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John 9:12-17  COURAGE TO STAND FOR JESUS

 

Introduction:

 

      In our text last Sunday the man who had been born blind

and to whom Jesus gave sight was seen and recognized by his

neighbors.  They were astounded that he was able to see and

they inquired of him how he was now able to see.  He told

them that a man called Jesus had anointed his eyes with clay

and had told him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.  He said, "I

went and washed and I received sight," verse 11.

      In our text today we will see events develop which would

require a great deal of courage on his part to stand up for

Jesus.  But we will also see that he had the courage.  He

spoke out boldly in behalf of Jesus.

 

I.  The man questioned further by the neighbors

 

      V. 12, "Then said they unto him, Where is he?..."  Upon

learning that the man called Jesus had given sight to this

man the neighbors asked him to tell them where Jesus is.

      It might seem at first that out of curiosity they wanted

to know more about this man who could do such great

miracles.  Perhaps, they, too, wanted to benefit from His

great powers.

      It would seem quite reasonable if this had been their

motive in asking where Jesus is.  But in the light of the

fact that these men are going to bring him to the court for

an official hearing, we must conclude that this was not

their motive.  They must have made inquiry about the

location of Jesus because what they really wanted was to

bring Jesus before the court.

      At any rate, the man did not know where Jesus was and

that was his answer to them.  (V. 12), "...He said, I know

not."  He had been sitting at the gate of the temple and

Jesus was just passing by departing from the temple.  Jesus

had stopped just long enough to anoint his eyes and tell him

to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash.  While the blind man

was being led to the Pool of Siloam and while he washed,

Jesus left.  This man had no idea where Jesus went.  He gave

he only answer he could give:  He did not know where Jesus

was.

 

II.  The man questioned by the court

 

      But he must not have been prepared for what happened

next.  V. 13, "They brought to the Pharisees him that

aforetime was blind."  The neighbors caught the blind man by

his arms.  Some probably got behind him and pushed. They

carried him to the court of the Pharisees.  This was the

very court that had made every effort to kill Jesus.  From

the time that the very first people had started arriving in

Jerusalem for the observance of the Feast of The Tabernacles

the Jewish Sanhedrin Court had been trying to capture Jesus

and kill Him.  Even immediately before Jesus left the temple

and gave sight to the blind man they had taken up stones

there within the temple courtyard to stone Him.  Jesus had

somehow used His supernatural powers to walk unseen right

through their midst and out the temple gate.  It was right

outside the gate that He had stopped and anointed the eyes

of the blind man.

      The Jewish leaders in the Sanhedrin Court were already

bitter enemies of Jesus and now this man who had been given

his eyesight by Jesus was hauled before their court as if

somehow he was guilty of wrong doing by allowing Jesus to

give him his sight.

      He could possibly be accused as being a disciple of

Jesus and if so he would be excluded from the Jewish

synagogue and would not be allowed to enter into any

synagogue anywhere.  That was like being cut off from all

Jewish life.  He would be treated not merely as a stranger

by them, but worse than a stranger.  The Jews were kind to

strangers among them, but they would not be kind to one who

had been excluded from their synagogue.  The very least he

could expect from them in this hearing was to try to extract

some kind of evidence from him that they could use against

Jesus.  They wanted him to give them some kind of evidence

that they could use to put to death the man who had given

him his sight.  He had been blind all of his life and Jesus

had given him his sight.  Now the Jewish court wanted him to

give them evidence that they could use to put Jesus to

death.  It was going to take a lot of courage on his part if

      he would speak in favor of Jesus.  There was one big

complication.  V. 14, "And it was the sabbath day when Jesus

made the clay, and opened his eyes." The day on which Jesus

had healed this man's eyes was a sabbath day.  It was not a

regular sabbath day.  It was a special sabbath day because

it followed immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles.  The

day following the Feast of Tabernacles was always a special

sabbath day in which no work was to be done.

      The Jewish leaders considered that to apply any kind of

medicine on a sabbath day except in a case of life or death

was breaking the sabbath day.  They considered the act of

healing a man on the sabbath to be work.  This was not God's

idea; this was their idea.  The Jews would consider the

anointing of the blind man's eyes with a salve on the

sabbath day as breaking the law of the sabbath.  They

considered giving sight to the blind man on the sabbath to

be breaking the law of the sabbath. They wanted this man to

go on record and testify against Jesus that Jesus had broken

the law of the sabbath.

      Listen to the question which the court asked him.  V.

15, "Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had

received his sight..."  The neighbors had already asked him

this question and we can be sure that someone has told the

members of the court what he had said.  So the court is not

asking for information.  What they want is for this man to

officially give this account to them so that they can use

his testimony against Jesus.

      There was nothing he could do but answer their question.

(V. 15), "...He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes,

and I washed, and do see."

      V. 16, "Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man

is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day..."

Now let me clarify a point right here.  They were wrong

about Jesus.  They were wrong when they said that Jesus is

not of God.  They were wring about Him when they said that

He did not keep the sabbath.  Jesus never committed any kind

of sin all of His life.  The Scripture specifically says

that Jesus fulfilled the law.  He kept every jot and tittle

of the law.  If He had not done so, He could not be the

Savior of men.  He would, Himself, be a lawbreaker and would

have to be punished for His own sin.  It is true that Jesus

did not follow their interpretation of the law, because they

had misinterpreted the law.  Jesus followed God's

understanding of the law  -- not man's misinterpretation.

      But the point that John, the writer of this Scripture,

is making here is that the Jewish leaders wanted this former

blind man to believe that Jesus had broken the law of the

sabbath.  They wanted to alienate him from Jesus so as to

make him a more cooperative witness against Jesus.

