Ben, thanks very much. Well, please do keep your bibles open in John, chapter nine. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at various events in John’s gospel, kind of under the theme of new. When Jesus is around, new things happen. He brings new things into people’s lives, he brings new life, he brings new water, he brings new birth. And here he brings this new sight to this blind man. We’re going to think about that together tonight. There are different ways to divide up the world, aren’t there? Lots of different ways. You can divide the world. You can divide it into men and women, old and young, rich and poor, urban and rural. You can divide people up by all sorts of demographic stuff, of what people’s staple food is, what language they speak, their skin colour, their religion, so many different ways that you can cut the cake of how the world is made up. But for Jesus’ disciples, and indeed the culture in which they lived, into which Jesus is speaking, that the world here is divided up into two groups, good people and bad people, with like religious people and sinners, righteous and unrighteous. And the way their world is divided up is, at least in part, to look at their circumstances, those who are suffering must have sinned, mustn’t they? They’re in the bad camp. That’s how this encounter begins, verse one and two, isn’t it? Have a look down with me. As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, rabbi, teacher, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? You see, that’s the first thing they think when they see this man in this situation, a man who can’t see and hasn’t ever been able to see. Whose sin was it? Who did wrong? Whose curse is this man living under? Was it him or his parents? Look how Jesus responds in verse three. Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened, so the work of God might be displayed in his life. Jesus is alerting us really early on. He’s about to do God’s work right here in front of everyone. Why was this man born blind? It wasn’t anything to do with anything he’d done wrong or his parents had done wrong. This happened that God’s work might be displayed in his life. Jesus saying, listen up, watch out. You’re about to see right here, right now, God at work. And he goes on to explain a little bit there in verses four and five about the kind of work jesus has come into the world as the light of the world. To do God’s work. And as we’ll see, that means not only bringing physical sight, light to the eyes, but also spiritual sight, light to our hearts. Well, what work does jesus do here? You see, jesus does the most amazing miracle. He gives sight to a blind man. But the miracle itself, it’s over within a flash. It’s only two verses there, verses six and seven. Let’s just read that again. Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. Go. He told him, wash in the pool of siloam. This word means scent. So the man went and washed and came home, seeing. That’s it done. Most of the chapter, most of the account is taken up with the kind of trial and investigation of the Pharisees that follows the miracle. Done. Jesus sees the man, he spits on the ground, makes some mud, puts it on his eyes, says, go and wash. He goes home and he can see. Jesus does the most amazing miracle. But it’s just done like that. See, I think there’s more going on here. I wonder if actually this is more about what’s going on around the miracle than the miracle itself. You see, briefly, here’s five things I think we see, not just in the miracle itself, but in what’s going on around it. Here’s the first one. Jesus is teaching us something to challenge our view of the world, and particularly the disciples’ view. They had this view, didn’t they? There’s good and bad. This man, he’s suffering. Someone sinned, didn’t they? Someone did something wrong. Someone did something wrong to cause this. Jesus says, no, this suffering wasn’t caused by sin, at least not personally, anyway. We believe that all suffering is part and parcel of a broken world that is itself under the curse of sin. But it wasn’t his sin. It wasn’t his parents’ sin. You see, not only does jesus contradict their view of the world, say, no, no one sinned to make this man suffer, but he goes further. He shows mercy and compassion. The disciples saw him suffering, and they want to have a philosophical, theological debate about it. Who sinned? Well, Jesus says, no one. But actually, shall we show a bit of kindness? Should we show a bit of mercy, a bit of love to this man? This man isn’t here to have a theological debate about, but he’s here that we might see more of God’s mercy and love in his life. You see, before he does anything else, he challenges their view of the world. Come on, disciples, think about it. Second thing, he does is. He recreates sight. He recreates sight. There’s lots that’s been written about the symbolism of saliva and dust. Why does jesus do it this way? Why doesn’t he just say, see again? His words have got power. He’s done that before. He just said stuff and it happens. Why doesn’t he just say, go away and see? Eyes open. He does this act with saliva, with