John 9 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00So, in the previous chapters, Jesus is
2. 0:03essentially
3. 0:05bringing home again and again that
4. 0:08the barrier
5. 0:10to their belief [music] is the fact
6. 0:13that God
7. 0:15the almighty,
8. 0:17>> [music]
9. 0:17>> the holy, the infinite, the immortal,
10. 0:20the eternal God
11. 0:22is appearing in human form.
12. 0:25And that is the stumbling block. That is
13. 0:28the hindrance.
14. 0:30They find that blasphemous.
15. 0:33Um they find the [music] miracle and
16. 0:36mystery of incarnation to be
17. 0:39a blasphemous absurdity.
18. 0:42In the end of chapter 8,
19. 0:44he says to them, "Truly, truly, [music]
20. 0:47I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
21. 0:51Therefore, they picked up stones to
22. 0:52throw at him, but Jesus hid himself
23. 0:55[music] and went out of the temple.
24. 0:59John chapter 9 verse 1 says, "As he
25. 1:02passed by,
26. 1:03he saw a man blind from birth."
27. 1:07So,
28. 1:09he's passing by those who have stones in
29. 1:12their hands and are about to try to kill
30. 1:14him.
31. 1:16You'll remember that John 8 is a story
32. 1:18about a woman who is seized and caught
33. 1:21and dragged before the Lord and they all
34. 1:25have stones to kill her.
35. 1:27And he says, [music]
36. 1:28"He that is without sin throw the first
37. 1:30stone." And he's the only one without
38. 1:32sin and the only one without a stone.
39. 1:35So, now he's the one that they want to
40. 1:37stone.
41. 1:39And he he's passing by, he's leaving
42. 1:43them,
43. 1:45but it says, "As he passed by,
44. 1:48he saw a man blind from birth."
45. 1:52>> [snorts]
46. 1:52>> And this is one of the most vivid,
47. 1:55incredible stories in the Bible,
48. 1:58but
49. 1:59it's also potentially a metaphor
50. 2:03that is an insight into what is
51. 2:06happening
52. 2:08all of this time. Their inability to see
53. 2:12God in human flesh.
54. 2:16As he passed by, he saw a man blind from
55. 2:20birth.
56. 2:22And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi,
57. 2:25who sinned, this man or his parents,
58. 2:28that he would be born blind?"
59. 2:31Jesus answered,
60. 2:33"It was neither that this man sinned nor
61. 2:35his parents,
62. 2:37but it was so that the works of God
63. 2:39might be displayed in him.
64. 2:44We must work the works of him who sent
65. 2:47me
66. 2:48as long as it is day.
67. 2:51Night is coming
68. 2:53when no one can work.
69. 2:56While I am in the world, I
70. 2:59am the light of the world."
71. 3:03He encounters a man who is born blind,
72. 3:06and the disciples give him an either-or
73. 3:09fallacy.
74. 3:10They say, "Why did this happen? Because
75. 3:13of something he did wrong or something
76. 3:15someone else did wrong?"
77. 3:17And Jesus says neither, indicating that
78. 3:20God can have a redemptive purpose behind
79. 3:23suffering that doesn't have to do with
80. 3:25us.
81. 3:27In this case, it is so that the works of
82. 3:29God can be seen
83. 3:33or displayed in him.
84. 3:35And then Jesus says this. He says, "We
85. 3:38must work the works of him who sent me
86. 3:41as long as it is day.
87. 3:43Night is coming
88. 3:46when no one can work.
89. 3:48While I am in the world, I am the light
90. 3:51of the world."
91. 3:53He's trying to tell us that the
92. 3:55condition of being blind
93. 3:58is the condition of being in the night.
94. 4:01It's being without light.
95. 4:04And he's saying to them that
96. 4:07Jesus is the light that takes away
97. 4:11blindness.
98. 4:12And as long as he's in the world,
99. 4:16there is an illumination, there is a
100. 4:18visibility, an ability to see
101. 4:21as we should.
102. 4:23And that's when we are able to work,
103. 4:27when we see through the light that he
104. 4:29is.
105. 4:30But he's saying there's going to come a
106. 4:31point where that light is going to be
107. 4:33taken away.
108. 4:35When he had said this,
109. 4:38he spat on the ground
110. 4:41and made clay
111. 4:43of the spittle
112. 4:45and applied the clay
113. 4:49to his, the blind man's, eyes
114. 4:52and said to him,
115. 4:54"Go wash in the pool of Siloam."
