Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

John 10:1-18 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

If someone were to give you fifty million dollars, what would you spend it on? What are the first three things you’d buy? Would you save any of it and, if so, for what?

Let’s try a different angle. If you were given one year to do whatever you wanted, all expenses paid, what would you do (or not do)? Where would you go? What would you eat? Who would you take?

One more. If you were able to ensure any ten things for your grandchild, what would be on your list (looks, health, education, spouse, kids, character, religion, finances)?

In John 10:10, Jesus said that He came so that His people might “have life and have it abundantly.” The key questions, of course, are what did He mean by an abundant life and how do we get it? What exactly constitutes such a life and where does it come from? Your answers to each of the questions above go a long way toward giving your definition, but how does it compare to Jesus’ definition? This morning, we’re going to consider (1) what Jesus meant by an abundant life, (2) in order to help us compare it to our operating understanding, (3) in order to help us recalibrate our lives wherever we find a discrepancy, (4) in order to live the abundant life Jesus came to bring.

To those ends, we’ll consider what John says in our passage this morning about the abundant life, what he says about it in broader brush strokes throughout his entire Gospel, and in broadest brush strokes what the entire Bible says about the abundant life. In light of all of that, I’ll highlight a few things the abundant life isn’t. And then, finally, I’ll close with a few thoughts on how we get from wherever our lives are now to a more abundant life. Let’s pray that God would accomplish these things, through these means and more.

Once again, this sermon flows out of John 10:10 which records Jesus’ declaration, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The word translated “abundantly” is an unusual word in the NT. It’s the same word as in 2 Corinthians 1:5, “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”

And it’s the same root as we find in Ephesians 3:20, 2 Thessalonians 1:3, and 2 Corinthians 2:4.

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…

2 Thessalonians 1:3 “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.”

2 Corinthians 2:4 “For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.”

In simplest terms, in this sense, “abundant” means “over and above, excessive, overflowing, superfluous, abounding”. Jesus came to give us life that is “over and above,” “excessive,” and “superfluous” (beyond the minimum requirements, more than sufficient) compared to any and all life apart from Him. He came to give us life that is “overflowing” and “abounding” compared to ordinary life.

So, what exactly does that life consist of? Let’s begin to answer that question by looking at John 10:1-18.

In our passage for this morning, Jesus said a number of things about the abundant life He came to bring. It’s important to notice that the things He says are fairly neatly divided between describing the path to abundant life and the nature of the abundant life. As I work through them, along with the rest of what the Bible says about the abundant life, I encourage you to do three things. First, consider carefully whether they refer to the path of abundance or the nature of abundance (or both!). Second, ask God to help you see how what the Bible does say compares to your answers to the questions I asked earlier. And third, knowing you’ll never be able to get your head around all that I’m about to share, I suggest that you focus on jotting down one or two things that really stand out and determine to drill down on them at some point this week. With that…

By themselves, these eight aspects of the abundant life are truly staggering. But there’s more still.

Having considered the abundant life in just our passage, let’s now consider it in the rest of John’s Gospel. I’m about to walk you through all 21 chapters of John, noting every major description of the abundant life. Again, there’s no way you are going to be able to lock in on all (34) of them. Pick a couple to focus on.

As we have seen…

Abundant life in Jesus is to walk in the light, which overcomes all darkness (1:4-5, 9; 8:12). It is to know true and ultimate victory against everything that would set itself up against God.

The abundant life in Jesus is to be adopted as God’s own sons and daughters (1:12-13).

The abundant life is to see Jesus, full of glory, grace, and truth (1:14, 16-17).

To live the abundant life of Jesus is to live under the perfect reign of King Jesus (1:49), within the kingdom of Jesus (3:5; 18:36).

Living the abundant life is to have Jesus entrust Himself to us (2:24).

Living the abundant life means being born again (3:3). In this way, living the abundant life means being born of both the flesh and the Spirit (3:6).

The abundant life that Jesus came to bring includes living in the everlasting love of the heavenly Father (3:16-17; 16:27; 17:26) and Son (13:1; 15:10).

To live the abundant life in Jesus is to know no condemnation or judgment, ever (3:18; 5:24)!

Living in true abundance means receiving the Holy Spirit of God without measure (3:35; 7:39; 14:17).

The abundant life includes drinking from streams of living water, which quench our thirst permanently (4:10, 13).

The abundant life means worshiping God in spirit and truth (4:24).

Living the abundant life in Jesus means joyfully proclaiming the good news of Jesus to the world (4:36-38; 20:21).

Living the abundant life in Jesus means eating and being satisfied forever (6:12, 27, 35, 54-55).

Those who live the abundant life will never be cast out (6:37).

The abundant life is one which abides in Jesus’ word, knows the truth, and has been set free (8:31-32, 36).

The abundant life is one that has moved from blindness to sight (9:39).

And in addition to all of that, we will soon see…

Living the abundant life Jesus came to bring means that we shall never truly die (11:26).

Living the abundant life means hating our lives in this world (12:25) and having the world hate us (15:18).

Living abundantly means being honored by the Father (12:26).

Those who live in the abundance Jesus promised are “sons of light” (12:36).

The abundant life includes being a foot-washer, a servant to all (13:14-16).

The abundant life is a life filled with love for God (14:21; 15:12) and the people of God (13:34-35; 15:12).

The abundant life has a room prepared in the Father’s house (14:2).

Living abundantly means keeping Jesus’ commandments (14:15).

The abundant life is to be in Jesus and Jesus in us (14:20; 15:4-5; 17:23).

The abundant life is a life of peace (14:27; 20:19) and full joy (15:11).

The abundant life is a life that bears abundant fruit of godliness (15:5).

Living the abundant life means asking whatever we wish from the Father, in Jesus’ name and having it be done for us (15:7; 15:16; 16:23).

The abundant life is a life of friendship with Jesus (15:15).

To live the abundant life is to be chosen by Jesus (15:16).

The abundant life is a life of conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8).

Living abundantly is living in unity with the saints (17:11, 20, 22).

The abundant life Jesus came to bring is a life sanctified in truth (17:17).

Living abundantly is to be sent into the world to proclaim the good news (17:18).

What a list! Even in looking quickly through one book in the Bible, we can clearly see how awesome Jesus’ words in John 10:10 truly are. But Grace, as you know, we don’t have only one book of the Bible. The entire Bible is filled with further descriptions of this good news of abundant life.

According to the Whole Bible

We would all do well to give ourselves to reading it through that lens. What, according to God’s Word, constitutes a full and successful life? In broadest brush strokes, God’s Word as a whole says…

When we put all of this together (John 10, John’s Gospel, and the whole Bible), we’re able to see that the path to fullness of life is coming to God in repentance and belief, through Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is living with God’s help, according to God’s design, commands, and promises, no matter the consequences. And while walking this path will be marked by varying stages and degrees of prosperity and persecution on earth, and while fullness of abundance won’t be ours until the new heavens and earth, walking this path is truly one filled with joy found nowhere else. The path to fullness of life is full of life!

And here’s the other key, Grace: Jesus is the way and the fulfillment of the abundant life. He is the path and the goal. He is the means and the object. We must come through Him and He is the end of it all. He is the way to fullness of life, and fellowship with Him is fullness of life. If we leave out either component, we cannot know true abundance. If we try to come by some other way or find it in some other object, we will remain lost.

If all of that is what Jesus meant by an abundant life, that also helps us to see what it isn’t. Three things…

First, it isn’t up to us to decide. The abundant life is not whatever we (or anyone else) might make it out to be or want it to be. We do not create it or control it. It is not living consistently with our true selves. It is not subjective or individually defined. It isn’t what society determines, no matter how vehemently it believes otherwise.

Second, likewise, it isn’t anything we can attain on our own. We cannot live as we are made to live, in the fullness of life we were made to experience, by any power we possess. It will be given to us by God or we will not have it. No amount of increased technology or prosperity or knowledge can bring about true abundance of life.

And third, it is not finally found in anything under the sun. The abundant life isn’t anything this world has to offer. It is not found in any created thing, combination of created things, or quantity of created things.

World history is largely the story of mankind falling into these errors and therein knowing only (whether immediate or eventual) futility and disappointment. Biblical history is largely the story of God allowing His rebellious people to try on various combinations of these errors, that we might finally learn their impotence and turn to Him.

By God’s grace, may we learn both from what God’s Word says about what the abundant life is and where it comes from, and what it says it isn’t and where it can’t be found.

Finally, then, having considered what the abundant life is and isn’t, the last question is how we get it. How do we get from where we are to the life of abundance Jesus spoke of in v.10?

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:1-21 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Welcome to John 10. This passage records an event that took place some uncertain time after Jesus healed the blind man of chapter 9. More than likely, it happened shortly after the Feast of Booths (of chapters 7-9), and we know it happened before the Feast of Dedication (which was around two months later). I say that because of vs.21 and 22, where it is clear that the healing of the blind man was still fresh on everyone’s minds and the Feast of Dedication had not yet begun.

The event itself is another example of Jesus publically teaching the Jews (likely both ordinary Jews and Jewish leaders, v.19). This time He taught through a parable (or “figure of speech” or allegory). This is surprisingly rare in John’s Gospel compared to the other Gospels. What isn’t rare, however, was the subject matter and the response among the Jews. The subject matter primarily concerned the uniqueness of Jesus to sacrificially lead the people of God to fullness of life; which stood in stark contrast to the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day who were selfishly leading people to death. And the response of the Jews, once they understood what Jesus was really saying was, predictably, confusion and anger.

The passage contains three sections; each helpfully indicated by new paragraphs in your Bible. In the first section (1-6), Jesus tells a parable. In the second (7-18), Jesus explains and expands on it. And in the third (19-21), we find the reaction of the Jews to whom Jesus was speaking.

I’m going to preach at least three sermons on this passage. This week, I’m going to focus primarily on Jesus’ teaching as it was intended for the original audience. As of now, next week, I’m going to unpack the abundant life Jesus came to bring (v.10) and the following week, I’m going to share with you how this passage significantly shapes our understanding of what good eldership and membership look like.

The big idea for this week is that Jesus alone is the means by which we may be reconciled to God and He alone leads God’s people into fullness of life (on earth and in heaven). And the main takeaway for us today is to truly consider Jesus’ voice, both what He has said and how we respond to it in relation to other voices.

A brief word to help you tune in…Jesus opens His teaching in this passage with the words, “truly, truly.” This does not mean, of course, that Jesus had a reputation for lying, but He wanted to make sure everyone knew He wasn’t this time. Likewise, it obviously doesn’t mean that the things He typically said were insignificant, and was letting everyone know that this time was different. But if not these things, what then did He mean by “truly, truly”? Why did Jesus talk like that?

I know I’ve mentioned the fact that within Jewish culture/literature, one manner of communicating emphasis was by repeating key word. The most familiar version of this for most of us is probably in regard to God’s holiness. To say that God is “holy” communicates something true and significant. We see that in passages like Psalm 99:9, “Exalt the Lord our God…for the Lord our God is holy!” A passage that described God as “holy, holy” would mean something more serious still about God’s holiness. But to say that God is “holy, holy, holy” (as in Isaiah 6:3, ““Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”) is as significant as it gets (there are no four-times repeated words and “holy” alone is a three-time repeated word in the Bible).

While there are no double holys in the Bible, there are a number of double trulys (24 times in John’s Gospel alone, including the two in our passage). In other words, for Jesus to introduce this passage by saying, “truly, truly, I say to you,” He meant His hearers (and us) to listen carefully. What He was about to say deserved special attention because of its eternal consequences.

So, Grace, once again, listen up!

Again, our passage opens with Jesus sharing a parable (or a “figure of speech” as v.6 says) with “the Jews”. Let’s take another look at it.

1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

There’s a lot going on in there. When I first read it earlier this week, my head was filled with questions. They mostly revolved around all the different terms and their analogical equivalents. Sheepfold, door, thief and robber, shepherd, sheep, gatekeeper, and stranger. What are those things and what do they signify? We’ll come to some of that in a bit, but let’s begin with something more basic.

The parable centers around something that would have been exceedingly familiar to Jesus’ original audience: caring for sheep. And yet, what was certainly familiar to those Jesus was speaking to, probably is not to most of us. For that reason, we need a bit of background if we’re to really make sense of what Jesus intended to communicate. So as not to pretend I’m some kind of expert on sheep (even though I once had a best-in-class lamb for 4-H), I want to read you a bit of an extended quote from one of the commentators I read this week (TNTC, Kruse, 229-230).

Most village families owned a few sheep. The houses of the villagers had small walled courtyards where the sheep were kept. Because each family had only a few sheep, a shepherd for each household was not justified, so several households would have one shepherd to look after their sheep. Often the shepherding was done by a son (or two daughters) from one of these families. If such a person was not available a stranger/hireling was employed. Early each morning the sheep would be taken out to graze in the open country. The shepherd moved from house to house, and because he was known to the doorkeepers they opened their courtyard doors to allow him to call out the sheep. The sheep knew his voice and eagerly followed him into the open country to feed. The walls of the courtyards could be up to six and a half feet high. One who was not the shepherd, who had ulterior motives, would have to climb over the walls because the doorkeeper would not admit him, and, of course, the sheep would not recognize his call and would flee from him.

In this parable, as will become clear in the next few verses, there are three main characters and two main points. The three main characters are the thieves/robbers, the shepherd, and the sheep. And the two main points are that (1) sheep can tell the difference between thieves/robbers and their shepherd and (2) true shepherds care well for their sheep while thieves/robbers mean them only harm.

The thieves and robbers are the Pharisees (and other Jewish leaders). Jesus is the shepherd. And the ordinary Jews are the sheep. The Pharisees were leading the rest of the Jews astray while Jesus was leading them to good pastures. The Pharisees came on their own (misguided) authority, with their own (faulty) wisdom, and for their own (twisted) purposes. Jesus, on the other hand, came on the Father’s authority, with the Father’s wisdom, and in order to accomplish the Father’s will. The genuine children of God, the true offspring of Abraham, recognize Jesus’ voice as the one truly from God. And the genuine children of God flee from that of the Pharisees.

Almost certainly, Jesus had the words of Ezekiel 34 and Jeremiah 23 in mind.

Ezekiel 34:2-5 Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts.

Jeremiah 23:1-2 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 … “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.

This was an important message. Heard rightly, it would have led the Pharisees to repent of their failure to lead as God intended. Heard rightly, it would have warned the ordinary Jew to stop following and instead flee from the treacherous Pharisees. And heard rightly, all would have turned to Jesus to be led to green pastures.

The problem, however, according to v.6, was that Jesus’ message wasn’t rightly heard. Instead, “… they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

Because those to whom Jesus was speaking did not understand what Jesus meant, He explained and expanded on His parable. As we consider these things, it’s interesting and important to note that Jesus slightly shifted the setting. In His original parable, the setting was inside a village. The shepherd was going around collecting the sheep he was responsible for in order to take them out to the pasture for the day. In vs.7-18, in Jesus’ explanation, the setting shifts primarily to the open countryside, the pasture. I’ll explain why that matters in just a bit. First, consider with me another quote from the commentator I read earlier (TNTC, Kruse, 231).

Here the setting is the open country into which the shepherd led the sheep for grazing, and where in the summer months shepherd and sheep might spend the night. Overnight the sheep were placed in roughly constructed round stone-walled enclosures. The top of the dry-stone wall was covered with thorns to keep out wild animals. Inside the enclosure the sheep were safe so long as the entrance was secured by the shepherd. He slept across the entrance as there was no door and no doorkeeper.

By changing the setting slightly, Jesus was able to expand on the nature of His care for His sheep as well as that of the Pharisees and other leaders. And by offering this explanation, Jesus was able to take what was implicit and make it explicit. Let’s begin to examine this passage by looking at three contrasts Jesus provided between His care and that of the Pharisees.

1. Jesus Protects the Sheep, The Pharisees Cause Harm

In the beginning of this section of the text, Jesus offered His third (of seven) “I am” statements. He explained that He is the sheep door.

7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

As we just saw, for an ordinary shepherd this meant placing himself at the entrance of the place where his sheep rest. And that had two primary functions. First, it was to make sure that all his sheep were brought in, that none were missing. And second, it was to keep everything else out. As the door, the shepherd would put himself between his sheep and everything else.

Better than the best and bravest sheep shepherd, Jesus knows and protects those who belong to Him, who have been entrusted to Him by the Father. And because He does, Grace, we can rest well in the certain knowledge that no true sheep will ever be left out and no ultimate harm can ever befall those of us who are brought in.

This means that the safest place you can be is with Jesus. To be with Jesus in the midst of the fiercest war is safer than an open, flowery meadow without Him. When we find ourselves in treachery, we cling to Jesus’ promises; especially His promise of presence (I am with you always). Jesus will protect us as we teach and obey all that He commands and believe all He promises.

This means what you think it means. It means that it is safer to be fired for holding fast to Christ’s commands and speaking the good news in love than keeping your job by violating your conscience. It means that it is safer to stand up for what is true when your friends tell lies about God or His world than it is to remain quiet. It means that it is safer to take the gospel into hostile lands even unto death than to remain silent and comfortable at home. It means that when the society around us falls into soft atheism, therapeutic deism, or outright rage against God, it is safer to be with Jesus and scorned by everyone than to capitulate to the godless. And it means that it is safer to defy a hostile government commanding you to disobey God than it is to go along with its treachery.

This is why Jesus can say, knowing full well that all who follow Him will be persecuted (John 15:20), that “9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” And “10 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” and “11 I am the good shepherd”.

Jesus will protect His people, not from every hardship (as we saw two weeks ago), but from every ultimate hardship; from every hardship that will not end. Following Jesus in this life is not safe in that it will be entirely marked by comfort, but in that through Him, every discomfort will soon end forever. Jesus indeed laid down His life to ensure this.

Remember, Grace, the greatest harm that Jesus will protect you from is greater than anything in this world. It is from the wrath of God which we deserve in our sin. He laid His life down to protect us from every lasting hardship, and ultimately from the everlasting hardship that comes from our having fallen short of the glory of God. And then He took it back up that we might rise with Him into everlasting life.

On the other hand, the Pharisees, and “8 All who came before [Jesus] are thieves and robbers…10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” The key is in recognizing that by “all who came before me,” Jesus meant all who set themselves up against Him (as in the Pharisees, and the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and on and on before that). But the same is true of all have come after Jesus (as in secular governments, false religions, disordered ideologies, and anyone/thing that claims that which belongs only to Jesus).

To drive the point home, Jesus likened all who would deny Him as King to a hired hand (rather than an actual shepherd) in the face of a wolf.

12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Thieves and robbers may look mean or they may look well-meaning. They might have sharp tongues or smooth talk. They might look to take by force or they might attempt to woo. They might do harm immediately or only later. In every case, though, they come “only to steal and kill and destroy” in the end. We cannot be indifferent or causal, therefore, about false teaching or teachers—whether in or out of the church. The things bad pastors, theologians, philosophers, politicians, professors, and anyone else with a platform say are deadly. As one of our esteemed members likes to remind us, “Bad doctrine hurts people”.

Jesus protects. The Pharisees and anyone who sets themselves up against Jesus harms.

2. Jesus Leads to Good Pastures, the Pharisees to Bad

Not only does Jesus protect His sheep from harm, but he also leads His sheep to blessing and nourishment and refreshment. That’s what’s found in good pasture.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

And

“10 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”

We’ll consider this in much greater detail next week when we look at the abundant life Jesus came to bring. For now, I want you all to see plainly that Jesus only ever leads to that which is best for His sheep. And in contrast, as we’ve already seen, the Pharisees and all false teachers only ever promise things we want (at least in our flesh), but only lead to that which we don’t—suffering, poverty, and ultimately death.

One takeaway here is to follow Jesus and avoid false teachers. But another is to lead others to Jesus and not to good-sounding, but misguided pastures. We must be careful to follow Jesus’ example and not that of the Pharisees. We must be careful to speak only that which is good for building up and not for leading astray.

3. The Sheep Listen to and Know Jesus, but Not the Pharisees

The third and final contrast is perhaps best recognized when we ask a question that I hope is already rattling around in your minds: Am I one of Jesus’ sheep? How can I know if I am a true sheep following the Good Shepherd, or a false sheep, following a false shepherd? How do I know if I am being protected and led to good pastures or if I’m being deceived and led to slaughter? Jesus gives two straightforward answers.

