Thank The Lord For Eyes Of Faith
We have so many things for which to give thanks: health, the ability to earn a living, good friends, and the opportunity to worship freely. In John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39 a blind man teaches us about Jesus' grace and mercy and how we can pray to Thank The Lord For Eyes Of Faith. February 24, 2008.
The human eye is a marvelous creation of God. But body parts either grow weaker or wear out, and that includes our eyes. Some people have had eye problems at a young age and have needed corrective lenses. Later on come the bifocals or reading glasses. Some have to deal clouded lenses known as cataracts. Some have impaired vision and are considered legally blind or have lost their vision just like the man mentioned in the gospel for the day.
Today we learn a very important truth about our eyes from this man born blind. If we had been born blind as he was, or if one day we lost our sight through disease or an accident, we could still join with him and every believer in Jesus Christ and pray to Thank The Lord For Eyes Of Faith.
Eyes that see the truth about sin
About a half a year before the end of his ministry Jesus visited Jerusalem, the hub of Israelite worship. On the designated rest-and-worship day he saw a man blind from birth. He preformed a miracle and gave the man sight but in a most unusual way. 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” ... So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
A group of religious leaders called Pharisees had for some time been looking for any angle to discredit Jesus. To their warped way of thinking, making mud on the rest-and-worship day was a sin. They concluded, “This Jesus is not a prophet from God because prophets sent by God wouldn’t break our rest-day law.” If you have read through John’s gospel up to this ninth chapter, you would expect that kind of statement from these Pharisees. They had already tried to throw stones at Jesus and had let it be known that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue (John 9:22). Why didn’t they like Jesus? Was he too tall? Too young? Too bold? No! None of those things. They hated him because he told them the truth about their sin. Listen! “If you do not believe that I am the One I claim to be, you will die in your sins”(John 8:24). Quite a sharp poke in their inflated egos, wouldn’t you say? Jesus not only stuck in the knife that exposed sin. He twisted it. “You [Pharisees] belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out his desire ... Because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me!” (John 8:44-45).
Jesus, of course, was absolutely right on target. The Pharisees didn’t think that they were bad enough sinners to need forgiveness from God. They thought that they had special spiritual insights. But in reality they were spiritually blind. They may have had good human eyes, but they did not see the unpleasant truth that if they did not reckon with their own sin, it would stick to them like crazy glue. Jesus had to tell the truth, “Now that you claim you see, your sin remains” (John 9:41b).
So these religious leaders collared the healed blind man and asked, “Do you think this Jesus is from God?” The man said, “Of course! Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this [Jesus] were not from God, he could do nothing”. To that they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. “You were steeped in sin at birth!” Here the Pharisees were right. This man was steeped in sin at birth. The problem is that they refused to see it in themselves. The two little spheres in the sockets of his skull really had nothing to do with his spiritual sight. He needed help to get rid of the guilt and the condemnation sin brings, or he would never be in heaven. “Before this Jesus gave me eyes of faith, I not only could not see trees, birds, and grass. I was also spiritually blind.” This man had learned an important truth. He had something to be thankful for. Even if the truth came from an unlikely source, the Pharisees, he could pray, “Thank you, Lord, for eyes of faith, eyes that see the truth about my sin.”
Doesn’t that sound odd? Giving thanks for seeing sin seems like saying thanks for a poke in the nose. Who needs that? Well, we do! If we don’t see the truth about our sin, we might be foolish enough to take sin lightly and ignore its devastating, damning power. So, if you feel a bit nervous about things you’ve done in the past that were wrong, if you are a bit anxious about whether God can possibly forgive you, don’t be mad at the Lord for this truth like the Pharisees were, but thank the Lord as the healed blind man did. For Jesus came into the world so that [those who know they are spiritually]blind will see and those who[think they have their own spiritual sight]will become blind.
