João 9
John Piper · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 9
Piper - When Jesus says that he did not come to judge, he means that condemnation is not his first or his direct purpose. He is coming to save. When he says, “For judgment I came into the world,” he means that inevitably, as I save people by truth and love and righteousness, a division happens and rebellion is revealed and people are confirmed in their unbelief. It’s like a doctor being called to amputate a man’s arm, because of a horrible infection, in order to save his life. Just before the sick man goes under the anesthesia, he asks the doctor, “Did you come to cut off my arm,” and the doctor answers: “I didn’t come to cut off your arm, I came to save your life.” And we would all know what he meant. Or it’s like a military special forces team being airlifted behind enemy lines to rescue of POW from certain death. They have grenades and guns and knives, but the commander says, “Your mission is not to kill. Your mission is to get the prisoner out. Do what you have to do.” The mission of Jesus was not to condemn. It was to save. But he saves by being the truth and speaking the truth and doing the truth. And those who are not “of the truth” (John 18:37) refuse to embrace him as Savior, and therefore are condemned. The ministry of Jesus, which aims to save, inevitably reveals and confirms the blindness and unbelief that condemns. So in the second half of verse 39, Jesus explains how he has come for judgment. He has come for judgment “that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” On the one hand, the judging sword (or scalpel) of Jesus is going to cut away the blinding calluses of the heart, and the blind will see. But on the other hand, there is a blinding effect of this saving work. Verse 39 at the end: “and those who see may become blind.” (SEE full sermon For Judgment I Came into This World) Reformation Study Bible - The First Coming of Christ did not bring in the Last Judgment (3:17; 12:47), but He confronted people with the obligation to decide for or against Him (Matt. 12:30; Luke 11:23). Until the Second Coming of Christ, this is still the age of redemption during which the blind are made to see, and those dead in trespasses and sins are raised to newness of life (Eph. 2:4). (John 9:39) The Old axiom goes, Seeing is Believing, but here we read that Believing is Seeing! -- Brian Bell So that (hina - purpose clause) those who do not see may see, Jesus goes on to emphasis that this was not the final judgment but that His coming did result in a judgment between men depending on their response to Him. The purpose of His coming was to heal the spiritually blind (and physically blind in some cases) so that they would see that He was indeed the Son of Man and would be saved from final judgment. The purpose Jesus says is that those who do not see spiritually and who recognize and understand the spiritual darkness of their hearts are those who are open to the Gospel to cure their spiritual blindness. They are not proud, but poor in spirit. God is opposed to pride, but gives grace to the humble, in this case the grace to believe and be enabled to see spiritually. And that those who see may become blind (tuphlos) - The other purpose of His coming was to bring about judicial hardening (spiritual blindness) to those who steadfastly refused to receive Him (Jn 1:11), instead rejecting His offer to be the Savior, leaving the only alternative for Him to be their Judge (See Rev 20:11-15+ for the final judgment).
João 9
Piper - The disciples assume a direct correlation between a specific sin and the man’s disability. Either he sinned in the womb of his mother, or his parents sinned. Those are the two explanations the disciples can think of. This kind of thinking is not unlike the way Job’s three friends thought about suffering. Jesus rejects both of them. He knows that suffering and sickness and disability and death are in the world because of sin (Romans 5:12–14; 8:18–25), but he rejects the explanation that specific disabilities correspond to specific sins. Another Explanation: The Glory of God. Instead, he gives another explanation. The disciples were asking about the cause of this blindness. Jesus answers their question, but the answer he gives is not about the human who the blindness came from, but what it is leading to. In other words, Jesus says the cause of this disability is not past sin, but future effects. (Born Blind for the Glory of God)
João 9
Piper - This signals that something more is going on here than merely healing the man’s physical eyes so that he can see natural light. Jesus calls attention to the fact that he is the light this man needs to see. “I am the light of the world.” Which many blind people see, and many seeing people are blind to. (Born Blind for the Glory of God) Adrian Rogers - And, by the way, that is the meaning of the miracle: that Jesus is the light of the world.“ D L Moody - Atheist David Hume said to a minister, the light of nature was all he wanted. On going down stairs, Hume declined a light because the moon was high enough, and as he said it, he tumbled down stairs. I am the Light (phos) of the world (kosmos) - It is interesting that the Greek here is not the characteristic "ego eimi" as in John 8:12+. In the context of a man who has never seen the light due to blindness from birth, Jesus describes Himself as the spiritual light to the world which is in total spiritual blindness to the things of God. The Light is to give guidance through revelation. THOUGHT - How does Jesus continue to be the Light of the world? It is through you, dear disciple, as you let His light shine forth through you, like the moon reflects the sun (Mt 5:16+). And how is that seen practically? It is by us always preaching the Gospel? Clearly we must preach and teach and share the Gospel. But in Php 2:14+ one of the ways our light is seen by those around us is when we refrain (enabled to the Spirit - Php 2:13NLT+) from grumbling and disputing. The lost world sees that supernatural effect and is caught off guard wondering how we can carry out a non-grumbling attitude when circumstance would cause most people to grumble? It is in times like that that they can see the light of World, Jesus, in us, Paul writing that it is then that we "will prove ourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom we appear as lights in the world" (Php 2:15+). How is your (His) little light shining beloved (Mt 5:14-15+)? Is our presence bring spiritual light to this world that has been blind from birth because of Adam's sin?