First, as we saw before, true sheep listen to Jesus and recognize His voice. True sheep can tell the difference between the truth of Jesus’ word and all the other noise out there. And second, true sheep truly know Jesus and are known by Jesus. True sheep don’t merely know about Jesus or appreciate certain aspects of His teaching or leadership. True sheep know Jesus and Jesus knows them in the same kind of way that Jesus and the Father know one another.

14 … I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…

And in contrast, true sheep do not listen to false teachers. By God’s grace, true sheep recognize the voice of imposters and flee.

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

So who are you listening to, Grace, or who are you tempted to listen to, instead of Jesus? What voices most influence your understanding of what is good, beautiful, and true? Who is it that functionally most shapes your desires? Political pundits? Secular artists? A parent or friend? Some cumulative collection of nuggets you’ve picked up throughout your life? Movie/television actors? Commercials? Immature Christians? Your own semi-sanctified common sense?

Grace, make no mistake, something or someone is forming your view of God, yourself, the world, and your place in it. What things other than Jesus are doing that? Whose voice is most compelling to you?

Similarly, do you know Jesus’ voice well enough that you recognize it quickly? Do you trust it enough that you eagerly come to it without fear, every time He calls? Are you able to recognize right interpretations of God’s Word and wrong ones? Do you trust in Him to lead you only to good places? Do you love to find His commands and obey them in the knowledge that they are truly the path of life and joy?

These are the kinds of questions that Jesus’ parable is meant to cause to form in our minds. John helps us to see the many destructive effects listening to the wrong voices had on God’s people. May we learn from them as we press further up and further into this passage

In v.16 Jesus expands on the goodness of His shepherding.

16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

This is such sweet news for us, Grace. The Apostle Paul unpacks this in greater detail in Romans 9, but the upshot is this: the true children of Abraham are not those who are merely of Abraham’s gene pool, but of his faith. In other words, the covenantal salvation of God is not ultimately for the physical offspring of Abraham (ethnic Israel), but for all who would hear His voice and follow Him as Abraham did (eschatological Israel). We, as non-Jews, can be adopted as true sons and daughters because Jesus is the one True and Good Shepherd and He has one flock of faith. Awesome!

Combined, then, all of this is what it means that Jesus is the good shepherd (the forth of seven “I ams”) and it is the reason for the Father’s perfect love for Jesus.

11 I am the good shepherd.

There is no greater shepherd. There is no shepherd who knows, leads, feeds, or protects his sheep better than Jesus. Even as there is no shepherd who has paid a higher cost to gather and keep his sheep than Jesus. We’ll consider this more closely in two weeks.

And combined, all of this is why the Father’s love rests perfectly and permanently upon Jesus, His Son.

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

What’s more, Grace, as we lay our lives down in faith and follow Jesus as the Good Shepherd, this same love of God rests perfectly and permanently upon us, His sons and daughters. Awesome!

Finally, in vs.19-21 John records the response of the Jews to Jesus. Their response makes it clear that some, evidently, were not yet his sheep, while the rest wondered if His voice might, in fact, sound familiar.

19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

The question that leaves us with once again, Grace, is whether or not you hear Jesus’ voice. When you read your Bible, is it increasingly sweet and life-giving? When you encounter Jesus commands, are they increasingly the desires of your heart? When you read of His offer to come and find life, are you growing in your trust in the truthfulness and goodness of that offer? Likewise, will we be a church marked by what’s easy or by following our Good Shepherd wherever He leads, no matter the temporal cost? Will we together acknowledge Christ as Lord of all or make excuses for pockets of self or worldly-rule? We see here that the only safe, life-giving place is through the door of Jesus, who is indeed the only Good Shepherd. May we hear His voice and follow Him.

John 9:39-41 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

I told you all over a month ago that I was going to wrap up John 9 by taking a closer look at two bigger theological ideas introduced in the chapter. Last week I preached on the first—the cause of the blind man’s blindness (along with God’s relationship to human suffering in general). This week, as promised, we’ll consider the second—Jesus’ explanation of the Pharisees inability to see Jesus for who He really is and the solution to that problem. Like last week, Jesus doesn’t tell us everything there is to know about this idea, but He does provide some important pieces. The big idea is that recognizing our (spiritual) blindness is a prerequisite to being given (spiritual) sight. And the main takeaways are to humble ourselves before God and learn to see the whole world through spiritual eyes. To help you see each of those things in the text, we’ll consider the judgment Jesus refers to at the beginning of v.39, Jesus’ distinction between two different kinds of blindness, two different causes of spiritual sight, and then, finally, the necessity and practice of looking at all of life through spiritual eyes.

As I said, there are four main parts to this sermon. The first is the judgment Jesus spoke of at the very beginning of our passage. The idea of judgment is an important one in John’s Gospel. John uses some form of the word “judge” more than 25 times. It would be an interesting study to work through each of those uses and compare them to one another. But that’s beyond the scope of this morning’s sermon. The main reason I bring it up is to help you all see the need to lean in a bit more to this since it’s such a significant theme for John. With that, look at the beginning of v.39 with me.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world…

It’s important to ask what Jesus meant by this. What did He mean by “judgment”? What did He come to judge? What is the practical effect of His judgment? And how does this verse relate to 3:17 and 12:47? Let’s work backwards through those questions.

As we saw, John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” That sounds a lot like Jesus did NOT come into the world to judge it. Similarly, as we’ll see when we come to chapter 12, in v.47 Jesus said even more plainly, “…I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.”

So what gives? Did Jesus come to judge the world or not?

You may remember from our time in John 3 that the point of that passage was to reiterate the fact that Jesus didn’t need to condemn the world because the world already stood condemned on account of sin. Judgment had already been pronounced (guilty), which is why Jesus came (to save the guilty). And in the same way, in chapter 12, Jesus stated that His primary mission was to rescue the already-judged world from its guilt, not to determine (judge) it’s innocence/guilt.

One of the keys to understanding how that relates to our passage is grasping the reason John needed to keep reiterating this principle: because when Jesus came people felt judged. People regularly felt as if Jesus was there to condemn them. But that’s what always happens when sinners stand in the presence of a holy God. We might not always recognize that’s what’s happening (even as many didn’t in Jesus’ day), but that’s always what happens. Jesus’ coming in perfect righteousness simply revealed that which was already there—guilt and condemnation for sin. Apart from Jesus’ presence, people were able to trick themselves into believing that they were right with God. But when He came, their false understanding of themselves was exposed; and this left them feeling judged.

With that understanding of those passages, we can see that John 9:39 (our passage) is saying the same basic thing but from the opposite angle.

Those passages – Jesus didn’t come to judge. All mankind had already been judged and found guilty. He came to announce the judgment and offer a solution (Himself). And in doing that, people felt judged.

This passage – Jesus did come to judge. But His judgment, in this sense (as we’ll see), was living and teaching in such a way that forced people to press their understanding of things against the truth (Him). John worded it like this in 3:19: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.” The point of the second half of 9:39 is the same, “Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

This introduces two more important distinctions. First, the world is divided into two different kinds of people. And second, there are two causes of new spiritual sight. Let’s consider both distinctions.

I was at a conference a while ago where one of the speakers noted that he answers the question, “How are you doing?” differently today than he did before he was diagnosed with cancer. He said he vividly remembers being asked that very question on the morning of his diagnosis. He responded by telling that person that he was doing well, only to find out later that day that he very much wasn’t. His feelings about his health were a poor indication of his actual health. In this way, he was blind but didn’t know it (though now he does).

One time many years ago, when I was a youth pastor (I know I’ve shared this before), I shared the basic gospel message to a group of kids at Christmas time. God is greater than you know, you’ve sinned against God, you deserve to be punished for your sins, Jesus came to save you from your sins, and that means that Christmas is really about a baby who came to die in your place. It was fairly straightforward stuff. But at that last idea one girl audibly gasped. In that moment she came to realize she was blind.

I had someone come up to me at the farmer’s market who found our Gospel for Kids booklet on the Grace table. This person was appalled to find in it the ideas that kids are born sinners (Romans 3:23) and deserve the wages of sin (Romans 6:23). The person had not yet realized they were blind.

The world is filled with people who are deeply offended if any aspect of their desires, inclinations, or self-understanding are called into question, much less condemned. They don’t know they are blind.

I met with someone for years who had done some really awful things and was tormented relentlessly by the guilt that came from them. He knew he was blind.

I grew up believing that I was OK with God because I wasn’t as bad as the really bad people. I didn’t know I was blind.

Grace, while we are all born spiritually blind on account of our sin, there are some who recognize this and some who don’t. In coming as the light of the world, Jesus came to help people see their blindness and to offer them sight (to “judge” them). He came as the true eye test and the perfect prescription for every ailment. Lots of people believed lots of things about their ability to see. But Jesus came to “judge” the legitimacy of their claims and offer help to all who would receive it.

In our passage, we’re given an example both of one who knew he was blind and of some who didn’t.

The man Jesus healed is a perfect example of someone who came to know he was bind. As I’ve mentioned several times throughout our time in John 9, the man’s physical blindness was a clear, visible picture of his (and our) deeper problem of spiritual blindness. And Jesus’ healing him from his physical blindness was a gift of God to help him see his need to be healed of his spiritual blindness.

The man clearly felt his spiritual blindness before he understood it. This stands out in the simple fact that he repeatedly acknowledged his ignorance. He came to know that he couldn’t see much.

The man knew he didn’t know how to cure his own physical blindness. For that reason, when Jesus offered him a solution, as goofy as it must have sounded, he humbly complied. “‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing” John 9:7.

When asked by the Pharisees whether or not Jesus was a sinner, the man once again admitted that he didn’t know, “He answered, ‘Whether he is a sinner I do not know'” (John 9:25).

And when Jesus asked him if he believed in the Son of Man, the man admitted that he didn’t know who that was until Jesus told him (9:35-36).

Once we come to recognize our blindness, and before we’re granted spiritual sight, we know for the first time the depth of our ignorance. But it is only those who can see their inability to see who will turn to Jesus for help to see. Acknowledging our blindness is a prerequisite to gaining sight.

Having done so, the once-blind, now-seeing man was finally ready to truly “see” Jesus; and so he did. Jesus opened his eyes and his immediate response was to worship! Acknowledging this, Jesus said, this is exactly why I came. “I came into this world, that those who do not see may see…”. And so you do.

Grace, do you really know that you (and your kids and grandkids and neighbors and coworkers and all mankind) are born spiritually blind—unable to see God for who He really is and yourself for who you really are? Do you know that’s why everyone does everything they do from birth? Do you know that no one can gain spiritual sight until we come to admit that we are spiritually blind? And do you know that only Jesus can give spiritual sight, which He came to do for all who will acknowledge their blindness?

Our text helps us to see what it looks like when someone does. But is also helps us to see that many don’t; that there’s another kind of blindness or, rather, another kind of blind person. There’s the person who is knowingly blind and the person who is unknowingly blind.

Jesus explained that He came not only that the blind might see, but also that “those who see may become blind.” Having just overheard what Jesus said to the man born blind and having just witnessed the man’s healing and worship, the Pharisees—evidently lingering within earshot—wondered aloud (v.40), “Are we also blind?”

The basic idea seems to be this: The Pharisees knew that the blind man was largely ignorant of the things of God. He was not educated or well trained in the Scriptures. In that way, it made sense that Jesus considered him blind. And in that way it made sense that Jesus would want to help him see. In contrast, the Pharisees understood themselves as learned, educated, and informed concerning the things of God. They were not blind. They could see. But they felt judged by Jesus and so they scoffingly, incredulously wondered whether Jesus put them in the same category as the poor, blind beggar.

We’ve seen this haughtiness play out in the Pharisees throughout John’s Gospel and in chapter 9 in particular. In contrast with the man born blind, who consistently acknowledged his ignorance, the Pharisees continually expressed (misplaced) confidence in their own (false) understandings.

Some among the Pharisees “knew” that Jesus was not from God, “Some … said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath'” (John 9:16).

The Pharisees “knew” that Jesus was a sinner (John 9:24).

And they “knew” that the man’s blindness was due to his sin and that, therefore, he had nothing to teach them (John 9:34).

The Pharisees believed they could see. They were unknowingly blind. To make things worse, not only did they not recognize their blindness, when Jesus showed up to tell them (so that He could heal them), they refused to believe Him. And for that reason, they were incensed that Jesus would accuse them of being blind.

In response to their question, therefore, Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

What Jesus seems to mean is this: If you knew you were blind, if you would admit it, you would turn to me, I would give you sight, you would believe in me, and I would take your guilt away. That is why I came! But since you are unwilling to admit your blindness, since you claim to be able to see, your eyes remain closed to the salivation standing before you and so the condemnation I came to rescue you from remains on you.

They were unknowingly blind.

We considered the cause of the blindness last Sunday. This morning we’re considering the cure. How was it that the blind man came to gain not only physical sight, but also spiritual sight while the Pharisees remained blind? As I mentioned in the beginning, there is an immediate an final cause of the man’s new spiritual sight.

The common denominator in the Pharisees, the conference speaker, the person at the market, the world at large, and me is a type of pride that gave us false confidence in ourselves and our lies. Our pride kept us from recognizing our blindness, and our blindness kept us from seeing what was real.

In contrast, as we saw, the blind man was marked by humility. If you want to see, Grace, you must begin with humbly acknowledging your blindness. As the Pharisees warn us of pride, the blind man calls us to humility. The immediate cause of new spiritual sight, then, is humility.

Having clearly seen that it is only once we know we are blind that we will seek the help we need, and having clearly seen that it is the pride that we’re all born into that keeps us from seeing that we can’t see, we still need to ask where the humility comes from that causes us to cry out to God.

The answer is Jesus. And that answer has two components to it.

First, the answer is Jesus in the sense that it is often by encountering someone who really can see that we recognize our blindness. The conference speaker needed a doctor with special instruments to reveal to him what he could not see on his own. I needed a teammate to share the gospel with me in clear and winsome terms so I could see what I’d been blind to for so long. And the man born blind needed Jesus Himself to show up and put on display the wisdom, mercy, grace, and power of God before he was able to recognize his deeper blindness.

In simplest terms, that’s what the judgment of v.39 is about. Jesus came as the one with perfect sight to exemplify and describe the truth of God and man to the world, revealing sin’s blinding effects, so that the world would turn to Him for healing and forgiveness.

And that is why holiness and evangelism is so critical for the Church. That is why you and I—those who have been given spiritual sight—need to live in the light and share the gospel with those who remain spiritually blind. God has chosen to use us to show the transforming power of the gospel and open eyes through it.

And that leads to the second component of Jesus being the source of the humility we need to see our blindness and cry out to God for healing. Ultimately, as John repeatedly highlighted throughout his Gospel, all of that comes from the sovereign grace of Jesus.

One Pastor summarizes it like this, “In John 3:3, Jesus says, ‘Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ … In John 6:37, Jesus says, ‘All that the Father gives me will come to me.’ And in verse 44, he says, ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.’ And in verse 65, he says, ‘No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’ So coming to Jesus is a gift. We don’t do it on our own then get the gift. Our coming is the gift…Or in John 10:26, Jesus says, ‘You do not believe because you are not part of my flock.’ And in John 8:47, he says, ‘The reason why you do not hear [my words] is that you are not of God.’ And in John 18:37, he says, ‘Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’ So our listening to his voice and our hearing his words and our believing on him are all owing to something that went before. Something God did.”

Our passage for this morning is yet another expression of the sovereignty of God in giving the humility that leads to recognizing our blindness, and through that the sight that leads to faith, and through that the union with Christ that leads to salvation.

Just as we saw with last week’s big theological point, there is some measure of mystery in how both of those things can be true at the same time—(1) We must humble ourselves in order to see our blindness and (2) God is the one who gives humility. But there is not mystery in John about the fact that they are both true at the same time. For some, this is a point of frustration and difficulty. For John, however, it is without exception a point of clarity and comfort. It is not a doctrine to be embarrassed by or uncomfortable with, but one to embrace as hope and life-giving.

The theme of sight/blindness is an important one throughout John’s Gospel. Typically, as is the case in this passage, Jesus/John speak of it in relation to the Jews’ and Jewish leaders’ inability to see Jesus for who He is. More broadly, they speak of sight/blindness in relation to the blinding effects of sin which keep people from receiving Jesus as the Christ and finding life in Him. That is, the general principle is that we need to be given new spiritual eyes in order to see God for who He is and ourselves for who we are, in order to trust in Jesus and be saved.

But there’s more to it than just that. What I’ve hinted at a few times, I now want to make explicit: The new spiritual eyes which come to those who humble themselves according to God’s sovereign grace, and which allow us to truly see God and respond to the gospel in faith, those eyes don’t go away after our conversion. They stay with us for the rest of our lives. What’s more, by even more of God’s grace and according to His promises, our spiritual vision will continue to increase, bringing all things into ever-sharpening focus.

Again, we need to pray for new spiritual eyes for conversion (ours and others). But what I want you to see now is that we need to continue to pray for increased spiritual vision for the rest of our time on earth. We need new eyes to see God initially and we need renewing eyes to grow to see God, ourselves, and the world rightly. Even though every Christian has spiritual eyes, none of us have perfect spiritual sight yet.

Therefore, Grace, I urge you, pray constantly that God would help your spiritual vision to increase so that you can better see His holiness and glory. More than anything else, that will shape the way you live. Even a moments glimpse into the glory of God as we will see it in heaven or God’s wrath as many will see it in hell will shape everything about us. The key for us to understand is that God is just as glorious and wrathful now as He will be then. He has revealed much of that to us in His Word. We simply need better eyes to see. With them, who/what would we fear? What command would be burdensome? What could compete for our affection and joy? What would we want to pass on, train in, and praise more to our kids than God?

Christian, pray also that God would help your spiritual vision to see sin as sin. We all have certain sins that truly disgust us (usually those of other people). But the fact of the matter is that because our spiritual sight still isn’t what it will be, even our greatest experience of disgust pales in comparison to what it should be. Sin is far more vile than we’ve ever seen and we need better spiritual sight if we are to properly cultivate proper reviling.

This must begin with us. We’ll never see the sins “out there” properly until we see the sins “in here” properly. Until, like Paul, we understand that we are the foremost of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), we won’t be able to see the sins of the world as God would have us. More importantly, though, we’ll never see the amazingness of the grace of Jesus Christ until we see the staggering heinousness of our own sin.

Once God grants increased clarity of spiritual sight with regard to sin, and as He brings together a right view of our own sin and the grace of Jesus, our concern for the sin of the world will have its proper motivation (the glory of God and the good of the world), reach its proper height (far above what it currently is in disgust and compassion), and lead to its proper response (fearless proclamation of the truth in love). It’s all there to be seen, but our vision must be cleared even more.

And pray also that God would help your spiritual vision as you look at the world around you. Pray to have the vision to see the heavens declaring the glory of God. Pray to have the vision to see your children as the divine image bearers they are. Pray to have the vision to see math as an extension of God’s unchanging nature. Pray to have the vision to see good music and art as an expression of God’s beauty in the world. Pray to have the vision to see each of the spheres God has made (family, church, government, society) as the gifts from God they are when they aim for their God-given mission, using their God-appointed means. And pray to have the vision to recognize where they’re out of whack and need God’s people to call them to repentance. Pray for God’s help to have the vision to see conflict and reconciliation, ethnic division and the unity of heaven, abortion and adoption, the nature and roles of men and women, government corruption and the Imperium of Jesus, and all other areas of life as God would have you.

Pray for clarity of spiritual sight in each of these areas in order that you would live more fully in light of what’s really real. And pray not only for your own sight, but that of us as a church as well. When we are transformed together, we have an even more powerful witness to the world and paint an even fuller picture of the power and grace of God.

Pray for increase spiritual clarity in each of these areas and as you do, ask the Holy Spirit to bring one to the surface that you might not only see it more clearly, but also live in light of it more fully. The final aim of improved vision isn’t a changed perspective, but a changed perspective leading to a transformed life, family, church, and world for the glory of God.

