You are called to stop letting your circumstances or past mistakes cloud the reality of your identity in Christ. Take a moment today to speak these declarations over your life, asking God to open your eyes to His transforming presence. Trust that His word is more real than what you see with your own eyes.
And they threw him out. And then finally, this is this is great. So Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. And when he found him, he said, do you believe in the "son of man"? Who is he, sir?
The man asked. Tell me so that I may believe in him. Jesus said, you have seen him. In fact, he's the 1 speaking to you. Then the man said, Lord, I believe.
And he worshiped him worshiped him. Jesus said, for judgment I have come into this world so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind. Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and said, what? Are we blind too? And Jesus said, if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin.
But now that you claim to see, your guilt remains. How ironic is it that the man who was born blind gets to see, and yet, the people who could see are the ones that are actually blind. But see, Jesus does a double miracle for this man, doesn't he? Because not only does he get to see his family again, not only does he not only is his brain all of a sudden bombarded with all these beautiful images, he gets to see the sunrise again. He gets to see the sunset, all the buildings and the locations that he had just felt, and the sounds that he had heard, the food that he had tasted.
He can see all of those things now. Not only did he get those, but now he's been saved. God opened the eyes of his heart. And the Pharisees who thought they could see, who thought they knew Jesus saying, you guys have been blind all along. And so, if we're looking, we we wanna go back to the beginning.
Right? John, if we're looking at John-9 right here, what happened a little bit before this? Right? So just a little bit before this, I don't have this on the screen, but Jesus was almost stoned to death. Okay?
So because Jesus, he's saying all sorts of crazy stuff like, I'm God, you know. I'm the Savior, and they're like, oh, no, no, no. This guy needs to die. Right? So if if even if we look the verse right before this, 8 59 says, at this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself.
So Jesus is on the run. Okay? And during this time, okay, so in John-7 and then culminating right here to verse 9 was the Feast of the Tabernacles. This was a big feast in which they were celebrating how God was taking care of the Israelites during the 40 years when they were in the desert. Okay?
And then Jesus said something super controversial. Again, that's what Jesus does. Okay? And he says it was it says right here, John-7:37, on the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Anyone who's thirsty come to me and drink.
And so there is there's another correlation I want to connect here because when Jesus says go to the Pool Of Siloam, right, it means sent during the feast of tabernacles. Alright? The Pharisees and the priests, they would ceremonially, they would scoop water out of the Pool Of Siloam, and they would pour it on the altar. Right? In reference to that God was taking care of them and there was provision.
And when Jesus does this miracle, he sends the man who was blind to the Pool Of Siloam to be healed. And John is connecting the 2 things. Jesus is the 1 that gives us, that quenches our thirst. He is the 1 who heals us, and he's like connecting that to the feast of tabernacles. He is the fulfillment of everything that we have been asking for.
And he did it for them, and he is the fulfillment of everything in the human heart that we could ever desire. Amen? Amen. But we let's go really to the beginning. Look.
Let's go to John-9 because it starts off with the question. The disciples asked the question, who sinned? The man or his parents? You can tell a lot about a person, what they believe, by the questions that they ask. It's true.
And you can learn a lot about what people assume to be true by the questions that they ask. Because they did not ask, was this a result of direct sin? No. They already assumed. Right?
They already assumed that somebody had to be at fault for this man's ailment. This was very popular. This was a very popular, idea during Jesus' time. That anything that you were going through, any sickness, any tragedy, any possible thing that is going wrong in your life is directly your fault because you have sinned against God, and now God is punishing you for that. That doesn't sound like my God.
What God is that? Because the question now comes, okay, is God good or not? Is he a good God? Because what they're referencing, that sounds like some pagan God. Right?
Sounds more like karma to me in which anything that you do is counted against you. You have to do more good things than bad things so that you can get whatever it is in the afterlife. And so Jesus right here, he ends up correcting their theology. And he's doing it back then, and he's still doing it today. So when I was in the sixth grade, many, many moons ago, there was there was a there was a it was a crazy year when I was in the sixth grade because we had 2 major accidents and hospital visits that we went through.
My brother and my dad I have a younger brother, Thaddeous. Him and my dad, they were driving around the back roads of North Carolina, and my dad ended up flipping the truck in a ditch. And my daddy hurt his back. My younger brother, Thaddeous, he got the brunt of the damage. He had a nasty gash wound in his head, and his hand was really messed up.