dust, making mud, putting it on his eyes, and tells him to go and wash. I think what he’s doing is he’s showing creative power. He’s saying, I’m the God who made everything. I’m the God who made the dust. I’m the one who gave us life and breath. Who created us. And what I’m doing here, I’m not just saying magic. Open up your eyes. I’m giving you a visual picture of recreating something. I think that’s what he’s doing. He shows I’m the God who makes things. Who can make things from scratch, who makes things new. I’m the one who gives sight. This is an act of creation, of recreation. I think that’s what he’s doing. This is more than just someone. A man with miraculous powers. This is the God who made our eyes, who made us see. And here, for the man recreates it. The third thing he does, he divides the Pharisees. Jesus, like no one else, divides opinions. And he causes a particular stir here amongst the Pharisees. We see that in verse 14. Verse 14. We don’t find this out until a little bit later, as we read on. It doesn’t tell us earlier, but now it tells us verse 14. Now, the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. He’s only gone and done it on the Sabbath, hasn’t he? The Pharisees, they’re like the religious police. And you’re not supposed to do any work on the Sabbath. Sabbath is the day to rest. It’s the holy day. We don’t do anything that the Pharisees tell us we’re not allowed to do. Because they’ve got a whole list of rules. Like, it’s bigger than this. It’s like, here’s the things you’re not allowed to do on the Sabbath. And then they’re a bit like, well, yeah, but this is a really good thing. He couldn’t see from birth, and now he can. It’s changed his life. And what you’re saying, he can’t do that on the Sabbath? Really? And they look at and think, well, surely this is something that only someone from God could do. Well, doesn’t God get to decide what he’s allowed to do on the Sabbath and others are? No, we got rules, okay? There are procedures. There’s rules, and he’s not following them. It says there in verse 16, some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others asked, how can a sinner do miraculous signs? So they were divided. You can imagine a few weeks ago, we looked at Nicodemus. He was a pharisee. And he started getting really excited about who Jesus was and started to want to follow him. And we read a little bit later on, he gets involved in some of these discussions. And he’s kind of advocating for Jesus and doesn’t say it here, but you can imagine Nicodemus is there saying, yeah, hang on. But look what he’s doing. Yeah, I know he did it on the sabbath, but he’s doing things that only God could do. Perhaps we should have another think about who this guy is. He divides the Pharisees, he undermines the Pharisees. Fourth thing he does, he fulfils Old Testament prophecies. There’s two really clear prophecies in the book of Isaiah, which speak about God coming, about God’s messiah coming and bringing sight to the blind one’s. In Isaiah 35, it talks about your God coming, and when your God comes, then the eyes of the blind will be opened. Happens again in Isaiah 42. It’s talking about God’s. God’s servant, God’s God’s messenger, if you like, and describes him as a light for the gentiles to open eyes that are blind. And that sense of opening eyes has a sense of giving new life with it. That this isn’t just about being able to see, but about actually having your heart and your whole life opened. That you might see what life is really all about. You see, what Jesus is doing here is things that God promised he would do when he came. See, just as with the mud on the eyes, saying, here is God, the creator at work now he’s saying, here is God’s messiah. His sent one coming to do God’s work, that he promised he would do. So he’s fulfilling prophecies. Here’s the fifth thing he does. He gives meaning to suffering. We don’t have time to go into the depths of this, but this is profound. Verse three. What does he say? Which is, no, this wasn’t. No one sinned. It wasn’t his sin, it wasn’t his parents sin. This man was here so that the works of God might be displayed in him. You see, what Jesus is saying is suffering. Any suffering in the world, it doesn’t have to be about sin. Doesn’t have to be. They did that wrong. They said that that’s why they’re suffering. No, suffering in the world can be about redemption. Suffering in the world can be about how God is going to change it, how God is going to fix it, about how God is going to recreate and point us to the new life that he offers here in this man’s story, Jesus gives meaning to suffering. Now, we don’t have time to go into the depths of this. But, friends, that’s radical and that’s life changing, because that means that if you’re facing suffering, doesn’t have to be about sin, doesn’t have to be about what you’ve got wrong, it might be about what God is doing in your life and through you, to bring about redemption and new lives, he gives meaning to suffering. You see this very quick miracle that takes place. Actually, there’s loads packed around it. What Jesus is highlighting about himself and why he’s come