Confessing Christ

(John 9:13-41)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Last week,
We saw Jesus,
The Light of the world
Give sight to the blind.
Jesus saw a man who had been blind from birth
A man the Lord allowed to be born blind,
That Jesus might open His eyes,
To reveal who He was
Really, thats a very small price to pay
For an eternity of seeing the glories of heaven.

B. Preview.
This morning,
We see how the Jewish leaders respond to this miracle.
But we also see how the blind man responds.
Instead of denying Jesus from fear of being put out of the synagogue/church,
He boldly stands his ground and confesses Him
Before those who had the power to put him out.
Its my hope that the Lord will encourage
All of us here this morning,

Whose eyes have also been opened by the Lord,

To do the same:
Boldly to confess Jesus
To a world that desperately needs Him.
II. Sermon.
We read first in verse 13, They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly
blind.
Who were they?
His neighbors and those who knew him as the beggar who had been blind.
Why did they bring him?
To see what the religious leaders thought of this
Whether it was a real miracle
They should take seriously,
Or whether it was a hoax.
Of course, if it really happened,
Also what they should do regarding Jesus.

Notice that John again draws our attention

To the day on which this took place:
Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes (v.
14).
It seems that Jesus often healed on the Sabbath.
Did He purposely do this to draw attention to Himself?
This was likely one of His motives, but it wasnt the only one.

3
Jesus was always doing good:
He didnt heal only on the Sabbath,
But He didnt stop when it was the Sabbath.
He was always about His Fathers business.

This is the same business we are continually to be about.

The psalmist writes, How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice
righteousness at all times! (106:3).
We should never take a break from doing good.
Christianity isnt a part-time relationship with God
Its fulltime.
He has betrothed you to His Son.
You are His child by adoption.
You are the citizens of His Kingdom.
You are the soldiers in His army.
And so you are to be about His work,
Not just for six days, but for seven
Including the Lords Day.
Jesus said, It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:12).
Its not only lawful,
Its what the Lord would have you do
As you seek to worship Him with your whole life.

The Jews brought the man to the Pharisees.

And now that he was present,

They began to cross-examine him:

How is it that you can see?
He said, He [i.e, Jesus] applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see (v. 15).

Now they knew that the clay didnt explain anything.

They knew it had very limited medicinal value.
What the man was really telling them
Was that Jesus had done a miracle
Something they were very reluctant to accept.

Some of them rejected the possibility outright.

John writes in verse 16, Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, This man is
not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.
Why would God hear the prayers of someone
Who flagrantly disregarded the fourth commandment
At least as they understood it?
Obviously, He wouldnt.
But is that what Jesus actually did?

Before you accuse someone,

Youd better make sure the standard youre using
Isnt merely your own opinion,
Or the opinion of a particular church tradition,
But Gods Word.

5
Some struggled from the opposite direction:
He had healed a blind man,
How could He if He was a Sabbath-breaker?
But others were saying, How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs? And
there was a division among them (v. 16).
These were actually right:
No one could have done what Jesus did,
If God were not with Him.

When they had reached an impasse,

They thought they would ask the man who was healed
And here was his first opportunity to confess Christ.
So they said to the blind man again, What do you say about Him, since He opened
your eyes? And he said, He is a prophet (v. 17).
Its quite possible that the man didnt mean
That Jesus was merely a prophet,
But that He was the prophet.
Youre right: God doesnt hear sinners,
But He heard this Man
He must be sent from God.

This appears to be more than either group was willing to accept.

They then began to question whether there had actually been a miracle.
Perhaps this man was trying to deceive them
Because he had some interest in promoting Jesus.

To settle the question,

They decided to call more witnesses: his parents!
John writes, The Jews then 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,
and questioned them, saying, Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then
how does he now see? (vv. 18-19).

They seemed to be wondering the same thing

His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and 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 will speak for himself (vv. 20-21).
But notice why they said this, His parents said this because they were afraid of the
Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he
was to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, He is of age; ask
him (vv. 22-23).
They apparently knew Jesus had done this miracle
Or at least suspected that He had
But they also knew if they admitted that,
They could be put out of the synagogue;
And they didnt want to run that risk.

To be put out of the synagogue

Was to be excluded from Gods kingdom
And shunned by His people.
And so instead of answering the question,
They pointed back to their son,
Who was old enough to answer the question.

7
Those who dont know Jesus Christ
Who dont have His resurrection power
Working in their hearts
Will not be willing to confess Him
If the cost is too high
Remember the stony ground hearers.
Its not that they didnt care for their son.
Its just that they feared the Jews.

Its hard enough to stand for the truth

When it might cost you some friends
But how much more when it means
Being thrown out of the church?
Or having to face prison?
But thats the price our Lord calls us to pay.
Jesus says, Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before
My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him
before My Father who is in heaven (Matt. 10:32-33).
Saeed Abedini suffered for years in prison
Because he confessed Christ
Before a nation that hates Him.
Are you willing to do the same?
You are if you know Jesus Christ.
You must if you love Him.
You cant do otherwise.

You wont be able to bear the thought

That Jesus stood for you
And refused to deny what His Father sent Him to do,
Because it meant your salvation.

This mans parents werent willing,

Because they didnt know Him.

