God Isn't Finished With You
Tony Nester
John 9:1-41
Jesus did what no good Jew would do. He broke the Sabbath day rules. He did it more than once - his Sabbath violations were no fluke. Today we're turning to what I think is the most dramatic case of Sabbath breaking of all - Jesus opens the eyes of a man born blind. The story is told in John's Gospel, chapter 9.
It's a long chapter - 41 verses. And by the end of it, this man is expelled from his synagogue, and most likely his parents with him, Jesus is condemned by the Jewish teachers as a brazen sinner. And if you read between the lines, Jesus disciples are bewildered by what he has just done. Their full understanding of it will have to wait until after Jesus' death and resurrection. This 9th Chapter of John's Gospel is John's way of saying, "Now we get it. Here's why Jesus did this. He opened our eyes as well."
There was nothing wrong, of course, with a blind man gaining his sight. God could open or close eyes as He pleased. This case was unusual in that the man had been born bind - but still, God could do as he wanted with the man. The Pharisees accepted that possibility - however unlikely. "Give glory to God," they instructed the blind man who was now staring them in the face. If he had done that, then that would have satisfied the Pharisees. So it wasn't that the man had been healed, it was when and how he was healed.
This happened on the Sabbath. And the Sabbath for Jews was a day when no work was to be done. That's one of the Ten Commandments: remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you can work, but on the 7th day, no work is to be done.
Why? Because God completed the work of Creation in six days. He began his work by creating light, and then went on to separate the water from the dry land. He placed the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. He brought forth the trees and plants, he made the fish of the sea and the animals on the earth. And then, to cul ...
Tony Nester
John 9:1-41
Jesus did what no good Jew would do. He broke the Sabbath day rules. He did it more than once - his Sabbath violations were no fluke. Today we're turning to what I think is the most dramatic case of Sabbath breaking of all - Jesus opens the eyes of a man born blind. The story is told in John's Gospel, chapter 9.
It's a long chapter - 41 verses. And by the end of it, this man is expelled from his synagogue, and most likely his parents with him, Jesus is condemned by the Jewish teachers as a brazen sinner. And if you read between the lines, Jesus disciples are bewildered by what he has just done. Their full understanding of it will have to wait until after Jesus' death and resurrection. This 9th Chapter of John's Gospel is John's way of saying, "Now we get it. Here's why Jesus did this. He opened our eyes as well."
There was nothing wrong, of course, with a blind man gaining his sight. God could open or close eyes as He pleased. This case was unusual in that the man had been born bind - but still, God could do as he wanted with the man. The Pharisees accepted that possibility - however unlikely. "Give glory to God," they instructed the blind man who was now staring them in the face. If he had done that, then that would have satisfied the Pharisees. So it wasn't that the man had been healed, it was when and how he was healed.
This happened on the Sabbath. And the Sabbath for Jews was a day when no work was to be done. That's one of the Ten Commandments: remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you can work, but on the 7th day, no work is to be done.
Why? Because God completed the work of Creation in six days. He began his work by creating light, and then went on to separate the water from the dry land. He placed the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. He brought forth the trees and plants, he made the fish of the sea and the animals on the earth. And then, to cul ...
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