His program in doing that is to use believers. Salvation being a clear example. Salvation is a work of God from beginning to end. Only God can forgive sins. Only God can cleanse and make new. But the way God carries out that work today is through the works of believers. Believers share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit works through that believer in taking the proclamation of Jesus Christ and applying it to a heart and causing that person to come to believe in Jesus Christ.

That word "Must" denotes a divine urgency and a divine necessity. This is something in light of the plan and program of God that we must do. And it's God's plan, it's God's program that we as His children be about His business, doing His works while we have opportunity. And that time will come when we have no further opportunity for serving Him in this life and in this way. There will come a time when we will have no further opportunity to ever present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to unsaved people. In eternity that will not be a function that we carry out.

In verse 5, Jesus noted "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." The key idea or theme in the Gospel of John is Jesus as light. The Gospel opened up on that note. And here He is going to demonstrate Himself as light in giving sight to one who is physically in the darkness. The principle that is in view here is that He is the One who gives spiritual sight and spiritual light. He is the One who reveals and makes known God and the things of God. It is only through Jesus Christ, His person and His work that a person can come to know and understand concerning God.

Now the details of the miracle are rather simple. He spits on the ground, makes mud, puts the mud on the eyes and tells him to go to the Pool of Siloam— pool which means 'Sent'—and wash. Verse 7, "He went away and washed, and came back seeing." An awesome miracle. It’s important to note here. There is no particular medicinal value in mud. There is no particular medicinal value in the Pool of Siloam, and the man who is healed recognizes this as he is repeatedly called upon to give testimony to what happened. He never gives any credit to the mud. He never gives any credit to the pool at Siloam. It is always to the person, Jesus. He is the one who healed me. And these other things are incidental in accomplishing the purposes of God in giving sight to this man. Now as you can imagine, this would cause quite a stir as this man came back seeing from the pool of Siloam. He doesn’t come back to Jesus Christ. Jesus has gotten lost in the crowd in Jerusalem. Perhaps He's gone into hiding temporarily to give the impact of this miracle time to take hold, until this man testifies before the very leaders of Jerusalem. After that occurs, Jesus will seek him out and reveal Himself further to Him.

I think sometimes when we read an account like this we lose something of the excitement of what has characterized the occasion. We read it, and yes the man was born blind and went through it and came back from the pool and got his sight and went and told his friends. And I can just seem him going to his neighbor's house and knocking on the door and saying, Remember me? I'm your neighbor and I was born blind and now I can see, and going to the next neighbor. Eventually everybody knew. I doubt that it was anything like that. Rather, I would expect that there would be an excitement and an enthusiasm. You could probably hear him half way across Jerusalem coming home—think of it! Here's a man who is going to come back to his family, back to his parents, I take it, to his home and announce to them, after having been blind from birth, now he can see. And you note this was an instantaneous, complete miracle. It was not like the sight of a baby. When that baby is born it has to go through a process of adjustment until the eyes become focused and can see. There was no adjustment period. This man comes out of the water and he sees. He has matured eyes as a result of this healing miracle, and he proclaims it evidently to the neighborhood, to his parents, to his neighbors! Look what happened! I can see, can you imagine?

