{"id":1838,"date":"2023-03-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1838"},"modified":"2023-04-01T19:01:51","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T02:01:51","slug":"fourth-sunday-in-lent-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/19\/fourth-sunday-in-lent-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth Sunday in Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Fourth-Sunday-in-Lent-03-19-23.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I Was Blind\u2014 But Now I See!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>1<\/sup>As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.&nbsp;<sup>2<\/sup>His disciples asked him, \u201cRabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>3<\/sup>\u201cNeither this man nor his parents sinned,\u201d said Jesus, \u201cbut this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.&nbsp;<sup>4<\/sup>As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.&nbsp;<sup>5<\/sup>While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>6<\/sup>Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man\u2019s eyes.&nbsp;<sup>7<\/sup>\u201cGo,\u201d he told him, \u201cwash in the Pool of Siloam\u201d (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>13<\/sup>They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.&nbsp;<sup>14<\/sup>Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man\u2019s eyes was a Sabbath.&nbsp;<sup>15<\/sup>Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. \u201cHe put mud on my eyes,\u201d the man replied, \u201cand I washed, and now I see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>16<\/sup>Some of the Pharisees said, \u201cThis man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But others asked, \u201cHow can a sinner do such miraculous signs?\u201d So they were divided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>17<\/sup>Finally they turned again to the blind man, \u201cWhat have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The man replied, \u201cHe is a prophet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>34<\/sup>To this they replied, \u201cYou were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!\u201d And they threw him out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>35<\/sup>Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, \u201cDo you believe in the Son of Man?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>36<\/sup>\u201cWho is he, sir?\u201d the man asked. \u201cTell me so that I may believe in him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>37<\/sup>Jesus said, \u201cYou have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>38<\/sup>Then the man said, \u201cLord, I believe,\u201d and he worshiped him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>39<\/sup>Jesus said, \u201cFor judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.\u201d (NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been blind?&nbsp; At first glance that seems like a rather silly question, doesn\u2019t it!&nbsp; It\u2019s obvious that no one here today is blind!&nbsp; But, personally I can say that my eyesight is so poor that if I were to take off my glasses or if God forbid eyeglasses had never been invented, it would be extremely difficult if not impossible for me to much of anything!&nbsp; I certainly would not be able to work or to drive a car.&nbsp; I would barely be able to read!&nbsp; Some might even say that I would be \u201cas blind as a bat\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been blind?&nbsp; While I may not be physically blind there are things concerning which I am indeed \u201cblind.\u201d&nbsp; For example, I once mentioned to a member how wonderful it would be if we could develop a transporter or a warp drive\u2014 like they have on Star Trek!&nbsp; He instantly launched into a long detailed dissertation on how the laws of physics make that impossible. &nbsp;I didn\u2019t understand what he was saying.&nbsp; I just couldn\u2019t \u201csee\u201d it.&nbsp; Likewise, I once had a member who was a professor at Kettering University in Flint.&nbsp; Since I knew that Kettering was developing a hydrogen fuel cell for cars, I asked him how it worked.&nbsp; Even after he explained it to me in great detail I just didn\u2019t get it.&nbsp; I couldn\u2019t \u201csee\u201d it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we continue our sermon series entitled&nbsp;<strong><em>Lent Reveals Our Greatest Needs&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong>it\u2019s not difficult to see what the Holy Spirit is emphasizing here in our text for today.&nbsp; With hearts that are filled with thankfulness and faith let\u2019s study these inspired words of our God under the theme:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><em>I Was Blind\u2014 But Now I See!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John sets the stage for us when he says in the opening portion of our text,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAs he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.&nbsp; His disciples asked him, \u2018Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?\u2019&nbsp; \u2018Neither this man nor his parents sinned,\u2019 said Jesus, \u2018but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question that Jesus\u2019 disciples asked reflected the popular opinion of that day.&nbsp; That opinion was that since God would not afflict an innocent person with suffering, that means that suffering was the result of some sin that a person had committed against God.&nbsp; And since this man was&nbsp;<em>\u201cblind from birth\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;the disciples wondered if perhaps this man\u2019s parents had committed such a grievous sin against God that God punished them by having their son born blind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we come down too hard on Jesus\u2019 disciples let\u2019s note that all too often we do something very similar.&nbsp; All too often we try to ascribe a \u201ccause and effect\u201d relationship between suffering and sin.&nbsp; All too often we wonder if this tragedy or if that hardship is the result of some past sin that was committed.&nbsp; All too often we might ask God why something happened to us, since we haven\u2019t done anything to \u201cdeserve\u201d the suffering we are enduring.