The One Jesus Loves, Part 20: Our Suffering and Our Savior

Notes:https://drive.google.com/open?id=18uoLM-q4zROpWA0LCySSQ0eiDlyaZfwb

THE ONE JESUS LOVES – 20

The Gospel of John

 

 

Our Suffering and our Savior    

John 9:1-41

 

(John 9:1-5 ESV) As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

 

Suffering reveals the purpose of God.

 

(John 8:59 ESV) So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

 

(John 3:9 ESV) It was not that this man sinned, or his parents…

 

(John 5:14 ESV) Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

 

 

(Romans 5:12 ESV) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men[a] because all sinned—

 

(John 9:3b ESV) … but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

 

(John 6:29 ESV) Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

 

God doesn’t just open our eyes, He opens our lives to eternity!

 

(Romans 8:28 ESV) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

 

Suffering reveals the person of Christ.

 

(John 9:6-7 ESV) Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

 

(John 9:13-14 ESV) They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

 

(Matthew 12:8 ESV) For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

 

(John 9:7 ESV) and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

 

Jesus is the Sent One!

 

(John 9:4 ESV) We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

 

(Isaiah 42:6,7 ESV) “I am the Lord; I have called you[a] in righteousness;
    I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
    a light for the nations,

7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.

 

 

(Luke 4:18,19 ESV) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

 

 

Suffering reveals a path towards strong faith.

 

(Romans 5:3-4 NLT) We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

 

(John 9:8-12 ESV) The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

 

(John 9:13-17 ESV) They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

 

(John 9:18-23 ESV)  The Jews[a] did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus[b] to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

 

(John 9:24-25 ESV) So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

 

(John 9:26-27 ESV) They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

 

(John 9:28-29 ESV) And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

 

(John 9:30-33 ESV) The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

 

(John 9:34 ESV) They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

 

(John 9:35-38 ESV) Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[a] 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

 

 

God is working in the midst of your suffering. It’s not about your past, it’s about your future!