Jesus came to judge the world in the sense that He came to help the spiritually blind to know they are blind in order that they might see. New spiritual sight comes when we humble ourselves according to the sovereign grace of God. And through new spiritual sight comes overwhelmedness at the holiness and glory of God, leading to brokenness over our sin, leading to throwing ourselves before Jesus to be saved, leading to forgiveness of sins and new life, leading to greater spiritual vision for all things, leading to a longing to obey all Jesus commanded in all of life for the glory of God and the good of the world.

John 9:1-4 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.

Good morning. As you may know, my family and I were on vacation three weeks ago and for the past two weeks I’ve been working on a number of backlogged ministry projects; especially thinking carefully through the nature and content of our worship service. I look forward to sharing some of the fruit of my labor with you all in a sermon in the coming weeks.

I want to publicly and enthusiastically thank Pastor Mike for preaching for the last three weeks. Thanks on a practical level for freeing me up to go on a vacation and to work on liturgy. But thanks even more for handling Haggai so well. I strongly suspect that the ideas of “consider your ways” (first sermon) and “Jesus as consecrated flesh, made an unclean woman clean when she touched the fold of His garment” (last sermon) will stay with me for a long time.

With that, welcome back to the Gospel of John. In case you’re just joining us or just lost track of where we are, we’ve made our way to John 9. Overall, John wrote his Gospel in order to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ, in order that they/we might believe in Him and gain eternal life. To zoom in a bit more, John 9 wraps up three chapters dedicated to Jesus’ teaching and interactions (primarily with Jewish leaders) at the Feast of Booths, just six months before His crucifixion. And zoomed in further still, John 9 records Jesus miraculously giving physical and then spiritual sight to a man born blind and the various reactions those things produced.

We’ve already considered the healings (1-7, 37), the responses (8-34), and Jesus’ interpretation of it all (35-41). This morning we’re going to consider more carefully Jesus’ explanation for the man’s blindness. In particular, we’re going to consider the significance of the question “Why?” in times of suffering, the prevailing notion of the source of suffering in Jesus’ day, Jesus’ counter-cultural answer, and then a few broader truths on God’s relationship to suffering in the Bible. The main point of all of this is that God is working in and through every hardship in order to display His glory and bless His people. The main takeaways are for unbelievers to learn repentance from their suffering and for believers to find hope in the midst of every trial, knowing that God is working in and through every one.

One of the most consistent questions we ask when faced with hardship is, “why?”. It’s one of the most common questions I’m asked as a pastor when tragedy strikes. I’ve regularly asked it myself in times of deepest sorrow. The underlying assumption of the question seems to be that enduring a trial or loss is more bearable if we know there is some kind of good behind it or that will come out of it. Trials are hard. The idea that they might be in vain is harder still. And so, we long for an explanation that will help us endure them when they come.

This response—the impulse to ask “why” when life is hard—is not new to us. It has been the steady response of mankind since the beginning of mankind.

Long-barren Sarah wanted to know why the children she’d so longed for struggled so mightily within her when she finally became pregnant (Genesis 25:21-22).

The daughters of Zelophehad—fatherless, brotherless, and without any male relatives—wondered why their father’s name should be blotted out when it came to distributing land in the Promised Land (Numbers 27:1). Likewise, the descendents of Joseph wondered why their portion in the land was so small even though their numbers were large (Joshua 17:14).

Moses wanted to know why God would make His “wrath burn hot” against His chosen people (Exodus 32:10-12) and why he was forced to carry the burden of leading such a grumbling bunch (Numbers 11:11).

Many of God’s people wondered why God did not answer their prayers at times (Saul (1 Samuel 14:41), David (Psalm 10:1), the author of Lamentations (5:20, Jeremiah?), and Habakkuk (1:2)).

Because of the tremendous suffering inflicted upon him by Satan, Job wondered why God allowed him to live past birth (Job 3:11) and why God had marked him for suffering (Job 7:20). Jeremiah wondered why his pain was “unceasing” and his wounds “incurable” even though he faithfully served the LORD (Jeremiah 15:18). And in a remarkable prayer, in a season of suffering, Isaiah wondered, ” O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?” “Isaiah 63:17”.

God’s people often wondered why the wicked prospered while the righteous suffered (Jeremiah 12:1).

The disciples wondered why they were unable to cast out a terrorizing demon (Matthew 17:19). And at the death of Jesus, they doubted and were troubled, wondering why that happened and what had gone wrong (Luke 24:38).

Undoubtedly, the blind man of John 9 wondered this as well. Why was he born blind? Why did he need to suffer as he did? Why was he forced to beg in order to survive? Why had God allowed him to endure such hardship? Interestingly, however, it was not the blind man’s wondering that brought the question to Jesus, but the Disciples’. Consider with me the first two verses of our text for this morning.

As he [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi…[why is it] that he was born blind?

The heart of the Disciples’ question was why the man had been born blind. Their question came in a different form, one that assumed something that wasn’t true (which we’ll consider in a minute), but their basic question was an attempt to grasp the reason for the man’s blindness.

As we just saw, the “why” question was altogether common throughout the Bible. When asked with humble hearts of faith, it is a good and God-honoring question. Let us continue to ask that of God, Grace Church. In our times of trial it is a desperate declaration that God is uniquely wise (He alone knows the reason), He is uniquely good (He cares most about our suffering), and that He is uniquely sovereign (He alone is able to do something).

And yet, while asking the question is common, what’s far less common is a clear and direct answer from God in real time. God’s Word gives us general principles (some of which we’ll consider in a bit), but we often long for the specific reason for our specific suffering that never seems to come.

I imagine you can relate. How many times have you asked God “why” during a struggle only to be met with what felt like silence and distance? How often have you longed for an explanation that would make sense and set your mind at ease (even a little bit) only to have David’s prayer come to mind (“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever”? How long will you hide your face from me?”)? Again, for God’s good purposes, that was the case most of the time for most of the people in the Bible as well.

But if ever there was an opportunity for an answer, though, this was it, right? Jesus was right there with the Disciples. They were standing in front of the blind man (Who, incidentally, was not deaf. We have to wonder if he heard the question and was as eager to hear the answer as the Disciples). Would the Disciples get an answer? Or would Jesus leave them wondering of the mysteries of God yet again?

Before we find out whether Jesus would answer them plainly, we need to first consider the answer the Disciples (wrongly) assumed.

Again, asking “why” in times of hardship is a nearly universal phenomenon. In similar fashion, the spectrum of answers given is as wide as the spectrum of those asking the question. Hardship is so common that it’s nearly impossible to function in this world without the ability to make some sense of it, to be able to explain it on some level.

The Jews in Jesus’ day, including the Disciples, were no exception. When it came to the kind of suffering experience by the man in front of them—a lifetime of blindness—they wanted to know why and believed they had an answer. Look at v.2.

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?”

Why was the man born blind (or, why was anyone born with any kind of disability)? The prevailing answer among the Jews at the time of John 9 was: sin. The man was born blind, they assumed, because someone had sinned and was being punished by God for it. The only question in their minds was: whose sin.

There is some warrant for this idea. Certainly some physical suffering is the result of God’s judgment. Pharaoh (along with all of Egypt) was covered in boils for refusing to let the Israelites go (Exodus 9), Miriam became leprous for going against Moses (Numbers 12:10), Ananias and Sapphira were both struck dead for lying to the Disciples (Acts 5), and taking communion wrongly still results in some becoming physically sick (1 Cor. 11:30).

What’s more, Exodus 20:5 seems to teach something like what the Disciples were wondering.

Exodus 20:5 …I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me…

Jesus Himself taught a version of this in chapter 5.

John 5:14 Afterward [after Jesus healed a paralyzed man] Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

The main point for us to see is that there is significant biblical warrant for the Disciples’ suggestion. Sometimes suffering is the result of God punishing people for sin.

And yet, while the Disciples’ suggestion was possible, Jesus immediately dismissed it.

3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents…”

Disciples: We know that this man’s blindness is the result of God’s judgment on someone’s sin. But whose sin was it?

Jesus: You’re wrong. The source of his blindness had nothing to do with some in utero sin of the man or pre-conception sin of his parents. Your focus is too narrow.

Jesus was not, of course, suggesting that the man or his parents were sinless; only that their sins weren’t the cause of the man’s blindness. While sin is sometimes the cause of suffering, it is not always the case. This means, therefore, that there must be other reasons for congenital blindness (and other types of suffering). Indeed, there are.

For instance, at God’s suggestion, Job suffered tremendously at the hands of Satan because of his righteousness (Job 1:8). The Disciples suffered for their faithfulness to Jesus, consistent with Jesus’ promise (John 15:20). And, most significantly of all, according to God’s eternal plan, Jesus was entirely without sin and yet He suffered more than anyone else ever has in order to save the world from sin (Luke 22:44)! Indeed, there are a number of reasons why people, even the people of God, suffer.

If not for the reason of his own sin or that of his parents, and given the fact that there are numerous other possible reasons for suffering named in the Bible, why had this man suffered blindness for so many years? That brings us to the rest of Jesus’ response. Would He answer that question?

3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents … but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Was this an answer to their question or not? What did Jesus mean? There are a couple of grammatical/exegetical possibilities. That is, there are two ways to read Jesus’ reply that would be consistent with John’s choice of words.

1. The first possibility was that Jesus was directly answering the “why” question. According to this reading, His answer was that the man had been afflicted by God with blindness from birth, not because of anyones sin, but in order that Jesus would heal him and God would be glorified through that healing. That’s definitely what it looks like on the surface; and even more so in translations like the NIV (“But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. “
2. The second possibility was that Jesus was not directly answering the “why” question. That is, there’s a way to read Jesus’ words as dismissing the Disciples suggestion, but not offering an alternative explanation. Instead, according to this second reading, Jesus bypassed the larger “why” question and simply explained that regardless of the underlying reason, God was about to be glorified through the man’s blindness. It is possible to translate the passage like this: “Neither this man sinned nor his parents [that’s not the reason for his blindness]. But so that the works of God may be revealed in him it is necessary for us to work the works of him who sent me…”.

Before going any further, before settling on which possibility is most likely, we need to consider a few things.

1. As I said, there’s nothing in John’s wording that privileges, much less necessitates either of the two possibilities. Both are genuinely possible.
2. Some have suggested that the first possibility seems out of God’s character; that God would never cause someone to be born blind and suffer like that. There might be something worth considering about this, but the same power of God that was able to heal the man presently, was certainly also able to prevent his blindness in the first place. An omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent being is not “off the hook” for the suffering of His creatures simply because He didn’t directly cause it. A legitimate theodicy (satisfactory explanation of God’s relationship to evil) must offer more than that.
3. Along those lines, the primary reason many recoil at the first possibility is because they are thinking in horizontal terms rather than vertical ones. What I mean is that twenty years of blindness is really hard compared to those who do not suffer from blindness. But twenty years of blindness compared to the eternal conscious torment the man deserved for his sin looks a lot different. Likewise, being healed of blindness is a great blessing if only in this life. But the idea of being blind for years in order to be the means of such a significant display of the glory of God is a honor all should long for (like the Disciples who rejoiced that they were considered worthy of suffering for Jesus’ name in Acts 5:41).
4. If God’s promises to make ALL THINGS work together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28-29) are true (and they certainly are!), then we really are able to consider it all joy when we face trials of any kind. Faith in this kind of promise means believing that suffering a lifetime of blindness at the benevolent hand of God, according to the perfect purposes of God, for the glory of God, is infinitely better than a lifetime of sight.
5. Combined, these things help us to see that not only are both possible theologically as well as grammatically and exegetically. They are both consistent with the character, nature, and promises of God, and are, therefore, both good possibilities.

This means that it is the larger context of Jesus’ words that will point us in the right direction rather than anything in the words themselves or the goodness of their meaning and implications.

With that said, largely because of what I’m about to explain, it is generally agreed that the second alternative is the more likely possibility. Jesus was probably not speaking directly to the why question. Instead, again, He was most likely correcting the Disciples’ false understanding (that all such suffering was the result of God’s judgment) and at the same time preparing them for the awesome display of physical and spiritual glory He was about to unleash!

Physically, of course, the blind man was about to be miraculously made able to see. Jesus was about to open the eyes of his head. And as a result, perhaps for the first time in his life, he’d be able to see God’s creation, appreciate physical beauty, provide for himself (not have to beg or be a drain on his parents), and be free from the judgment and pity of others. If that were all the blessing Jesus gave the man, it would be sweet indeed.

But far, far more significantly still, the blind man was about to be miraculously made able to really See! That is, Jesus was about to open the eyes of his heart. And as a result, certainly for the first time in his life, he’d be able to see the holiness of God, the true nature of his sin, his need for cleansing and forgiveness, and the unique sufficiency of the Man standing before him to rescue him from his sin, to reconcile him to God, and to grant him everlasting life.

Grace, don’t miss this, while we might want this passage to help us better understand God’s relationship to suffering, that’s probably not what it’s for. What it is for, however, is just as glorious. It helps us to see a number of equally profound spiritual truths.

While the man’s sin was not the cause of his physical blindness, it was the cause of his spiritual blindness. And so it is for you and me and all mankind.

As this man was born physically blind, so are we all born spiritually blind. That’s why Jesus could stand right in front of the man and he could remain unmoved; even as you and I can read the very words of God, live in the very world created and governed by God, and be continually in the very presence of God and not be stirred.

The fact that the man’s physical blindness led to all kinds of awkwardness, difficulty, and suffering is a vivid picture of the effects of our spiritual blindness. Being born without spiritual sight leaves us (even if unknowingly) stumbling and suffering throughout our lives. We cannot live as we were made to while we are spiritually blind.

That the man was a beggar on account of his physical blindness helps us to see the spiritual poverty common to us all in our sin-wrought spiritual blindness.

Just as the man was powerless to bring about physical sight for himself, so too was he powerless to bring about spiritual sight for himself. And so are we, Grace. We are unable to save ourselves. We need God’s grace.

Ultimately, Jesus’ healing of the man’s lifetime of physical blindness was primarily meant to sharpen our understanding of His (far more glorious) healing of the man’s (far more serious) spiritual blindness. The man’s physical healing, as awesome as it was, paled in comparison to the greater gifts Jesus gave him—spiritual healing and right worship.

What’s more, finally, practically, and the main reason it is believed that the second possibility is the right one, is found in something strange you may have noticed in vs.3-4. Jesus didn’t say that the man’s blindness was that the work (singular) of God might be displayed. And he didn’t say, “therefore I (Jesus alone) need to work the (singular) work of him who sent me.” He said that the man’s blindness was that “the works (plural) of God might be displayed” and that “We (Jesus and His followers) must work the works (again, plural) of Him who sent me.”

In other words, this encounter is about more than Jesus healing the man for the glory of God. It is about all of Jesus’ followers, including you and me, participating in the continual works of proclaiming the gospel to the world and sacrificially living it out in the world, that the world might be given spiritual sight through it for the glory of God!

This whole encounter is ultimately about providing a picture of the effects of sin and our need to be rescued from them, Jesus’ unique ability to accomplish that rescue, and helping Jesus’ followers see the privilege we all share of participating in Jesus’ rescuing work.

Practically, then, Grace Church, do not neglect to do the works of God that His glory might be displayed. As Pastor Mike said, consider your ways.

When you speak to your spouse or kids or friends or neighbors, determine to speak in a way that gives life.

When you spend your money, determine to do so in a way that shines the light of Christ.

When you plan out your week, determine to do so in a way that is most likely to help the blind to see Jesus.

When you go to work or stay home with the kids, determine to work the works of God.

When you engage your neighbors, determine to look strange in their eyes as you bring the gospel to bear for them.

And when you interact with those who are suffering, determine to care for them as God cares for you even as you remember that their physical suffering is a picture of the spiritual suffering common to us all apart from Jesus.

Although Jesus likely didn’t directly answer the why question, as I mentioned, that is not to say that the rest of the Bible doesn’t have more to say. I want to close by giving you eight all-too-brief truths about suffering.

1. All suffering is the result of sin. Some is the direct result of our own sins or the sins of others and some is the indirect result of the brokenness of our world due to sin. Where there is no sin, there is no suffering. Not all suffering is the result of the particular sins of particular people, but all suffering is the result of sin’s destructive power.
2. For unbelievers, there is no guarantee of any goodness (for them) to come out of their suffering. God has not promised anything good in or out of the suffering of those who continue in their rejection of God.
3. For unbelievers, even the worst suffering on earth is but a foretaste of the eternal wrath of God that awaits them in hell. That is what it means that the wages of sin is death.
4. 2 and 3 because that is the seriousness of sin and rebellion against a holy God.
5. For believers, however, as I mentioned earlier, not one ounce of suffering is ever wasted. If your hope is in Jesus, not a single moment of discomfort will be in vain. We ought to rejoice at every bitter experience in the certain knowledge that God is using it to glorify His name and work a greater good in us through it than we could ever experience apart from it.
6. For believers, there is also the certain promise that God will end all suffering and restore all the effects of all suffering in the new heavens and new earth.
7. 5 and 6 because God is good, wise, and sovereign over every genetic anomaly, renegade cell, natural disaster, and sinful choice. Even those things are tools of God to bring about the redemption of the world.
8. There is some mystery in how all these truths fit together, but there is clarity in the fact that the Bible teaches them all. That means that however we make sense of our suffering and that of the people in our lives, it must take these things into account if it is to be true.

Since Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, suffering has been in the world. But Jesus came to overcome the destructive forces of darkness and sin, and so He has! Through faith, we are united with Jesus in His victory and assured that one day all our suffering and all its effects will be no more. Look to Jesus, therefore, do not fear the suffering of this world but use it to point people to Jesus; and therein work the works of God while it is still light.

Haggai 2:10-23 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, 16 how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD. 18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

20 The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.”

This is our final week in Haggai. It’s been a lot of fun, we’ve certainly chased down a lot of Old testament themes and background. While it’s a short book, hopefully you recognize just how much gold is packed inside. And this kind of richness is packed into each book of the Bible. I pray that it would motivate you to freshly study scripture and experience the richness of God’s Word.

The book of Haggai is largely about having and keeping right priorities before the LORD. Setting our priorities right, and keeping them there is hard work. But with the proper motivation, which I hope we will see today, can make all the difference.

Here’s a quick recap of where we have been so far in the book. The people, a remnant of the former glory of Israel, have returned from exile. They are commissioned to rebuild the temple, but after a false start, are slow to rebuild. Even worse, they are spending time and resources on building their own homes. So the LORD speaks through the prophet Haggai to call the people to consider their ways.

Their priorities are out of order, and they experience curse because of it. God actually causes drought and futility because of their disobedience and unfaithfulness to the covenant. And then we see at the end of chapter 1 that the people obey. They resume the work on the temple and God tells them that he is with them. God’s desire has always been to dwell in fellowship with his people.

Now, chapter 2 begins with the people working, but growing discouraged. The new building effort falls far short of the former glory of Solomon’s temple. Again Haggai speaks the words of the LORD to the people. While the remnant sees what’s in front of them, they need eyes of faith to look towards the future glory. And that future glory is the advent of Christ. He is the greater glory than a building made with hands. For the remnant of Judah, these are the promises the LORD makes to give them hope for the future.

Now as we wrap up the final section of Haggai, the people will receive more good news for the future. While their ways have cost them, Haggai again assures blessing will come soon. Last week we saw a greater, more glorious house was to come, this week we will look at a greater priesthood and a greater kingdom. And each of these are only possible with the hope of a greater priest and a greater king.

The overall book of Haggai is organized in a chiasm, where the high point of the book is the middle section, which we covered last week. Then the sections on either side correspond to one another. So this week is kind of like coming down the other side of a mountain. We will hear similar themes to the first chapter, but with a slight twist too. So if it sounds repetitive, it kind of is, but Haggai also expands what was said. And now in light of the promises of a glorious new house, as we come down the mountain, there is greater hope in other areas too.

The structure of our passage looks like this:

Verses 10 through 14 speak to the current futility of the people through the priesthood.

Verses 15-19 promise future blessings, beginning now.

And verses 20-23 promise a future, permanent kingdom ruled by a permanent king.