116. 5:00And John adds, "Which is translated
117. 5:03sent."
118. 5:05So, he went away and washed and came
119. 5:09back seeing.
120. 5:14The whole story
121. 5:17for the previous three chapters
122. 5:20has been,
123. 5:22"Can you see and honor and accept God in
124. 5:28human flesh?" Now, what is human flesh
125. 5:30made of?
126. 5:32Dust.
127. 5:33We are made from clay.
128. 5:37So, there's a metaphor unfolding here.
129. 5:41Jesus is demonstrating that this man's
130. 5:44blindness
131. 5:46is removed
132. 5:48when the dust of human nature
133. 5:52is applied to his vision
134. 5:55and he goes and accepts the one whom God
135. 5:59sends, Siloam,
136. 6:02and he gets a new vision and he's able
137. 6:05to behold him
138. 6:07as the almighty in human form.
139. 6:10And that's where this story is about to
140. 6:12go.
141. 6:13Do you understand? So, this man's
142. 6:15healing is metaphorical of what should
143. 6:17be happening
144. 6:19to the Pharisees.
145. 6:21They won't accept God in human clay.
146. 6:25They won't wash their old way of looking
147. 6:28at things in the pool of Siloam, which
148. 6:31means sent.
149. 6:33John wants us to know that the pool he
150. 6:36was sent to means sent because he's just
151. 6:40said, "This is the work of God to
152. 6:43believe on the one whom God has sent."
153. 6:47That's the word apostello in the Greek
154. 6:50from which we get apostle.
155. 6:52It's the idea that God is sending
156. 6:55something to us and we've got to accept
157. 6:58that if we would receive our sight.
158. 7:02"Go wash in the pool of Siloam,
159. 7:05which is translated sent. So, he went
160. 7:07away and washed and came back seeing."
161. 7:12Therefore, the neighbors
162. 7:14and those who previously saw him as a
163. 7:18beggar were saying,
164. 7:21"Is not this the one who used to sit and
165. 7:24beg?"
166. 7:25So, their perspective is now
167. 7:28in conflict with the miracle. Others
168. 7:31were saying, "This is he." Still others
169. 7:34were saying, "No, but he is like him."
170. 7:38He, the man who'd just been healed, he
171. 7:41kept saying, "I am the one."
172. 7:47So, they were saying to him,
173. 7:49"How then were your eyes opened?"
174. 7:52He answered, "The man who is called
175. 7:56Jesus made clay
176. 7:59and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go
177. 8:04to Siloam and wash.' So, I went away and
178. 8:08washed and I received sight."
179. 8:12They said to him, "Where is he?" He
180. 8:15said, "I do not know."
181. 8:18So, the man Jesus, the human being
182. 8:23made of flesh,
183. 8:25made of clay, made clay. God made clay
184. 8:30and dwelt among us. Paul would later
185. 8:33say, "We have this treasure in jars of
186. 8:37clay."
187. 8:39What treasure? The treasure of God's
188. 8:41spirit. The treasure of a measure of God
189. 8:45himself dwelling in us. Jesus had that
190. 8:48without measure.
191. 8:51They brought to the Pharisees the man
192. 8:54who was formerly blind. So, now former
193. 8:57blindness is going to interact with
194. 8:59current blindness because this is the
195. 9:02real problem. They don't see. They don't
196. 9:05accept Jesus as the illumination, the
197. 9:08light of their world.
198. 9:10Now, it was a Sabbath
199. 9:14on the day when Jesus made the clay and
200. 9:17opened his eyes.
201. 9:19He starts the chapter by saying, "We
202. 9:22must work
203. 9:24while there is the light."
204. 9:26While God is shining through Jesus, we
205. 9:29must work. And they're going to think
206. 9:31that work is breaking the Sabbath, but
207. 9:34that work is not breaking the Sabbath
208. 9:36because Sabbath means ceasing from your
209. 9:39works, not ceasing from God's works
210. 9:42because as he said in the previous
211. 9:43chapters, "My father is always working."
212. 9:47Then the Pharisees also were asking him
213. 9:50again how he received his sight.
214. 9:55And he said to them, "He applied clay to
215. 9:57my eyes,
216. 9:59and I washed, and I see."
217. 10:03God is applying the clay of a human
218. 10:06being
219. 10:07to the eyes of people who cannot see.
220. 10:11And if they will accept the clay
221. 10:14of God coming in their human nature,
222. 10:18their eyes are going to be opened,
223. 10:20and they're going to their blindness is
224. 10:21going to be taken away.
