All right, we know this story
of the blind man that our Lord healed But there's something
here in it that we have for our text and our subject today so
John 9 1 through 7 and As Jesus passed by he saw a man which
was blind from birth I think the Greeks said from birth on. And his disciples asked him,
saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath
this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him. I must work the works of God,
the works of him that sent me, while it is day. The night cometh
when no man can work. As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat
on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the
eyes of the blind man with the clay. And said unto him, Go wash
in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation sent. He went his way therefore, and
washed, and came seeing. Now Acts 2 and verse 22. Ye men
of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourself also know. Now this text, particularly in
John chapter 9, raises a question or raises an issue or a matter,
one that has troubled many in their Christian experience and
in their life. And that question is, Why is
there so much misery? Why is there so much suffering
in the world? And furthermore, to add to that,
why are some afflicted even from their birth, as soon as they
are born, without living a healthy life? And then it's coming upon
them, but some are so even from their birth. Some ask the question,
if God is a God of love, why are there so many in the world
that are born into misery and into danger? Now this is particularly,
does trouble the mind of many. And some are openly critical
of God for such things. If God is a God of mercy and
of love, why does he allow all of these things to come into
the world? Here's this man in our text,
blind at birth. Think about that. blind from
birth on, blind when he was born. This man grew up, as it were,
in darkness and had never seen the face or the outline of his
parents at all, or his family, or any of his friends all of
his life. He had been in that condition.
And it was not injury, and it was not sickness or disease or
violence that had robbed him of his sight. He was born in
that condition. That means that he had never
seen colors in all of his life. He'd never seen a rainbow or
a sunset, if I might wax poetical. He'd never seen the beautiful
face of a maiden in all of his life. and the disciples asked
the Lord about it. Why? Whose sin? Whose fault is
it that this man has been born without sight? Now, some are
of the opinion that chapter 8 simply flows over chapter 9 and that
is the Lord left the temple in the end of chapter 8 to keep
from being stoned because the Jews were enraged at his claim
and that he existed before Abraham was. Before Abraham was, I am. So he and his party passed out
of the temple, and as they passed and went on their way, they saw
a man that was blind. Whether this man had come there
to beg, or for some religious observant at the temple, or where
they passed him somewhere upon the way we are not told, and
therefore we cannot know that situation concerning the man. However, here in our text, John
gives us a very pertinent fact that we dwell on heavily, and
that is that this man again was born blind from the womb, born
without sight. And this seems to be known by
the disciple. It seems to be that they were
acquainted with the fact that this man had been blind all of
his life. And that was part of their question
in the second verse, that he was born blind. Now the condition
of this man prompted the question, and their question gave an occasion
to the Lord to turn it into what we might refer to as a teachable
moment. Now here's their question again
as we look at it. They said to him, master or rabbi
or teacher, who is it that did sin? Who sinned that this man,
as a result of that, was born blind? And they raised two possibilities
concerning the man. Number one, was it the man himself? Had this man sinned in some way
that he was born blind as a judgment of God, as they infer. Or secondly,
they say, could it have been his parent? Or they assume that
it must have been one or the other. And they make the connection
between sin and spiritual affliction being the judgment of God against
one. You might remember in Isaiah
chapter 53, that great prophecy. It tells us there that when the
Jews saw that the Lord Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows and
that he was acquainted with grief, then they assumed that he was,
quote, stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53 and
And verse 4, they have figured that the hand of God was upon
the Lord. Now, the Lord's answer makes
the way for our study today. And verse 3 has two parts. Neither this man sinned, nor
