INTRODUCTION:

There are certain living phenomena that can be seen almost anywhere in the world.  They are called lichens and they can be found on rocks, tree trunks, and a variety of other places where they cling and grow in size.  There are many varieties of lichens, having different shapes and colors.  Lichens are not technically plants.  They are composed of a fungus and algae that live together in harmony.  This is not meant to be a biology lesson, but there is something about lichens and their use that relates to the passage of Scripture we are now studying:  John 9:35-41.  From the 16th century to the present day, lichens have been used in scientific experiments to test the pH levels in liquids.  The test is called a litmus test.  A blue dye and a pink dye were extracted from certain lichens.  A particular variety of paper called “litmus paper” was infused with this pink dye or blue dye.  The paper now had the ability to change color under certain conditions, demonstrating whether the solution into which it was dipped was acidic, alkaline, or neutral.

Over a period of time, the term “Litmus test” began to take on a new meaning.  People started using that term to make a judgment about whether or not someone or something was acceptable.  The “litmus test” came to mean the single, most important, and deciding factor that provided the right answer or led to the right decision.  That’s where we are as we study John 9:35-41.  Jesus is about to give a “litmus test” that will clearly define the difference between spiritual blindness and spiritual sight.

I.  THE QUESTIONS (verse 35-36)

Verse 35 contains these words:  “Jesus heard that they had put him out; and finding him, He said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ”  When Jesus learned that the man whom He healed of his blindness had been escorted out of the temple, He went looking for him.  This healed man had been publicly interrogated and then publicly thrown out of the temple area.  The news of those events must have spread quickly throughout the city of Jerusalem.  People everywhere in the city were talking about the healing of the blind man, and the inability of the Pharisees to refute his arguments or deny his testimony.

Jesus kept searching for this man until He found him.  He took the initiative to seek and find this man.  The blind man didn’t ask Jesus for this miracle of sight, and I’m sure he wasn’t expecting Jesus to make a search for him and find him.  Now comes the “litmus test”.  Jesus asked the man, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  He’s asking him to make a choice – a commitment.  There’s no doubt that this man recognized the voice of Jesus.  How could he forget the voice of the One who put mud on his eyes and said, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.”?  When Jesus used the title “Son of Man”, this healed man knew who Jesus was talking about.  The words of the prophet Daniel came to his mind.  In Daniel 7:13, the prophet Daniel was having dreams and visions from God and he said, “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like the Son of Man was coming.”  and Daniel describes Him as a King who has everlasting dominion and authority.  As he looked at Jesus, this man knew that He was referring to the Messiah, the Son of God, and he responds, in John 9:36, by saying, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”  He wants to believe, and he is ready to believe, but he’s not yet sure who Jesus is referring to.  The word, “Lord” can also be translated as “sir” and, in this case, that would be the proper translation since this man does not yet know who Jesus is.

II.  THE MAN’S RESPONSE (verses 37-38)

In verse 37, when he hears, from Jesus’ lips, the words, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you”, his response is immediate and appropriate.  Verse 38 reads, “And he said, ‘Lord, I believe.’  And he worshiped Him.”  At that moment, this formerly blind man passed the test.  His spiritual eyes were opened and he immediately acknowledged that Jesus Christ was the Messiah by believing in Him and worshiping Him.  This time when he calls Jesus “Lord”, he’s addressing Jesus as his Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  As he said those words, he assumed a position of worship,  prostrating himself at the feet of Jesus and Jesus accepted his worship.  Jesus did not forbid people to worship Him while He was on this earth.  He always accepted worship as an appropriate response to Himself.

President Franklin Roosevelt was a regular church-goer.  It is said that on one gloomy Sunday morning during World War 2, he walked three miles in order to attend worship.  One of his neighbors, noticing this, said to him:  “I can worship in the fields or anywhere else.”  “Yes”, replied Mr. Roosevelt, “but no one will ever suspect you of it.”

This man whom Jesus healed wasn’t concerned about what others thought of him or said about him.  Without hesitation, he fell to his knees in the presence of all of them and worshiped his Lord.  What a contrast to the Scribes and Pharisees!  When Jesus revealed His deity to them, they picked up stones to stone Him!