225. 10:23Therefore, some of the Pharisees were
226. 10:25saying, "This man is not from God. This
227. 10:29man, this human being, this clay, this
228. 10:33man is not from God because he does not
229. 10:36keep the Sabbath."
230. 10:39But others were saying,
231. 10:41"How can a man who is a sinner perform
232. 10:44such signs?"
233. 10:46And there was a division among them.
234. 10:50Division means two visions, die vision,
235. 10:54split vision.
236. 10:56Some were able to see, and some were
237. 10:59staying blind.
238. 11:00So they said to the blind man again,
239. 11:03"What do you say about him since he
240. 11:05opened your eyes?"
241. 11:07And he said, "He is a prophet."
242. 11:11The Jews then did not believe it of him
243. 11:14that he had been blind and had received
244. 11:16sight until they called the parents of
245. 11:19the very one who had received sight, and
246. 11:22questioned them saying, "Is this your
247. 11:24son
248. 11:25who you say was born blind?
249. 11:29Then how does he now see?"
250. 11:32This is an example of our religion
251. 11:36clashing with God's grace.
252. 11:39This is an example of human certainty,
253. 11:42arrogant certainty and expectation
254. 11:45colliding
255. 11:47with a miracle,
256. 11:49and holding on to the certainty in order
257. 11:51to crush the miracle instead of letting
258. 11:54go of the certainty in order to become
259. 11:56part of the miracle in receiving their
260. 11:59sight.
261. 12:02"How then does he see?"
262. 12:04The parents answered them and said,
263. 12:07"We know that this is our son,
264. 12:09and that he was born blind.
265. 12:12But how he now sees,
266. 12:15we do not know.
267. 12:16Or who opened his eyes, we do not know.
268. 12:20Ask him. He is of age, he will speak for
269. 12:23himself."
270. 12:24There's a lot of pressure in the room.
271. 12:27Somebody's about to be excommunicated
272. 12:29from the synagogue.
273. 12:31The people who have been trying to
274. 12:33arrest Jesus, who are full of murder and
275. 12:36envy, they're gathered in a court, the
276. 12:39same court where a woman was just
277. 12:41sprawling on the ground ready to be
278. 12:43stoned, and they call this guy's parents
279. 12:46in. They want the parents to deny
280. 12:49reality. Please deny your experience.
281. 12:53Please suppress reality, and preserve
282. 12:57our religious framework, our
283. 13:01conclusions, our certainties about what
284. 13:04Sabbath means.
285. 13:07And his parents um
286. 13:09sweetly punt. They say,
287. 13:12"Go ahead and ask him. We don't want to
288. 13:14speak for this guy cuz we're not really
289. 13:16involved. Ask him."
290. 13:19His parents said this, John says,
291. 13:22because they were afraid of the Jews.
292. 13:24For the Jews had already agreed that if
293. 13:26anyone confessed him to be Christ, he
294. 13:30was to be put out of the synagogue.
295. 13:33So this is a trap.
296. 13:35You only have one option. Deny your
297. 13:38experience. Deny God's presence. Deny
298. 13:42the miracle, or be excommunicated.
299. 13:45For this reason, his parents said, "He
300. 13:47is of age. Ask him."
301. 13:50So a second time they called the man who
302. 13:52had been blind and said to him, "Give
303. 13:55glory to God. We know that this man is a
304. 13:57sinner."
305. 13:59You think that's a little bit of framing
306. 14:01the question or a loaded question?
307. 14:05He then answered, "Whether he is a
308. 14:07sinner, I do not know.
309. 14:09One thing I do know,
310. 14:12that though I was blind,
311. 14:15now
312. 14:16I see."
313. 14:18So this is again a collision between
314. 14:21stubborn, stupid
315. 14:24human doctrine
316. 14:27and the power and presence and miracle
317. 14:30of God.
318. 14:33So they said to him, "What did he do to
319. 14:36you? How did he open your eyes?"
320. 14:41He answered,
321. 14:43"I told you already,
322. 14:45and you did not listen.
323. 14:47Why do you want to hear it again?
324. 14:51You do not want to become his disciples,
325. 14:53too, do you?"
326. 14:56This guy is a little cheeky.
327. 14:58>> [laughter]
328. 14:58>> He's got some spunk.
329. 15:01They reviled him and said, "You are his
330. 15:05disciple. We are disciples of Moses.
331. 15:12We know that God has spoken to Moses,
332. 15:17but as for this man, we do not know
333. 15:20where he is from."