the parents of him having sinned, as the direct cause of this man
being blind from birth on. Now, the Lord's not denying original
sin when he said neither this man nor his parents have sinned
and he's not denying indwelling depravity and the question does
not necessitate that and he's not ascribing impeccability either
to the parent or to the man. For all have sinned and come
short. There is none righteous, no,
not one. But as we know, our depravity
comes not just and only from our immediate or our biological
parents. True, all parents are sinful
and are a channel of human depravity. But as the Puritan Thomas Goodman
put it, they are but the instruments of conveying it. We trace depravity
all the way back to our first father, Adam, and our first mother,
Eve. Now, Christ finishes his answer
in the end of the third verse. Not on account of sin was he
born blind, but he was born blind in order that the works of God
might be manifest in him. God ordained it so and worked
it out in his providence that the works of God might be manifest
in him. That a mighty work of God might
be done in this man who had endured his affliction all the days of
his life, and that God might be glorified, that the Lord Jesus
Christ might be seen as one who has been sent from God. So how plain is the answer of
our Lord. This man being born blind, the
works of God will be manifested in him. Now, At this point, let's
flip to John chapter 11 and verse 4 and bring in another light
text of much the same sentiment. John 11 and verse 4, when Jesus
heard, that is, he heard that Lazarus was sick and seriously
sick and perhaps sick unto death, when Jesus heard that, he said,
this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now let's set the context
in which this is found. Word is brought to the Lord,
as Brother Mike spoke last week, word is brought unto the Lord
that one of his beloved was gravely ill and the family was concerned
about it. Lazarus of Bethany, a friend
of Christ and a brother of the disciple, brother of Mary and
of Martha, a family that our Lord loved and had been entertained
in their home. Having received the message,
which the disciples may also have heard, the Lord said, this
sickness is not on today. Now what's the Lord mean? Lazarus
did die. It actually took him away. Lazarus not only died but he
was even buried and in the grave under the fourth day when our
Lord arrived in that city. How then does the Lord say this
sickness is not under death when Lazarus actually did die? But our Lord said look, Death
is not the finality of that sickness. Death is not the final issue
with this sickness. Now, I know there are some commentators
who understand the Lord to be saying this. This sickness is
not unto eternal death. But I think we look at the context,
and it does not give any support for that view. The ultimate end
of the sickness was not or did not stop at the death of the
body of Lazarus, but the sickness and even the death was in order
to bring glory unto God. In raising Lazarus back to life,
his death by sickness would be an occasion of the glory of God. And it would be a greater manifestation
of the power of God and the glory of God to raise Lazarus back
to life after four days than it would to have cured his sickness
and deny him to go down into the jaws of death. To keep him
from dying would not have been as great a miracle as to let
him die, smolder in the grave, and then cause him to stand up
upon his feet and be home again. Just as it seemed, there's more
power and glory in giving a man sight who had never seen than
one who had lost his sight somewhere along the way. Better to create
sight than to restore sight in the man in our first text. And
the two things are undeniable. Lazarus was dead and buried,
a fact to which many could and did attest. And the man blind
was so from birth and was known by many friends and neighbors
and those in the city. Now, concerning the two miracles,
let us not miss a point here in dealing with it. which is
the length of verses in the scripture that are given to each one of
these miracles. The whole 9th chapter of John
is taken up with this man born blind and given sight. Not only
that, but all of the 11th chapter Part of the 12th chapter is wrapped
around the incident with Lazarus being raised back to life again,
and the actions taken against the two men who were the recipients
of these great blessings of the Lord. Notice what they did. A,
they excommunicated the man who had been born blind, and given
his sight by the Lord. You'll find that in John chapter
9 verse 35. They cast out of the synagogue
any that confessed that Jesus was the Christ. And they questioned
the legitimacy of the miracle because it was done on the Sabbath
day. They said this man's a sinner.