A greater priesthood with a greater priest, and a greater kingdom with a greater king.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we can approach you in peace. We can actually call you father and ask you things as sons and daughters. I pray that your name would be hallowed this morning. Not just here at Grace, but around the world as your people gather. Please strengthen your church to accomplish great things for the kingdom. Things that will make earth more and more like heaven. May your will be done this morning and on into this week. May your Word stir us to godly action. May our faith work out in tangible ways. Strengthen our souls. We ask that the daily bread you have provided for us in your Word would feed us. May we hear and respond in faith. May sin be confessed and put to death. Forgive us of our areas of unbelief. Forgive us of our dullness or ignorance. Forgive us for sinning against one another, and may we be gracious towards others as well. Help us to be quick to forgive. Whether that’s in our own families, our neighborhoods or one another in the church. Father deliver us from temptation and evil. May we focus while your word is preached and fight against distraction. May we delight in dwelling in your presence this morning. Keep us from sin as we scatter this afternoon. Thank you that your Word is sufficient for all things. May it do more than we can imagine this morning. Amen.

Our next section, chapter 2 verses 10-17 brings us to another date marker. This time we are in the twenty fourth day of the ninth month. The ninth month in the Hebrew calendar is what is our twelfth month. It’s December 24th, the first day of Hannukkah and obviously Christmas eve. But those holidays both came later than when Haggai wrote his book. Instead there are two biblical reasons for this date: first, it was planting season for the area. And second this date marks the dedication of the temple, something that Hannukkah picks up on later in history.

The rest of the chapter all occurs on this date. So Haggai begins by asking questions of the priests on behalf of the people. One of the priests’ duties was to teach and explain the law. But the questions aren’t simply for information’s sake. Haggai is asking rhetorical questions to get at the spiritual state of the remnant. Remember when the prophet Nathan told a parable to David to draw him out and confess his guilt over Bathsheba? Haggai is driving at something similar to convict the people and make a point.

He asks two questions and gets two answers. Look at question one in verse 12:

12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.”

It sounds strange to us, Haggai is referring back to the Levitical law code.

The first question is about holiness. What is holiness?

The closer to the middle of the tabernacle or temple you got, the closer you were to God’s holy presence. With each step, the fewer people could enter. And there were more stipulations with each further step. Step one was the outer court, where any Israelite could go and bring their offerings. But they must be holy. Step 2 is the holy place, the outer area of the tabernacle or temple. Only priests could enter this area, and priests had to be consecrated or set apart for their duties. The final step is within the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant resided. Only the High Priest could enter this area, and he had further requirements and instructions for offering sacrifices of atonement. The further inside you went, the closer you came to the holiness of God.

That’s fine and good, but what does that have to do with what Haggai is talking about. When people would offer the various animal sacrifices the priests were allowed to eat part of the sacrifices, and even bring them home to their families. This was a provision for the priests, since they ministered to the LORD at the temple. So they would wrap the meat in the fold of their garment or robe and carry it home. The question then, is whether this holy meat makes other things holy through touch. The meat was made holy because it was offered on the altar. It was made holy through God himself lighting the fire on the altar. But the question Haggai asks is how far can holiness spread. If you have a piece of meat made holy on God’s altar, can that make other things holy as well? And the priests’ correct answer is ‘no’. Holiness doesn’t simply spread through degrees of contact, like holy meat to a garment to something else. Touching holy things doesn’t spread holiness indefinitely.

In fact, the opposite is true. If someone who isn’t holy enters a place or touches something that is holy, it will defile everything. as we see from Haggai’s second question.

Haggai asks the priests a second question:

13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.”

While the first question dealt with holiness, this question deals with uncleanness. This is another feature of the covenant that we are not familiar with. These are the things that are buried in Leviticus and we assume are irrelevant to us today.

This might take a little work to understand the clean/unclean codes. A better word than clean is purity. Basically when God gave the covenant, many of the rules and statutes emphasized being clean. This is a different category than holiness. But it is a state that points to death in the world. And as a result, it would keep you from the assembly and God’s presence. There were requirements around foods, bodily discharges, diseases and even mold in a house. And each of these laws would have instructions on how to become clean again.

For example, when a woman gave birth, she would be unclean because it involved blood. Obviously birth is not sinful or immoral, but the mother would have been unclean for a set amount of time. She would need become clean in order to return to the community. She would wash and make an offering after the instructed time outside the camp and then be able to return.

Haggai’s question involves someone who has touched a dead body. Again, this is part of life and people would have had to touch dead bodies. It wasn’t sinful, it wasn’t superstitious, but it did make someone ceremonially unclean. And Haggai’s point is that while holiness doesn’t spread through contact, uncleanness or impurity does. Anyone unclean who touched someone or something else, spread impurity. So as difficult as holiness was to pass on, making things unclean was very easy. And this is where Haggai ties these priestly questions to the state of the people in verse 14.

14 Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean.

Haggai once again reminds the people of their spiritual state since the return from exile. Without correct priorities, without true faith and repentance, their offerings are profane before God. Without the proper sacrificial system, they could not become clean or offer holy offerings.

Now once they rebuild the temple and dedicate it, they will have a place to offer right sacrifices. But these questions of the priest still show the need for something better. Holiness does not spread, while uncleanness-the reminder of death-spreads easily.

Fast forward to the New Testament and we see a new priest who will usher in a new and better priesthood. There’s a well-known story about Jairus’ daughter and the bleeding woman. This is found in Matthew 9, Mark 5 and Luke 8. It’s kind of two stories in one but they both show how Jesus is the greater priest.

Without explaining the entire passage, here are the relevant pieces for us. There is a girl who is dying and her father, Jairus, asks Jesus to come, touch her and heal her. On the way to Jairus’ home, a crowd gathers around Jesus. You might say he was in the midst of the crowd. A woman had been bleeding for 12 years with no cure. She comes all the way into the middle of the crowd and touches the fringe, or fold, of Jesus’ garment. Here is Jesus, God made flesh, wrapped in his priestly garment. And the woman touches him.

According to Haggai’s question, the woman won’t become holy simply through touching the fold of his garment. This woman wouldn’t have been allowed in the court of the temple because of her uncleanness. And yet, Jesus knowing that power had gone out from him tells the woman, ‘take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ Instead of needing to go through a priest made holy through rituals, the woman boldly approaches the holy son of God directly. And Jesus our Great High Priest reveres the effects of sin and death. Instead of being touched by an unclean woman, Jesus as the perfect, holy priest heals her and makes it possible for her to be clean.

Then Jesus arrives at Jairus’ house and touches a dead body. And instead of becoming unclean, he raises the girl and returns life to her. Holiness is spreading and the signs of death, like uncleanness, are being removed.

Jesus is a different kind of priest. It’s incredible enough that he heals the sick and raises the dead. But even more amazing is that he transforms the priesthood. Instead of holiness being confined, and uncleanness spreading, Jesus reverses these. These are more signs that the end of death comes with Christ’s appearing.

And through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, he expands the priesthood. Instead of narrowing access to a holy God, the access expands and so does the priesthood.

All who are saved by the gospel become priests. We have the Holy Spirit who empowers us as we bring Jesus to those around us. What is our job as priests in the new covenant? We are called to several things. We are called to proclaim the excellencies of the LORD (1 Peter 2:9) to the world around us. We are called to purify ourselves by obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love(1 Peter 1:22). We are called to lives of holiness (1 Peter 1:13-16).

Jesus is the one who makes us holy, but we still must ensure that we are pure when we approach in worship. This is the simplicity of confession and the assurance of pardon. While our status before God won’t change as saints (or holy ones), we can still enter into worship in a profane way. So we remind you of the seriousness of worship and that the gospel is what purifies us to enter into worship.

This is also part of what should motivate us to live according to God’s priorities. We are now priests, representing the LORD to a dying world.

With the next section, we return to where we found ourselves in chapter one: Consider your ways. Only instead of calling the people to repent from working on their houses and making them fancy, Haggai looks forward with hope. He first reminds them of their futility before they began the rebuild effort. God had cursed the people in the field and in the barn and in their houses. The hope was that the people would repent and turn back to their God. That is the purpose of God’s curses: to lead people back to Him.

The remnant has been beat up by Haggai quite a bit. They are reminded multiple times about the futility of their efforts because they have sought their interests over the interests of the LORD. But the next two verses mark a change. Haggai tells the people that this day of dedication marks a new start.

18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

After experiencing the curses of blight and mildew, drought and meager harvests, this day is a new day. Remember that this is the month of planting for Israel. If they planted seeds, they wouldn’t yet know what kind of harvest there would be. I have planted plenty of gardens dreaming of the harvest I would reap. Haggai is a reminder that God is the LORD of the harvest and controls all things. So even if the planter does everything right, if God desires to curse through a poor harvest, it will be a poor harvest. But here is a reminder that the inverse is true too. If the remnant plants with right priorities, trusting in the LORD for provision, the LORD will bless.

This is what Moses promised all the way back in Deuteronomy 30:

And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.

Moses connects returning to the LORD with blessing. The connection is the same that Haggai makes: Fearing the LORD rather than men, and keeping the LORD’s commandments brings blessing. And this is more than spiritual blessings. It can show up as material blessings.

Is this prosperity gospel? Maybe it could sound that way, but this is the truth of scripture. Separating spiritual and physical is a lot harder than it seems. Instead of receiving blessings for obedience according to what God has promised, the Prosperity gospel turns it into a formula without good news. The prosperity gospel says if you do X, or give this much money, you’ll receive the blessing you want. And if you don’t get the blessing you want, there’s something wrong with you. But the true gospel of scripture always begins with what God has already done for us. And that leads to the requirements of the covenant and the blessings and curses. But the blessings are real and they are tied to the covenant.

It won’t always show up in the ways we might want, but when our priorities are to seek the LORD’s priorities, God’s word says that he will provide: Seek first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you (Matt 6:33).

‘These things’ include the material things. Do you believe that God will bless you if you reorient your life around his will? Do you believe that if you cut out idolatry or wrong priorities, that God would be pleased to lavish blessings on you?

Be strong, Grace. You might have to make hard decisions, you might displease people. But whatever is out of place, work in faith to put it right. It might mean cancelling a streaming service. It might mean disappointing your kids when you tell them no to a sport or activity. It might mean your body experiences more pain because you are pushing harder to be here on Sundays. But the promise Haggai speaks is true. Consider your ways, put things right and you will be blessed.

The final section is another promise related to a better future, this time Haggai speaks about a better kingdom.

Hag. 2:20 The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.

Once again we see this promise to shake the heavens. In our last passage there was slightly different wording and we saw that it was a shaking of the cosmos that would bring in the New covenant and the greater glory in Christ. Christ is the greater glory and his body establishes the church.

And now we see more shaking, but this time the description is of destruction. And instead of other houses, or bringing in the nations and their treasures, this time it relates to the kingdoms of the world. In the book of Daniel, there are several visions of the empires of earth being removed. First the Babylonians, then the Persians, the Greeks and then the Romans. By the time of Haggai, Babylon had already been removed. The Persians will be removed within the next century by Greece. And eventually the Romans will conquer the world before the time of Christ. And this sets up the prophecy by Haggai when he speaks of destroying all other kingdoms.

Daniel 2:44– And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,

Not everyone agrees that this shaking refers to the destruction of these kingdoms. Some see this as a future destruction at the end of time when Jesus returns. But Remember that this passage is part of Hebrews 12. There it compares the shakings in Haggai to something parallel with the Exodus. Notice the language in Haggai about overthrowing chariots and their riders. This harkens back to the Red Sea and the glorious victory for Israel over the ruling kingdom of their day. And that coincides with the Covenant given at Sinai. So then what future event is Haggai talking about?

Hebrews 12:26 gives us more clues. the writer of Hebrews uses Haggai’s quote about shaking to describe this in relation to a permanent kingdom.

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

The remnant lived under the rule of Persia. But Haggai, with some help from Hebrews, points them to a future and better kingdom. A kingdom that cannot be shaken.

And that kingdom-Jesus’ kingdom-is here. It is permanent and it is expanding. It will take awhile to fully grow, like a mustard seed. But it is here. We talk about the church a lot, and it is a vital piece of the kingdom, but the kingdom is actually the larger realm. The kingdom includes everything we do: church, work, family, entertainment,

There are things that belong to the church, like right worship, sacraments and membership. But everything else we do in life is a chance to work for the kingdom. There is not an area of life where God is indifferent about it. It means that eventually all institutions and areas of life will conform to Christ’s rule. All enemies will be put under his feet. All nations will come in. And we should use this to motivate us in our lives. As we fight to have right priorities, remember that your life matters and what things you do in life matter. Because it goes towards a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

That doesn’t mean it’s a straight line towards glory and nothing bad will happen. Expanding the kingdom is hard work and it will involve toil, and suffering. That might be a larger part of our immediate future, but the longer term vision is one of expansion and glory.

We’ve already seen a better priesthood with a better priest. Now we have a better kingdom, and it begs for a better king. So Haggai continues with one last prophecy concerning a better king. Verse 23 addresses Zerubbabel.

Zerubbabel was the current governor of Judah, under the rule of Darius. We’ve previously mentioned that Zerubbabel is in the line of David. He is the son of Shealtiel and the grandson of Jehoiachin, the last king of Judah before exile. Like many of Israel and Judah’s kings, Jehoiachin, also known as Jeconiah, did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. The prophet Jeremiah warned Jeconiah what would happen as a result of his evil ways:

Jer. 22:24 “As I live, declares the LORD, though [Je]Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

Just as Jeremiah prophesied, Jeconiah/Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, along with the holy vessels from the temple. Notice the other things which were promised: the LORD would tear off Jeconiah like a signet ring. And verse 30 says

30 Thus says the LORD:
    “Write this man down as childless,
        a man who shall not succeed in his days,
    for none of his offspring shall succeed
        in sitting on the throne of David
        and ruling again in Judah.”

So Israel will no longer have a ruler with the LORD’s authority. And there will be no successor to the throne in Judah either. That is a grim future for Israel. Maybe they will rebuild the temple, maybe there will be a greater priest and priesthood, but it sounds like ruling as a nation again is out of the question. But this simply points to another of God’s promises of something better and more glorious than Israel’s remnant knew.

23 On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.”

Where it seemed that the Davidic line was cut off, the LORD of Hosts ensures that the line will continue. It’s a story of resurrection and new life for the line of David. Zerubbabel will be like a signet ring.

A signet was the official mark of a ruler. It would have their official mark or icon. Whatever an official would decree, they would stamp with their signet into wax or clay. Whatever was stamped was identical to that ruler or authority speaking a decree. We see this in a variety of rulers in the Old Testament, back as far as Judah and Joseph all the way up to King Darius. And from the passage on Jeconiah we heard a minute ago, the King of Judah also had a signet to represent their authority before God. But Jeconiah would have his signet ripped off. And not only that but his line would be cutoff with no successor. And yet, God promises a new ruler like a signet. How can God do that? Because he’s God and he says so. What was dead, the old line of Judah, is in a sense resurrected through God’s promise to Zerubbabel. He has chosen Zerubbabel to point to a greater ruler, Jesus Christ.

And Christ is King. He came to declare the gospel of his kingdom. Because he is the rightful king who rules over everything. He rules by his perfect law. He is the true signet ring. He has all authority. And he will conform everything in his kingdom to match his image. That’s what a signet ring is for. So we, as citizens of his kingdom, must match his image increasingly. In the power of the gospel, we must work to transform the world around us to conform to the image of Christ.

As we wrap up the book of Haggai, how should we respond? We’ve covered a lot of ground, whipped around a lot of different places and themes in the Old Testament. What are the practical takeaways?

The first and most significant truth of the book is that God’s priorities bring blessing. And if we cross up our priorities, we won’t be blessed and will be cursed. So Grace, consider your ways. Live intentionally. Evaluate your time and calendar. How do you spend your time? What gets put on the calendar and what gets missed? And begin with the largest pieces first. Before we can talk about working for the kingdom, we must begin with fervent worship with the saints on the Lord’s Day. Start with Sunday mornings and block them off every week to gather with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

We talked before about the subtle drifts that can happen and pull us off course. You’re playing in the ocean and without trying you will be yanked down the beach. It takes effort to maintain right priorities. Worship on the LORD’s Day is like a giant anchor driven into the sandy depths to keep us in place. Fight to be here every week. It means saying no to other fine things like youth sports, a quick jaunt to the cabin or sleeping in. It might mean looking at your Saturday’s and ensure your family isn’t too worn out that you can’t make it on Sunday morning. This is the kind of intentionality Haggai is requiring.

If that anchor of regular worship is in place for you, move on to other areas. Begin asking questions about why you decide to do the things you do? Why don’t you do other things? Work out from there to ensure you are striving for personal holiness. Shut your phone off and begin the day in prayer and the Word. Let that holiness spread to your family.

Men, are you leading family worship? Do you pray with your wife and children? Do you open up the scriptures to read together?

Kids, ask your parents why you do the things you do as a family. Do it respectfully, but help ask good questions about your family’s priorities.

Evaluate your attitude. Are you living for the glory of God and the building of his kingdom, or do you actually want your own glory and the building of your kingdom? What causes you anger or frustration? Is it because Christ’s kingdom is disturbed, or is it actually your kingdom that’s threatened?

Ask one another. Ask an elder. May we orient around the LORD together and help one another.

Maybe a simpler way to think through your priorities is remembering that we are subjects of the King. What does the king require and what ways can make his kingdom glorious? Do you subject your life to the king in every area of life? I want to end with this:

Philippians 2 is a well-known passage and I think it sums up well what Haggai is trying to drive at in his book.

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Have the mind of Christ. Consider your ways and ensure that they line up with the mind of Christ.

Be willing to humbly serve, even when it’s hard, even when it doesn’t lead to immediate and glorious results.

But also have the right motivation: the glorious future that awaits us when the kingdom reaches its fullness and every knee should bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

King Jesus, we acknowledge your rule. You have all authority in heaven and earth. Thank you for declaring us holy, thank you for making us priests. May we live lives of holiness and be conformed more and more to your image. May we be motivated by your glory to seek your kingdom and the building of it. May we see disciples made. May we look forward in hope for all nations to come in and confess you as Lord. May we obey all that you have commanded and teach others to do the same. May we remember that you are with us for all time. My words are not articulate enough to declare your greatness. May you be pleased with our worship. May our hearts and priorities match what we sing. May our lives be glorious imprints of your image to those around us. Amen.

Haggai 2:1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

Good morning, we are continuing in the book of Haggai. If you missed last week’s sermon, I am spending three weeks working through this book. It’s a small book written during the post-exillic time. The time when the remnant of Israel has returned to Jerusalem from captivity.

If you heard last week’s sermon, Haggai confronted Israel on their mixed-up priorities. He called them to consider their ways and order their lives around Yahweh’s priorities. God’s priority was calling the people to resume building the temple so that they could offer right worship and dwell in the presence of God. So we looked at how this relates to our priorities and ensuring that we line up with what God sees as best. And maybe if the sermon landed, you were fired up Sunday afternoon. You were motivated to put things right, create new habits and goals and take dominion of all areas of life. And Monday you crushed it. It was glorious.

But then by Wednesday, maybe things got harder. It was more of a grind and harder to see the glory of it all. Your checklist didn’t get crossed off as swiftly, you missed Family worship. And you already broke your resolution to wake up daily at 5am.

Maybe you did get everything crossed off your list, but it didn’t bring immediate and glorious results. You were present more with the kids, but they still disobeyed! You talked to your relative about Jesus and it still ended in conflict. Remember last chapter, God sent a drought on the people. It takes awhile for new fruit to grow. Turning a large ship around is a slow process. Just like putting our priorities right in our own lives can be a slow, arduous process.

How do we keep that momentum? How do we continue even when the results aren’t immediate?

Is anyone noticing whether I discipline my child or not? Is the laundry folding truly reaping cosmic rewards? Does it have any earthly affects, let alone heavenly? That person you are discipling just isn’t bearing fruit.

This is where Israel found themselves in chapter 2 of Haggai. As Israel began to rebuild, they run into discouragement. The glory of the former temple had not returned. It wasn’t as spectacular inside or outside. And they saw how unimpressive it was. And yet the Lord spoke to the people and reminded him that he was still with them. And then he gave them several commands to continue the hard and inglorious work of rebuild. And on top of that, the LORD of Hosts also made several glorious promises about future glory of the temple, the nations, and a place of peace, which all find their fulfillment in the coming Lord Jesus Christ. Even in the things that seem mundane or insignificant, the places where we don’t see immediate results, they are still related to greater and glorious work of God. We will be in chapter 2, verses 1-9 this morning. I’ve titled the sermon ‘Man’s mundane work and God’s glorious promises.’