He had a cast. He had to go through some surgery to get those things, you know, fixed. I just remember after the surgery, him just crying a lot, right, because he was in such pain. He's okay now. I mean, maybe not in the head, but I'm his brother, so I can say that.
But he's okay now. But at that time, that was scary. A few months later, I ended up in the hospital. My appendix had to be removed. Right?
So 2 major surgeries in a short amount of time. Our family was just it was crazy. 1 of my relatives calls my mother up, and she says, you need to repent because what's happening right now is a result of your sin. You've done something wrong. My mother, okay, who thank God she knew the word, okay, she said, how dare you?
This is not a result of anything bad that we've done. This is just tragedies that have happened, okay, And we're gonna get through this. So she knew she didn't take that and accept it because that was a perception of man. Right? Yeah.
But she was able to reference what she grew up with, the foundation that had been laid in her life, and knew this is not God causing this to happen because of what I've done. This is a result of a "broken world". And so Jesus right here is correcting their theology. Okay? In verse 3, he says, "neither the parents or the man sinned".
And Jesus says 2 things in this statement. First, he debunks the myth that every misfortune is your fault or your parents' sin. And we need to let that sink in for a second. Okay? Because there's some of you in here that think that God is punishing you.
That the things that he that are happening is because, oh, it's my fault. Look, we know there is reaping and sowing. Right? Sometimes there are consequences because of decisions that we make that stuff happens. But look, when there is a loss of a loved 1, when there's an illness, where there just seems like so much randomness, right, random suffering that happens in the world, that is not God.
That is the fall of man. And it goes back to the question, is God good? Do you believe that God is good or not? Because a good God does not cause those things to happen. But what does Jesus say next?
He says, this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. The disciples see sin, don't they? They see trouble. They see who did this. This is their fault.
Jesus sees an opportunity. Because Jesus is looking through the "eyes of heaven", and that is the perception and the reality that we need to be looking through every single time. Because that's where healing and miracles come. That's where restoration comes, looking through the eyes of Jesus. And so our problems may often be an opportunity for the display of God in our lives.
We can either look at every tragedy and trial that we face as a punishment from God, or we can say, God, I'm in pain right now. Why did this happen? I don't know. But God, what can you do with this?
Yeah. Amen. That's good.
That's right. Because I can't do anything with this. All I have is sorrow, my heart's broken. But God, here you go, and do what only you can do. Because as humans, we're faulty.
We we've we make mistakes. But with God, all things are possible and he works everything for his good. And so this is right off the bat. This is at the very beginning on what Jesus is doing. Right?
And then, next, Jesus does something quite unusual. He spits in the dirt, hawks a couple fat loogies right there. That's what I see. Right? That's in my mind.
He makes some mud patties, slaps it on his face. Okay? And he's like, go over to the Pool Of Siloam and wash off. It's it's so weird. Why would he do that?
Could he not have just healed him right there? He did that for other people. We see it through the scriptures. He laid hands on people. He just spoke a word.
But God is God. He can do whatever he wants. He could have sneezed in his face and healed him. But here's the big thing that we noticed. Okay?
Because we know actually historically where the Pool Of Asylum is. Alright? It was found in 2005 uncovered. And so from the temple because remember Jesus, he was about to be stoned. Right?
And so he was in the temple, and he's walking out of the temple, and he sees this guy that is that's blind from birth, and the Pool Of Siloam is about a quarter of a mile away. And so Jesus says, you go and wash off over there. How did he get there? He's blind. So either he's gotta ask somebody for help, okay, or he's gotta go there on his own.
Either way, someone's gotta take him or he's got to get there. Alright? And that's about a 10 to 15 minute walk from an able-bodied person. But from a blind person, it could take even longer. But notice what the scripture says right here.
Okay? This man does not debate. He does not ask questions. He obeys while he's still blind. without obedience, there is no faith.
It could have there could have been so many thoughts running through his head. You know, why am I doing this? Why am I going this way? Am I going the right way? I have no idea.
Maybe this is not going to work. Maybe I should turn around. Somebody get this gross stuff off my face. You know what? Maybe I'm there.
I don't even know what distance. I can't see anything. Okay? But here's a conversation that he didn't have with Jesus. He didn't say to Jesus, hey, is there any other way that you could do this?