and what he’s come to do. You see, actually, the miracle is over, isn’t it? Pretty quick. And then the rest of the chapter, up to verse 25 where we read, and even through to the end, really, to kind of verse 34, and then the little bit at the ends, up to 41 as well. It’s really about the Pharisees and how they respond, these religious leaders who should have been overjoyed. God’s here, the one Isaiah prophesied. He’s here working among them, and they’re quibbling about the rules that he’s supposed to be breaking. You see, I think what John is doing. Why does John include all this section, this trial? He’s trying to get us to see beyond the miracle. What does it mean for Jesus to give sight not just in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense? And I think through this text, he’s posing at least three questions to us. So let’s look at those three questions briefly. Here’s the first question. Have you already made up your mind about Jesus? Because the Pharisees had, at verse 22, they’ve been questioning the man’s parents, who opened his eyes. Tell us. He said. His parents said, we don’t know. Ask him. Verse 22. His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was. The Christ would be put out of the synagogue. The Pharisees had already decided. There’s this show trial going on. But they’ve already made up their minds about Jesus. I wonder if you’ve been watching the traitors. You’re watching the traitors. Some of you might still be watching it. So I won’t say too much. The traitors. If you don’t know, it’s kind of like a murder mystery quiz show. Where you’ve got to guess who the traitors are and who the faithful are. And one of the things that goes on in this show is people get convinced. Either convinced that someone is faithful. Or utterly convinced that someone is a traitor. In fact, in the after show. The show’s just finished. In the after show, one of the people who got towards the end, they said of someone who was a traitor, they said, I still think they’re a faithful. The thing was, they’re so blinkered, they can’t see anything else. But what’s in. They’re faithful. They’re faithful. I can’t possibly think of anything else. And that’s the problem. The Pharisees have got. They’ve got blinkers on. They can’t see anything else but that. Jesus is a Roman. Jesus is someone who’s just coming to rebel, who’s coming to break our rules. He doesn’t fit their mould. Even when he does stuff that only God could do. No, he’s a sinner. He’s not doing it our way. He’s got it wrong. And sometimes with Jesus, we can have those blinkers on. Classic Blinker is thinking, okay? I know the way the world is. And miracles don’t happen, okay? So when I see a story here about Jesus doing miracles, I think that’s got to be made up, okay? That can’t be true, because miracles don’t exist. So I’ve got to know, is the Bible not true? Is it made up? Did Jesus really do this? Because I got my blinkers on. I can’t think of a world where miracles exist. So I can’t believe what this says about Jesus. That’s a classic blink. And it’s the same blinkers the Pharisees got. And I can’t believe this guy is who he says he is. And what John is wanting us to do, even just for a moment, is take the blinkers off. Say, okay, well, let’s have a fresh look. Let’s look around. What does this say about who Jesus is? Why does he do this miracle? Does he do this miracle? The Pharisees are blinkered. They’ve already made up their mind about who Jesus is. John’s saying, take the blinkers off for a moment, just move those objections aside, take a fresh look at Jesus. And maybe now is a particular time to do that. Maybe you’re thinking about the next step in life. Maybe you’re thinking about heading out into work after uni in the autumn. Maybe you’ve moved. Maybe you’re new here tonight. Maybe you moved to a new place, trying a new church. Maybe the kids have grown up and life just feels a bit different. I think John’s saying, just for a moment, take the blinkers off, take a fresh look at Jesus. This is a man who divides history, who divides opinion. He does things that only God could do, he loves the least and the lost, even those that people just walk by. He turns upside down how we view the world. He say, don’t be like the Pharisees. Don’t make your mind up and put the blinkers on. But just for a moment, take them down and have a fresh look at Jesus. Here’s the second question. Do you need a sight test? Do you need a sight test? I got an email, actually, yesterday from Vision Express. I was like this. It said, your eye test is very overdue. Now, I’ve had lots of these emails over the months and years. They’ve added the word very in because I don’t respond to them. About twelve years ago, I went shopping to Bluewater and it was a bit of a whim, really. I booked an eye test. I thought, this is the kind of thing when you become an adult, you’re kind of thing you’re supposed to do, isn’t it? You don’t have a parent anymore to tell you to go to the dentist or that kind of thing. So book an optician appointment. And the guy did the eye test and said, very sorry, sir, you can’t drive home. What? He said, your eyes are so