&nbsp; And when we see someone else enduring suffering in their life we all too often might shake our head and say to ourselves, \u201cI wonder what they did to deserve this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus answers His disciples\u2019 question and Jesus answers our own questions in a very straightforward say.&nbsp; He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cNeither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Can you \u201csee\u201d what Jesus is teaching us here?&nbsp; Sometimes we are so \u201cblinded\u201d by our own preconceived notions that we fail to look at something like suffering from God\u2019s perspective!&nbsp; God&nbsp;<strong>always&nbsp;<\/strong>has a plan!&nbsp; God&nbsp;<strong>always&nbsp;<\/strong>has a reason for allowing something to happen to us or to someone we love.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<strong>purpose&nbsp;<\/strong>of God\u2019s plan is&nbsp;<strong>always&nbsp;<\/strong><em>\u201cso that the work of God might be displayed\u201d<\/em>\u2014 either in our life or in the life of someone else.&nbsp; We would do well to remember that truth whenever we come face-to-face with something that leads us to ask, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now look at verses six and seven of our text.&nbsp; Jesus miraculously healed this man\u2019s physical blindness in a rather unexpected way.&nbsp; John tells us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cHe spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man\u2019s eyes.&nbsp; \u2018Go,\u2019 he told him, \u2018wash in the pool of Siloam\u2019 (this word means Sent).&nbsp; So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a good time to ask the question, Why?&nbsp; Why did Jesus use His spit to make some mud and place it on this man\u2019s eyes?&nbsp; Why did Jesus have this man go and wash in the pool of Siloam?&nbsp; Why didn\u2019t Jesus simply use His divine power and heal this man by saying, \u201cBe healed!\u201d\u2014 like He did with the man who begged Jesus to cleanse him of leprosy (Luke 5:12ff), or like the centurion whose servant was&nbsp;<em>\u201csick and about to die\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; (Luke 7:1ff)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer as to why Jesus chose to heal this blind man by spitting on the ground, making some mud and telling him,&nbsp;<em>\u201cGo, wash in the pool of Siloam\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is found in what happened to this man&nbsp;<strong>after&nbsp;<\/strong>he was healed!&nbsp; Look at verses thirteen to seventeen of our text.&nbsp; Because Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath day, some of his neighbors felt compelled to bring him before the Pharisees.&nbsp; The Pharisees now wanted to \u201csee\u201d for themselves what had happened, so they grilled him with questions.&nbsp; While it\u2019s not a part of our text you may recall how the Pharisee\u2019s questions became more and more intense.&nbsp; They even summoned his parents and grilled them with questions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As this man stood in front of these Pharisees we see one way in which Jesus\u2019 words,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThis happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;were fulfilled.&nbsp; The man went from simply explaining how he received his sight,&nbsp;<em>\u201cHe put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to proclaiming,&nbsp;<em>\u201cHe is a prophet,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to asking the Pharisees,&nbsp;<em>\u201cDo you want to become his disciples too?,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to openly confessing,&nbsp;<em>\u201cIf this man were not from God, he could do nothing.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; The&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;was certainly put on full&nbsp;<em>\u201cdisplay\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in this man\u2019s life\u2014 in full \u201csight\u201d of the Pharisees!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, the most glorious way in which the&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;was&nbsp;<em>\u201cdisplayed\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in this man\u2019s life is found in verses 35-38 of our text.&nbsp; John writes,&nbsp;<em>\u201cJesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, \u2018Do you believe in the Son of Man?\u2019&nbsp; \u2018Who is he, sir?\u2019 the man asked.&nbsp; \u2018Tell me so that I may believe in him.\u2019&nbsp; Jesus said, \u2018You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.\u2019&nbsp; Then the man said, \u2018Lord, I believe,\u2019 and he worshiped him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the gift of physical sight was most certainly a wonderful&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;that fulfilled a tremendous need in this man\u2019s life, the gift of spiritual sight, the ability to see Jesus for who He is\u2014 the long-awaited Promised Messiah\u2014 and the subsequent desire to&nbsp;<em>\u201cworship\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;Jesus was a miraculous&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;that fulfilled this man\u2019s greatest need\u2014 the need to \u201csee\u201d that Jesus is his only Lord and Savior!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus then gives us one application of this text when He says in the closing verse of our text,&nbsp;<em>\u201cFor judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; It\u2019s very easy for us to see how these words applied to this man who was&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn blind.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Through the simple act of applying mud on this man\u2019s eyes Jesu gave him the gift of physical sight.&nbsp; By allowing the Pharisees to pepper this man and his parents with questions about Jesus, the Lord led this man to \u201csee\u201d Jesus was not only a&nbsp;<em>\u201cprophet,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;but that Jesus is a&nbsp;<em>\u201cgodly man\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;who came&nbsp;<em>\u201cfrom God.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; By consciously going out and finding this man and asking him the question,&nbsp;<em>\u201cDo you believe in the Son of Man?,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;by clearly proclaiming to this man<em>, \u201cYou have now seen him; he is the one speaking with you,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;Jesus fulfilled one of His reasons for coming into this world, namely,&nbsp;<em>\u201cSo that the blind will see.