The Work of Christ Part 1 - John 9:1-12

0:51And not only that, they started taking up an offering about three weeks ago. And they're even starting to bring in some guest speakers over there and turn me way down. So a great new ministry. You might want to check it out. Well, as we turn our thoughts this morning to John chapter 9, we're going to witness the work of Christ. Last couple weeks, we've actually seen the character of Christ unfold before our eyes. And now we're going to see the work of Christ unfold. Before our eyes, as well. John 9 allows us to step into the life of an individual who was born blind. And he goes from being perfectly blind to having perfect vision.

1:49Jesus takes him from total darkness to physical light, and then he's going to hunt him down and make sure that he has spiritual sight. And in this process, we once again witness this hard-heartedness, this willful blindness, this stubborn refusal of those who want nothing to do with him. Well, there's two responses to the light. We're in this context of the light of the world, still, even though we're moving on, still, the context and the theme of light is still very much dominating John chapter 9.

2:32Two responses to the light that we all need to think about. Number one, you can welcome the light and you can adjust your light, or you can adjust your eyesight. We took out all the light out of this room, and the light goes on. You have one of two options: you can adjust your eyes so that you can see what's going on around you, or you can close your eyes and hope that the light just goes away.

3:00Well, I hope that we will be those people that will welcome the light, welcome the light of Christ, welcome the information about Christ, and adjust our thinking accordingly and adjust our lives accordingly. I hope that there will not be anyone in this room who will just close their ears, close their eyes, and hope that the light goes away. Sometimes if light shines, it's too bright, hurts your eyes, that's what you do. And that's what's been happening. As Jesus reveals himself, there are really two responses to his ministry: those who welcome and adjust their lives, and those who close their minds and hearts to him. Well, John chapter 9 can be broken down into three major sections. First section, verses 1 through 12, you have the miracle itself, and this is where Jesus cures a man of physical blindness. And then in verses 13 through 34, the greater part of the chapter, it focuses on this interrogation that the Jews put against this man who was cured. And in that, we see their refusal to believe. And then in the third part, beginning in verse 35 and going to verse 41, Jesus searches out this man, finds him, and then heals him of his. Spiritual blindness. So he goes from physical blindness to spiritual blindness. Today we want to look at the first twelve verses. First twelve verses. Let me go ahead and just read those.

4:43As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind. Jesus answered, It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated sent. So he went away and washed and came back seeing. Therefore, the neighbors and those who previously saw him as a beggar were saying, Is not this the one who used to sit and beg? Others were saying, This is he. Still others were saying, No, but he is like him. He kept saying, I am the one. So they were saying to him, How then were your eyes opened? He answered, The man. Man who is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went away and washed, and I received sight. They said to him, Where is he? He said, I do not know.

6:17So I want us to walk through this passage, see where Jesus heals a man of physical blindness. And as we do, I want you to see five aspects of the work of Christ, five aspects of the work of Christ, so that we will joyfully participate in his work. Well, first, we'll just start walking through. First characteristic, our first aspect of the work of Christ is that the work of Christ puts God's goodness on display. The work of Christ puts God's goodness on display. This is the purpose of it. Look at verse 1, and I want you to see the object of ministerial work here. Jesus left the temple sometimes later, whether it was days or weeks, not sure. Sometime in close connection, I believe, with the Feast of Tabernacles, but sometime before, Feast of Dedication. But verse 1, as he passed by, he saw a blind man from birth.

7:31A man blind from birth. So here's the object of ministerial work: helpless humanity, a helpless specimen of humanity. And really, what Christ is going to do is he's going to put the goodness of God on display. In fact, that's the work of ministry. That is what ministry is about. It's about putting God on display before the eyes of fallen man. And that's what he's going to do here. So his eyes are fixed upon this blind man from birth.

8:08But I also want you to see in verse 2 a theological problem. You see, sometimes it's easier to see the needy as riddles or as problems to be solved rather than people simply in need. And that's what happened with his disciples. Look at verse 2. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he should be born blind. Now, what they have just confronted is that age-old historic problem of evil. Here we are walking by. Here's this man who is blind from birth. This just seems on the surface to be unjust, and we know that the problem isn't with God, so therefore the problem must be with either him or his parents. Whose fault is this? That's kind of the Way we look at this, right? Whose fault is this?