bad that it would be illegal to let you drive. So Ali had to drive home. I had to get some new glasses and I thought about getting a second opinion. But then I realised, actually, I really couldn’t see very well out of one eye. So it’s probably for the best. And the thing about this, there’s a lot of people in this story who need an eye test who can’t see properly. I mean, you’ve got the blind man for a start. He actually can’t see at the beginning, can he? He can see by the end. Jesus heals him. But also the crowds, they don’t see. There’s that funny verse in verse nine, isn’t it? Some claim that he was. Others said, no, he only looks like him. They don’t even know what the blind man looks like. They’re asking the crowds, is this the man? They said, I don’t know. He looks a bit like him. They can’t see properly. But the problem is, there’s a whole group of people. It’s summed up with the Pharisees. Who really can’t see well at all. And it’s summed up, actually, just beyond our reading, verse 39. Jesus said, he’s talking to his disciples. Afterwards, jesus said, for judgement, I have come into this world so that the blind will see. And those who see will become blind. Do you see the switch route? The blind will see, and those who see will become blind. And both things have happened in this story. The blind man miraculously can see. He goes home. He can see again. But the Pharisees, those who are supposed to see most clearly. They go home blind. Because they don’t see. They don’t understand who Jesus is. They think they know it all. They think they know it better than anyone. And by the end of the story, they’re confused, they’re divided, they don’t see. They sum it up in verse 40. Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this. And asked, what, are we blind too? He’s like, yeah, that’s the point of the story. That’s where Jesus is going here. You think you know it. You think you see, but really you’re blind. Jesus is saying, you can be really smart. You can be really religious, really spiritual. But if you don’t make sense of Jesus. If you don’t come to him as the true light of the world. Then, spiritually speaking, you’re blind. You’re left in the dark. Do you need a sight test? Because if you’re not seeing Jesus clearly. John says it’s time to book an appointment with the spiritual optician. It’s very overdue, perhaps, for some of us. Do we need a sight test? Here’s the third and final question. What will your story be? What will your story be? I love where we ended the reading, Ben. Thank you for reading verse 25. I thought we’d end it there. Because the testimony the blind man sums up so well. The Pharisees are questioning back and forth what happened. Who opened your eyes? Were you really born blind? Tell us the truth. What happened? Verse 25. He replied, whether Jesus is a sinner or not, I don’t know? Well, one thing I do know. I was blind, but now I see. It’s really the most simple and most profound testimony, isn’t it? I don’t know. But the one thing I know is Jesus has changed my life. I couldn’t see, and now I can. You see, when we see Jesus, when we make sense of him, he helps us to make sense of the world. C. S. Lewis summed it up like this. He said, I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. That sense in which when we see Jesus, he helps us to make sense of the rest of the world. And people might come to us. Perhaps we’re new to faith. Perhaps we’re just exploring. People might say, well, Jesus, did he really live? And might say, well, I don’t know. But since I started following him, he’s changed my life. That’s what I know. We might say, did God really make the world in six days? And we say, well, I don’t know, but he’s made me new. I know he’s done that. People might say, isn’t the church full of hypocrites? They might say, I don’t know. Well, I do. Yeah, it is okay. But I’ve actually found this is a place where I can be welcomed and accepted and find a family. That’s my testimony. I don’t know all the answers, but I know that in Jesus, he’s given me a new life. You see, the blind man, he doesn’t care about the politics, the religious debates, the Pharisees. He’s not even sure who Jesus is. Verse 17, he said, he’s a prophet. What he does know is he knows he can see. Jesus has changed his life. And by verse 27, he’s getting really annoyed with him. Do you see that? He says, I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too? Great question. It’s like, why are you bothering me? Do you want to follow him? Why do you care so much about this Jesus? You’re clearly interested. That’s the question for us. What will your story be? His story was, I don’t know. But Jesus changed my life. Will our story be the seeing, the clever, the religious people who end up blind because they don’t really accept Jesus? Or what will be like the blind man we know we don’t know everything we know. Sure, we make mistakes. But we see Jesus who changes me and can change the world. You see, the world really is divided into two kinds of people. Not rich and poor, young and old, men and women, good or bad, sinner and righteous, but those who see Jesus and those who don’t.