So in verse 8, we pick up with the neighbors. "The neighbors therefore, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, ’Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?’" The neighbors saw him, those who went to work passing by where he always sat, recognized him and said, Isn’t this the beggar? The man who was blind? "Others were saying, ’This is he,’ and still others were saying, ’No, but he is like him.’ He kept saying, 'I am the one.’" You see something of the confusion. It’s almost humorous. People see him, and I imagine there was something of a transformation of his person. He didn’t look like he did as he sat there begging unable to see. How with the enthusiasm that was characterizing him and the ability to see, there was confusion. Some thought maybe it's just a person who looks like him. They say everybody has a double. (Someone came in and sat down in my office about 2 years ago, I guess it was, and says 'I met your double in the city of Lincoln' and he proceeded to tell me about the character of his person and it made me a little concerned that if people were seeing him do what he does and say what he says and thought it was me, I'd be in trouble before too long. But the Lord has overruled that I think.) At any rate, they thought it was him. Some thought, No. And it's almost humorous, here's this blind man in the midst of all this confusion.
"It's me, it's me!" There’s an emphasis on the fact, "He kept saying, 'I am the one,"' in verse 9. They're carrying on an argument and he's trying to convince them. It’s really me! And you can appreciate their skepticism. It's just not the normal thing for people to be born blind and now all of a sudden to come seeing. "Therefore they were saying to him (verse 10), 'How then were your eyes opened?’ He answered, ’The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ’Go to Siloam, and wash'; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.’" This man's understanding of the person of Christ is limited at this point. You'll see it progress through chapter 9. He’ll call Him a prophet, and by the time we get to the end of the chapter, he'll be worshipping Him as God. But now all he can say is 'the man Jesus' and here's what He told me to do, and he gives something of the details. Another thing you'll note as we move through this chapter is he as he is called upon to give his testimony again, his account will become more terse, more of just the basic facts. But now he gives the details, how he made the clay, anointed his eyes, told him to go to the pool of Siloam. I went to pool of Siloam, I washed, I came back and I received my sight. "And they said to him, 'Where is He?' And he said, 'I do not know.'" We'd like to meet this man. We'd like some explanation. Now the next thing we see is verse 13-"They brought him to the Pharisees who was formerly blind." And we don't know why, we don't even know who but we assume it's the neighbors, these individuals. They don't know what to make of it. Perhaps they are familiar enough with the Old Testament to have an inkling that something tremendously supernatural has occurred and maybe this man is connected with the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Messiah. At any rate, we find him being brought to the Pharisees. Not the Sadducees but the Pharisees. Evidently they are official representatives of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin had two small groups in Jerusalem that administered its affairs and rendered its judgments, etc. These Pharisees may be part of the Sanhedrin that make up one of these bodies. The Sadducees would be the dominant group, but they're not here. Maybe these people felt it would be futile to bring this man to the Sadducees since the Sadducees didn't believe in the supernatural anyway. At any rate, he is brought to the Pharisees. And in verse 14, you have a note concerning the timing of this miracle. "Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." Now with the tremendous miracle that has taken place, we would almost read that as an interesting note and go on. But you ought to mark that in your Bible—I underlined it in mine. It becomes the focal point here. It becomes the issue which even supersedes the healing. It becomes the most important consideration for the Pharisees. This miracle occurred on the Sabbath. And what they are going to be concerned about it, it violates their Sabbath tradition. Now it does not violate the Sabbath law of the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is not in violation of Old Testament Scripture, but He is in violation of the traditions that have been set down by the Pharisees as binding upon the Jews. For instance, within these traditions they had recorded it was said that on the Sabbath you could not apply spittle, and yet Jesus had done that. Jesus had made clay, and you weren't allowed to make clay on the Sabbath either. And it really got ridiculous. You weren't allowed to sandals on the Sabbath that were made with nails because the law said you could not bear burdens on the Sabbath, and to carry nails would be a burden. So when you lifted up your foot and you had nails in your sandal, you would be bearing a burden. So you had to be careful to wear your Sabbath sandals which did not have nails. And this goes on, ad infinitum, totally ridiculous. So we have the time note here.

I wonder as I read this, you know Jesus could have done this miracle on Tuesday or Sunday or Thursday, and alleviated something of the conflict. Why did He do it on Saturday!? And I believe He does it on Saturday to purposely draw attention to His person. That He supersedes their traditions, and you cannot have Me and your traditions. You must believe in Me alone as the One who supersedes all traditions. And it really puts the pressure on them to recognize who He is.

So verse 15. "Again therefore the Pharisees also were asking him how he received his sight. And he said to them, 'He applied clay to my eyes, I washed, and I see.’" You see how brief and abbreviated the account has become since verse 11? Very simply. Jesus applied clay to my eyes, I washed the clay off, now I can see. That’s the account. "Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, ’This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.'" You note—for them the tremendous miracle that has occurred is incidental. How can you be talking about the Sabbath when you have a man in front of you who having been blind all his life now can see? But they say, It can't be from God because He did this on the Sabbath, and our traditions say it ought not to be done. You know what they said about healing on the Sabbath? You were allowed to do nothing on the Sabbath which improve a person's health if they were ill. Now you could do what was necessary to sustain their life, to prevent them from dying but you could do nothing to improve their health on the Sabbath. For instance, if you had a toothache on the Sabbath, you were not allowed to draw vinegar between your teeth—that's what they did to alleviate toothache distress. I don't have any idea if it works. Some of you would probably know. I never tried it. But anyway, that was their remedy. You couldn't do it on the Sabbath because you don't die from toothache. Sometimes you think you will but you won't. And therefore that was not a matter of life and death. That was improving your health so you weren't allowed to do that.