Before we pray, I wanted to give a word of warning to help you hang with me. If you’ve heard me preach over the years, I tend to have lots of references to other places in the Bible or chase down various themes. I do it because I love seeing how the Bible provides the background for itself. We don’t need to understand archaeology or ancient Persian history to understand the Bible. But I believe it’s important and necessary. We just need to be good students of redemptive history. Our own history. We have the Holy text of scripture to understand everything we need.

Now because we aren’t as familiar with lots of biblical passages, it takes a little more work to see all the connections clearly. As I studied this week, there were lots of themes and background work that went in to this passage.

Have you seen the meme picture of the guy with whiteboard full of strings and thumb tacks. Everything is connected in one big conspiracy theory. And that is overwhelming. How do you keep everything straight? But that is what the story of redemption is. It’s God’s big conspiracy, where all the dots get connected in exactly the right ways. Except it’s true, it’s not a theory. But that can still feel overwhelming. and I don’t want to overwhelm you all with lots of dots to connect and throw lots of verses at you. So I am going to try and provide enough background that you can appreciate all that Haggai is pointing to, without overwhelming. So I am going to say some things without citing every passage just so we can keep moving. Instead, I will note everything in my manuscript for those who either want to chase more down or want to see my proof. I never want to imply that I’m just pulling things out of thin air, but again I don’t want to overwhelm anyone in an avalanche of cross references.

If anything, I hope that it stirs your desire to know your Bible better. Because the better you understand Genesis and Leviticus or Haggai, the better you understand everything else in scripture.

Prayer

Psa. 119:57   The LORD is my portion;
     I promise to keep your words.
58    I entreat your favor with all my heart;
     be gracious to me according to your promise.
59    When I think on my ways,
     I turn my feet to your testimonies;
60    I hasten and do not delay
     to keep your commandments.
61    Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
     I do not forget your law.
62    At midnight I rise to praise you,
     because of your righteous rules.
63    I am a companion of all who fear you,
     of those who keep your precepts.
64    The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;
     teach me your statutes!

Father, we want this for ourselves. Help us to love your Word more. Help us to know your word more. May we be satisfied with you as our portion and hasten to keep your commandments. Even when the wicked surround us, may your Word be the deep anchor that keeps us in place. May we fear you this morning and offer your right worship. We thank you that not only can we dwell in your presence, but you delight in us. And we confess that we can’t do any of these things without your Holy Spirit. So please help us to hear what you have to say this morning, May I speak truth and be faithful to your Word, and please apply these truths to our hearts. Help us to see how your glory is tied to our mundane acts of obedience today and this week. Amen.

One part we didn’t talk about last week is how Haggai organizes the book. You’ve probably noticed that Haggai organizes the book around several dates. And the dates all have significance to them that relate to what Haggai is speaking about. Chapter 1 is the sixth month on the first day of the month. This would have marked the new moon. And this is essentially what the people experience as they shake off the cobwebs, reorient to the LORD, and begin working on the temple in obedience and blessing.

In our passage, we see it is now the seventh month on the twenty first day of the month. There are two events that occurred in the seventh month in Israel. First, Solomon’s temple was dedicated in the seventh month. In a book with a great focus on houses of various kinds, that’s an interesting detail. Haggai’s people are in the process of building the temple.

Secondly, the seventh month is when the feast of booths or feast of tabernacles occurred. this might seem irrelevant to our text; I’m going to give some background that might not immediately make sense but will help us as we move through the passage.

When the LORD brought the people out of Egypt, he instructed them to observe three annual feasts: Passover, Pentecost and the feast of booths or tabernacles. Booth is another word for tent. There are several places in scripture that describe various details of the feast and there were several details of the feast that lend insight to our passage. (Lev. 23:33-44, Num. 29:12-38, Deut. 16:13:17, Neh. 8:13-18). It took place in the seventh month beginning on the 15th day. Leviticus 23 gives us some detail:

Lev. 23:39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

To remember their wandering in the wilderness, the people would collect branches, build very temporary houses and dwell in them for 8 days. They would remember how God brought them out of Egypt. The branches also were a reminder of the Garden of Eden. This was a kind of tabernacle where God dwelled with Adam.

Day one of the feast was the 15th day of the month, and so day 7 would have been the 21st day of the month. Each day they were to bring offerings of food, grain, burnt sacrifices and drink offerings. This reminds us of the futility the people of Haggai’s time because of their misplaced priorities. God brought drought on their produce.

In addition to these offerings, the people were also called to sacrifice bulls on each day. Day 1 was 13 bulls, 12 on day 2, etc. Over the seven days they would offer 70 bulls (Num. 29:12-38). If you remember when John preached on Exodus, 70 is a significant number in the Bible and it represents the nations. Anytime you see the number 70, that should be your first thought. So beyond the offerings on behalf of Israel, the feast also made offerings on behalf of the nations. And the bull was the animal for offering atonement. Israel was meant to be a light to the nations and the whole world would recognize the God of Israel as unique.

After day seven of the feast, they would have a solemn assembly on the eighth day. The end of the feasting culminated in a worship service.

So there are several purposes from the feast of tabernacles: to remember their sojourning in the wilderness, to give offerings to the LORD both for themselves and for the nations, and to have a solemn assembly, or worship service.

One last note on the feast of tabernacles. Until this post-exilic period, the people had not observed the feast since the time of Joshua son of Nun (Neh. 8). It’s another sign of the sick spiritual state of God’s people. But things are slowly getting put back in place.

Verses 2 and 3 find the people, led by Zerubbabel and Joshua, continuing the work they began in verse 14. It was an encouraging scene where we left off. God had stirred them up to work and rebuild the temple. But now things aren’t going as well.

The people are called the remnant. These are the people who returned from 70 years in exile. The book of Ezra notes that there were 42,360 people who returned to Judah. Compare that to other censuses before exile. There were usually millions of people living in Israel. Now there are 40 thousand returning to build the temple.

Haggai asks three questions of the people all related to sight.

3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

Apparently, there were some who were old enough to have seen Solomon’s original temple. They would have been in their 70’s or 80’s. they had lived through exile, and could recall the days of Israel’s glory. When the Bible talks about glory, there are two meanings related to the temple. There is the outward beauty that would be seen by all who came to Jerusalem. It was a spectacular site. It was covered in gold inside and out. But there was also the actual presence of the LORD who would dwell inside the holy of holies. The glory of God dwelt in the midst of the people.

To the older generation who had seen the former glory, this new temple project was not impressive. Last week I read a section of Ezra that described the celebration when the foundation of the temple was read. But I left part of it out on purpose because it describes the reaction of the older generation. So let me read Ezra 3 again:

Ezra 3:10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD,
“For he is good,
        for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

The people are a remnant and so is the house of the LORD. The people are working, but they are not really seeing the payoff. There wasn’t the outward glory of an impressive temple, and there wasn’t the inward glory of God’s dwelling in their midst. Ezekiel chapter 10 describes That this glory left the temple before exile. This was because the people had rebelled and broken covenant. It might have been natural for the people who are now back in the land to wonder about the presence of God. Is he really with us? What are we doing? Why are we rebuilding and not seeing glory as a result? We are not seeing the results.

But Haggai continues in verse 4:

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

While the remnant was struggling with what they physically saw, the LORD gives commands based on faith. ‘Be strong,’ he says three times. There is a connection between what we see and fear and the call to be strong, based on faith.

One of the people addressed is a high priest named Joshua son of Jehozadak. This brings us back to the conquest of the promised land, led by Joshua son of Nun. Joshua was part of the first generation of Israel who spied out the land. Ten of the spies saw the giants of the land and their hearts melted. They reported back to Moses that there was no way they could take the land. The first generation was weak, fearful and sloth.

But Joshua and Caleb saw with eyes of faith. They were strong, because they trusted that the LORD would be with them. And He had promised them the land.

Moses commissioned Joshua with these words. Listen to how similar they are to the people in Haggai:

7 Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deut 31:7-8)

Be strong. Don’t fear. The LORD is with you. So Joshua led the people into the land, vanquishing their foes as they went. The remnant probably didn’t feel as triumphant about their work as the Israelites taking the promised land, but the call was the same. God had promised he was with them, not because they had a glorious temple. But because God is faithful to his covenant people and he doesn’t need a physical building to dwell in. He doesn’t need a human standing army, he brings his own.

Have you ever wondered why it says Lord of Hosts so many times? In the latter prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi the phrase is used a lot. Is it just a poetic flourish?

Remember that Israel is an occupied nation? Darius, King of Persia, is the ruling authority. Israel has no army. They are a small group of people who have no means to muster an army. But God has an army. And in his promise to be with them, that means he is bringing the whole angelic army with him too.

It’s the same for us: be strong, work, don’t fear. This isn’t simply a nice mantra. This isn’t macho talk. This is what the LORD commands us to do.

And why? Because the LORD of Hosts is with us. When you are fighting complacency, or an addiction, be strong, the LORD of Hosts is with you. When you are considering leaving your job to recalibrate priorities, the LORD of Hosts is with you. When you have to confront someone’s sin, be strong, the LORD of Hosts is with you. When we as a church need to confront unrepentant sin or go into a world who hates the gospel, be strong, the LORD of Hosts is with us. When all we see are pagan giants surrounding us, be strong, the LORD of Hosts is with us.

God is with them. And the reason God is with them, is because he made a covenant with them. He rescued them and brought them into the wilderness to dwell within their midst. Feast of Tabernacles.

Then he spoke at Mt. Sinai. The mountain was filled with thunder, and lightning, and fire (Ex. 19, Ps 68:7). And the people trembled. They had the law. They had the stipulations and conditions for blessings and curses. They had instructions for building the tabernacle, where God would truly dwell in their midst. Feast of Booths again. God had promised to dwell with them, and God is faithful to his promises. And then he gives another related commandment: Fear Not.

Fear is often a cause of us getting hung up in our priorities. Why did you procrastinate? Why did you say yes to that decision at work, despite it being against your beliefs? Why did you spend so much time waffling about what to say to your friend? Senior saints, what keeps you from speaking truth and wisdom into us who are younger? It is often fear.

But again, we told not to fear. That’s not a suggestion or reasonable advice, as if we know we shouldn’t fear. God commands us to fear not. And that begins with being strong and taking steps of obedience, even if the results aren’t flashy.

Covenantal faithfulness isn’t always flashy. But here’s a few ways it might look for you this week:

• It looks like doing things without grumbling
• It means living with intention and considering your ways. Evaluate how you spend your time, money and attention.
• Doing things that no one else but the LORD might notice
• Keeping your home is honoring the LORD of Hosts.
• Standing up for truth even if it doesn’t reap the tangible rewards you hoped for.
• Kids, it means doing what you’ve been told to do, even if your brother or sister isn’t doing it. Or doing it even if they will get credit for it too.
• It means lots of small, faithful steps of obedience.

While our work is often mundane, deep down there is great glory that supports our work. While we don’t always experience the signs and wonders of the Exodus, we can still utilize the promises of future glory to encourage and strengthen our faith for the work in front of us. If the seeming futility of our mundane tasks were all there were to life, that would be depressing. If we fall into comparing our current circumstances to the glory days of our youth, we will be chasing the past.

But we have a glorious future to look towards. And when we have a glorious future to look towards, it can change our current approach to our current challenges and work God has tasked us with.

The glorious future is seen in the promises that the LORD makes in the second half of this passage. He gives four great promises that he says will happen in a little while. He will shake the world, he will shake the nations, the future temple will be even more glorious, and he will give peace.

6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.

Haggai uses this phrase, “I will shake” three times in his book. Twice in our passage and once again at the end of the book.

When you hear the phrase I will shake the heavens and earth, do you think end times? It sounds like destruction and judgment at the end of the world, right? Before we jump ahead, let’s look closely at the text and see what Haggai might be driving at. In verses 6 and 7 the LORD will shake two things: the cosmos, and the nations.

First, the LORD will shake the cosmos. This is shorthand for creation language. In Genesis 1, the heavens and earth, sea and dry land are days 2 and 3 of creation. And now the LORD will shake, the whole of creation. Some will want to say this is a literal shaking and therefore it must be the end of the earth as we know it. But it says, ‘in a little while’. It could have been a literal, physical shaking like an earthquake, but Hebrews 12 gives us more insight into this verse.

It quotes Haggai and connects the shaking to Mt Sinai. While there was a literal trembling when the law was given, the significance was greater because God was giving a covenant to the old world. And now the LORD is about to shake the cosmos because he is bringing an end to that world and replacing it with something newer, and better. It is a better Mountain, Mt Zion, representing the New covenant.

7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts.

Next, the LORD Of Hosts will shake the nations. Again, is this a literal or figurative shaking? Persia, and the land of Judah, will be shortly overthrown and conquered by the Greeks and in turn the Romans. But is this the shaking the text has in mind? This is where I think the Feast of Tabernacles can again be helpful.

Remember the reasons for the feast? They gathered in temporary houses that resembled the leafy garden tent of Eden. The offered sacrifices on behalf of the nations. And now, the LORD is promising that the nations will be shaken and the treasures brought in.

This idea of the nations bringing treasures into God’s house is not new with Haggai. It was the case when the Israelites plundered the Egyptians which in turn became the materials for the tabernacle. It was true when King Hiram of Tyre brought all kinds of riches to King Solomon for the first temple (1 Kings 5). And it was true with Cyrus and Darius for this rebuilding effort.

In the case of these kings, they did it understanding that they would be blessed through the building of the temple as well (Ezra 1, 6).

But this promised shaking will be more than that. It looks ahead to the day when the people of these nations, themselves will be the treasures. They will come into the house of God.

This is the earth-shaking good news of the New Covenant. While it wasn’t a literal worldwide, universal earthquake, the significance disrupts and affects the entire cosmos. It would be an end to the Old Covenant and the New Covenant would be here. And it would be for all the nations.

So what kind of house will this be? What should the people be looking for?

9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

Finally the LORD promises that the future glory of this house will surpass the former glory. The current rebuild contains a remnant of glory. Haggai is promising something even greater than Solomon’s temple will come. Will it mean that this house will be rebuilt with glory? Is it Ezekiel’s temple? Is that what they should look for?

Compared with the tabernacle, a large, mobile tent, the temple was a permanent structure. Everyone in Israel had to come to Jerusalem to be at the temple. But it was still temporary. The Babylonians destroyed the first temple. And now the rebuild reminds the people just how insignificant an actual building can be. Again we should think about the Feast. It was a tangible reminder of the temporary nature of things. The promise of future glory looks towards a more permanent house of God. The sacrificial system was going to be replaced by a permanent sacrifice.

This house in Haggai will be rebuilt. And over time, it will even be improved by King Herod. It did become more spectacular, but that wasn’t what this promise has in mind.

It’s not Ezekiel’s vision either. While that vision is a more glorious temple than Solomon’s, it’s symbolic. It was never meant to be built because it doesn’t improve on the Old Covenant. It was still a central building that could be destroyed, and there were sacrifices offered in his vision. The house of God that the people longed for has come. It began with an infant.

To see how these themes tie together, turn to Luke chapter 2. It’s the story of Simeon, a God-fearing Jew who was stirred by the Holy Spirit and promised to see Jesus.

Luke 2:27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29   “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
      according to your word;
30   for my eyes have seen your salvation
31   that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32   a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
   and for glory to your people Israel.”

In the glorious economy of the kingdom, God sent an infant to the temple. And for the first time since the LORD of Hosts left before exile, the glory returned to the temple. It was a hint of what was to come. He would bring salvation. He would bring the presence of God. And he would bring in the nations. It was a glimpse of the greater temple, the greater covenant and the greater people of God.

This is the world-shaking good news promised in Haggai. The shaking would continue. Jesus died on the cross and the world turned dark. He shook the ground and rose three days later. Then Jesus sent his Spirit at Pentecost. Then in 70AD, this temple from Haggai was destroyed. This was the final blow to the Old World.

This new world is far more glorious than the former. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, people are brought into the New Covenant. And those who are become part of the temple. The glory of God resides in us through the Holy Spirit. We are living stones, being built into a spiritual house. This is the glory of the church.

Here’s a few reasons why Jesus ushering in a new temple composed of the saints is more glorious than a physical building.

1. Eternal
2. Indestructible through resurrection (1 Cor 15, 1 Pet 1:4)
3. Better sacrifices (Heb. 9:12-14)
4. Made of living stones (1 Pet. 2)
5. Better promises (Heb. 8:6)
6. More inclusive-all nations will stream in

The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. This house far surpasses a building, even one built with silver and gold.

Finally, we come to the last promise: Peace in this place. The final promised blessing is one of peace. The text says the LORD will bring peace to this place. The place being Jerusalem. Jerusalem means foundation of peace. As one commentator (James Boyce) wrote, “if this promise concerns peace from physical fighting it has not been fulfilled yet, because Jerusalem has been anything but the city of peace.”

It has to mean a different kind of peace. And that’s the peace which Christ brings between the God and man. The LORD of Hosts is not at war with his covenant people, because Jesus has atoned for them not through the blood of bulls, but through his own blood shed outside Jerusalem.

And ultimately this peace will spread and turn into visible peace. The gospel will prevail. All nations will come in. The glory of God will fill the whole earth and man will dwell in the presence of God forever. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Rev. 21:3-4).

Grace Church. Be strong, see things with the eyes of faith and get to work. Fear not, because the LORD of Hosts is with you. What is it God has called you to work at? What specific ways can you take dominion? Be strong and get to work. See how your mundane actions bring glory to the LORD and play a role in the ultimate plan of God. Even if it means changing diapers, crunching numbers on a computer, or simply reorganizing our calendars to make the LORD’s priorities ours. Our privilege and job is to continue building his kingdom until the all nations will come in and dwell in his presence forever.

Father in heaven, your name is holy. May it be kept holy in all the earth. I pray that we would be church who is driven by your glory and the magnificent promises you have made to your people. I pray for those who have priorities out of order. Help them to put them right. Through your Holy Spirit, help them to be strong and work. Help them to get unstuck, help us as a church to stir one another up in this way. I pray for those who are working in obedience but don’t see the fruit. Give them a glimpse of your glorious plan for the world. May they apply the truths of this passage to their lives. Thank you for your mercy to bring peace where wrath once stood. Thank you for sending Jesus to atone in a way that the blood of bulls never could. Help us to sing of his great glory now. Amen.

Haggai In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3 Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.” 14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

2:1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, 5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, 16 how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD. 18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

20 The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.”

Good morning, if you don’t know me, I’m Mike one of the elders here. We have had so many new people this summer that I know I haven’t been able to meet everyone. Pastor Dave and family are on vacation this week. Pray that they would have a restful, safe and joyous time on their road trip out west. We also wanted to provide more time for him to work on projects and tend to other duties without the weekly deadline of preaching. So he will have the next two weeks off from preaching in order to handle some other projects, catch up on meetings and have a rest from the regular grind of preaching. If you know Dave at all, you know what a gift he is to the church when he can really dive deep into a topic or project and produce something that we hope will benefit the church for the long term.

So that’s why I’ll be preaching the next three weeks. I wanted to preach through a book of the Bible but do it in three weeks. So that narrowed my options down a lot. Since we are working through Malachi in Sunday School, I thought about preaching that book, but it’s just too rich to force into three sermons. Our High Schoolers had studied Haggai this past spring, so it was fresh in my mind. So I landed on Haggai.

My hope is that despite it’s small stature-it’s fewer verses than John chapter 9-we will see how glorious this book truly is. And even as we try to squeeze as much as we can out of these 2 chapters, know that we will still be leaving plenty in the ground that you will have to mine later. So read the book, you saw how quickly you can get through it in a sitting. And let’s see what the LORD would be pleased to do through our quick journey through Haggai.

But first let’s ask the LORD for help to understand this text and apply it well to our lives, our families, our churches and our world. Would you pray with me?

Prayer:

Gracious Heavenly Father, you are the giver of good gifts. We praise your goodness. We praise you for your plan of salvation and that we see more of its unfolding than even the prophets and angels. We thank you for your Word. We thank you for all of it. So this morning and the next few weeks, I ask that you would bless our time in Haggai. May it be filled with glory, may it point us to Christ. May it motivate us to seek you and your kingdom. Your Word can do so many things at the same time, I ask that through your Spirit it would comfort, convict, encourage us and glorify you.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Haggai. It’s that book you probably fly through in one sitting in your Bible reading plan. It’s that one you mix up with other minor prophets like Hosea and Habakkuk. I know I’ve read it, but I don’t really remember what it’s about. Well our hope this month is that we would know what it’s about. We would slow down and sit in the small book and squeeze more out.

