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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Then they said to him, where is he? He said, I don't know. And so you see the mixture of wonder and confusion trying to figure this out. They're so confused by it that they're willing to believe it's a case of mistaken identity, rather than that this man who is blind can now see. And why is that? Well, it's simple.
This is simple. Nobody expected a blind beggar who's been at that gate for years begging as a blind man, which is what they were reduced to in those days. Nobody ever expected the man to be anything but a blind beggar. Now listen, suffering lowers the expectation that life is going to get any better than it is now.
It always lessens the expectation that life could be any different than what this is. I'm a blind beggar. I'm just a blind beggar.
I'm always going to be a blind beggar. Suffering does that. However, though God may call somebody to prolong suffering, we cannot ever limit the power of God.
We can't limit it. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What he did then, he can do now. That man and those neighbors never expected this blind beggar to be able to see again. Their expectations were lowered. In Psalm 78, there's a passage of Scripture about the children of Israel that says, and they, listen to this, and they limited the Holy One of Israel by their unbelief. They limited the Holy One. How do you limit a limitless God? By unbelief. Jesus went to Nazareth, the Gospel of Mark, and it says Jesus could do no great miracle among them except a few things because of the unbelief that persisted. He marveled, it says, at their unbelief. We must never limit God.
Even though that expectation is lowered, maybe God's going to do something, and he does. They brought him, verse 13, who was formerly blind to the Pharisees. It was the Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. You know, Jesus does this a lot on the Sabbath. It's kind of like he looks at his watch. Of course, he didn't have one, his hourglass, and he says, you know, it's the Sabbath.
I think I'm going to do something. I say that because seven times, there are seven miracles that Jesus did on the Sabbath, and he always stirred up the leaders, ruffled their feathers. Seven separate miracles in the New Testament, all done on the Sabbath day. Jesus did it not just to tick off the leaders, but to ruffle the feathers of those who wrongly interpreted what the Sabbath was all about. You see, in the Jewish writings called the Mishnah, the Mishnah, commentary on the law, there was a tractate, an entire book, in other words, on what you could and could not do on the Sabbath day. Did you know it was forbidden in the Mishnah to heal on the Sabbath? It was forbidden to set a broken bone on the Sabbath unless it was life threatening, otherwise you have to wait until the next day before you set that broken limb. Now, interestingly, in the Mishnah, it was lawful.
They talked about these things and wrote it down. It was lawful to spit on the Sabbath. But if your spittle rolled in the ground, now you broke the law. Because now you have created a furrow in the ground, and that's the agricultural process of digging a furrow in order to plant, seriously.
This is how crazy it was. So they were always worried, it's the Sabbath. Now, what kind of people don't rejoice when a blind man is healed? Answer, people who prefer policies to people. The policy is more important than the people. To Jesus, the people were more important than the policies.
Because the policies did match up with the word of God. God created this person, I'm going to heal him. So, they brought him who was formerly blind to Jesus, it was the Sabbath, verse 15. The Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, he put clay in my eyes and I washed and I saw. Therefore, some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such science?
And there was a division among them. They said to the blind man, what do you say about him? Because he opened your eyes. He said, he's a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. And they asked them saying, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered them, we know that he's our son and that he was born blind. But by what means he now sees, we do not know. Or who opened his eyes, we do not know.
He is of age, ask him. He will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that he was the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. They're not satisfied with his testimony, they want to bring in his parents. Now it's interesting, his parents, can I just say, aren't that great of parents? It would seem because why isn't he at their house and they're taken care of? He's a blind beggar. And they want to, in answering this, throw their son under the bus for the Pharisees.
Don't ask Gus, ask him, he's of age. In other words, he'll be responsible for himself. And what they were afraid of is being un-synagogued.
That's really the term, apocinagogas. Kicked out of the synagogue, cast out, which means you were socially ostracized from society at that point. You could lose your job, you could lose your family, you'd be put out of the culture. They didn't want that. So they said, well, you know, let him get de-synagogued, not us.
Therefore his parents said he's of age, ask him. So they again called the man who was blind and said to him, give God the glory. We know this man is a sinner.
Just pause over that. Here is sinful, religious, arrogant, pompous, unrighteous man calling the sinless perfect son of God a sinner. We know this man is a sinner.
He answered and said, whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I know, though I was blind, now I see. John Newton got the words of his song, his hymn, Amazing Grace, from this text.
The slave trader who was converted. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. And here's what I love. Because I don't know all that stuff you're asking me, but there's one thing I know. I was blind, but not anymore.
I can see. That I know for sure. And you cannot take away a person's personal testimony. That's why your testimony is so powerful. Tell people, tell unbelievers how you came to Christ.