Any possible other way. Okay? I'm not into germs. I don't drink out of other people's cups. Could you not use spit to I mean, any other way that you can accomplish your purposes in my life, please, and I'll do that.
Just not this. That didn't happen. Because when you are desperate enough for a miracle, it does not matter what God does or what he calls you to do. You are willing to do it no matter what, so you could see the fulfillment of what he's called you to do.
Come on. So
what is your pool of "Siloam today"? Because there are times God is gonna be pointing you in a direction. Okay? You're gonna have spit on your eyes. You're gonna be covered in mud.
You don't know what's happening. All you know, he he said, that way. And then there's the faith that God said it, so I'm gonna do it. And so this man is healed. How amazing is that?
Now, the interesting part also comes, it doesn't say Jesus went with him. Right? It just says he went to the pool, he was washed, and then he went home. So this man is healed. Awesome.
Great. End of story. Perfect. Right? Not quite.
This will be a great stopping point, but it doesn't end there, does it? Because the miracle that Jesus did in his life actually cost him something. Because now he can see amazing, but people don't even believe that he's been healed. We can look at 3 different situations of the people he interacts with. We look at the neighbors.
The neighbors are debating in front of him, is this the guy? No, he's not the guy. He just looks like the guy. They don't even know who he is. And he's like, I'm the guy.
I'm right here standing in front of you. He probably was sitting in that area outside the temple, could have been for decades. And people were passing him by. Time and time again, he became familiar. And then from familiar, he became invisible.
And nobody cared anymore, not knowing that this guy needed a healing. That this guy there needed to be a life change, but his identity now was wrapped up in being blind because that's how he's always been, and that's how he's always gonna be until Jesus comes. And Jesus changes his entire existence from blind from birth now to being able to see. So the neighbors, they don't recognize them. You know what?
That might actually be something that we look at because how many people in our life do we pass all the time, constantly? We interact with the same people over and over again, and they just become familiar and invisible, and we don't even think that person needs Jesus. Can I pray for you? What can what's going on in your life? This is what I believe.
What do you believe? A couple weeks ago, had some people across the street move in. Okay? Neighbors. And we see outside, they have a little girl, and she's driving in a little jeep in circles in their yard.
And I'm like, I'm gonna have to we're gonna end up talking with them. You know, they have a little girl that's about the same age as Vivian. They're gonna wanna play together. Sure enough, guess what? They started playing together.
Right? And we started having a conversation. Of course, Rachel got over there first, and once I get over there, realize she's already talking about that we're children's pastors. Right? And because we got our side in our yard, and that's our church.
That's what we do. Amen. Awesome. So that's the first interaction. They know they know who we are, where we're from.
And then the next interaction, you know, the kids, they're playing outside on a Saturday, and again, they're out and about, and the guy comes over, the dad, I forgot his name, that's terrible, so I'm going to have to figure that out. 1 of these days, he's my neighbor. And have a conversation. We're talking about random stuff. Right?
We're talking about Marvel movies, we're talking about wrestling. Right? We're just, you know, "guy stuff". Okay? Girls can like it too, but you know, you know what I'm talking about.
So then he's he references that 1 of the reasons why they moved here is because their youngest daughter, she is deaf, and she they've been taking her to some of the hospitals in the area. All of a sudden, senses start tingling. Uh-oh. You're going have to pray for this guy. And it wasn't even wasn't even a question.
I said, oh, yeah. So right we're we're about to break off. Right? We're about to because the kids, they're making a mess. Right?
So we gotta take them away and take them inside, take a shower or something. I said, hey, Do you mind if I pray for your daughter? Sure. Jesus, open her ears that you would heal her in Jesus' name. And he goes, cool.
Thanks. Went went across the street. Haven't heard anything back, but I'll tell you what, we're going have another conversation. And now, he knows, oh, they're those type of Christians. They believe in healing.
They believe in Jesus. Now, that's again, that's me looking on the outside, and that's not how I should be looking at things. Right? Because, look, it doesn't matter what anybody thinks, We stand firm on what God says and what we believe. We believe in healing.
We believe in prophecy. We believe in the gifts of the spirit. All that stuff is actually for today. And if anybody asks, we're gonna say, yeah, let me pray for you. Because that's what we believe.
So the neighbors, they they didn't believe him, but he was healed. His testimony was powerful, and he said, I am the guy. And it starts off with, they asked him, they said, who was the 1 that healed you? And he said, it was the man they called Jesus. Notice as we're going, there's gonna be a progression because God is revealing himself to this man as he goes along because next is his parents.