334. 15:25Jesus has been telling them, "I come
335. 15:27from my Father,
336. 15:28and if you knew my Father, you would
337. 15:30know me."
338. 15:32But they confess, "We don't know where
339. 15:34he's from."
340. 15:35Because our religion isn't based on the
341. 15:39God who is spirit,
342. 15:41the God who whose presence is life.
343. 15:45We don't actually know God through our
344. 15:47religion. We just know about him.
345. 15:51The man answered and said to them,
346. 15:53"Well,
347. 15:55>> [clears throat]
348. 15:55>> here is an amazing thing,
349. 15:57that you do not know where he is from,
350. 15:59and yet he opened my eyes."
351. 16:04"We know that God does not hear sinners,
352. 16:07but if anyone is God-fearing and does
353. 16:09his will, he hears him.
354. 16:12Since the beginning of time, it has
355. 16:15never been heard that anyone opened the
356. 16:18eyes of a person born blind.
357. 16:21If this man were not from God, he could
358. 16:24do nothing."
359. 16:27This guy preaches his first sermon.
360. 16:30He's like, "This is marvelous. You don't
361. 16:33know where he's from, but he's clearly
362. 16:35from God, so that means you're not."
363. 16:39They answered him,
364. 16:40"You were born entirely in sins, and you
365. 16:46are teaching us?"
366. 16:49So they put him out.
367. 16:52And that means
368. 16:53they excommunicated him.
369. 16:56And [clears throat] this whole drama is
370. 16:58telling us a metaphor
371. 17:01of how we don't want to see the
372. 17:04undeniable fruits of life that
373. 17:08contradict
374. 17:10our religious certainties.
375. 17:12And we are ready to put the miracle out
376. 17:15of the church.
377. 17:16We're ready to excommunicate
378. 17:19the reality of God's grace
379. 17:22rather
380. 17:23than open our minds, and especially our
381. 17:26eyes, to the fact that we were the ones
382. 17:29who were blind.
383. 17:31Jesus heard that they had put him out,
384. 17:34meaning excommunicated him,
385. 17:37and finding him,
386. 17:39he said,
387. 17:41"Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
388. 17:46He answered,
389. 17:48"Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in
390. 17:51him?"
391. 17:53Jesus said to him,
392. 17:55"You have both seen him,
393. 17:58and he is the one who is talking with
394. 18:01you."
395. 18:04And he said, "Lord, I believe."
396. 18:09And he worshipped him.
397. 18:11And Jesus [music] said,
398. 18:13"For judgment I came into this world,
399. 18:17so that those who do not see
400. 18:20may see,
401. 18:22and those who see
402. 18:24may become blind."
403. 18:27Those of the Pharisees who were with him
404. 18:29heard these things and said to him,
405. 18:32"We are not [music] blind, too, are we?"
406. 18:35Jesus said to them,
407. 18:38"If you were blind,
408. 18:40you would have no sin.
409. 18:42But since you say,
410. 18:44'We see,'
411. 18:46your sin remains."
412. 18:49If they could have said,
413. 18:51"I'm blind.
414. 18:53I need help.
415. 18:55I don't see what I want to see."
416. 18:58Then God would have applied the clay
417. 19:02of
418. 19:03Christ, of God incarnate, to their eyes,
419. 19:08and they would have been able to wash in
420. 19:10the pool
421. 19:12of sent Siloam, of the one he sends, and
422. 19:17they would have been able to say with
423. 19:19this man, [music]
424. 19:20"Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in
425. 19:23him?"
426. 19:24And then to be able to say, "Lord, I
427. 19:26believe," and worship.
428. 19:30It's pretty neat that Jesus goes [music]
429. 19:32and finds the man.
430. 19:34He's been rejected. He's been mocked.
431. 19:37He's been interrogated, and then he's
432. 19:39been
433. 19:40>> [music]
434. 19:40>> excommunicated.
435. 19:42But he's found communion with Jesus.
436. 19:46I don't see that almost anywhere else in
437. 19:48the Bible where Jesus goes and finds
438. 19:50somebody,
439. 19:52and then says,
440. 19:53"What do you believe [music] in the Son
441. 19:55of Man?" And then makes that undeniable
442. 19:57statement, "You have both seen him
443. 20:01and he is the one who is talking with
444. 20:04you."
445. 20:06And that's what the Pharisees needed to
446. 20:08see and say about the Father,
447. 20:11"We have now seen him
448. 20:13and it is he who is talking with us."
449. 20:17>> [music]
450. 20:28[music]