III.  JUDGMENT (verses 39-41)

While this man is prostrate at his feet, Jesus looks at those standing around Him and says these words in verse 39:  “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”  The word “judgment” is not used here in the sense of condemnation.  Jesus came for judgment in the sense that He was the dividing line.  He was the one who would separate one group from the other.  He was the “litmus test”, defining and separating spiritual light from spiritual darkness.  Those who admitted their spiritual blindness would be given spiritual insight from Jesus, and those who were convinced that they already had spiritual understanding would continue in their spiritual blindness, pronouncing judgment upon themselves.  Someone has said, “There is no one so blind as he who refuses to see!”  Jesus was encouraging the first group of people and warning the second group.

Some of the Pharisees who were close enough to hear those words spoken by Jesus, decide to ask Him a question.  They phrase their question in such a way as to let Jesus know what answer they expect Him to give them.  Here is their question in verse 40:  “We are not blind too, are we?”  They were expecting Jesus to give them the answer “No”.  After all, they were very religious people.  No one would dare to accuse them of errors concerning spiritual matters!  I think they are trying to “twist His arm”, so to speak — to make Jesus say something that He really doesn’t want to say.  Have you ever tried to do that to someone else?  Were you successful?

These Pharisees are living in a state of denial.  They have chosen to forget all the other times when Jesus made them face the facts about their sinful actions and exposed them to the truth of God’s Word.  They preferred to close their eyes and pretend that it didn’t happen.  That form of denial in the face of the obvious still takes place in our world today.

A race-car driver by the name of Scott Goodyear had these words to say about race-car drivers who have been killed in crashes at the Indianapolis 500.  “You don’t go look at where it happened.  You don’t watch films of it on television.  You don’t deal with it.  You pretend it never happened.”  Through the years, a driver has never been pronounced dead at the racetrack.  If you were to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Racing Museum, located inside the 2.5-mile oval, you would find that it has no memorial to the 40 drivers who have lost their lives here.  Nowhere is there even a mention.”  [The total number is now 42]

The Pharisees, in verse 40, are waiting for Jesus to exonerate them so that the discussion can be closed, covered up, and not mentioned again.  However, the response they receive from Jesus is not what they expected to hear and not what they wanted to hear.  In verse 41, Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”  What does He mean by that statement?  Jesus is saying, here in verse 41, that if the Pharisees would admit to their ignorance of the truth and were willing to confess that ignorance and seek instruction from Him, they would be forgiven and set free from their sin.  People are not condemned for what they cannot do or cannot understand.  However, if these Pharisees are so proud and confident in their own wisdom that they shut their eyes to the truth, their sin will remain unpardoned, and they will be to blame.  In a spiritual sense, there is a big difference between the one who is blind and knows it and the one who simply shuts his eyes.  Only the person who realizes his own blindness can learn to see.  Only the one who realizes his own sin can be forgiven.

CONCLUSION:

There are times when an illustration doesn’t completely fit the topic of conversation or the passage of scripture that is being studied.  In this case, there is a sense in which the “litmus test”, used in my opening illustration, doesn’t fit the topic of spiritual sight, and doesn’t completely align with the words of Jesus in verse 35, where He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”   A litmus test shows one of three results after being dipped into a liquid:  “alkaline”, “acidic”, or “neutral”.  However, when it comes to belief in Jesus Christ, there is no neutral ground.  You are either making a decision for Christ or you’re making a decision against Christ.  Evangelist Billy Graham said, “If you make no decision for Christ, you’re making a decision against Christ.”  There’s no sitting on the fence, and God doesn’t honor good intentions.

Which side of the fence are you on at this moment?  If you’re unsure, wouldn’t this be a good time to make sure?  How you respond to Jesus Christ is the greatest decision in your life.  It will determine the quality of your life on this earth as well as your eternal destiny.  The Bible says that there are only two eternal destinations – heaven and hell, and each of us is going to one or the other.  Please make the right decision and see what a difference it makes to be a true child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Fellow Christians, it is our privilege and responsibility to lead others out of the darkness of sin and into His marvelous light.  I hope we are ready, willing, and able to be Christ’s ambassadors to the world around us.  That is what He has called us to be.  2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.  We implore you, on Christ’s behalf:  Be reconciled to God.”

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED