Sunday Morning: 15th 8th 2020 – 10:30 am. Continuing the sermon series entitled “Sketches of the Son of God”.
To lose your eyesight must be an unimaginably awful experience; but here we discover a man who had never been able to see, with Jesus making it clear that there was no correlation between his suffering and his sin. Instead he was going to use the man’s disability to display the power and glory of God. And so following the application of mud and saliva to his eyes, and a quick wash, the man was able to see for the very first time, this being one of the signs of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 11 v 5), and one of a number of examples of Jesus healing the blind, but never using exactly the same method (Matthew 9 v 27 – 31 & Mark 8 v 22 – 26.)
There are four reactions to the miracle, and in particular to the one responsible for it all of which are still very contemporary :-
1 – Fascination (the Neighbours v 8 – 12.)
“Where is this man?” asked the neighbours, having argued over the identity of the man who had been healed. They were now interested in, and curious about Jesus.
2 – Fury (the Pharisees v 13 – 17.)
“This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath.” Instead of rejoicing about the healing, the Pharisees were angry that Jesus had “worked” by making a mudpack on the Sabbath, the day of rest.
3 – Fear (the Parents – v 18 – 23.)
“He is of age; ask him.” The parents were happy to confirm that their son had been born blind, but they did not want to be drawn on his healing for fear of the religious consequences, so they “passed the buck” back to their son, so as not to align themselves too closely to Jesus.
4 – Faith (the Man – v 24 – 38.)
“Lord, I believe.” Having received physical sight, he now experienced spiritual sight as his eyes were opened for a second time in what has been described as a “double miracle.” Like many his spiritual journey was a gradual one (2 Peter 3 v 18) which began with him regarding Jesus as a “man” (v 11); followed by a “prophet” (v 17); before arriving ultimately at “Lord” (v 38.)
Challenge – What is your response to Jesus today?
Service Details
Theme: “Double vision!”
Reading: John 9 v 1 – 7
Preacher: Chris Hughes
Led by: Nathan Gordon