His parents, they don't they don't want anything to do with him. Think about this. This guy has been blind. He's never seen his parents before. And then all of a sudden, Jesus does a miracle, but his parents are more concerned about church membership being a part of the tabernacle.
They don't want to get kicked out, so they stiff arm their son, and they say, look, okay, he's our son. He was born blind. Other than that, I don't know. You talk to him. And so the neighbors don't believe his parents, they're like, forget.
We we don't wanna you he is now associated with Jesus because of a miracle that's happened. And because of that, now his parents, they don't want anything to do with him. But see, during this time, this guy, there is this boldness. There is this boldness that comes across because now he's arguing with the Pharisees. Who is this guy?
We don't even know his name. But all we know is he's willing to challenge because God did something in his life, and he says, I was blind, but now I see. And that is greater, and that's more powerful than anything that you can tell me Because they're saying Jesus was a sinner. He couldn't have done this. They're saying tell the truth.
They don't believe that he's been healed. And then they ask him again. They say, who was this? Who do you think this man is? And now he says, he's a prophet.
So he was a man to the neighbors. To the Pharisees, he's now a prophet. So it's getting a little bit clearer, isn't it? God is showing himself to him. He under fire, under pressure, all of a sudden, it's revealing what he believes.
Something that pastor David says all the time, when trials and tribulations squeeze you, what's gonna come out? Is it gonna be Jesus? Because this man was tried after something amazing happened, and what comes out is a revelation and a clear picture of who Christ is. Because then at the very end, he's kicked out of the synagogue. He never saw anything in the synagogue ever.
He got a chance to be inside this place. And now, almost immediately, he's kicked out. Neighbors don't believe him. His parents don't want anything to do with him. But Jesus takes the initiative.
Didn't he take the initiative in our lives? Isn't that just like Jesus? That Jesus now comes to find him. And it says right here, this is this is great. He says, Jesus heard that they had thrown him out.
And when he found him, he said, do you believe in the son of man? Who is he, sir? He didn't say his name. He didn't say, oh, it's Jesus. He doesn't even know who's talking to him because Jesus didn't go with him to the pool.
Jesus sent him to the pool, and then he went home. Tell me so that I may believe in him. And Jesus says, you have now seen him. In fact, he is the 1 speaking to you. Then the man said, Lord, I believe.
He sees him now. He's right in front of him. There's no doubts. Jesus said it, and he believes it. And he begins to worship him.
He started off as a man. He's just a man. Oh, he's a prophet. He's that's an upgrade. Now, he's my savior.
He's the 1 who we've been waiting for, and he worshiped him. And it ends with the Pharisees. Right? The Pharisees are watching this. They're like, what's going on here?
We shouldn't be worshiping. He's a man. And Jesus said, look, I've come that the blind would see, and those that see would actually be revealed that they are actually blind. You know, in Revelation-3:17, Jesus you know, God is talking to the church and he says, you say, I'm rich. I've acquired wealth and do not need a thing, but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
God, that we would not be any of those things. That you would open our eyes. That we would not be too religious. That we would not just want the head knowledge of this word, that we would actually be blinded because it's not about knowing the word, it's about living the word. It's about becoming the word and doing what's necessary for that to happen.
It's having to spit mud patties on our eyes and taking the steps where we don't know quite where we're going, just that Jesus said that way. So I want to finish with this church because we started with the declaration. I want to end with the declaration, but I want you to do what kids church does, and I want you to repeat it after me. So we'll start line by line, starting off with, I'm a child of God. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Jesus' blood paid for everything.
Jesus' blood paid for everything.
Nothing can separate me from his love.
Nothing Nothing can can separate separate me me from from his his love. Love.
With God, all things are possible. With God, all things are possible. His presence is transforming my life.
His presence is transforming my life.
Do you believe it? And if you if you come to the point where any of those lines, you're like, there's just something in you that just doesn't feel like it's true. You talk to him, and you say, God, I want this truth. I want this reality in my life over anything that's going on. Because there is something that is greater than what we see.
It is the reality of heaven.
Amen. 1
of these days, we're gonna bring the kids up and they're gonna lead you in that. Alright. So be looking for that in the future. Amen? Amen.
Amen. Great job, pastor Chevy.