Now this man had been blind all his life. He wasn't in danger of dying, so he shouldn't have been healed on the Sabbath according to their foolishness and traditions. "But others were saying, 'How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?' And there was a division among them." Those who said, our traditions say He shouldn't do it and He did it so He can't represent God. The others said, how can a man who is in rebellion against God do such a tremendous miracle? And there is the conflict. Now they would be aware that the Old Testament did make clear that even if someone did do miraculous things—prophesy like Deuteronomy 13 but prophesy falsely—even if he could do great works of power like that, but he taught contrary to the Scriptures, he was to be executed. But this miracle is of such tremendous character, so great in its kind that they are dumbfounded. I think we can't say that he can't be from God, how could He do this? There was a division among them. And you ought to mark that statement in your Bible again. There was a division among them.

We looked when we were back in chapter 7 at verse 43. As a result of the ministry of Christ, we are told "So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him." Repeatedly we find that the result of the person and work of Jesus Christ is division. Now on that occasion we looked at Matthew chapter 10 and Luke chapter 12 where Jesus said that He came not to bring peace but to bring a sword to divide members of a family. Parents and children, and children and parents. And that continues until today, that Jesus Christ is a divisive person. People believe in Him and they are divided from family members who do not believe in Him. A break occurs and we ought to recognize it and remember that as a result of the proclamation of Jesus Christ, divisions will occur. I realize there is much unbiblical division today, particularly among believers. But the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. And when you proclaim it, some believe and some do not believe and that sets up a conflict and an antagonism, and that is clearly seen in John chapter 9. There was a division among them.

So what are we going to do? Who do we agree with? Can this man be from God is He violates our Sabbath traditions? Can this man not be from God and do such a tremendous miracle?

Verse 17. "They said therefore to the blind man again, 'What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?'" Now you can see something of the confusion they are in. For these theological experts who prided themselves in their super-spirituality to turn to this man who all his life had been a beggar and say, 'Give us your opinion' you know they are really in a state of confusion. ‘Your eyes were opened, what do you think about Him?' That's not a valid question. As the leaders of Israel, they were responsible to evaluate in light of the Scriptures. Who is this man who can open the blinded eyes? But this man renders an opinion. "He is a prophet." Now he is progressing as he's had time to think about it. In verse 11, "The man called Jesus did this." But if you want to press me further, I believe this man called Jesus is a prophet. Same thing this woman at the well said as Jesus revealed more of His person— "Sir, I perceive you are a prophet."

Now, He is a prophet—the Jews didn't want to hear that. You know the problem? If He really is a prophet, He can override their religious traditions. They had recorded this as well, that even though these traditions were binding, a prophet was not bound by them. So they don't want to hear He's a prophet because if He is really a prophet, then our argument about our Sabbath tradition has no validity. Because He overrules our Sabbath tradition. So they don't like that answer.

So verse 18, you know how we have to deal with it—"The Jews therefore did not believe it of him, that he had been blind, and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight." We can appreciate this. They ought to investigate this. They ought to find out if this is really true, is this really your son that was born blind?

Verse 20. The parents are put on the witness stand in effect. "His parents answered them, and said, 'We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind." That's two things they can verify—he belongs to us, he's really our son, and he was born blind. But they had asked them another question at the end of verse 19. "Then how does he now see?" Verse 21. "But how he now sees, we do not know." Or, who opened his eyes, we do not know. Now evidently they know something because they know it was a 'who' who opened his eyes, but they're not going to say who it was. "Ask him, he is of age, he shall speak for himself."

They are unwilling to go beyond what they can say by their experience.
This is what happened—he was born to us blind. Now you ask him directly, we’re not getting into it.

