LESSONS
FROM A BLIND MAN
(JOHN
9:1-41)
INTRODUCTION:
1.
Good
morning, please open up your Bibles to (John 9:1-41). Today's lesson will be
gleaned from this passage. Read the
passage.
2.
When
Jesus' performed miracles, we see Him at some of His most compassionate
moments.
3.
Why
did Jesus perform miracles? Jesus
performed miracles for a number of reasons:
a.
To
express His love.
b.
To
provide a springboard to teach spiritual truth.
c.
To
give evidence of His Messiahship.
4.
In (John 9), we see that Jesus healed a blind man.
FROM THIS
MIRACLE, WE CAN LEARN SEVERAL LESSONS.
I.
FIRST, THIS MIRACLE REMINDS US OF THE
DEVASTATING NATURE OF SIN.
1.
In
the very first verse, we see that Jesus encountered a man born blind. This man
had never seen a sunset, a rainbow, or the early morning sun. He had never seen
his mother's face or his own reflection in a mirror.
2.
This
man did not suffer from blindness because of a particular sin he had committed
but his blindness was certainly the result of sin in general.
3.
The
prevailing opinion in regard to sin today is that we shouldn't get to disturbed
about it. Some people say that sin is
harmless. However, we must realize that
sin brings corruption, disease, destruction and death into our world.
4.
The
next time you walk the hallways in a hospital or nursing home, or even the next
time you stand at a cemetery. . . instead of asking "Why would God allow
this?" we should ask ourselves: "After seeing the devastating effect of sin on the lives of those around
us, why do we continue to play with sin? Why don't we get
serious about rooting sin from our life? Why are we so slow to take aggressive
action against sin?
5.
From
the miracle in (John 9), we see the devastating nature of sin.
II.
SECOND, FROM THIS MIRACLE, WE SEE THE
ALL-SURPASSING POWER OF THE SAVIOR.
1.
During
Jesus' ministry, He cured a variety of needs. He healed the blind, the lame,
and the demon-possessed. He brought health to a woman with an issue of blood,
relief to Peter's mother-in-law with her fever. He brought a little boy back
from the dead and returned him to his mother. There was no infirmity, no
weakness, and no problem that Jesus could not heal.
2.
When
Jesus healed, He used a variety of methods. On some occasions he laid hands on
a person, on others He said a prayer, in still others He put his fingers into a
man who was deaf. Here He uses mud on a blind mans eyes. Why did He use so many
different methods? I think that Jesus wanted to make sure we were not concerned
with the method but were concerned with the one doing the healing.
3.
In
our text the Pharisees and other people kept asking the recently healed blind
man the same question: "how did He do it." My friends, Jesus did what
man cannot do on their own. They should not have been concerned about the how .
. . . they should have been seeking the "Who?". At this moment in your life, you may be
wondering how you are going to overcome your depression, your cancer, your
heart trouble, or your physical troubles.
Instead of wondering how, you ought to be seeking the Who! Jesus is the Who that can take care of your
problems. Jesus still has the power and
the desire to heal you. He can heal our illnesses. He can take our hopeless situations and turn them into hope. He did this for the blind man and He can do
this for you.
III.
THIRD, FROM THIS MIRACLE, WE SEE OUR
STUBBORN RESISTANCE TO GOD'S WORK IN OUR LIVES.
1.
In
this story, the neighbors and leaders of this man's community were suspicious
of the healing. They thought something fishy was going on. Look at what they
did to escape the reality of what happened:
a.
They
questioned the reality of what happened (v. 8).
b.
They
accused Jesus of being a law breaker (v. 16).
c.
They
sought to intimidate the parents of the man (v.22).
d.
They
attacked the integrity of the witness (v. 28).
2.
All
these things were done to keep from giving credit to God for a great miracle.
We use many of the same devices to keep from recognizing God's work in our
lives.
3.
Sometimes,
we have a Pharisaical hardness that says we will not believe or acknowledge
anything that is outside of our experience. We try to put God in a box. We have
Him narrowly defined and will not allow anything new to expand our picture.
This is wrong.
4.
God
doesn't fit into our theological box.
He is much bigger than we imagine.
He is doing things today that we are not giving Him credit for. We need to start praising God more for the
marvelous things that He is doing all around us.
IV.
LASTLY, FROM THIS MIRACLE, WE SEE THE
SIMPLE NATURE OF PERSONAL WITNESSING.
1.
Christians
often view sharing their faith as the dissemination of textbooks of
information. If we are not armed with tons of Scripture and have answers to
every conceivable question we feel we must remain silent. But that’s not true.
2.
In
(John 9), we see this man share his simple
testimony. The Pharisees said, "Give glory to God, We know this man is a
sinner." Now listen to the man's simple and
beautiful response: "Whether He is a sinner or not, I don't know.
One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" (vs. 25).
3.
Did
you see that? He doesn't worry about what He can't answer. He simply testifies
to what he has seen and knows to be true. Jesus does not ask us to teach
theology He asks us to testify of our relationship and our faith.
4.
We
can learn a lot from this man. Our simple expression of what Christ has done in
our lives will impact those around us for the gospel.
5.
Chuck
Swindoll gives us some good advice on giving a personal testimony:
a. You want to be listened to, so be
interesting. We should avoid spiritual words and phrases, which the
non-believer would not understand.
b. You want to be understood, so be logical.
The best way is to tell what your life was like before you met the Savior, how
you came to give your life to Him and what has happened since.
c. You want the moment of your new birth to
be clear so be specific. We must point to Christ, not the church. The church is
important but only Christ can save.
d. You want your testimony to be used, so be
practical. There is no sense making empty promises such as "all your
problems will go away." It's not true and it won't help.
e. You want your testimony to produce
result, so be warm and genuine. It helps to smile and show love for the one you
are talking to.
6.
Our
simple testimony can be used by God to reach those who are lost. It is time for
us to share the good news of what Jesus has accomplished in our lives.
CONCLUSION:
1. In closing, we have learned several
lessons from the healing of the blind man.
a.
First,
this miracle reminds us of the devastating nature of sin.
b.
Second,
we see the all-surpassing power of the Savior.
c.
Third,
we see our stubborn resistance to God's work in our lives.
d.
Lastly,
we see the simple nature of personal witnessing.
2. I hope and pray that this lesson has been
beneficial to you. If you would like to respond to the Lord's invitation,
please come now as we stand and sing.