We will look at the background of Haggai and chapter one this morning. Then we’ll break up chapter 2 over the next two weeks. The big idea of Haggai is maybe best summarized in 2:9: The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

We will expand on this idea over the course of the book, but for today, let’s begin with chapter 1.

The big idea in this chapter is that seeking God’s priorities and presence brings blessing. The returning remnant has neglected their covenantal priorities, so the LORD calls them to consider their ways. They experience drought and futility because they have neglected the right priorities, focusing on their own houses while the temple lay in ruins.

The first verse gives us a chance to expand on the background of the book and help set the context for the book. Anytime we open a book of scripture, we must first understand the original context to understand what the author meant to say to the original audience. So that’s where we’ll begin. What’s the situation Israel finds herself in? What are the most important things to the people? What are the most important things to God?

The outline of the chapter has the LORD speaking through Haggai to call the people to evaluate their priorities. So the LORD calls them to repentance in the first half of the chapter and then we see how they respond to the prophecy in the second half of the chapter.

Before we get too far in the book, we need to get our bearings. Haggai occurs during the time known as the Post-exilic era. It’s a part of the Bible that we aren’t as familiar with compared to the Pentateuch or Samuel and Kings. So I want to take a little deeper dive into the background for Haggai and the postexilic age. Understanding the background is crucial to understanding what Haggai is speaking about and why that matters.

To get the background we have to go back in redemptive history. Back to Exodus. When God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt, God made a covenant with them. He promised land to them. He promised that they would be a blessing to the nations. And He promised to be their God and dwell in their presence. This was something God had done in the garden with Adam. He had made other ways to dwell with the patriarchs, and now he would provide the tabernacle for the people to meet with the LORD. But you don’t casually walk up to a holy God who is a consuming fire. There were stipulations and commandments. They needed to go through the high priest. And he would offer sacrifices before the LORD. And the tabernacle was where this took place.

Further, if the people were to represent this glorious God, they needed to be holy as well. So God gave them commandments and statutes and rules for how to live and remain in God’s presence. They were to look and act differently than the surrounding nations.

And if the people obeyed, they would be blessed. They would have prosperity and peace. And if they disobeyed, they’d be cursed. There would be famine and war. And one of the most significant curses was to be removed from the land and taken into exile. The people were warned before they even took the promised land.

When they did conquer the land, the LORD commissioned them to build a permanent temple. And the LORD was pleased to dwell there, accept their sacrifices and offerings, and observe the festivals like Passover and the feast of booths.

Then they were continually warned by prophets about violating the covenant. And then this prophecy about exile was fulfilled. God sent the Babylonians to invade and conquer Israel. They took away all the holy vessels, destroyed the temple, and took away the people. This was done during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Now Israel had no way of dwelling in God’s presence. They had no way to offer sacrifices or keep the feasts. Had God abandoned them forever?

Over time, Babylon was conquered by the Persian empire. And it was during this time, after 70 years in exile, that Israel was allowed to return to the land. We’re not quite to the time of Haggai, but we’re almost there. Here’s a few more pieces to keep in mind. A lot of this background is found in Ezra, so I’m going to use that for a more thorough summary of Haggai’s world.

Chapter 1 of Ezra has Cyrus as king of Persia. And he gives this interesting commission: v2

Cyrus grants the Israelites to return to the land and rebuild the temple. He sends them back and even finances this work. So the Israelites do return. And they do begin rebuilding. First, they rebuild the altar, which is important to at least begin offering sacrifices to the LORD. Then they set to work on the foundation of the temple. Ezra 3:10-11

So far so good. They are rebuilding, offering sacrifices and even observing the feast of booths. But then the Israelites get resistance from the Samaritans. Without getting into too much detail, the rebuilding stops. The people were threatened and even bribed to stop working. And then the King Artaxerxes orders the work to cease. Ezra 4:23-24. We don’t know the exact time between the building under Cyrus and how long it took before the rebuild under Darius, but it was probably at least 10-12 years.

This brings us to the begging of the book of Haggai. So let’s return there and pick up in verse 1.

Let me note a few additional pieces of background through looking at these characters. Darius is now the king of Persia.

While Darius is favorable to Israel and the rebuilding efforts, things are still not great for Israel. They are now an occupied nation, under Persian rule. In addition to Haggai, Zerubbabel and Joshua are mentioned. These are significant characters in Haggai as well and we’ll have more to say about them in future weeks. For now, just know that Zerubbabel was in the line of Judah, he’s actually in the line of Christ in Matthew’s genealogy. But he’s not a king. Zerubbabel is merely the governor of a territory. Israel has a kingly line, but no king. And Joshua is a high priest in the line of Aaron. But he has no temple to minister within. Things are not as bleak as exile, but they aren’t the glorious and prospering nation described in Deuteronomy or Ezekiel.

It’s at this point that we can look at what Haggai the prophet says. Verse 2.

The people are not rebuilding the house of the LORD because they say it’s not time yet. Remember, it’s been at least a decade since the rebuilding ceased. But then Haggai flips that thought in verse 4 by rhetorically asking, is it time for you to build your own houses? You can’t build the Lord’s House, but you have time for your own? The idea of paneled houses shows that they weren’t’ merely functional houses, but were fancy houses. They were paneled with cedar. Meanwhile the Lord’s house has a foundation, but no further progress. We’ve all seen abandoned construction sites. After a decade of neglect, you can image the picture. Weeds, rubble, maybe animals have overrun the site.

Notice that the LORD isn’t condemning building nice houses. He’s condemning their priorities. They’ve neglected the LORD’s house, which was supposed to serve as the center of their world. It was where worship happened, feasts were held and sacrifices offered. And where God promised to dwell. And now, in their reluctance to rebuild, have occupied their time with their own houses.

Verse 5 continues with this key phrase, ‘Consider your ways’. It’s used 5 times in the book and it is a repeated call for the people to think and live intentionally. Another way that the Bible says the same thing is ‘take heart Israel’. This is more than a mere intellectual exercise. It requires a deeper heart commitment to properly prioritize our lives.

Our lives and families can fall into similar ruin and disrepair that Israel experienced. If we don’t carefully and continually take heart and consider God’s priorities we will end up drifting into other areas. Have you ever vacationed at the ocean? You are playing in the waves and it doesn’t feel like you are moving, but after awhile of splashing in the water you look back at shore and you are 50 feet away from your beach chair. That drift happens without much effort. If we don’t take the initiative to keep priorities the same as the Lord, we will easily drift.

Remember that Israel was forced to stop building by the Samaritans and the king. There might have been a mix of legitimate and illegitimate reasons to cease. It’s the same for us. There are lots of things in life that can throw us off course. Health issues, either short term or chronic. Unexpected bills get you behind budget. It can simply be a major life change like graduating from high school or college. And there are other times when it’s a slow drift. Maybe you accept a new job and on paper it looks like the longer commute or the extra hours will work out. Or adding another activity for the kids is only one more night. These all test our priorities. And like the Israelites, there is a mix of legitimate and illegitimate. You can’t help but deal with whatever curveballs life throws at you. But how do we keep the right priorities? What happens when your priorities get thrown off?

The answer is that we will struggle and flounder if we are going against the Lord’s priorities. Look at what Haggai lists in verse 6. It’s all the basics of life: food, drink, clothing, money. And for Israel, none of these things are going well. The food and drink are not satisfying and drying up. The clothing is insufficient. And the money they are earning is going into a purse and out the bottom. This is not a picture of flourishing. And they should and can serve as warning signs to check our priorities. Maybe we’re not starving or lacking warm clothes. Maybe it’s a lack of joy. Maybe it’s frustration that things don’t seem to be coming together. Maybe you don’t even recognize the drift you are in. But when we lack flourishing, when we lack the joy we’re meant to have in Jesus, let them serve as chance to examine yourself.

Israel is not flourishing because they have the wrong priorities and not living intentionally according to God’s purposes. That’s what got Israel sent into exile in the first place. And now they are repeating the errors of their fathers. There is often a reason why we are struggling, and that’s what Haggai is pointing out in this passage.

What an image Haggai gives us: putting money into bags with holes. Consider your ways, Grace. Our government is modeling for us what it means to put money into a bag with holes. It prints money, and spends beyond her means. Our banks loan far beyond what it has in reserve. It’s not sustainable. It’s theft. Our nation, like almost all nations, is putting money into a bag with holes and it hurts all of us. Our children will feel it even worse someday. We all feel the effects of inflation: our money doesn’t go as far as it used to. And while we can’t really affect things at that level, it serves as a warning sign for us. Because we are not immune from getting priorities off track. So consider your ways. Are you putting money into a bag with holes? Instead of budgeting well, do you put it on the card? Do you spend beyond what bring in? Have life events caused you to drift away from God’s priorities? Has it caused you to stop tithing and try to keep up?

I hope it’s clear that as a church we want to help in any ways we can. So if anyone is struggling financially we want to help. But it’s also important to recognize that if our priorities are wrong, short-term help won’t ultimately solve the problem.

Look at Israel. Apparently, they had enough resources to build their homes with cedar and they were still feeling the futility of it all. So Haggai continues in verse 7-11.

Again he calls the people to consider their ways. Here’s the solution to futility: go up and get wood to rebuild the temple. That’s the first step for Israel to match the LORD’s priorities.

And this is where we get more insight into God’s view of things. Why were the people struggling and floundering? Because God himself caused it. Look at verses 9 and 10. Their food and clothing shortages are the direct result of the LORD’s actions. We see that whatever meager harvest they wrought; the LORD blew the rest away. Why? One more time the people are reminded of their ignorance of the LORD’s house. So God shut up the heavens and brought a drought on the people. And once again we’re talking about the covenant. Disobey and God will curse, obey and God will bless. This is exactly what Deuteronomy 28 warned against:

38 You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off.

Not only was their food and drink not enough, but there was a greater significance to this drought. Grain, wine and oil were all necessary elements for offerings at the temple. Even if they desired to honor the LORD with offerings at the altar, the drought ensured that they would come up short. Their flourishing, like anyone else’s flourishing is dependent on the LORD.

So the call is to consider, repent, and rebuild. And the promise from Haggai is that the LORD will take pleasure in right sacrifice and right priorities. This was what the LORD said when he made a covenant with Israel in the wilderness. This is what he told Solomon at the dedication of the temple: (I Kings 9). ‘I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.’

When we seek the LORD and put him first, the LORD is pleased. Even more, he is glorified. And the LORD will remove curses and replace them with blessing.

The LORD has challenged the people to consider their ways. They are floundering in their return to the land. How would the people respond? This moves us to the final part of chapter one. Led by the leaders Zerubbabel and Joshua, the people respond well. Verse 12 says they obeyed the voice of the LORD. Before they could obey, the first had to hear the voice of the LORD. This is the kind of language that is all over Deuteronomy: Hear and obey. This is the fundamental duty of man before God. This was Israel’s responsibility to fulfill their end of the covenant. And now, after being called to repent, the people do.

Here’s another little piece to the story. The people didn’t wait for another authority to give permission. Remember that the work on the temple stopped because of outside authorities telling them to stop. This time, they don’t wait for Darius or someone else to speak a decree. They begin work on the temple because of the LORD commanding them to resume. This is again found in the book of Ezra. Darius will make a decree supporting the continuation of the work, but under the leadership of Haggai, Zerubbabel and Joshua, the people feared the LORD above all.

It is tempted to rely on other voices and authorities to tell us what to do or give us permission to do something. But we must obey God’s voice alone. The authorities of our lives likely won’t tell you to seek God’s priorities and do them. But don’t wait. Fear the LORD and take action.

What is the result of their obedience? They receive blessing. In verse 13 Haggai confirms the Lord’s pleasure with Israel. It says, I am with you. God did not cast them off forever. The people violated the covenant countless times over their history, and this generation had neglected the covenant once again. And yet the LORD, through Haggai, pursued them. And then graciously restored them. He had never abandoned them.

This is the whole point of the temple, the whole point of redemption is that God would be with his people. That was the grand purpose all the way back at creation. And now Haggai tells the remnant that God is indeed with his people. Even before the temple is rebuilt. God calls them his people, but that hasn’t been the case throughout this chapter. Notice in Haggai’s first prophecy in verse 2. Haggai simply calls them ‘these people’. But now, as they fear the LORD and walk in obedience, the relationship has changed. Verse 12 says that the people obeyed the Lord, their God. And Haggai confirms that God is with them. Fellowship with the triune God is the greatest blessing. There are more blessings than that, but this is the foundational blessing.

God’s plan has always been to dwell with his people. It’s why he sent Immanuel-God with us. And because of Jesus, we don’t have to offer animal sacrifices. Christ became our sacrifice, once and for all. He grants us the kind of access to the Father that is greater than even the high priest had at the temple. Jesus became the greater, more glorious temple, who is now ascended to the Father. And in gathering in a local congregation, we ascend into the presence of Christ today.

For us in the New Covenant, we no longer gather at the temple. But the principle about gathering before the LORD does remain. Just as there was a unique and special manifestation of God’s presence at the temple, the same is true now when we gather on the LORD’s day. That’s why we gather this morning. We dwell in the presence of the triune God.

And This must be our priority, because it’s the LORD’s priority. Neglecting gathering with God’s people on the LORD’s day is not only risking curse, but it also misses out on true blessing. We sing, pray and hear the Word of God together. WE partake in communion with the God of the universe. So, you are here this morning and you get to experience all these blessings. Now commit to return next week and the next 50 weeks after. If you’re out of town, find a local church to worship at. This is not for my benefit, to make sure you attend weekly. This is for your benefit. This is pleasing to the Lord.

And the LORD didn’t stop there. Verse 14 says that he stirred up the spirit of the people and they went and worked on the temple. The people repented and got to work putting things right again. The spirit, another indicator of God’s presence was with the people, empowered the people to work.

Here’s another blessing from God. When we seek after His priorities, we will get help in the hard work of recalibrating. If you are trusting in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit. Ask the Spirit to stir you up to good works.

Now it might sound as if this is all on man to obey, work and then God will bless us. And we do have a responsibility to uphold. But notice that God initiates everything in this chapter. The people are busy building paneled houses when he sends his prophet Haggai. The people would have kept right on in indifference without God speaking. Then even before they begin the work, God speaks again and says I am with you. And then he stirs up the people to work and receive blessing. All of this is because the LORD keeps his covenants to his people and even stirs the people up to keep their side.

So knowing that God is faithful to his covenant people, How do we get back on track if our priorities have drifted? That might seem overwhelming. You might have several areas of life out of order. Start with the biggest things first. For us it means committing to being here on Sunday mornings to worship in God’s presence. If you are not here on a weekly basis, why not?

Consider your ways. Where have you gotten off track? Are there areas you need to make changes? Have someone else help you evaluate your life. Pray and seek the Spirit to reveal the areas you are out of step.

Then repent. Turn away from your own ways and resume seeking God’s priorities. Christ has atoned for our sins, and is pleased to forgive when we have wandered off.

And then get to work. The remnant continued rebuilding the temple in order to dwell in the presence of God. They feared God and strove to keep his commandments. They worked hard to put the right priorities in place. And we should do the same. Beyond Sundays, begin looking at other areas of your life and consider if you and your family have the same priorities as the LORD.

That’s one example. The most important, but there are plenty of other ways we can get off track. But the process is the same: consider, repent, and get to work rebuilding. Here’s one other way the Bible talks about priorities. On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells people no to be anxious. And then he gives the remedy: proper kingdom priorities.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If you are struggling with food, drink, clothing and money, seek the kingdom and his righteousness. If life events have caused you to get off course, let Matthew 6 reorient you.

At the beginning of the chapter we found Israel in ruins. While they lived in nice houses, their priorities betrayed God’s priorities. But when they were called to consider their ways, by the grace of God they repented and worked to seek after the LORD’s priorities. And the call is the same for us today. Seek after the Lord Jesus Christ and orient our lives around His life. There are times when our routines and priorities will be challenged. They will get thrown off. And the call is to return to the LORD, seek his glory and presence and build for His kingdom. Amen.

As we turn to the Lord’s table now, we are reminded that we do have grain, wine and oil. We have not been cut off, we have not suffered drought. The LORD has provided the means to commune with Him today. Praise the LORD!

John 9:1-41 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.” 6 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.

8 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.”

13 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.”

18 The Jews 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 to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 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.” 26 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?” 28 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.” 30 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.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 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. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Welcome back to John 9. In case you’re just joining us, I began preaching through this passage Sunday. In that sermon I shared a simple summary (Jesus healed a blind man and, for various reasons, it caused various responses, among various people). I shared the big idea (that Jesus’ ability to give physical sight to the blind pointed to his ability to give spiritual sight to the spiritually blind). I also shared the simple structure of the passage (1-7 is the healing, 8-34 is the responses to it, and 35-41 is Jesus explanation of it). And from there I covered the healing and the first of the four responses (that of the man who was healed).

In looking at the healing, I pointed out that the man’s obscurity and Jesus’ means of healing were both meant to help us keep our focus on the main focus—Jesus Christ’s power and mission. And in looking at the man’s response, I tried to help you see from the text that he simply comes across as one thankful to be able to see, convinced that Jesus is some kind of man of God, confused about why everyone is making things so complicated, and ultimately annoyed by the Pharisees obstinacy.

Finally, I mentioned that there are two significant theological principles introduced in this passage that I’ll deal with in a few weeks (Jesus’ explanation of the source of the man’s blindness in vs.3-5 and Jesus’ explanation of the Pharisees’ blindness in 39-41).

This morning, then, we’ll pick up where I left off. We’ll start with the remaining three responses (beginning with the man’s neighbors, and then moving to his parents, and finally to the Pharisees) and then finish with Jesus’ explanation of it all.

Just like last week, the main takeaway for us is to pray earnestly for God to grant sight to those who do not yet believe in Jesus and increase the clarity of vision of those who do. Along with that, John intends us to consider our own response to Jesus in light of the responses he recorded here. Let’s pray for God’s help in all of that.

Once again, one of the more remarkable aspects of this passage is the way John recorded the responses of four different people/groups. Each responded in different ways for different reasons. It should stand out to us that of the 41 verses in this chapter/story, Jesus is only present in 14 (barely a third) and only 2 are given to the miracle itself. The vast majority of this passage (two thirds, 27/41 verses) is dedicated to the response Jesus got from the miracle.

We have to ask ourselves why that is. Why are the responses given such disproportionate attention? This becomes even more of a question when we consider that it’s been somewhat normal in John’s Gospel. This isn’t the first (or second) time John has written significantly more on the reaction Jesus’ miracles (or teaching) produced than the miracle itself. Isn’t that somewhat counterintuitive? If your goal is to help people believe that Jesus is the Christ, doesn’t it seem like emphasizing the miraculous power of the Christ is the better strategy? That is, doesn’t it seem like the miracle is the more impressive part of the story?

Of course it is, in one sense. But consider this, Grace Church. The miracle of new birth is no less miraculous than the miracle of new sight; and in some ways it is far more miraculous still. John was interested in helping his readers understand that Jesus is the Christ, the promised savior of the world. That’s why he recorded Jesus’ miracles. Who, but the Christ could perform such wondrous works?! But John was even more interested in helping his readers believe that Jesus is the Christ. For it is by believing in Him (not merely understanding His claims), that we find life. And to that end, describing the various responses of those impacted by Jesus’ miracles helps his readers avoid the folly of those who rejected Jesus and embrace the child-like faith of those who received Him.

In that regard, the main thing for us to see is that merely being in Jesus’ presence, merely hearing Him teach, merely witnessing His miracles, or even merely being the recipient of one of His miracles is not enough to make someone believe in Jesus. Some other grace is needed. Again, that’s the sermon in a few weeks, but understanding that helps us understand why John gave so much attention to the responses of those who had these exact experiences. It was meant to smash the mistaken notions that if only I could see Jesus, or touch Jesus, or witness Jesus, or find answers to my questions about Jesus, or be healed by Jesus I would believe. As we consider the experiences with Jesus or those John describes here, coupled with their reactions to their experiences, let us see plainly that some other grace is needed—having the eyes of our hearts darkened by sin, we need God to grant spiritual sight that we might truly see Jesus and believe in Him.