9:05And so they start thinking. And there was a strong belief at the time that suffering was a result of sin, and sometimes it is the result of sin. But not all sin is the result of, not all suffering is the result of sin. But in this case, as they're walking along, they see this individual and it creates a theological problem. Whose sin is responsible? Could it be the child's sin? Well, there's a problem there because can a child in his mother's womb sin? I mean, that creates a problem. Okay, so what did you do? Man, did you see that kid? Boom, he kicked hard. That's it. You're blind. Kind of creates a little bit of a problem, right? So, how do you conceptually can a person sin in? Well, some of the rabbis thought so, and citing Esau as an example. I guess he beaten up Jacob.

10:10I'm sorry. What did I say? Did I say Esau? Esau, yes. I'm sorry. I got confused there for a second. Then, but some, but there's another problem then. It can't really be the baby in the womb that's. Sinned, so that maybe the problem is with the parents. Maybe the parents sin, and therefore this guy was born blind. And there was a lot of, there was a school of thought that believed that was the case. Regardless, Jesus doesn't see this individual as a theological problem to work through. Jesus saw this man as an opportunity to display the goodness of God in his life. Look back at verse 2. Or 3. Jesus answered, it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

11:22So Jesus is saying, maybe the problem is that it's not that this man sinned, and it's not that God is responsible for this man's suffering. We live in a fallen world. Jesus is not indicating that, okay, God's to blame ultimately in all this. No, we live in a fallen world. And so what Jesus is saying, simply saying here, is that this man's suffering is the occasion for God to step into his world, overrule the disaster of man's fall, and the consequences that came out of it. And touch him. So Jesus sees this needy person as an opportunity to display God's goodness in his life.

12:12I think sometimes maybe we can get a little bit too busy and start trying to blame the needy on a whole bunch of different reasons. Sometimes the best thing to do is just help. Recognize that it's going to be fallen humanity that's going to create the need, create the situation for God's goodness to be put on display. And as you come across people in your life, if you'll have this paradigm that you will see people as opportunities rather than theological dilemmas, well, you'll be well on your way to be more like Christ. But Christ saw this man's physical blindness as an opportunity for him and others to see the glory of God revealed in the face of Christ.

13:08See, the work of ministry is really that. It's to put God's goodness on display for a watching world who desperately needs to know the goodness of God. So that's what the work is to do. It's to bring fallen man into view of his or her. Her Creator and human need will present the opportunity for the gospel. It's not human sufficiency that creates avenues for the gospel, but human need. So the work of Christ, you can see it beginning with, it puts God's goodness on display. That's the purpose of it. Second, I want you to see the partnership of it. The work of Christ involves his followers. Look back at verse 4. Look at the first part of verse 4. We must work the works of him who sent me. Circle, three pronouns here, right? We, circle, must work the works of him, circle, who sent me, circle. You see, it's not only that he, Jesus, must be doing the work that the Father initiated, but we must be doing the work that the Father initiated. Do you see that shared responsibility? We must work. We must be working the works of God.

14:53We share the responsibility, the works. You can see the Father is involved, right? The Son is involved. That's the me. The Father sent the Son, and his disciples are involved. The works themselves originate with the Father. They belong to the Father. They were imagined by the Father, and they were given to His people. Ephesians 2:10 says this: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. He sent Christ. That's the one whom he sent. Christ must be doing the work that his father sent, but he involves his followers in the work.

15:45See, Christ's work was to reveal the perfections of God and to minister to the needs of those he created. That's why he came. Christ's work involves an effort that also involves his followers. And think about that. What a glory that is for us. Just think about as we are here named Emmanuel. We are involved, the work that initiated in the mind of God that surrounded and was laid and given to the Son to accomplish. And his Son has sent us and included us in His. Work. What a privilege. What a privilege. We are party, if you will, to bringing others into view of the goodness of God. Jesus saw this man, saw him as an occasion to put the goodness of God on display, and so he reveals himself.