But the same wasnt true

Of the man who received the Lords mercy.
When the Pharisees didnt gain what they wanted from his parents,
They brought the man in again.
So a 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 (v. 24).

What they were saying is,

You need to obey God
By agreeing with us
That this man isnt righteous:
Hes a Sabbath-breaker.
He cant be from God.
He couldnt have healed you.
They appear now to be united.
Or if not united,
The group that was wrestling was now silent,

Perhaps because they too were afraid.

But the man wasnt willing to deny Him.

He then answered, Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that
though I was blind, now I see (v. 25).
Notice, he steps around their accusation
That Jesus was a sinner
And gets to the heart of the matter:
What Jesus did for him: I was blind, but now I see.

As we saw before,
When you confess Christ before others,
Its best not to get side-tracked into theological issues,
Or to talk about things you dont know.
Stick to what you do know:
You were blind, but now you see.
You couldnt see a way out of Gods judgment.
But Jesus opened your eyes,
You turned to Him in faith,
And you were saved.

Notice too,
That the man was willing to do this
Knowing that they would very likely
Put him out of the synagogue,

10

And cut him off from the nation of Israel.

There are often consequences

Connected with sharing the Gospel
Are you willing to accept them?
There are also consequences for not sharing the Gospel
Those who never hear
Will suffer for an eternity
Can you live with that?

This brought them back again to the original question:

How is this man who was born blind able to see?
So they said to him, What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes? (v. 26).

Now the man appears to become even bolder,

And he begins to speak with a greater wisdom
He shows every sign of being helped by the Spirit.
He answered them, I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to
hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you? (v. 27).
His answer almost sounds like its tinged with sarcasm.
Its highly unlikely they want to become Jesus disciples.

I want you to notice the word too.

This man had already become one.
Heres another indication

11
That he already knew who Jesus was.

They, however, didnt appreciate his remark.

They reviled him and said, You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We
know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is
from (vv. 28-29).

If the Jews had only understood who Jesus was

And what He had come to do
If they had only understood what Moses meant
When he said the Lord would raise up a prophet like himself (Deu. 18:15)
They would have seen that they could have been the disciples of both:
They would have received Jesus because of Moses.
But they werent willing.

But now he goes further:

The man answered and said to them, Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not
know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes (v. 30).
Here is a man you know very little about,
And yet He did this great miracle.

The fact that He did this miracle

That God heard Him
Means He must be a righteous man.
We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His
will, He hears him (v. 31).

He not only did a miracle, He did an extraordinary miracle:

12

Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a
person born blind (v. 32).
There was an instance of an army
Blinded in some respects by a prophet,
Only to have their eyes opened later (2 Kings 6);
But there is no record of a man being healed
That was born blind.
Why is that?
As we saw last time,
This was one miracle reserved for Messiah:
It was one of the ways
Gods people were to recognize Him.
We read in Isaiah 42:6-7, I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will
also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to
the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the
dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

And so what was his conclusion about Jesus?

If this man were not from God, He could do nothing (v. 33).
God must have sent Him.

I think he knew who Jesus really was.

Why else would he risk being put out of the synagogue?
This is strengthened by the fact
That this is exactly what they did to him

13
They answered him, You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us? So
they put him out (v. 34).
They excommunicate him.
Remember, they had only threatened to do this
To anyone who was willing to say
That Jesus was the Christ (v. 22).

Finally, we see Jesus seeking this man who had been put out of the synagogue because
of Him.

The blind man had never seen Jesus.

Jesus was gone by the time he returned from Siloam.
But now He goes looking for him and finds him,
That He might own him and confirm his faith.
Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, Do you believe in
the Son of Man? (v. 35).

Of course, Jesus already knew the answer to this question

Because of the price the man had been willing to pay to confess Him.
He answered, Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him? Jesus said to him, You
have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you. And he said, Lord, I
believe. And he worshiped Him (vv. 36-38).
Notice his willingness to believe
As soon as Jesus tells him that He is the Messiah,
He accepts Him and worships Him
By worshiping Him, he sees even more about Jesus
Than it might first appear: He understands that He is God.

14

Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah?

That He is not only the Son of Man,
But also the Son of God?
That He is only Savior of the world?
Have you trusted Him?
Are you worshiping Him with your whole life?
Are you confessing Him before others?
He is worthy of all this and more.

If you havent trusted Him,

Listen to how He concludes:
And Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see
may see, and that those who see may become blind (v. 39).
Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind
So that those who do not see may see
That those blinded by sin might see Him,
Trust in Him and be saved.

If you see your blindness

And that you are without hope apart from Jesus,
You are the One He is seeking this morning.
Look to Jesus to open your eyes,
To reveal His glory and His salvation,
And He will.

15

If, on the other hand,

You believe that you see just fine
That youre acceptable to God without Him
Know that He also came that those who see might become blind.
John writes, Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said
to Him, We are not blind too, are we? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you
would have no sin; but since you say, We see, your sin remains (vv. 40-41).
As long as you think you dont need Jesus,
You are blind and still in your sins.
Dont leave here blinded by sin.
Confess your blindness
That you need Jesus
Look to Him in faith to open your eyes,
And the Lord will show you mercy. Amen.

http://www.gcmodesto.org