With that, having already considered the response of the man Jesus healed, let’s consider the response of the second group mentioned by John, those who lived near him.

As you can probably easily imagine, word quickly spread that a man they were all familiar with had been healed from a lifetime of blindness. Their response to this news was entirely predictable. Essentially, they were curious and not quite sure what to make of it.

8 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.”

Again, understandably, since this kind of thing doesn’t happen very often (perhaps not since the “beginning of the world,” v.32), just as you and I would likely be, they were initially skeptical. Their first response, then, was to try to come up with a more reasonable explanation. They wondered if there was just some sort of mix-up. Perhaps it was simply a matter of mistaken identity. Perhaps there was a man in town who looked just like the blind beggar and a few people mistook them for the same person. That would be a lot more common and a lot easier to explain than a genuine miracle.

Upon seeing the man for themselves, and upon his insistence that he was the same man, however, that notion quickly came off the table. It obviously was the same man. They turned their questioning, therefore, from if to how. Accepting the fact that it was the man they knew as blind who could now see…

10 … they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

“OK, it is you. But how in the world did this happen?” The man gave a simple and straightforward account. “A man named Jesus did it. He did it by anointing my eyes with mud! and telling me to wash in the pool of Siloam. I did what He said, and now I can see. That’s it.”

Naturally, then, 12 They said to him, “Where is he [Jesus, the man who healed you]?” Of course, they wanted to see and meet the man who could perform such marvelous works. Who wouldn’t?! “Tell us where to find Him so we can meet the man who can do such amazing things.”

Finally, curiously, John tells us that in the end the neighbors’ decided to bring the man to the Pharisees (v.13). We’re not told why they did this. Perhaps, they thought the Pharisees would be able to better explain what happened or what they ought to do about it. Or, perhaps they feared the wrath of the Pharisees if they failed to report such a thing. Regardless, the upshot of the neighbors’ response to the miracle is confusion, curiosity, and a type of non-disbelief. John doesn’t tell us that the neighbors rejected Jesus or His miracle, but tragically, he also doesn’t tell us that any of them came to a place of genuine faith either. They simply handed the man off the their religious leaders.

How, then, would the Pharisees respond to this man and this news?

With the man having been brought to them, the Pharisees, like the neighbors, began with a series of questions.

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.

It’s telling that John began his account of the Pharisees’ response with an acknowledgement of the fact that it was the Sabbath on which Jesus healed the man. It will soon become clear why John mentioned that.

For his part, undoubtedly sensing the displeasure of the Pharisees with Jesus, the man gave a simpler and more sanitized version of the events than he did with his neighbors. He likely answered in a way so as not to give them any unnecessary bullets for their guns, for their guns were already pointed and Jesus and were turning toward him.

The result of the man’s stripped down answer was a brief debate among the Pharisees. They turned away from him for a moment, and like the neighbors, they too tried in vain to make sense of these things by coming up with some alternative explanation for the man’s sight.

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.

Once again, I find it fascinating that the Pharisees seem to accept the fact of the miracle. If Jesus hadn’t healed the man, how could He have been accused of breaking the Sabbath by the first group? And the second group simply assumed that Jesus performed the miracle.

The initial debate among them, therefore, wasn’t over how to explain Jesus’ sleight of hand. Instead, it was simply about how to understand the relationship between Jesus’ miracle and Jesus’ status before God. Some suggested that Jesus couldn’t be right with God since He broke God’s command by healing on the Sabbath. The rest didn’t know what to think, but couldn’t imagine someone doing what Jesus did apart from the power of God.

Unable to accept the possibility that Jesus was who He said He was (the Christ, the Son of God), and that His motives were what He said they were (the glory of the Father and the good of the world), and that His mission was what He said it was (to reveal the Father’s will and save the world from sin), instead of responding as they should have (in awe and wonder and joy and submission), the Pharisees began devising tactics to explain away the goodness of Jesus’ healing. That is, they immediately started looking for ways to discredit Jesus and the man.

Against the man, they laid the trap of compelling him to pass judgment on Jesus’ nature. If he were to accept Jesus’ miracle as a godly act from God, they’d be able to accuse him of sin as well.

17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?”

And with his reply, “He said, ‘He is a prophet,’” they had what they believed to be a first piece of evidence against him.

To further discredit him, they backed up a bit and now attempted to deny that it was in fact the man who they knew who had been born blind. Maybe it was a sleight of hand. Maybe it wasn’t a miracle. Like a political strategist or football coach, the Pharisees seemed to be throwing out ideas to see what might work. Therefore, in vs.18-19 we read,

18 The Jews 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?”

This second round of strategizing quickly proved fruitless as well. For when they called the man’s parents in to ask them, they confirmed that he was their son and that he was born blind, but pled ignorance about everything else. They did nothing to help the Pharisees case against Jesus.

From there, they returned their attention to the man.

24 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.”

By charging the man to “give glory to God,” the Pharisees were, with tragic irony, demanding that he do what God commands and acknowledge that Jesus was a sinner. Grace, we need to pause here for just a moment to consider the fact that this might be among the top three lies in the history of mankind. What greater lie has ever been told than that accusing Jesus of sin gives glory to God?! We must see the zeal and certainty of these men in one of the worst lies ever told, and give glory to God by learning humility where they knew only pride.

Definitely wise to their motives by this point, the man deftly sidestepped their trap by simply sticking to the facts.

Undeterred, though, the Pharisees returned to the question of how Jesus had restored the man’s sight. Again, the man evaded their tricks, and even turned it back on them.

At this point, things came quickly off the rails. In rapid succession, the Pharisees began to “revile him” (v.28), claimed to be true disciples of Moses in contrast to him (v.28), denied even knowing where Jesus came from (v.29), pronounced the man to have been “born in utter sin and ignorant, and finally cast him out of the synagogue (v.34).

It’s hard to see anything in their response other than proud, zealous, ignorant men, blind to the things of God. They are the blind attempting to lead the seeing away from the One who gives sight!

Finally, in the course of the Pharisees’ interrogation, as we saw a few minutes ago, the man’s parents were brought in and questioned. Their response is in some ways the most tragic of all.

Their son was born blind. He was forced to beg to survive because of this. The pain. The sadness. The shame. The embarrassment. The grief. The desperation. And then, one day, out of nowhere, a man came without fanfare or seeking payment of any kind, and healed their son, enabling him able to see for the first time in his life. What joy they should have known. What thankfulness. What relief. What hope. What allegiance.

Instead, however, they are forever written into the word of God as knowing only the fear of man. Undoubtedly, there was more to their reaction than this. And yet, at the only time the spotlight of God was on them we’re told (in v.22), “[they] said [the things they said to the Pharisees] because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.”

Rather than give glory to God by rejoicing in His mercy more than fearing the relatively puny punishment of wicked men, the man’s parents are described as doing whatever they could to distance themselves from Jesus and even from their own, miraculously-healed son…repeatedly, “He is of age; ask him.”

And that leads us to the final section of the passage and in it, Jesus’ explanation.

All of that leads to the final few verses when Jesus returns to the scene. Having allowed word to spread and everyone to form their opinion on the matter, Jesus came back to explain to the man and the Pharisees how they ought to think about what He’d done.

At some point after the man had been driven from the Synagogue, Jesus sought him out. Jesus’ message to him was simple: believe in me. I’ve given you physical sight, and therein I’ve overcome the greatest problem you believed you had. But I’m here to tell you now that you have a greater problem still. More than that, I’m here now to offer to heal you from that as well. Your greater problem is that you lack spiritual sight. I know that because you cannot yet see the Man standing before you.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 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.

The most remarkable aspect of these few verses is hidden somewhere in between v.37 and 38. Somewhere in there is the additional grace the man needed. Having already been miraculously healed by Jesus, having now seen Jesus in person and hearing Him speak, the man still couldn’t see Jesus for who He was. But at some point before v.38, Jesus miraculously gave the man eyes to see, such that he was finally able to believe and worship. How awesome is that?! Again, that’s the subject of a later sermon.

Likewise, Jesus interpreted the situation for the Pharisees as well. And likewise, I’ll mainly unpack that in a few weeks. For now, I simply want to help you see that as Jesus was talking to the man, the Pharisees were apparently lurking nearby. John tells us that they were listening in and were, once again, shocked and incensed. Jesus’ explanation for them was ultimately the same as the one He gave to the man. That is, Jesus told them that although they had always had physical sight, they had always lacked the spiritual sight they needed far more. Like the man, this was evidence by their complete inability to recognize the true nature of the Man standing before them. And like the man, they needed more grace than their lifetime of sight and study and money and power could provide.

Again, then, what are we to make of the various responses to Jesus’ miraculous healing of the man born blind? What are we to make of them? In considering these varying responses, it’s right of us to look for ourselves in them.

As you consider the neighbors, do you find any hints in yourself of mere non-disbelief? Are there any hints of unbelieving belief? Are you more curious about Jesus than trusting in Him? Are you more concerned with how people might respond to you if you believe in Jesus than you are about the truth of Jesus?

As you consider the man’s parents, does the cost of the life Jesus calls you to cause more angst and fear in you than the hope and joy He promises? Are you ever privately thankful for Jesus’ work, but publically unwilling to acknowledge it for fear of what others might think?

As you consider the Pharisees, is there any animosity in you toward Jesus, perhaps because He doesn’t fit the mold you’ve made for Him? Perhaps because believing in Him means having to surrender your own pride? Perhaps because you believe you deserve answers to your questions that He has not given?

And as you consider the man, are you able to see the obvious rightness of his ultimate trust in Jesus? Can you see how clearly (pun intended) Jesus opened the man’s spiritual eyes as well as his physical eyes so that he could see and believe? Are you like the man in simple sight and child-like trust or are you tempted to believe that what you really need is more answers or more proof?

John focused on these responses in large measure to compel us to ask these questions of ourselves. And as we do, let us be freshly reminded that it is the grace of God that saves us. Left to our own devices, even as objects of a divine miracle, we cannot see God for who He is or ourselves for who we are. If we are to see and believe, then, it will be owing to the grace of God alone. Seek it from God today and you will find it, for such is the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

John 9:1-41 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.” 6 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.

8 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.”

13 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.”

18 The Jews 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 to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 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.” 26 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?” 28 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.” 30 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.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 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. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

The opening line of the passage is fairly ambiguous in terms of its relationship to the end of chapter 8. At the end of 8, somewhere within the temple courts, Jesus announced that He is God. Enraged, the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, believing Him to have committed blasphemy. And yet, because His time had not yet come, “Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” It’s not immediately obvious if the “as He passed by” of 9:1 was on His way out of the temple or some other time. And yet, it’s generally agreed that the events described in chapter 9 took place some indeterminate time later…long enough that people had cooled off to the point of putting their stones down, but close enough that Jesus was clearly still in the hot seat.

The short version of what happened in this scene is absolutely remarkable, but also pretty straightforward. Jesus healed a blind man and, for various reasons, it caused various responses, among various people.

The structure of the passage is pretty straightforward as well. In vs.1-7 we read of the healing itself. Verses 8-34 describe the responses of the four groups most directly affected by the man’s healing—the man himself (7, 11-38), the man’s neighbors (8-12), the man’s parents (18-23), and the Pharisees (13-40). And then, in vs.35-41 we find Jesus explaining things to both the man and the Pharisees.

The big idea of all of this is that Jesus gave physical sight to the blind man in order to glorify God and prove that He has the power to give spiritual sight to the spiritually blind. And the main takeaway for us is to pray earnestly for God to grant sight to those who do not yet believe in Jesus and increase the clarity of vision of those who do.

Before I pray and get to the text, I need to say a word about how I’m going to approach this passage. In short, I really struggled all week with how to best present it to you. I asked for prayer and I talked to a few of you to get your thoughts, but there are several things that make it complicated.

The gist of the struggle is that all of chapter nine is one remarkable story. Breaking it up at all makes it harder to appreciate it, but it’s too long and there’s too much in it to treat it in a single sermon. Additionally, the natural divisions in the story aren’t very conducive to multiple sermons. What’s more, there are two significant theological points that need to be treated separately (Jesus’ explanation of the cause of the man’s blindness and Jesus’ explanation to the Pharisees of why they couldn’t accept His teaching). And on top of all of those things, I’m preaching this week and next and then Pastor Mike will be preaching for three weeks in a row (one week while we’re on vacation and two weeks while I’m back but working in the office on different projects).

So, here’s the best plan I could come up with in an attempt to be as faithful to the text and helpful to you as possible. I’m going to preach on the healing and the man’s response to it this week, the rest of the responses and Jesus’ interpretation next week, and then I’ll spend a week on each of the two big theological questions after Pastor Mike is done with his brief series on Haggai. Again, not ideal, but probably the best option. Would you pray with me then, that God would be honored, Grace Church would be strengthened, and the Spirit would be pleased to make up for whatever is lacking in this plan?

Again, with some unknown amount of time having passed between the end of chapter 8 and the beginning of chapter 9, in 9:1 we pick up with Jesus and His disciples encountering a blind man as they were walking along. By itself, there isn’t anything notable about that. As we’ve made our way through John’s Gospel, we’ve seen Jesus encounter many people who were sick and suffering. While it’s clear that Jesus had compassion for the poor in body and spirit, it’s also clear that He did not address every suffering person He met.

Before we consider what it was that caused Jesus to stop and address this man when He’d passed by so many others (along with a few other keys to this first section), I’d first like to point out the fact that we’re told virtually nothing about the man in this passage. We don’t know his name, his background, or almost anything else to fill out his life story. Further, this is the only time he appears in the Bible.

Directly, all we know is that he had been blind since birth (1). Indirectly, all we know is that he was at least 13 years old (but probably significantly older) (his parents referred to him as being “of age” and able to “speak for himself” in v.21), that his family was poor (he is called a beggar in v.8), and that he was a Jew (his parents feared being put out of the Synagogue in v.22).

The very fact that we know so little about him is certainly intentional. As awesome as it is that he was made able to see, he isn’t the point of the story. Jesus’ power to heal the eyes of the body and soul is the point, and the man’s obscurity helps us see that most clearly.

From there, there are four specific things to note from the healing and the circumstances surrounding it in vs.1-7.

First, John makes special mention of the fact that the man was born blind from birth.

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

That, combined with the fact that he was “of age” means that no one could reasonably accuse him of pretending to be blind or of this being some type of deceitful conspiracy between Jesus and the man. The man, certainly known by many in town (as we see in the next paragraph), likely had more than two decades of and countless witnesses to his blindness. Even as some wondered how this could be, they were all forced to quickly accept the simple facts that he had been blind and after a brief encounter with Jesus he could see.

Second, while John makes it clear that this was no chance meeting, he also makes it clear that it was a question from the disciples that prompted Jesus to stop and address the man. As they were passing by, the disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (2). There’s a lot in there, and in Jesus’ reply as well.

“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.’”

In fact, there’s so much in there that, as I mentioned in the intro, I’m going to spend an entire sermon on it a few weeks. For now, I simply want to draw your attention to the facts that the disciples assumed that the blindness was the direct result of the sin of the man or his parents (as did the Pharisees in v.34), that Jesus corrected them, letting them know that God’s glory, not sin wasn’t the ultimate cause, and that the healing was an important part of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Again, there’s a lot there and I’ll unpack all of it in a few weeks.

The third specific thing to note from this passage is the manner of Jesus’ healing. Jesus certainly could have healed the man with a mere word, or even a thought. Instead, however, He chose to do so with spit, mud, and a pool washing.

6 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).

There is certainly a great deal of symbolism in these things. The number of possible symbolic interpretations that I read of this week is impressive; ranging from magic to baptism to an overturning of the entire social and religious order. The two that seem most likely and most helpful to me are that Jesus used entirely ordinary things (spit, dirt, and water) to perform an entirely unordinary work. What’s more, two of the ordinary things Jesus used (spit and dirt) were far more associated with uncleanliness than any normal instruments for anointing (v.6). Just as when He made a leper clean by touching him, rather than contracting leprosy Himself, here Jesus healed through means and in ways that defied reason and custom.

And second, the connection between the pool of Siloam and Jesus cannot be missed. It was from that pool that the water for the purification ritual of the Feast of Booths came (7:37-39). And it was the Sent One (v.4) who sent the man to the pool of “sent”. Combined those things help us to see that it was not any kind of medicinal power in the water, but the power of God working through Jesus that gave sight to the blind.

Finally, forth, as will become clear in vs.39-41, the healing of the man’s physical blindness was directly tied to Jesus’ mission on earth, to bring spiritual sight to the spiritually blind. The Light of the World came to the world to enable the world to come out of the darkness and into the Light.

The result was that the man “went and washed and came back seeing” (6). Jesus miraculously gave him sight for the first time in his life, even as He would soon give the man spiritual sight for the first time as well (v.38). It’s important to note that the man was healed after leaving Jesus’ presence. Therefore, he never actually saw Jesus until later (v.35).

In this story, remember Grace, Jesus can still heal. He is no less able today than He was then. You cannot be sick for too little or too much time for Him to heal. If you pray He will hear you and He is able. And yet, we must also remember that while He is always able, He does not always choose to do so. Our great promise, however, is that when He does and when He doesn’t alike, it is for God’s greatest glory and the greatest good of all who love Him (even those God chooses to wait until heaven to finally and fully heal).

All of that leads us to wonder what kind of response this would produce. How would news of this healing travel and what would happen as it did? We don’t have to wait long to find out. Predictably, this healing sent immediate and significant shockwaves throughout the town. And once again, John goes into some detail about how several specific people/groups responded to the shockwaves—the man himself, the man’s neighbors, the man’s parents, and the Jewish leaders.

Before we get to what they did do, I want to ask you to consider what they ought to have done. All four groups were descendents of Abraham. They were all Jews. They were all members of the covenant people of God. They claimed to believe in God as God, to follow His law, and to be worshipers of Him. What would a God-honoring response have looked like in each of these people?

For the man, certainly, the most God honoring response would have been overwhelming gratitude, thankfulness, and worship. He ought to have left everything to find Jesus (v.11 tells us that even though he’d never seen Jesus, the man knew it was “the man called Jesus” who had healed him), in order that he might follow Jesus for the rest of his life. And along the way to finding Jesus, he ought to have boldly told everyone he met about the power of God manifest in Jesus.

The man’s neighbors and parents, the first to have witnessed his new, miraculous ability to see, and the ones most deeply affected by his lifetime of blindness, ought to have eagerly sought an explanation from the man and then gone with him to find Jesus. They ought to have investigated the man’s claims and in finding them true in Jesus, they too ought to have joined him in worship and obedience, following Jesus in faith with all they had!

And the religious leaders, the Pharisees, ought to have recognized the unique hand of God upon Jesus, His teaching, and His power. Jesus said repeatedly that to truly know God was to know Jesus. They ought to have humbled themselves, holding firmer to the Man of God, than their own interpretations of what the Man of God ought to have been. And therein, they ought to have rejoiced that their long-awaited Savior had finally come, demonstrating His power through signs and wonders. They ought to have trusted in Him and followed Him.

This is what each of these people/groups should have done, but only leaves us wondering what they actually did do. As we’re about to see, it was a mixed bag.

With that, we’ll consider just the response of the man himself this week. How would the person most directly affected by Jesus’ miracle respond to the miracle? John tells us quite a bit about it.

One of the most significant aspects of his response is found right away in v.7. The man had certainly heard of Jesus (v.11 tells us as much). And he’d most certainly also have heard about the controversy surrounding Jesus. He’d certainly heard of the anger of the Jewish leaders and the various explanations offered by the crowds who’d seen and heard Him. On top of that, presumably the man had some sense of the strange thing Jesus had already done to him (make mud with His spit and dust from the ground and then smear it on his eyes); strange as it was.

Thus, when Jesus commanded him, without explanation, to go and wash in the pool of Siloam (v.7), without even suggesting that it would lead to his healing, the man’s simple response is notable. Without question, he simply did what Jesus told him to. Was this faith? Desperation? Something else entirely? We’re not yet sure of his motives, but we are sure of his response, “So he went and washed…” (v.7). There’s something truly profound in the simplicity of the man’s obedience, even as there’s something truly profound in the simple result, “and came back seeing” (v.7).