The awesome thing is verse 22, the explanation that is given. "His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue," desynagogued! Excommunicated, cut off. For this reason his parents said 'He’s of age, ask him.’ That's awesome. That's mind-boggling. Here are parents who are confronted by a son who had been born to them blind, blind all of his life. Probably now he is about 30 years of age. He is before them with sight. You would think they would be so overwhelmed by it that nothing else would matter. But you know what matters more to them? Their social standing in Israel! And they are afraid if they identify too closely with their son and what happened to him that they will be put out of the synagogue. And it's hard for us to understand the stigma that is attached to that. That's not just a religious connection. That is all your social life as well. That had to do with your job. Where are you going to work? Who is going to have any dealings with you in a Jewish city when you are excommunicated from Judaism? You say, what does all that matter? The greatest miracle they would ever experience has happened right in front of them to their own son, but their social standing in Israel is more important to them than that. You read that and say that's mind-boggling.

Now you see what has happened here. We have Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has done as mighty a miracle as could be done—giving sight to a man born blind. And the Pharisees are kept from Him by their religious traditions. It's appalling. The greatest obstacle in people coming to Jesus Christ today is their religion. They are oh so religious, and you try to communicate to them the truth of the gospel and what do they say? I've got my church. I've got my religion. We don't believe like you believe. As if that had anything to do with anything. The issue is that the Son of God is here. He has spoken, He has acted. And I’m saying I have my church. I have my beliefs. You have your church and I have my beliefs and you have your beliefs and we don't agree.

I was interested—Marilyn was visiting one of the nursing homes, visiting some people who were neighbors of ours until they went into that home. She was reading the Scriptures to this lady, and the head nurse came up and told her not to read the Scripture to that lady because she has her own religion. And, you know, what does that have to do with anything? She was very, very upset about it. She did share with this woman’s (I don’t want to say or you'll know what group I'm talking about) because it was relayed back to us where all the conversation went. We have our religion, we have our belief. Don’t share with them what the Bible says. And it stands in the way of their coming.

And the social position of these parents. We can say, isn’t that terrible. But you know things haven't basically changed. It still boggles my mind that we have young people come to trust in Jesus Christ and you know what the main concern of the parents is? Well, you know, you can't leave the church. Grandma and Grandpa founded this church. Or, you were baptized here or you were confirmed here, or you were blessed here or born here—or whatever happened here. That supersedes everything else! It's all I can think about! I'm amazed. We have young people that come to trust Christ and their lives are transformed. They've been on drugs or sex or whatever, and they become different persons. And the parents become so upset that they might leave their church. That they might not continue the religious tradition. What are people going to think if you go with those fanatics? How is that going to affect us? And you know, it hasn't changed, has it? The issue is still the same. People are kept from Christ by ridiculous things. Here, it's lost almost in the confusion. A tremendous miracle has occurred! What do you think about this man who could open the eyes of the blind? Well, I wouldn’t want to say because I wouldn’t know how because my church would respond if I did! I don’t know what my friends would think if I did. And the fear keeps them. This fear of being put out of the synagogue.

Remember we mentioned a couple of times over in John chapter 12. John chapter 12, verse 42. Some verses we have looked at repeatedly but this issue keeps coming up. ’’Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God." I would rather be identified with these people than with Jesus Christ. If it’s an either/or situation, I choose them. Look in John 16. Verse 2, Jesus reminds them shortly before His betrayal and execution—"They will make you outcasts from the synagogue; but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. And these things they will do, because they have not known the Father, or Me." How can you expect people who don’t know God or the Son to respond to you when you are openly identified with Him? It will be negative!

One other passage—Luke chapter 6, a passage we’ve looked at before as well. As Jesus speaks about the attitude that we can expect as followers of Jesus Christ. Verse 22, "Blessed are you (happy are you) when men hate you and ostracize you, and heap insults upon you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man." Note that. Happy are you, blessed. It’s a word that modern Greeks only use for the dead, as they are the only ones who are truly blessed, they think. But we are those who are happy, who are blessed, when these things happen to us. Why? Verse 23, "Be glad in that day, and leap for joy." Ever be insulted because you presented Jesus Christ? Ever been put down for presenting Jesus Christ and walk out and jump up and down the sidewalks clicking your heals? Oh boy, that was wonderful, that was exciting! Two people spit on me, and one cursed me! That's what it says, isn't it? Verse 22 and 23? "Be glad in that day, leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets." I'm just like Elijah! Just like Elisha! It's amazing! Leap for joy. "Woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full." Let me say something. Much of the Bible, whenever it speaks of the rich, it doesn't condemn them necessarily, but it does give strong warning. I think tied very closely to this is that often you become rich in the world system, there must be a certain amount of compromise and acceptance of the world's system—the very thing Jesus is speaking against here. It doesn't say being rich is wrong because God does bless and He has blessed us with abundance. But we need to be careful to heed the warning, that we have not done that at the expense of our testimony. We have acquired that at the expense of standing out for Jesus Christ.