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The opposite effect of Jesus\u2019 coming into this world can be seen in the Pharisees as well as in everyone today who follows in the spiritual footsteps of the Pharisees.&nbsp; These are the people who are convinced that they can already \u201csee.\u201d&nbsp; They are convinced that they can \u201csee\u201d the path to heaven.&nbsp; They are convinced that this path is paved with their own works.&nbsp; In the end they will \u201csee\u201d just how wrong they were when they hear God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cjudgment\u201d<\/em>\u2014 they were&nbsp;<em>\u201cblind guides\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;leading other spiritually&nbsp;<em>\u201cblind\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;people into the&nbsp;<em>\u201cpit\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of everlasting destruction.&nbsp; (See Matthew 15:14)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is, however, another equally important application of this text.&nbsp; It is the application that enables us to \u201csee\u201d ourselves in this man.&nbsp; While we were not&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn blind\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in a physical sense, we\u2014 like&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>people\u2014 were&nbsp;<em>\u201cborn blind\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in a spiritual sense.&nbsp; By nature we could read the words of the Bible, but we could not understand them.&nbsp; The apostle Paul tells us that by nature we \u2014 like&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>people\u2014 considered the&nbsp;<em>\u201cmessage of the cross\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to be&nbsp;<em>\u201cfoolishness.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(See 1 Corinthians 1:18)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the&nbsp;<em>\u201cwork of God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;was&nbsp;<em>\u201cdisplayed\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in our lives!&nbsp; While Jesus did not spit on the ground, make some mud and tell us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cGo, wash in the pool of Siloam,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;He did come to us in the waters of Holy Baptism.&nbsp; Through the&nbsp;<em>\u201cwashing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>(Titus 3:5) He&nbsp;<em>\u201copened\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;our eyes!&nbsp; He gave us the ability to \u201csee\u201d that through faith in Jesus we have become the dearly beloved adopted children of God!&nbsp; Now when we read the Bible we are able to \u201csee\u201d it for what it truly is\u2014&nbsp;<em>\u201cthe word of God, which is at work in you who believe\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(1 Thessalonians 2:13).&nbsp; Now when we lift up our eyes to the cross (Pointing to the cross) instead of \u201cseeing\u201d it as a&nbsp;<em>\u201cmessage of foolishness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;we are able to \u201csee\u201d it as the&nbsp;<em>\u201cpower of God for the salvation of everyone who believes\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Romans 1:16).&nbsp; Now we are able to \u201csee\u201d that Jesus is Someone who&nbsp;<strong>deserves&nbsp;<\/strong>our worship and praise! &nbsp;Now instead of being a&nbsp;<em>\u201cblind guide\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;who is only able to lead other spiritually&nbsp;<em>\u201cblind\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;people into the&nbsp;<em>\u201cpit\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of everlasting destruction, we have been given everything we need to help other people \u201csee\u201d the Truth!&nbsp; Using God\u2019s powerful holy Law we can help them \u201csee\u201d their sin.&nbsp; Using the glorious message of the Gospel we can help them \u201csee\u201d their Savior!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we rejoice in the privilege we have been given to help other people \u201csee\u201d the Truth, we also need to go back and remember Jesus\u2019 words,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAs long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.&nbsp; Night is coming when no one can work.&nbsp; While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; The amount of time that we have to help someone \u201csee\u201d that Jesus and Jesus alone is the&nbsp;<em>\u201clight of the world\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is limited.&nbsp; How is it limited?&nbsp; It is limited by the fact that we don\u2019t know how much time they have left in their life here on this earth.&nbsp; It is limited by the fact that we don\u2019t know how much time is left before Jesus returns to this earth as the Judge of the living and the dead.&nbsp; Since we don\u2019t know how much time is left we need to use every opportunity we have to point others to Jesus so that He can take away the blindness of their sin and help them \u201csee\u201d Him as the&nbsp;<em>\u201dlight of the world\u201d<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been blind?&nbsp; While at first glance that might seem like a rather silly question, when you look at it from a spiritual perspective we&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>need to confess that by nature we were completely&nbsp;<em>\u201cblind from birth.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Just as God\u2019s power and God\u2019s grace is what enables us to say from the heart&nbsp;<strong><em>I was blind\u2014 but now I see!<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;so also it is God\u2019s power and God\u2019s grace that enables us to proclaim in our lives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39 I Was Blind\u2014 But Now I See! 1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.&nbsp;2His disciples asked him, \u201cRabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?\u201d 3\u201cNeither this man nor his parents sinned,\u201d said Jesus, \u201cbut this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1840,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1838\/revisions\/1840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}