16:53And yet, what a privilege. We also are to be active, working diligently, giving ourselves to putting God's goodness on display as revealed in the person of Christ. It's a beautiful picture. And one of the benefits of being able to go out in His name, putting on display His goodness, is that you have to know His goodness. And so, implicit in the call to work with Him is the commitment to let you know the goodness of God. You can't put on display what you don't know. A beautiful picture. Listen, we all have secondary employments, if you will. But right here, you want to know what your work is to do? Here is your primary employment: to put the goodness of God on display. We must work the works of Him. That is your primary employment. All other secondary employments.

18:00Are to lift up, to encourage, to build up, and to support your primary employment, which is working the works of God. What a beautiful picture. Third, so the work of Christ puts God's goodness on display. It involves his followers. And third, it has a sense of urgency. It has a sense of urgency. Look back at verse 4, and I'll read the whole thing. We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. It's basically saying, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. I should be active doing what the light of the world does. Because I am the light, I must be doing the work of the light. Basically, what Christ is saying.

19:02But you see, this urgency is seen in this divine mandate. We must. That's that divine mandate, that urgency. We must work. And Jesus, certainly, there is in view here his own specific mission, but there is also a general principle here that applies to us in the specific situation. At hand, Jesus is going to keep on working even in the face of growing opposition. Remember, what the very thing that just happened is that he was in the temple and verse 59 of chapter 8, and they pick up stones ready to kill him. Jesus says, In light of the mountain, the mounting hostility, I'm still going to continue to work. I'm still going to continue to shine because that's exactly what light does.

19:59And Jesus knew his first advent was quickly coming to a close. And the one who sent him expected him to maximize his time while he was upon earth. And so that's what light does. He quickly went on. He didn't miss a beat. He just kept on going with his ministry. So that's a specific situation. But you know, there's also a general principle here that applies to all of us. If such was the case for our Lord in his incarnation, that he must be active and busy because there's coming a time when his advent would be over and there was no more possibility to do the work or to get back to his first advent, to add one more task or one more deal. No, it all had to happen. Likewise, we are included in this divine necessity to be working the works of God.

21:01We have a time limit as well. We must be working the works of the one who sent us. Our strength fades, doesn't it? Our time is limited. Our opportunity to make much of Christ, our opportunity to give ourselves wholly to our primary employment, all that comes to an end. Retirement? No, I see a head shaking. No, retirement. Retirement. I loved how John Piper said this one time. He said, Look, you come to a point, you come to a point in your life where you've got some wisdom built up. You've learned some things. In typical Piper fashion, don't go lollygagging around some reef somewhere. Whatever you do, don't just go fade off the scene and go snorkeling. And you're, you know, basically, engage yourself in ministry. Engage yourself in putting God's goodness on display. The church needs you. Be active, engage, use your retirement years to be active in working the works of God. And if you've finally learned something, Pass it on to some of us, right?

22:35But the point is, our time is coming to an end. There's coming a time when no one can work, when your time is up, and you're not going to be able to go back and make any amendments to your life. So be active. Be active in the same spirit that our Lord had, who gave his strength to make the perfections of God known. So the work of Christ has a sense of urgency. Fourth, I want you to see that the work of Christ meets more than physical needs. It meets more than physical needs. I want you to see now how Jesus actually did nothing more than initiate the work of God in this man's life. The miracle itself, when you look at this whole chapter, only occupies two little verses.

23:31John's not making much about the miracle itself. He simply describes it and he communicates the miracle about as plainly as it could be expressed. And he just moves on, no fanfare, simple facts. And this alone should tell you that John isn't interested in just the miracle itself, but something else is going on. I just want to walk through this miracle. Miracle. I want you to see several elements of this miracle. Verse 6, when he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and applied it, applied the clay to his eyes. So he took, he spit, spat, and he made clay or took the mud mixture, dust, and probably the fine powder on the dust on the ground and made mud and he smeared it on this blind man's eyes. So he spat, made clay, put it on the man's eyes. Now, why did he do this? I can assure you, a lot of people have a lot of opinions.

