Sermon Notes
John 9:39
The Blind will See and the See will Become Blind"
THEME VERSE: Matthew 9 :17
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
SYNOPSIS OF JOHN 1 - 8
John 1a - Prologue (The Word was with God, and was God..took on flesh)
John 1b - John the Baptist baptizing (OW) Jews (NW) to prepare for the WORD
John 2 - Wedding at Cana, water in purification vessels (old wine) was transformed into wine (new wine); and the Temple (institution) cleared out (new wine)
John 3 - A respected Pharisee named Nicodemus, representing tradition/law (old wine) dialogued with Jesus about New Birth (new wine)
John 4 - The antithesis of Nicodemus, a Samaritan woman of questionable character drawing water from Jacobs well (old wine) dialogued with Jesus about Living Water (new wine)
John 5 - A story about a disabled person wanting to be healed as he sat beside a pool
John 5 - Jesus broke the (Sabbath) law when he healed a paralytic on the Sabbath. The religious clergy wanted him arrested.
John 6 - Passover (John 7, six months later) into Holy Communion (NW)
John 7 - Tabernacles (living water) into Jesus the Living Water (NW)
John 8 - Tabernacles (I am the Light of the World) (NW)
INTRO TO JOHN 9
Keep our eyes open for old wineskins (institution/tradition) being transformed/fulfilled into new wineskins (movement)
PASSING OF THE PEACE
SCRIPTURE: John 9:39b, “I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
QUESTION: Have you ever been blind?
Intro to Scripture
It is still the feast of Tabernacles (tents). It is the Sabbath. Light is one of the important imageries of the Feast of Tabernacles. The temple light ceremony consists of four large stands each held four golden bowls, these were placed in the heavily-used Court of the Women. These sixteen golden bowls (reached by ladders) were filled with oil and used the worn undergarments of the priests for wicks. When they were lit at night, all Jerusalem was illuminated. In a world that did not have public lighting after dusk, this light shined.
SCRIPTURE: John 9: 1 - 12 (Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind)
1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
Note: this person lives in “darkness”
What would it be like to be blind 2000 years ago? (hopeless)
How do you know if you live in darkness? (or need New Wine)?
Remember: “sign” is a miracle that points beyond itself
2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
Common belief: sin leads to suffering (Job, etc.)
3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
Jesus is using this natural ailment to provide a spiritual cure.
5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Another example of Exodus 3:14
6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
POOL OF SILOAM
The only living water in Jerusalem and the source of the water for the water ceremonies for the Feast of Tabernacles
SILOAM means “sent.” Jesus is the one who was “sent.”
Thus, it is Jesus who is the source of healing and not the pool.
8His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9Some claimed that he was.
Others said, "No, he only looks like him."
But he himself insisted, "I am the man."
10"How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.
11He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."
12"Where is this man?" they asked him.
"I don't know," he said.
SCRIPTURE: John 9:8 - 34 (Interrogation)
The healing of the blind person took place on the Sabbath. The religious leaders (who could not see) now interrogate the blind man who can now see.
SCRIPTURE: John 9:28b
You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses!
(Fiddler on the Roof, TRADITION!)
in other words, you must choose whom you shall follow:
Jesus or Moses? (Old Wine or New Wine)
As a result, the blind man who now sees is expelled
from the synagogue by those who cannot see.
SCRIPTURE: John 9 The Pharisees Investigate the Healing
13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. 15Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see."
16Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath."
LITMUS TEST of SPIRITUALITY: Keeping the Sabbath (Exile)
each of us have our own litmus test of spirituality:
1. eating and drinking (Jesus was tested under this one)
2. play cards (100 years ago)
3. dance
4. etc.
But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided.
17Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened."
The man replied, "He is a prophet."
18The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents. 19"Is this your son?" they asked. "Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?"
20"We know he is our son," the parents answered, "and we know he was born blind. 21But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself." 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ[a] would be put out of the synagogue. 23That was why his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
24A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God,[b]" they said. "We know this man is a sinner."
JESUS is outside of their box (he broke the sabbath - healing)
They can’t think outside of the box (tradition/institution/old wineskins)
sinner (broke law) the reason for BABYLONIAN EXILE
BUT the message of the PROPHETS
was more important than the mere breaking of the law
they broke the RELATIONSHIP (Rules of)
EVERY Saturday night, chocolate and roses (the LAW)
but if your heart isn’t there - relationship dies
They were UNFAITHFUL in their relationship to God
25He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"
26Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
27He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"
28Then they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from."
30The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."
34To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.
POINT - Sometimes in our lives, we have to be ready to receive the New Wine
PROBLEM: There are some Old Wineskins in our lives that need to be discarded. But we don’t SEE it, because it is an INSTITUTION.
if we don’t, it hinders our future.
QUESTION: Because of our availability to retrieve data instantly (i-phone or google) are there some things that we are trained as a kid that may now be considered not necessary?
SCRIPTURE: John 9:35 - 41 Spiritual Blindness
35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36"Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
37Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
38Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
the blind man now sees Jesus. Jesus gave him more than sight, he gave him life.
POINT: The blind man becomes a metaphor for our spiritual transformation
39Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
NOTE:
IRONY: one who is blind, now sees, and those who see are blind spiritually
POINT: JESUS is the fulfillment of Tabernacle light has come to Jerusalem
90 DAY BIBLE
Ezekiel 12: 1 - 2
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
POINT: The People of God, the Chosen People, we’re being sent into Exile, because they no longer saw spiritually. They were blind spiritually.
JOHN WESLEY
Those who spiritually see also spiritually hear (John Wesley) and those who spiritually hear, can hear the voice of God
POINT: The Spiritual Leaders were Spiritually blind
Question: if they did not know they were spiritually blind,
then how are we to know if we are spiritually blind?
The Answer: Next week
40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?"
41Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
SCRIPTURE: John 9:39
The old wineskins can’t see the movement of the New Wine and New wineskins. they are blind to it.
POINT: Jesus is the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles
New Wineskins & Old Wineskins
The Old Wineskins, institution of the Feast of Tabernacles was always pointing to the fulfillment of the Feast, which is Jesus.
But who can’t SEE it, the ones that we think can see.
who SEEs it, the ones that we think should not be able to see it.
EXAMPLES: the Slide Rule (VHS/Mimeographs/stenographs/rotary phones)land lines)
No longer learn Slide Rule in math classes
Why?
With the advent of the Hand Calculator, no longer needed
The Slide Rule has out lived its purpose (festivals)
With the advent of Jesus, no longer needed are the festivals
The Festivals have out lived their purpose
Jesus fulfills what the festivals ultimately point to
A good example of that is PASSOVER and HOLY COMMUNION
CLOSING
At AGO concert on Monday, Michael sang a piece, “Tantum Ergo, Op. 55,
Gabriel Faure, text, Thomas Aquinas
With bowed heads let us celebrate this great sacrament, let the old practice yield to the new sacred rite.
Old wineskins: Passover New Wineskins: Holy Communion
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