This is what happened to me, this is who I was before I came to Jesus, this is what happened to me, this is who I am now. They can't say, uh-oh, they can't say that, because it happened to you. So I love it, he's just sort of like, I don't know that, but I know this. And there's a principle there. There's a lot of things we don't know. But never give up what you do know for what you don't know. You know, I don't know this, so therefore I'm just going to leave church and never be a Christian and I'm not going to read the Bible anymore because I just, I can't figure that out.
What? Just hold on to what you know. And let what you don't know come in due time. Put a file in your head, create a file. And title it, entitle it right in that file. This is called, the file is called, waiting for further information. It's a good file to have.
I got a lot of stuff in that file. I'm waiting for further information on a lot of things that have happened in my life that kind of bug me and I'm thinking I want to ask God about that, but it's like, you know what? I don't see it all, I'll wait for further information. He'll clarify it. And I'm sure that once I'm in heaven and see his face, I won't even have a question. Hey, listen, do you think this guy blind all of his life is in heaven right now going, man, I'm so bummed out that God let me be blind all those years. Do you think he's thinking that?
Are you kidding? His story is still being told and hundreds of thousands and millions of people have been blessed and enlightened by the story that is told about him to this day. That's how God can use your story, your suffering. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, generous friends like you keep this ministry going strong, sharing verse by verse teaching from scripture with people all around the world. And as we prepare to close out another year of ministry, we need your help to meet a one hundred twenty thousand dollar need by December 31st so that in the new year, more people can connect with the God who loves them and wants to be known by them. Your tax deductible gift today will have an eternal impact, transforming lives as together we share the unchanging truth of God's word in an ever changing world. You'll help ensure Connect with Skip Heitzig can continue expanding to reach new audiences through new radio stations in major cities and with the translation of Pastor Skip's messages into Spanish.
To give your year end gift to help meet the one hundred twenty thousand dollar need, go to connectwithskip.com slash give or call 800-922-1888 and make an investment that will have eternal returns. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. There's something simple about his testimony. I love simple testimonies. I get weary of people saying, you know, let me paint the picture of how really creepy and bad I used to be. We tell those morbid stories of people go, wow, you are like Breaking Bad. And now you're breaking glad. But, you know, you spent 20 minutes telling me about how bad you were and only like one minute telling me that you got saved.
You know. That's why I love the testimony. Okay, here's my testimony. I was blind. Now I see.
Now I see. Simple, straightforward. They said to him again, what did he do to you? How?
There's that question. How did he open your eyes? He answered, I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?
He's just sort of tired of this, exasperated, losing his patience. Do you also want to become his disciples? Then they reviled him and said, you are his disciple, but we are Moses' disciple.
We know that God spoke to Moses. As for this fellow, we don't even know where he's from. The man answered and said to him, why? This is a marvelous thing that you don't know where he is from, yet he's opened my eyes.
Now listen to this. Now we know that God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he hears him. Since the world began, it has been unheard of that anyone open the eyes of one who was born blind, if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. Now that is one of the clearest, most logical, lucid, compelling arguments I've ever heard. He's beginning with a major premise and he works to a minor premise.
It's a lesson in logic. Major premise, God doesn't hear sinners. You know, people who aren't in relationship with him, God isn't obliged to answer their prayers until they pray the sinner's prayer.
They open their heart to him. God doesn't hear sinners. So major premise, God doesn't hear sinners. Minor premise, but he obviously heard Jesus of Nazareth.
Therefore, there's something to this. He must be from God. Also, he's very astute in his theology. He says, there's no record of anybody historically who's ever been healed of blindness, congenital blindness, no one. And it's true, in the Old Testament, there's not a single record of all the miraculous, even healings, leprosy, et cetera, resurrection from the dead. There's not a single recorded instance of a blind person who could see again. He was spot on.
But now I can see. What are you going to do with that? Very, very, very logical. Verse 34, they answered and said to him, you were completely born in sins. You are teaching us?
What a bunch of creeps. When you lose an argument, a person will often resort to what is called an ad hominem argument, which is really not an argument. Ad hominem means a personal attack. And that's when you start name calling and saying, you know, your mother wears army boots, and you're thinking of all the bad things you can say, because you just don't have any logical response.
So you just attack the person rather than the issue. So they're saying, you know what? You were born in sin. That's why you were blind all your life. You were steeped in it. Well, you know, there's an unbelief of a searching heart, but this is the unbelief of a hardened heart.
Now, look what it says at the end of verse 34. What did they do? They cast him out. They apa sona gogost him. They unsynagogued him. He is now cast out. He is kicked out of the fellowship of Judaism. His parents were afraid of this.
That's why they said, ask him, let him deal with it, throw him under the bus. He says what he says, very logically, very clearly, they cast him out. They gave him a formal declaration of disfellowship. They cast him out. And now look at verse 35. You have to see this before communion. Jesus heard that they cast him out, and when he had found him.
Don't you love that? They unfound him. He found him.
They rejected him. He found him and accepted him. He said to him, Do you believe in the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? Jesus said, You have both seen him, and it is he who is talking with you.