24:52Some think, well, he's rebuffing kind of pagan saliva. There was this idea in the day that saliva was a real healing tool. So, I mean, we have doctors in here, right? Wouldn't that be a great clinic? And just go around and start, but he was showing that, yeah, it'd be a redneck's pleasure, right? Texan, you know, this is a great clinic, you know, just spit on the ground all day, put it on people, and everybody pay you for it. I mean, it'd be a great. Great. Well, there was this concept. In fact, there's evidence, or there's one little piece of history that says one of Caesar's spittle actually healed a blind man. Only one account, one place, probably in politically charged and all that kind of stuff. But the idea, maybe he's doing something to show that he is superior. Or on the flip side, maybe he's demonstrating the creative purposes of God. Some point to, and I think probably more appropriately than the pagan idea, would be that he's reaching down, taking up dust of the earth. He's able to, as God in Genesis 2:7, form man from the dust of the earth, is demonstrating Christ's creative powers. Well, I can say this for sure.

26:28Number one, Jesus created the need for a man to go wash. So the mud did that. Second, as this narrative goes on, he gave the Jews something to scrutinize with regards to the Sabbath laws. And so John doesn't go into really any detail. We're left to speculate. But one thing's for sure: it certainly created the need. True prophetic, like a true prophet of old, creates a need for a man to go do something and so revealing something about God. And that's Certainly, what you have going here, there was a need to wash. Now, look at what he commanded, the man, verse 7. And he said to him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated sent, which is translated sent. Now, here is something significant. John inserts a parenthetical statement. So, if there's something that John wants you to tie into, it is this. There is certainly a spiritual significance here that is in John's mind. He puts this parenthetical statement. In fact, I read in Isaiah 8, verse 6, a little earlier, about the gentle waters of Shiloh. Same word here, Siloam. When the Assyrians came down, there was this tendency to try to make a treaty or to protect or to trust in man rather than trusting in God. And this word, gentle waters of Shiloh, Siloam, were, I think, is very much on John's mind. And this sin was rejecting what God had given, what God had purposed. In fact, let me just give you a little bit of a picture of this.

28:27Just going up here to the border. If you looked at Jerusalem today, here's your temple area, your temple mount, the dome of the rock there on top. Off to the south and to the east, there is the Gihon Spring. Just south of the old city there, or the old Temple Mount, you have what this area called, formerly in ancient times called the City of David. And you have the Gihon Spring, and right flowing underneath the city of David is a tunnel that Hezekiah cut that conveyed the waters to the pool of Siloam. So you get a picture of the old city of David, just magnifying that area south of the Temple Mount. You see the city of David, and to the east you have the Gihon Spring. And Hezekiah dug a tunnel and brought that water to the pool of Siloam so that it would be sufficient in case of an Assyrian siege. And that that water would be sufficient to supply Israel its needed water.

29:49And so if you take a cross-section, you can kind of see how the water flows under the old city, comes into the pool of Siloam. Now, Remember, this is in conjunction with the Feast of Tabernacles, or shortly thereafter. And you remember from the Temple Mount, if we're looking up here, you've seen the Temple Mount, there was a procession that took place every day where the priests paraded down to the pool of Siloam, picked up the water, took it back up with great fanfare, great pomp, great music, celebration, and all that, and they would pour the water out onto the altar there. A great celebration. So it's in this context that Jesus sends this man with two imperatives: you go, you wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated sent.

30:51And so there are three sent ones here. There's the water that was sent by God to supply. There is the man whom Jesus sent to the water, would have had to parade down there. I'm sure there were some people going with him to watch him. And then there was Jesus, who is also the sent one. Obviously, there is some significance in John's mind about the nature of the waters being sent, the man being sent, and Jesus being sent. And all of this is a picture and certainly brings to mind Israel's failure and rejection of the waters of Shiloh.