João 9
Piper - Yes, he came back seeing natural light. Is that enough? Is that what Jesus cares about most? Do you recall back in chapter 5 when Jesus healed the man who had been crippled for 38 years? The man stood up and walked. Was that the point—mere physical healing? Yes, I say “mere” in view the infinitely more important spiritual change needed. So John 5:14 says, “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.’ ” In other words, I healed you, yes. But I have tracked you down to make sure you know holiness is the main point. That’s the real healing. Go, sin no more....The most important thing is that the man see the glory of Jesus and worship him. That is what he did. This was the ultimate healing. So when Jesus said in Jn 9:3, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him,” this is the work of God—that the man see natural light and that the man see spiritual light. That the man be given natural eyes, and that he be given spiritual eyes. That he see the glory of this world, and the glory of its Maker, Jesus Christ. And worship him. From this I conclude that in every disability, whether genetically from the womb, or circumstantially from an accident, or infectiously from a disease, God has a design, a purpose, for his own glory, and for the good of his people who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Therefore, it is wrong to think that such children in the womb are unimportant, or without a unique, God-given worth in this world. And it is wrong to abort them—to kill them. (Born Blind for the Glory of God) (See also his book Disability and the Sovereign Goodness of God) Adrian Rogers - I used to think as a young preacher that what you had to do to get people saved was just to tell them how to be saved, just turn on the light. But it doesn’t matter how much light there is; if the person is blind, he can’t see it. You understand what I’m talking about? It takes more than light; it takes sight. And a person who is blind cannot see the light, no matter how strong the light is or how pure the light is. It takes more than preaching to get people saved. That’s the reason I frequently say to you, I can preach truth, but only the Holy Spirit can impart truth. That is the reason we must be a praying church. That is the reason that you must be a Spirit-filled soul winner. That is the reason that we must have the anointing, because we are dependent upon God to open blinded eyes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It takes more than light; it takes sight. We need to understand that nobody can be argued into the kingdom of heaven. Nobody can be educated into the kingdom of heaven. I’m not against letting the light shine. You must let the light shine. You must preach. But remember there is another dimension. This man was blind, and there he was face to face with the Light of the world, but he could not see.
João 9
Piper - Behind that little phrase, “you say that you see,” is the profound statement of Jesus about our accountability: In reality they do not see. In reality they are blind. And their guilt remains. And they are accountable. Which means that there is a kind of blindness—a blindness rooted in willful rebellion against the light of God. It is a moral, spiritual blindness, not a physical one. We are blind because we love the darkness (John 3:19). We are blind because we don’t want to see the light or be guided by the light or have to confess our works to be works of darkness. And this blindness does not diminish our guilt or remove our accountability. It is part of our guilt. To close, return with me to verse 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.’ ”There’s the fork in the road at the end of this message. We all walk down one path or the other. What does he mean, “He came that those who see may become blind?” Now we know from verse 41. I take him to mean: Those who have perfectly good eyes in their heads, who can think and reason, who can see the evidences, and hear the sermons, and read the Bible, and get acquainted with Jesus, but who will not admit they are blind and need to be born again with spiritual life and light, they “become” blind—that is, their blindness is revealed and the more light that they resist, the harder and deeper becomes their blindness. Let it not be so with you. Lay hold of the first half of verse 39, and believe in Jesus. “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see.” He came to give you sight. (SEE full sermon For Judgment I Came into This World) Adrian Rogers (p 616) - Man’s biggest need is to see his need. Man’s biggest need is to admit his blindness. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. You see, when Jesus met someone who claimed to be righteous, He sent that one away unforgiven. When He met someone who claimed, ah, to be full, He sent that one away hungry. When He met someone who claimed to see, that person still remained blind. Do you know what kept these Pharisees from coming to Jesus? It was their arrogance, their dishonesty, and their abominable pride. There are many in this auditorium today who need the light, but your problem is, you sit there and say, “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’ve got 20/20.” And that’s the reason you’ll never get saved because you say…. Jesus looked at it. “Because you say we see, therefore your sin remaineth.” Spurgeon on we see - You acknowledge that you have sinned with your eyes open, and, therefore, your sin is all the greater. (Spurgeon's Exposition of John 9)