He transgresses the Sabbath day He cannot be of God, and then
be. And the chief priest plotted
to put Lazarus to death after the Lord had raised him up. It
gave such glory to God. People began to believe who saw
it and knew about it. And so they wanted to kill Lazarus
and put him in the grave again, John chapter 12 and verse 10. how often in the works of Jesus
the same miracle would cause some to believe and others to
blaspheme. The very same miracle done by
the very same one at the very same time. But now let's put
the two things together side by side. John 9 and verse 3. Neither hath this man sinned
or his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest
in him. John 11 and verse 4. The sickness
is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of
God might be glorified thereby. Now in the first he speaks of,
quote, the works of God being manifest in the man born blind,
in the third verse. So let's focus on something which
the Lord emphasized but that we might overlook in reading
in the New Testament scripture. Here is something we meet with
several times in the ministry of our Lord. So look again at
chapter 9 and verse 4 and verse 5. I must work the works of him
that sent me while it is day, the night cometh when no man
can work. As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world. Over in John 11, 9, and 10, you'll
find something kind of like that again. Jesus answered with regard
to what he would do to Lazarus, are there not 12 hours in the
day? If a man walk in the day, he
stumbles not because he see the light of this world. But if a
man walk in the night, he stumbles because there is no light in
him. We need to catch that message
of what our Lord is conveying there. That he hath a set time
to work, he hath a set number of works to do, he must work
them while it is day, for the night would come and he would
be no more among men in the earth. So let's put together John 9,
verse 3, that the works of God might be manifest in him. And
John 11, in verse 4, I must work the works of him that sent me. Now, this is a clear declaration,
I believe, by the Lord that he had a definite set of works to
do upon the earth. That there were those things
that were ordained before the world. There were those things
that were to be done by him to the glory of God. A definite
set of works to do, notice, while I am upon the earth. And David
Brown, who wrote on the Gospels, put it like this, every particular
arrange and laid out to him, unquote, everything that our
Lord was to do, marked out by the sovereign and omnipotent
and omniscient God. Remember what Luke wrote, the
son of man goes as it was determined. I must work the works of him
that sent me. So no doubt, each work had its
time, had its place, had its occurrence, And these would be
done on the earth, and they would terminate when he died upon the
cross and then ascended back into heaven. Not that he ceased
to work when he went back to heaven. Oh, no, not at all. But
let's put some other scripture with this, the works of our Lord,
which he is emphasizing. After he had opened the eyes
of that Samaritan woman, we read in John chapter 4 verse 34, Jesus
said unto them, that is to his disciple, my meat is to do the
will of him that sent me and to finish the work. Now this
will become clearer when it is viewed in the context of John
chapter 4, which, as you know, concerns the Lord's providential
meeting with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. The disciples
had gone away into the city that they might purchase food, and
Jesus, being weary with his journey, sat there on the casing of Jacob's
well. And the woman came, and our Lord,
while they were absent, led her to believe that he was the Messiah,
saying to her, I am he. And when the disciples returned,
they were very surprised that the Lord was conversing with
a woman, and they brought food and they implored the Lord to
eat. They prayed him that he might
eat. And notice his response. John 4 and verse 32. I have meat to eat that you know
not of. Then look at verse 34 again. Jesus said unto them, My meat
is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his works. And one of the works of the father
was to meet and to convert this half-breed Samaritan woman who
was now living with her sixth man in all of her life. I guess the politically correct
term would be to refer to this woman as mixed race instead of
what I just said. But the Lord worked a work in
her and she believed upon him and Christ through her testimony
and others also believe. When she went into the city and
said, is not this the Christ, the man who told me all that
ever I did. So how significant is John 4
and 4? He must needs go through Samaria. Now those weak on the sovereignty
of God would be satisfied to understand this from a geographical
standpoint, that it was the shortest way that he might go from one
place unto another. There's another purpose that
drove it. He must needs go through Samaria. And part of that necessity
concern the woman of Samaria, a sort of a first fruits if you
will of that place and time, a part of the work of God that
had been given unto him to do. Now, by the way, when we consider
the words of the Lord in John chapter 4, verse 35 through verse
42, where we won't read it, but he uses there a metaphor from
nature or from agriculture, that of sowing and of harvest and
of reaping and of labors and of rewards and such like. He spiritualizes that and he
applies it to the conversion of the Samaritans which were
near at hand because of the testimony of the woman. And David Brown
put it like this, it refers to the, quote, rightness of those
torturites, those that live in that city. Ready for the sickle,
said David Brown, unquote. As the woman went and testified,
Some began to come to hear and to see this man, and to that
our Lord said, the fields are white unto harvest. Twice we
read, many believe. Verse 39 and verse 41. First of all, they believed because
of the testimony of the woman, and then they heard the Lord
and believed himself. John Gill on these words wrote,
that the Lord, from physical food, proceeds to speak to them
of spiritual food, and from a literal harvest, he speaks to them of
a spiritual one." As in verse 36, gathering fruit, that is,
unto eternal life. Gathering fruit, gathering fruit
through the gospel. Now, what a work. was this which
God ordained for his son to do and to perform, and what fruit
it did bear when our Lord had done this great work of God. Now, one more observation before
we leave John 4. Consider the vessel that the
Lord used to harvest the spiritual crop of these Samaritans who
were mongrels and renegades from the worship of Judaism. Not a
man, but a woman. Not the mayor of the city, not
a magistrate or some respected leader or citizen, but a woman
And that with a very bad reputation. This woman could rival Zsa Zsa
Gabor and Elizabeth Taylor in number of husbands. But the Lord
did a great and a mighty work through this vessel whom God
had chosen. Now, let's look at John 5 as
we find that further mentions of the works which the Father
had assigned unto the Son. In John 5, 1 through 16, you
have the record of the healing of the man with an ailment or
an infirmity, some debilitating crippleness or illness. For 38
years, this poor man had been in that condition there at the
pool, that he might jump in when the waters were troubled and
be healed. And the Lord healed him. And
the Jew criticized the Lord again because it was done on the Sabbath
day. In verse 17, Jesus answered,
My father works until now, and I work. Now get the tension.
