EVIDENCE, COMMON SENSE & BELIEF - John 9

The following is an outline from Tim's message to us on Sunday.
Introduction
A carefully written gospel
Presents Jesus as the Messiah and worthy of trust
Jesus the only way to have eternal life
Fascinating accounts of real, everyday people. Andrew, Bartholomew, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the centurion, the crippled man, the woman caught in adultery, and today a man blind from birth
Themes: Light vs Dark, Evidence for belief, Common sense
Blind from birth
Symbol of our own blindness and helplessness before God
Totally without hope, incurable
The Works of God
This blindness was not due to some specific sin
What might that say about how we see our own circumstances or ill health
Works=plural, not just his physical blindness, but his spiritual blindness, and the instruction to a blind world
Light of the World
What does light do? It reveals, illumines, make plain, speaks truth (pos and neg)
Jesus is particularly the light of the world whilst he lives out his earthly life.
Jesus is the light that is the only cure for spiritual blindness
Jesus is also the only true light to help us navigate the travails of this world
Our lives are designed to bring glory to his name
The evidence of healing
The neighbours initially puzzled
The blind man’s own explanation
The healed man’s own initial puzzle – I don’t know where he is
The emphasis is not the mud, nor the pool Siloam, not the man’s obedience, not the washing, but the “Sent one” himself who provides healing – the Messiah, Jesus
Implications
John is introducing us to Jesus who is passing by
We are all in need of having our eyes opened
The evidence has been presented that Jesus is the Messiah
John’s hope is that we will trust him for eternal life and move from the darkness and into the light. He is the light of the world.
So what is the rest of the chapter about?
What is all the fuss about.
Read John 9:13-41
Common Sense and Stupidity
The evidence is the same for everyone, whether disciples, the man, the neighbours or the Pharisees
Common knowledge recognises that blindness is incurable, but common sense regarding the evidence realises that a miracle has truly been done in this instance.
The Pharisees rejected the evidence out of hand, and only showed up their stupidity
The blind man of course had no problem believing: Once I was blind but now I see
The disciples, John - and hopefully us as well - realise that the evidence of the man’s sight is evidence not only of the miracle that occurred but of the saving power of Christ to deal with our sin.
John shows how belief rightly leads to worship
Jesus explains how unbelief ends in judgement
Closing
What a delightful account. A wonderfully witty man healed not just of physical blindness, but brought in the kingdom of light
I am struck again by the fact that evidence for the miracle was so rejected by the very people who should have known better.
Verses to consider
1 John 1:1-4
2 Peter 1:16-21
1 Cor 15:1-8
1 Cor 15:14-21
Heb 12:1-2
Concluding Statement
This morning’s message provides you with an account of the healing of a man who was blind from birth
John asks us to use our common sense to assess the evidence that he has provided on the truth of this amazing miracle.
His account of Jesus interpretation of his role in this world as the Light of the world is a direct invitation to you to recognise that he is the saviour of this world and the only means of being able to enter into any kind of relationship with God our creator
Jesus is passing by – again – today. What is your response to his invitation to life and light?