And note the "Woes." Verse 26, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets." So you and I ought to take that to heart. Now I realize there are some obnoxious Christians, and they are obnoxious wherever they are! And I don't like to be around them either. And we're not saying the goal is to be obnoxious! But the goal is to be clearly identified with Jesus Christ. The result of that will be ostracism because the world is antagonized by Jesus Christ. And how often we are like these we have been reading about. I can look at these parents and say it's pitiful. But I am one who has received spiritual sight. I have had a greater miracle happen to me than this blind man has, and yet even being one who is the recipient of the miracle how often have I been intimidated and embarrassed to speak of Jesus Christ because I feared how people would respond? Oh, if I speak up for Jesus Christ, what will they think of me? They'll think I'm crazy, or they will change their opinion of me. They have appreciated me and like me and respected me, now what will they think of me? And I'm one who has been the recipient of the miracle. And I should be fearful for being ostracized because I am identified with Jesus Christ? Because I am not afraid to proclaim to everyone and anyone what He has done for me? I would think it abnormal if this blind man went home with his lip buttoned and said, I’m not going to say anything but if I'm pressed I might speak up. Not at all! He's not bashful. We'll see him really laying it on before chapter 9 is over! He'll put these
Pharisees up against the wall and pound the nails in, and yet you and I so often
are intimated. Now again, I realize the balance. I must speak the truth in love. But love demands that I speak the truth! And sometimes I fear to speak the truth because it will cause division. And we opt for peace at any cost. I need to recognize who I am and what has happened to me. So as I study John chapter 9, I can appreciate the fortitude of this man and I want to be careful that I don't fall into the pattern of the others laid out here.

You know the thing that amazes me? I read this account. Two thousand years ago, but here in this audience today there will be people who respond like the Pharisees. There are going to be people who respond like the parents. You know, the Pharisees couldn't come because of their religious traditions. They were more important to them than God. The parents couldn't come because of their social standing. It was more important to them than God. And we have people here this morning who hear the account of this tremendous miracle—that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, healed the eyes of the blind. Who else but the Son of God could do such a miracle? And He claims to be the One who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. You don't believe in Him. Why? The evidence—here is proof that He is the person He claimed to be. What keeps you from Jesus Christ? Afraid that it goes contrary to your religious traditions? Are you afraid it will upset your social standing and acceptability? Be sure it will. But let me tell you, the blessings are far greater. It cost this blind man to receive his sight from Jesus Christ. He was accepted as long as he was a blind beggar. No one got after him. No one persecuted him. But when he received his sight from Jesus Christ and acknowledged what Jesus Christ had done for him, he became the object of ridicule, the object of scorn. But I don’t think anyone would say he was better off when he was a blind beggar. And I don’t think you'll find anyone who has come to trust Jesus Christ who will tell you they were better off when they were blind in sin. What great blessing God has given us. Why should you not come and believe in Him? He is the One who has died to secure your salvation. He says He'll give you sight. He'll bring you into a relationship with God, cleanse you from your sin if you would but believe in Him.

And for those of us who have believed in Him, are we clearly identified with Him? Are we willing to stand and proclaim Him whatever the cost? Proclaim Him in love, in kindness, in compassion? But above all things, to proclaim Him whatever the cost. Let's pray together.

Father, what a privilege it is for us to have such a Savior. Lord, to be privileged to proclaim Him. Lord, to represent the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth. Lord, what a tragedy it is that often we are intimated by those who don't know Him. We are fearful of their response. Father, make us more concerned with our relationship with You. Lord, make us more concerned for Your approval than man's approval.

Father, for those who are here this morning sitting in this audience who have yet to trust Jesus Christ. Lord, you know what stands between them and You. The excuses they have, whether it's their traditions, their religion, their position. Father, I pray that the Spirit might break through those barriers, to open the eyes of their understanding. Lord, that they might come to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the One who died and now lives, who has secured eternal redemption and we'll praise you for it in Jesus' name.