My father works until now and I work. This includes the healing
of the sick or the lame or the impotent man. The father has
constantly worked And he has worked, including on the Sabbath. God is at work on the Sabbath,
upholding and governing the world, giving life and breath and all
such things unto all, saving souls through and on the Sabbath
day and such like. But he said, and I also work. Now, not that the father stopped
working when the son began or entered upon him, but that the
Son is working with or in conjunction or in the will of the Father. Hutchinson described this in
this way, not in one work alone or one time only, but in all
works and without intermission, unquote. You'll call the works
of Christ, quote, a coefficient cause, unquote, of the works
of God. In other words, the works of
Christ are also the works of God. God is working in and through
and by Christ while he is in the flesh and in the world. Then listen to John 5 and verse
36. The work which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness
of me that the Father hath sent me. There is something also to
notice in connection with a subject, in that the two words might be
used interchangeably, or at least in very close meaning. And that
is the word work and the word will, to finish the work, the
will of my father. and therefore they go together
in John 4 and verse 34. My meat is to do the will of
Him that sent me and to finish His work. And the qualifiers
there are to do the will of Him and literally to be doing to
finish the works of Him. That I might finish the complete
and accomplish the works consummating them which the Father hath given
me to do. If we go to John chapter 6 and
verse 37 through verse 40, I would imagine you are familiar with
it. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven. not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth on him,
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. John 5.30, I seek not mine own
will, but the will of the Father that sent me. And the word will
has the meaning of determination or purpose or decree, or pleasure,
or choice, or volition, that will of the Father. Now, let's
turn, if we might, to the most definitive text that we might
find in regarding to the works of the incarnate Son of God,
to be performed in the world. And that would be John 17 and
the fourth verse. Now this is part of the Lord's
Prayer on the eve of his death. And the verse says this, I have
glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do." Notice the two things. I've glorified
you on the earth. I have finished the work that
you gave me to do. Now this is but a small part
of the Lord's great prayer. Some call it the Lord's Prayer.
Some have called it the intercessory prayer. Some have called it his
high priestly prayer. But it follows the farewell discourses
given to the disciples in the upper room in verses 13 through
verse 16. I'm sorry, chapters 13 through
chapter 16 of John. He begins his prayer in John
17, Father, the hour is come. Glorify the Son that the Son
might glorify Thee. Now, this prayer, as it were,
and get this, marks a great transition. This prayer is a great transition. The son is about to be offered
up. He is about to lay down his life. And the old economy come to an
end, and the son return again unto the father. So the two things. I have glorified thee on earth. Everything he did. I have finished
the work that you gave me to do. The entire work to be done. in the flesh. Every one of those
works had been done. The entire work. Every ordained
miracle had been completed according to the will of God. Every leper
that God ordained to be cleansed had been clean. Every blind eye
had been opened that the Lord had so ordained. Every demon
had been expelled that was the will of God. Every disease had
been cured. Every storm had been quieted. Every dead one had been raised
that God had ordained to live again. Every lame limb made whole. A woman healed of an issue of
blood. The apostles had been called and trained and put in
their place. Many had been made believers.