Boy, I get goosebumps just reading that. It's like Jesus to the woman at the well in Samaria. I know that when the Messiah comes, he's going to figure all this out. The one that's speaking to you is the Messiah. Who is he that I may believe? Now, his faith is ready. He's ready to place faith. Who is he, Lord, that I may believe, or sir that I may believe?
Kurie, the word kurias or kurie, Lord, could be translated sir. So when he says, Who is he, Lord, or sir, that I may believe in him? Jesus said to him, You have both seen him. You've apprehended him with the new eyes that you now have and with the ear gate that you're hearing.
He's talking to you. And he said, Lord, I believe. Now, the second use of the word Lord is different. The second use of the word Lord is that I acknowledge you as the Messiah, as the Son of God. I acknowledge you as the Lord of all.
How do I know that? Because what did he do as soon as he said that? He worshiped him. He worshiped him. Proskuneo, he bowed before him. He prostrated himself and acknowledged that he is the only Lord of all. He worshiped him. And Jesus said, For judgment I have come into the world that those who do not see may see and that those who see may be made blind. Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words and said to him, Are we blind also?
Before we read that, answer that. Are they? Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. What did Jesus call them in Matthew 23? Blind guides who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Blind leaders of the blind. He spoke about them being in darkness, darkness not knowing God, opposed to the truth of God.
That's what spiritual darkness is. Here's a man who was blind. You're blind blind. He was physically blind. He can see physically.
Now he can see spiritually. You are blind spiritually. You will be sentenced by God because of that to utter total eternal darkness and blindness. Are we blind also?
Jesus said. If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say we see, therefore your sin remains. In other words, if you were to admit that you're blind, you'd be seeing like this guy. But if you arrogantly persist that you claim that you can see all, you are so blind. And you are worse off than this man who was born blind and sat as a bigger at that gate. It's an incredible analogy.
These blind guides. Jesus says something and I want to close in this thought. He said, for judgment, verse 39, I have come into this world.
Say, wait a minute. How does that square with what is said in John chapter three, verse 17? Where he says that he didn't come to judge or bring condemnation to the world.
Here's how it is. When Jesus came to this earth, he came to bring salvation, not condemnation. Not judgment. He will be the judge, but he came to bring salvation. But his coming results in condemnation to those who have persistently hard hearts. The New Testament in John five says you are already condemned. You're living in this state of condemnation. His coming, his living, his substitutionary death, the result of that brings condemnation to those with hardened hearts. See, it's like the sun, the same sun that melts the eyes hardens the clay. The same presence of Jesus Christ that opens up salvation to this blind man who believes that Jesus is the Messiah, hardens, further hardens and puts in darkness and consigns to judgment these people who arrogantly persist that they can see.
But think of this and then we'll pray and we'll take communion. This man is cast out of the temple. The Lord of the temple finds him. They push him away. Jesus finds him and brings him close. Rejected by the society of men, accepted by the Son of God.
Beautiful contrast. One of my favorite author commentator preachers of yesteryear, yestercentury. You're thinking, oh, he's going to say Charles Spurgeon.
He always quotes Charles Spurgeon. No, I'm not going to say him. OK, he's going to say G. Campbell Morgan.
No, I'm not. Alexander McLaren, Scottish. Scottish preacher, wrote a great commentary set on the Bible, put sermons together. He was trying out for a position as a pastor in a church. He went before the eldership, the pulpit committee, whatever. They heard him, they talked to him and they rejected him.
They didn't give him the position. And he said it was the worst day of his life. He was brokenhearted. And so he wired in those days, they had to wire like telegraph.
He wired his father one word. Rejected. So brokenhearted, one word only, rejected.
His father immediately wired back. Rejected on earth, accepted in heaven. As you face the table of the Lord tonight, these elements. Rejected on earth, perhaps. Some area where your expectations are really, really low because of suffering or circumstance, perhaps. Cast out by men, perhaps. By a spouse, perhaps. By a boss, perhaps.
By the legal system, perhaps. But accepted by God because of the work Jesus did. If you have asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you take these elements freely tonight. Oh, but I've sinned this week even.
Then ask him to forgive you now. Listen, if it was true that there is this direct correlation between sin and suffering or sin and death, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd have been dead a long time ago. That judgment of God would have fallen on me a long time ago. But I'm here because of God's grace and mercy.
Rejected on earth, accepted by God in heaven. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, if you've been blessed by this ministry and want to bless others with the kind of teaching you've heard today, please consider a generous year-end gift to help meet our financial goal by December 31st. Through your support, you'll help encourage and equip more people with solid biblical teaching that takes them verse by verse through Scripture and connects them with Jesus. To give a tax-deductible year-end gift today, call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash give. For more from Skip, be sure to download the Connect with Skip Heidzig app where you can access messages and more content right at your fingertips. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heidzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heidzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