Eyes that see the truth about the Son of Man
If you read the details of this healing miracle from John chapter nine, you would notice that the man born blind found his way to the pool of Siloam, washed the mud from his eyes, and went home seeing. But remember he had never seen Jesus with his new eyesight. When the Pharisees threw him out of their meeting, I have a feeling the man went looking for Jesus. Happily Jesus was looking for him. And when Jesus seeks lost sheep, he finds them and rescues them from the terror of a sin-burdened conscience.
What follows is such a beautiful conversation. You might want to read it over and over this week, especially if you ever have had doubts about the Lord’s love, or if you are chatting with a friend who needs to know the truth about Jesus. When Jesus found the man, 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 is the one speaking with you”. When this man looked at Jesus with newly created physical eyesight, he saw a teacher from Galilee, a preacher, a man. But if he would have only seen Jesus with physical eyes, he would have been no better than the Pharisees.
But this man had come to know that his worst problem in life was not an absence of physical sight. His real problem was an absence of a close connection with God. Jesus gave him that connection. Jesus assured him, “God can show you his love in no better way than by taking your sin away from his sight. That is what I have come to do. I am your Savior.” Now this man saw Jesus with eyes of faith, eyes that saw the truth about the Son of Man, the truth that Jesus is not just a man but also God, the truth that Jesus had divine power to do something about his physical sight, the truth that Jesus has divine power to do something about sin, the truth that Jesus had done something about his sin and declared him to be not guilty. In other words, Jesus demonstrated the truth of the statement he had made earlier to his disciples, “This happened[the man’s blindness]so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, it is necessary that we do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world”. Is there anything better for which to give thanks?
A little later Jesus said, “If you [know you are spiritually] blind, then you will really appreciate being declared to have no sin” (John 9: 41a). That certainly was true for this man. The man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Jesus. The original word for worship tells us that this man did more than shake Jesus’ hand and say thanks. He fell to his knees in a sign of total devotion and love.
What’s the sequel to this account? Did the man remain a believer? We don’t really know. But I’d venture to say that whenever he said his prayers at night, he not only thanked the Lord for the ability to see the candle next to his bed but also thanked the Lord for eyes of faith, eyes that saw the truth about the Son of Man.
We have oh so many things for which to give thanks: health, the ability to earn a living, good friends, the opportunity to worship in a building like this, the possibility of spring coming in three or four months. But nothing can compare to the eyes of faith by which we see the truth about the Son of Man. It is true that many of us learned the truths about Jesus long ago when we were much younger: Jesus is true God, true man, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, went on a victory parade in the devil’s hide-out, rose, made himself invisible to exercise his power for us, and will return in glory. We’ve known these truths since we’re “this big.” But we don’t want to take them for granted. And we won’t when we keep in mind what life would be like without them. We would be spiritually blind, groping through life with no answer to life’s biggest question, “How do I get close to God?” Jesus has given us the answer. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:7). He is the first and last. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. He has exchanged our spiritual blindness for spiritual sight. While many can think of things for which to thank God, things that can be touched or eaten or driven or lived in, we Thank The Lord For Eyes Of Faith, eyes that see the truth about the Son of Man.
How can a person who has stood at the grave of a loved one see through the tears and find comfort? – eyes of faith. How can a single parent see beyond the hectic schedule and constant drain on energy and find the strength to make it day by day? – eyes of faith. How can a divorced person see past the sense of living with a negative stigma and remain spiritually active? –eyes of faith. How can a single person who despairs of finding Mr. or Ms. Right cope? – eyes of faith.
A man I know thanked God every day for the blessings he had received. Included in his list, he said, “Thank You, Lord, for my mind and for my eyes.” But after a time he lost his vision. So at night he prayed, “Thank You, Lord, for my mind and for eyes of faith.” He had learned what the man born blind had learned. Jesus’ love is real. His mercy is now. So, when you are sad and sorrowful, lost and lonely, and feel like God gypped you out of something good, or is too far away, look and see Jesus. He is the Light of the world. He is the Light of your world. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on February 24, 2008
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