O, that we might all learn this lesson. Grace, simple trust in Jesus is the path to fullness of life and joy and eternal blessing. It is right and good to seek understanding, but we are called to do so in child-like faith. There are few clearer pictures of what this looks like in an adult than what we see here in this man’s response.

From there the man’s responses are largely connected to others and their questions and interrogations. In that vein, the next time the man has a chance to respond to his healing is found in v.9. There, he found himself (understandably) being questioned by his neighbors who desperately wanted to make sense of this. Never having seen or even heard of anything like this (v.32), they ran through several possible explanations. Chief among them, seems to have been to question whether or not the seeing man in front of them was the same man who had been a blind beggar among them for decades. Unashamed and emphatic, “He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’” Far from trying to distance himself from Jesus’ and His miraculous healing, the man was unrelentingly insistent.

Seemingly convinced that it was in fact the same man, the neighbors turned their questions in the direction of how this happened. To that end, when questioned by his neighbors, “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’” (v.11). We see basically the same thing in his initial response to the Pharisees in v.15, “he said to them, ‘He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.’” And again in v.25 when pressed a second time by the Pharisees, “He answered, …One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

Without exaggeration, without wavering, and without apology, the man mater-of-factly told all who questioned him what he knew. He never claimed more than the basic facts. He knew that it was “the man called Jesus” who healed him. And he knew the basics of what Jesus did (spit, mud, command to wash). But despite being pressed repeatedly, he made no claim to have any meaningful understanding of how Jesus healed him or why.

In v.17, we see that he responded to the Pharisees’ increasingly hostile interrogation by offering a guess as to what it was about Jesus that allowed Him to heal him. Presumably from having heard a lifetime of stories concerning the marvelous works God accomplished through the prophets, when the Pharisees asked him about his take, “He said, ‘He is a prophet.’” Again, it would have been well known among all the Jews at this point that the Pharisees would not tolerate any kind of acceptance of Jesus as a man of God.

Therefore, the man’s lack of intimidation and willingness to offer straightforward answers and explanations is genuinely praiseworthy. Might we learn from him in this as well. Might we be so bold and clear when our unbelieving coworkers, family, friends, or neighbors ask about our faith, our understanding of where the world came from, how it’s ordered, and what it’s for. As the world grows in confusion and hostility toward the truth, may we learn from this man what it looks like to give clear, courageous answers.

From there, things took a bit of a turn. Becoming tired of the Pharisees’ antics and becoming annoyed by their obvious unwillingness to even consider the obvious, in v.27 we see that the man eventually became snarky with the Pharisees as they continued to press in on him. Desperate to come up with some way to explain away the increasingly obvious fact of Jesus’ healing, the Pharisees continued to ask the same questions of the man. This time, though, he replied, “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?”. In that, the man moved from simple, straightforward, and courageous answers to adopting a tone of ridicule. And in that he willingly moved the bull’s-eye from Jesus to himself.

It’s not hard to see in the passage that the man quickly gained clarity from and was emboldened by the ridiculousness of the Pharisees. As it became increasingly obvious that the Pharisees weren’t in the least bit interested in thinking rationally about any of this, the man seemed to grow less tolerant with their nonsense and posturing. Therefore, when they were unable to offer any legitimate alternative explanation for his healing and Jesus’ power to bring it about, the man concluded “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.”

So how can we characterize the man’s response? Very simply, it’s clear from the beginning that the man really didn’t know what to think about any of this. But it’s also clear that this poor, blind, beggar was willing to acknowledge what the learned, wealthy, “shepherd-leaders” of Israel would not—that Jesus, filled with the power of God, caused this man who had been blind from birth to be able to see!

We’ll see a bit more from the man and his response in the final section (where Jesus reenters the scene), but for the most part he simply comes across as one thankful to be able to see, convinced that Jesus is some kind of man of God, confused about why everyone is making things so complicated, and ultimately annoyed by the Pharisees obstinacy.

As we continue to consider the responses of those nearest the man next week, please ask God to help you rightly consider your own response to the person, power, and call of Jesus. Learn from their various responses to find areas in your life that are marked by genuine faith and by anything else.

Grace, our lives are ultimately marked not by our money or education or earthly relationships, but by our response to Jesus. It is a great gift of God, therefore, to give us tools like this passage to help us evaluate our responses.

Even more, however, please consider the simple fact that Jesus’ power to heal those who have physical ailments comes from the same place (His divine nature and oneness with the Father) as His power to heal us from sin’s spiritual blindness and death. In fact, what we have here is anther remarkable picture of what Jesus told the paralytic in Matthew 9, “’that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—’Rise, pick up your bed and go home.’ 7 And he rose and went home.” That our passage in John is another example of this will become clearer next week when we consider Jesus’ words in vs.36-41. For now, and in conclusion, let us marvel at His power to heal the body and ask Him for it. And let us marvel even more tat His power to heal the soul and ask Him for it all the more.

John 8:48-59 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Welcome back to John 8:48-59. As I mentioned last week, within these verses there is one main claim made by Jesus, three other claims rooted in it, and a single response from the Jews. Last week I focused on the main claim, found in v.58, that Jesus is God. This week, I’ll mainly focus on the other three claims and the response of the Jews to all of them.

Once again, then, the three contingent claims Jesus made in this passage are: (1) there is no immorality in Jesus, (2) the Father and Son conspire for one another’s glory, and (3) eternal life comes from keeping Jesus’ word. And the single response from the Jews was complete rejection of everything Jesus said.

While the main takeaways last week were worship and recalibration, the main takeaways this week are looking to Jesus to see what it means to live a godly life, trusting Jesus to help us live it, and giving ourselves to seeking the glory of the godhead. Let’s pray that God would be pleased to help us with all of that and all He sees fit to do with it.

Although I covered it in detail last week, it’s important to say a brief word about Jesus’ central claim (that He is God). The entire passage (all of 7-8) built towards it as Jesus and the Jews went back and forth. The Jews kept insisting that Abraham was their father and that, therefore, they were right with God (and immune from Jesus’ critiques). From there, the argument followed a windy path to the point that Jesus told the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (56). Understandably, the Jews were confused. Abraham had lived centuries earlier. What could Jesus possibly have been talking about, they wondered. They said, therefore, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham” (57). A simple “yes, I have seen him” would have answered their question, but elicited many more.

Getting right to the point, then, in essence Jesus said to them, “Yes. I have seen Abraham. I created him. I held him together. In Me did he live and move and have his being. It is because of me that the covenant with him could be made and certainly fulfilled. I am the sacrifice that was offered, the lamb that was provided. I am your hope, not Abraham. If you really understood Abraham’s relationship with the Father, you would believe in me. And all of that because, I am one with the Father and Spirit. I am God.”

In actual word, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (58); therein taking on God’s holy name. Understanding that perfectly, the Jews “picked up stones to throw at him” (59), in keeping with command of God concerning blasphemy (which this was if Jesus wasn’t telling the truth).

That’s what we’ve already covered. You’ll need that continually in your minds both to really understand the rest of this text and to live as God made you to live.

With that, as a means of best helping you understand Jesus’ three contingent claims, I want you to imagine someone coming up to you and clearly and sincerely saying, “That car belongs to me.” You’re parked, waiting for someone in your family to come out of a store, and a stranger walks up to your window and commands you to get out and let them drive away in your car. That’s not a normal demand, of course, and it’s hard to even imagine what they might be talking about. Certainly, you wouldn’t just comply. In fact, it’d probably take something significant for you to even bother engaging them.

The main question I want you to consider within this scenario is this: If you were to ask them why you should comply, what kind of answer could they give that would convince you? And the key that I want to help you understand is that for someone to make a claim like that, and for it to be legitimate, there must be some greater claim under it, holding it up.

In one sense, all of Jesus’ ministry was like that. From the perspective of the Jews, it was a long series of unexpected, confusing, and even shocking statements, commands, and actions. The question always before them was, on what basis could Jesus say and do those things that we should accept Him at His word. “The things He’s saying don’t make any sense unless there’s something greater, hidden beneath them.” Indeed there was.

As Jesus’ ministry progressed and His time approached, His words and actions became increasingly hard for the Jews to understand and accept. His answers to their questions became clearer and fuller, but they only prompted more questions as they sought to get to the bottom of it all. We see this especially in chapters 7-8, and even more so in our passage for this morning.

That’s at the heart of vs.48-57 and the claims Jesus made in those verses. Like most of the rest of what Jesus said in the first three years of His ministry, the three initial claims of our passage simply couldn’t have been true without a remarkable underlying explanation. Indeed, Jesus’ claims led the Jews to press and ask and investigate until they got to the bottom of things. And the bottom of things, once again, was the fact that Jesus is God.

In that, Grace Church, is the key to understanding the three claims and the great question that determines everything. Either it’s true that Jesus is God or it isn’t. The Jews concluded that it wasn’t true. They, therefore, rejected every lesser claim of Jesus (including the three in this passage). If they were wrong, however, and the most certainly were, every other claim and command of Jesus is to be received as good news with great joy. And that will leave no aspect of our lives untouched. Today is the day to decide.

That leads us to the first of Jesus’ lesser claims: there is no immorality in Jesus.

The passage we considered two weeks ago, John 8:31-47, ended with these words from Jesus, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Jesus made two main claims in the words I just quoted. First, He claimed that being “of God” is a prerequisite to recognizing and believing God’s words. That wouldn’t have been controversial to the Jews He was speaking to. The second thing He said, however, most certainly was. Jesus’ second claim was that they were not of God and, therefore, could not hear God.

The entire identity of the Jewish people was in being “of God” on account of being Abraham’s offspring. To claim that they weren’t was to deny their most foundational understanding of themselves. Even more significant still, is the fact that Jesus made those claims as an explanation of why those present could not understand or accept His words. In other words, Jesus’ main point was that He was speaking the very words of God to the crowds and their rejection of it was entirely the result of their mistaken understanding of who they were. They were not of God, Jesus cried, but of the devil.

And in response to that, which is where our passage for this morning begins, “The Jews answered him, ‘Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?'”

I have a child who, thankfully, lacks the vocabulary to fully express her anger and frustration. Nevertheless, it’s always clear to all of us when she attempts to draw from the deepest recesses of her insult well. If she had been among the crowd listening to Jesus, and her well ran deeper, it would have sounded just like that.

To charge Jesus with being the product of idolatrous sexual immorality (that’s how the Jews understood the Samaritans) and with being demonically possessed, was to draw from the very bottom of the insult well.

But that just brings us back to the main point. If Jesus is not God, the Jews are right to question everything about Him. If He is God, though, and He most certainly is Grace Church, then His charge and reasoning make perfect sense. And so does His reply to their insults.

Curiously, Jesus didn’t even address the Samaritan charge, but He did reject their claim that He was a demoniac, “49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon…”.

More than that, though, Jesus made an even bigger claim. He claimed that He was not only not the product of immorality (that of His parents if He were a Samaritan or a demon if He was possessed), but also He had no immorality in Him at all. He was filled with righteousness. That’s what He meant when He said, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father”. Let me explain.

We cannot honor God in sin, so there is an inseparable connection between righteousness and honoring God. What’s more, Jesus wasn’t simply claiming to honor God once in a while; here and there. He was claiming to fully honor God at all times. Therefore, He was also claiming to be fully righteous at all times.

But Grace, as you know, God alone is truly righteous, so there’s also an inseparable connection between Jesus’ deity and His ability to truthfully make the claim He made. It is, therefore, precisely because Jesus is God that He could rightly claimed to be thoroughly righteous; entirely honoring to God. Even as it is precisely because His hearers rejected that claim that they rejected His teaching and dishonored Him in their response.

This means, Grace Church, that we are right to believe all Jesus says and follow Him in all He does. It is right to look and listen to Jesus to see and hear what it means to live as God intends. He is without sin. He is entirely righteous in all He thinks, feels, says, and does. He perfectly honors God at all times. He is, therein, the authority of a model for all mankind. He came to earth to show and tell us what it looks like to live an abundant life in a fallen world. Consider His life, therefore, and follow Him in faith. Reconsider every aspect of your life that doesn’t line up with His. Praise Him for this glorious truth. And, in contrast to the response we find in the Jews here, listen carefully to His every word, in the knowledge that they are entirely trustworthy and right, since He is God!

The second area of contention between Jesus and the Jews concerned whether or not Jesus was sinfully seeking His own glory as the Jews implicitly charged. Assuming that Jesus was lying about His identity and was therefore lying about His motives, the Jews also assumed that Jesus was pridefully doing so for His own glory.

On the contrary, though, Jesus said, “50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.” And similarly, in v.54, “54 Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.””.

At times, I’ve certainly tried to draw attention to certain aspects of myself that I found impressive—that is, in some ways, I’ve sought my own glory. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone who hasn’t. To help us all appreciate this claim of Jesus (that He did not seek His own glory), how it was rooted in His divinity, and why it was so offensive to the Jews, I want to invite you to consider another question with me. What’s the difference between me seeking glory for myself and Jesus seeking glory for Himself?

The first part of the answer to that question is in the fact that I’ve never really done anything all that impressive on any meaningful scale. I’m not a moon walker or world record holder of billionaire or NYT bestseller or element-discoverer or university-founder or new-world-colonizer or anything like that. In contrast, however, Jesus had already taught with unparalleled understanding, worked miracles, and demonstrated supernatural authority. In other words, there’s a remarkable difference between someone seeking their own glory who hasn’t done much and someone who is truly exceptional.

The second thing to see is that Jesus isn’t merely exceptional, He is the Christ, the Son of God in the flesh, the maker and sustainer of all things. He is the One to whom all glory belongs. He is God and His glory is infinite in quantity and quality. The difference between Jesus and me isn’t a matter of degrees, it’s infinite.

The third thing to grasp is that for God alone, being glorified is the highest virtue. God’s infinite glory is tied to the fact that He is good and perfect in every way. More still, it is what we were made for. It is the only thing that can truly and eternally satisfy. In that way, to withhold His glory is uniquely unloving, even as putting it on display is the highest form of love. The world needs the infinite glory of God. It does not need the paltry glory of Dave.

The final and most important thing for us to see then, is that Jesus described a conspiracy of glory between the Him and the Father. He did not seek His own glory, but the Father did. And Jesus sought the glory of the Father. In perfect harmony, with all their might, continually, as the greatest expression of love possible, Father and Son were committed to putting the other’s glory on display for all the world to see and delight in and be forever blessed by. The real problem, then, entirely missed by the Jews, wouldn’t have been Jesus being glorified, but if He wasn’t. Jesus not seeking His own glory would have been tragic, if the Father was not seeking it for Him.

Once again, it is only because Jesus is God that He is infinitely glorious. It is only because Jesus is infinitely glorious that it His glory being displayed is the highest form of love. It is only because it is perfectly loving that the Father is right to work at all times to make it known to the world. And it is because the Jews rejected the first link in the chain (that Jesus is God), that they rejected every subsequent link, and missed the highest blessing.

Jesus honors (glorifies) the Father at all times, even as the Father seeks His Son’s glory at all times. What unspeakable joy will it be to enter the triune praise that has gone on for eternity past, for eternity future. One of heaven’s chief occupations is the perfect, unceasing, entirely right praise of each person of the Godhead for the others. O, to hear and join in that song. Jesus was inviting His hearers to join Him in it at that moment. To accept Jesus’ claim to be a member of the trinity is to accept His claim that He glorifies the Father at all times and the Father Him. But to reject that first claim is to be appalled by His audacity. Everything hinges on whether or not Jesus is God.

As we’ve seen, inseparably linked to the claim to be God, Jesus’ first two claims aren’t small. “I honor God at all times and in all ways”. And, “I don’t seek my own glory, but the Father seeks it for Me.” His third and final claim is also so remarkable that it can only be true if His greater claim to be God is true.

51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Truly appreciating that claim requires that we first answer two questions: 1) What did Jesus mean by “keep my word”? and 2) What did Jesus mean by “never see death”?

The bulk of the sermon from two weeks ago was spent answering the first question. To keep Jesus’ word is to abide in it. And to abide in Jesus’ word is to live entirely in light of it. Of course, none of us do that perfectly, so Jesus’ promise that all who do will never see death might ring a bit hallow.

I’ve used the example with many of you…imagine me telling you that I have a billion dollars for you and that it’s free for you to take possession of whenever you want. That’s really good news until I tell you that it is sitting in a suitcase on Jupiter. No matter the amount of money offered to you, it’s not good news if you have no access to it. Is Jesus’ promise any different than that? Never seeing death (as we’ll soon see) is a far greater reward than any amount of money. But perfectly keeping Jesus’ word is harder to do than reaching the furthest star in the universe.

The good news, Grace Church, is that when we place our faith in Jesus and long to abide in Jesus’ word because of it, through that faith in Jesus, God is pleased to unite us with the complete righteousness of Jesus and also to begin to cause us to abide fully in Jesus’ word. Through faith, God does for us what He requires of us. Who could make a claim like that but God Himself? Everything hinges on Jesus’ first claim: to be God.

But what does it mean to never taste death? In simplest terms, Jesus meant that everyone who trusted in Him and sought to live by faith in His promises, will live forever in perfect fellowship with God. The body will die for a time, but the soul will live on forever only to be reunited with a glorified body in the new heavens and earth. True death is the death of body and soul, not merely the body. For Christians, then, Jesus promised here that it is not death to die. The Jews misunderstood what Jesus meant, and locked in on that misunderstanding.

52 [They] said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died!

They said, in effect, once again, “Jesus, you’re making claims that you have no right to make. On top of that, we know for sure it can’t be true. If anyone is rightly said to have been right with God, it’s our father, Abraham. He was the very recipient of the covenant that is at the heart of our relationship with God. The prophets are like that as well. They were directly given the very words of God from God and many remained faithful to God even to death. If they all tasted death, no one can avoid it.”

If Jesus is not God, the Jews were right…Abraham is dead, the prophets are all dead, and Jesus was wrong. Everything hinges, therefore and once again, on whether or not Jesus is God.

But Jesus is God and Abraham, the prophets, and all who truly trust in God, is alive. Thus, Jesus could rightly say, “56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” While the exact meaning of this is uncertain, what is certain is Jesus’ main point in saying it: God IS (not WAS) the God of Abraham and Abraham knows that Jesus is the fulfillment of his greatest longing and joy. For the Jews to really be Abraham’s children, then, they would need to accept and rejoice in that which Abraham accepted and rejoiced in: Jesus!

There is no immorality in me. I honor God at all times. Not only do I honor God at all times, but He honors me at all times too. And if you keep my word, you will never die.

Recognizing the magnitude of Jesus’ words caused the Jews to ask the right questions: Who do you make yourself out to be?…[and] You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” And the time had finally come for Jesus to give the answer that would change everything: “Before Abraham was, I am”!

Just think of the blessings that poor out of these claims of Jesus! A description and example of fullness of life, living in the fullest love of God, and never tasting death. Rather than receive Jesus’ words, accept His perfect example, join in the eternal glorification of God, and live forever, without exception, the Jews rejected every claim Jesus made in this passage.

In response to Jesus’ claim to speak the words of God, 48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

In response to Jesus perfectly honoring the Father, “49 Jesus answered…you dishonor me.”

In response to Jesus’ teaching that everyone who keeps His word will never die, 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”

In response to Jesus’ teaching that Abraham longed to see the say when Jesus would take on flesh, 57 … the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

And, again, in response to His claim to be God, 59 … they picked up stones to throw at him…

Our world is swimming in questions concerning morality and purpose and pain. Jesus answers every one of those questions and offers Himself as a perfect example and solution to them. Every one of His answers, examples, and solutions, though is rooted in the fact that He is God. The world around us, like the Jews in Jesus’ day, is increasingly rejecting Jesus’ deity and, therefore, everything that flows from it.

I’d like to close with the same challenge as last week. Would you take a moment, right now, to ask the Holy Spirit to help you decide once and for all whether or not to hang everything on the central claim that Jesus is God. As we’ve seen, the only real options are to reject it outright and everything that goes with it or accept it and obey all that Jesus commands in faith. John’s Gospel and this sermon were written largely to help you believe that Jesus is the Christ and find the fullness of life that goes with it. May God be so kind to us this morning to open our eyes to this glorious, gracious truth.