The Lord had read the hearts of so many that came before him.
A hungry multitude had been fed with a little boy's small lunch.
Every parable had been put forth. Every scripture had been opened.
Every prophecy had been fulfilled. Judas the traitor had been exposed. The Jerusalem entry had been
completed. Blessings had gone upon some
of the Gentile. He had walked on the water. He
turned ordinary water into wine at a wedding. He had exposed
the hypocrisy and the tradition of the Jew. He had foretold Israel's
coming rejection by the Lord. He had healed a lunatic. He caused
a great catch of fish. And I could go on and on. For
as John said, if all the things that the Lord did were written
in a book, they would fill the books of all of the world. But by the way, from the two
cases of the blind man and of Lazarus, we learn that these
things were ordained by the sovereignty of God. That means that a man
endured years of blindness, and it means that Lazarus got sick
and died and grieved his family, his sister and his friend, so
that the Lord Jesus Christ could work the work of God in them
and glorify his father for such like things were put in place
and brought to pass as the works of God to be done by Christ and
in another study of miracles we'll have to walk over that
again and the works given to the son by the father were unique
and to his earthly ministry and culminated each one of them in
a great work before he offered himself up as the greatest work,
offering himself up unto God as a sacrifice, where again,
he said, John 19 and 30 some of his dying words were it is
Finished remember what he said in the prayer I have finished
the works that you gave me to do and yet his dying was ahead
and as he dismissed his spirit it is Finished he died as the
final work that God had given him to do upon the earth and
all agreed to do and all that he agreed to do. All of that
had been given him and assigned to him in the eternal everlasting
covenant as the mediator of the new covenant he had done. It
was not defeat when he died, but it was victory. It was triumphant
victory when our Lord died upon the tree. For consider, the serpent's
head is bruised. The law is fulfilled, its curse
is endured. To the satisfaction of God, redemption
is complete. Out of Daniel, he has finished
the transgression and made an end of sin and brought in everlasting
righteousness. By one offering, He has perfected
forever the sanctified ones, Hebrews 10 and 14. He has put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself, Hebrews 9 and verse 26. He's destroyed the works
of the devil, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 8. And he has reconciled
sinners again unto God, 2 Corinthians 5, 19 and 20. He has fulfilled
all of the types that were set out to prefigure him, and all
of the scriptures, the prophecies of scripture, have met in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And as one David Brown put it,
quote, of the ancient economy is now taken down and the new
way is born." This was demonstrated in those things that occurred
in connection with the dying of our Lord at Golgotha upon
the cross. And what happened? As our Lord
was dying, never a man died like our Lord died. Never those accompaniments
at another man's death. When our Lord died, the sun was
dark for three hours over all of the earth. There were earthquakes
nearby as our Lord was hanging up on the cross. Rocks actually
split in two. Graves were opened. when our
Lord died, and one of the greatest of all miracles or signs when
our Lord died was the renting of the veil in the Jewish temple. As our Lord gave up his life,
as he said, it is finished and dismissed his spirit, we read
at that exact time the veil in the temple was rent from top
down to bottom. Matthew 27, 51, Mark 15, and
verse 38. Judaism, the ceremonial law,
beastly sacrifices, days, times, months, seasons, temple worship,
the Levitical priesthood, all died when our Lord died upon
the cross. Now, a final passage, just mention
it because in that study of miracles we'll come on it again, but Acts
2 and 22, a man approved of God among you by signs, miracles,
and wonders, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye
yourself also know. Those two on Emmaus Road in Luke
24 and verse 19 made a good observation. They referred to him, quote,
a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and the people. That was Jesus. That was their
view of him. John 14, verse 11. Believe me
that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe
me for the very works sake." Those works are very important
and a part of the ministry of our Lord. For no man can do these
things, to quote Nicodemus, except God be with him, except he be
come from God. And these things are an attestation
that this is he. He answers the prophecy. He answers
the prediction. This is he who works the works
of God, which cannot be denied and which are an evidence of
his great person and being and ministry and mission.