 

III.  A division among the members of the court

 

      (V. 16), "...Others said, How can a man that is a

sinner do such miracles?  And there was a division among

them."  Here is a surprising turn of events.  Some of the

members of the court did not agree with the thinking of the

majority on the court.  Some of them argued that if Jesus

had broken the law of the sabbath by attempting to heal this

man on the sabbath day, that God would not have cooperated.

God would not have healed him.  After all, it was apparent

that the man had been healed and it was equally as apparent

that it was the power of God which had healed him.  How

could God have enabled Jesus to heal the man if Jesus was

actually guilty of breaking the law of the sabbath by

anointing the man's eyes?

      This turn of events must have also surprised and

irritated the leaders who were pressing the case against

Jesus.  Faced with opposition right from within their own

ranks, they turn to the man who had been blind with another

question.  They apparently think that his answer to this

question might help their case against Jesus.

      John 9:17, "They say unto the blind man again, What

sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?..."  The

idea is, "What is your opinion of this man who has opened

your eyes?"  They had already stated in his presence that

they thought Jesus is not of God.  They just did not think

that this man had the nerve to contradict what they had just

said.

 

IV.  The courage it would require for the man to stand up

      for Jesus

 

      What I want you to see is that it was going to take a

lot of courage on this man's part to go against the word of

the highest leaders of the Sanhedrin Council.  Other members

of the council could more freely voice an opposing view

because they were on the council.  They were on more of an

equal standing with others on the council.  But for this man

to take a stand against them risked the possibility that he

would be barred from ever attending a Jewish synagogue

again.  It could cripple his life among the Jews almost as

much as his blindness had done.  Did he have the kind of

courage that it took to speak up for Jesus?

      The answer is:  Absolutely!  Thank God, this man had the

courage that it took!  Without any hesitancy whatsoever he

spoke up for Jesus.  (V. 17), "...He said, He is a prophet."

He did not know at this time that Jesus is more than a

prophet.  He did not know that Jesus is also the Christ, the

very Son of God.  But he did know that Jesus could not have

given him his sight if He did not have the approval of God

in heaven.  He knew that Jesus is a prophet of God and he

had the courage to say so.

 

V.  The kind of courage it takes to stand up for Jesus today

 

      But what I want you to see in this passage is not just

that it took a lot of courage for that man to stand up for

Jesus.  It takes a lot of courage today for men, women, boys

and girls to stand up for Jesus.

      In the first place, it takes a lot of courage just to

step out and walk down the aisle of a church and make a

public profession of faith in Jesus.  And this is among the

friendlies!  It takes courage to make your profession public

even among people who approve because they love the Lord.

It takes even more courage to take a stand for Jesus out in

the world among the unfriendlies --- among the enemies of

the Lord.  They are not only enemies of the Lord, but you

know that they may become your enemies if you take a stand

for the Lord.

      It takes a lot of courage to get up every Sunday morning

and come to church.  This is especially true when you have

neighbors who go fishing or golfing or visiting or just stay

in bed and sleep or watch TV and you know that they think

you are somewhat strange because you go to Sunday school and

church every Sunday morning.  It is also especially true

when the are trying to get you to go fishing with them

instead of going to church.

      It takes a lot of courage to say "No" to those who try

to entice you to join them in some sinful activity.  It

takes courage to say "No" to a drinking buddy that you used

to drink with regularly.  It is not easy so say, "No, I am

trying to live for Jesus now and I just don't do those

things any more."

      It takes a lot of courage for a Christian to take a

stand for Jesus on moral or doctrinal ground.  When people

are discussing religion or discussing the Bible or some

moral issue.  It is especially difficult when they state

emphatically that they believe something which you know to

be totally contrary to the Bible it takes a lot of courage

for you to take a stand for Bible truth.  Let me say that

you should do it with kindness and not animosity, but you

should take a stand for Jesus on the issues of life.

      It takes more courage to stand up for Jesus in some

circumstances than it does in others.  When you are

surrounded in church by people who love the Lord and agree

with you on the issue, it is not so difficult to take a

stand for Jesus.  But when you are surrounded by a majority

who are hostile toward Christ and toward Christians then it

takes more courage to stand for Jesus.

      Yet that is the time when your testimony for Jesus may

do the most good.  When that man spoke up and stated that he

believed Jesus to be a prophet of God he must have given

encouragement to those minority members of the council who

had spoken out for Jesus.   I do not know for sure who those

minority men were, but I strongly suspect that Nicodemus and

Joseph of Aramathea was among them.  These were men who were

actually believers in Jesus as the Christ, but they had

never publicly identified themselves as Christians at this

time.  I think that man helped these weak Christians by his

witness for Jesus and I think that every time you stand up

for Jesus you will help some Christian.

      Furthermore, by taking his stand for Jesus, that man

probably helped some unsaved person to place his faith in

Jesus and be saved.  He may not have changed the minds of

any others on the Council, but he probably did change the

thinking of some among the onlookers.  Your testimony for

Jesus can not only strengthen weaker Christians, but it may

win lost souls to Jesus.  Someone who is on the road to hell

may get saved because you take a stand for Jesus.

 

Conclusion:

     

      So in closing, let me challenge you who are unsaved to

repent of your sins and place your trust in Jesus to save

your soul.  Stop being against Jesus.  Start right now and

be for Him.  Let Him be your Savior.  Then give your life in

service to Him.  Take your stand for Him and serve Him.

      If you have been somewhat fearful to take your stand for

Him, I do not criticize you.  Rather I just remind you of

what He has done for you.  He died on the cross of Calvary

for you that you might be saved.  So now I call on you and

ask you to take your stand for Jesus.  Take it publicly.

Come forward and surrender your life to Jesus.