31:31And trusting in man back in Isaiah's day. And so, here what you have is a very quick command: go, wash. Look at verse 7. So, look what the man did. So, he went away and he washed. He simply obeyed. You know, John doesn't even give, he doesn't give any indication that Jesus said, go wash, and you will be healed. He didn't just go and wash. What did the man do? Went and washed. Simple obedience. He didn't see the spit, dirt. He didn't see Jesus. Didn't see Jesus, his eyes fixed upon him, didn't see the disciples. He heard, and he obeyed. He heard and obeyed. Kind of something brings it pretty close for us as well, right? That's what we're going to be called to do, hear and obey.

32:35Simple obedience. That is the pathway to the blessed life and best life, right? Notice the result. Look at verse 7. So he went away and washed and came back seeing. He came back seeing. Christ's life intersected with this man's life. Jesus gave the man a Simple command. Two commands, really. Go and wash. Now, let me ask you, think through this with me for a second. What do you think would have happened if he did not do what Jesus said?

33:17Do you think he would have been healed? No. Right? If he did not, the man would not have been physically healed. He did what Jesus said, and he was healed. But it's important to understand that the miracle in chapter 9 really isn't the physical sight of the blind man. Yes, it's a miracle. Yes, it is part of the works that God had given, that the Father had given Christ to do, to be active doing, and yet he was far from being finished. That was just the initiation of the work, the main work.

34:07The real work, the complete work, still to come. So, just to give you an idea, the work of Christ meets more than physical needs. The scope of it, it may be initiated by meeting the physical needs, but it's far from being completed. In fact, turn back to John chapter 1. 6, verse 29. I want you to see this verse. I want you to mark this verse. I want you to underline this verse. John 6:29, Jesus said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent. This is the work. Underline that. This is the work of God. What is it? That you believe in him who he has sent. Now, turn forward to John chapter 9 and look at verse 38.

35:07So the man received his physical sight, and then there's this big controversy over how God did it or what had happened. They put the man out of the synagogue. And what does Jesus do? He goes and finds the man, declares himself to the man, and then in verse 38, the man says, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. Do you see? Underline that. Verse 38, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. The man goes from physical sight to spiritual sight. And the physical sight was merely the initiation of the work that's going to culminate in the man knowing who Christ is.

36:01So let me ask you this question. Following up the last one, what do you think would have happened if he did not do what Jesus said? He would not have received his physical sight. Now, what do you think happens to those who refuse to do what Jesus says regarding repentance and faith in him? They do not receive the spiritual healing that comes, that faith in Christ alone brings. Very simple. Jesus asks us today: believe. That's the command. Be believing. Be turning away from your false hopes. Be turning away from your own pet sins. Be turning away and be turning to, be believing in who Christ is. Pretty simple, right? It's almost as easy as going down and washing, right?

37:00And yet, we have a stubborn blindness that is very persistent. And only the work of God is going to remove that spiritual blindness. You see, and how was that spiritual blindness removed? By seeing God's goodness over and over put before you, by recognizing your own depravity, your own loss. Lostness, your own bankruptcy, and by receiving, drinking of that living water, that is what changes. See, the work of God is not merely giving physical sight to a blind man. I would have included that. Likewise, today, the work of God, the work of Christ, is not merely meeting the physical ailments of humanity.

38:02There's something deeper than that. Sure, meeting physical needs is great. But ministry that is content to serve only physical needs is not the work of Christ. Let me say that again. Ministry that is content to serve only physical needs is not the work of Christ. Sure, you can raise a lot of money for such. Such work is very politically correct, right? Everybody, socially, social justice is great, right? But ministry that is content to only do those things is not the work of Christ here.

38:52Oh, those are good deeds, but that's all they are. It's good deeds. And we should be active in good deeds, yes. But the ministry of Christ, the Work of Christ is not content to meet only physical needs, but to see that spiritual needs are met by people coming into contact with the goodness of God in the person of Christ. You see, the work of ministry is taking what God has revealed about the person and work of Christ and setting that before needy humanity so that they may come to believe and worship Him. That's what Christ does in this whole chapter. Scripture reveals the Christ, and the ongoing work that you and I are part of is promoting belief in Christ. The miracles are there, the person is there, he is revealed. And so our job is to, as a church, as a community, as children of him, constantly be setting him before people.

40:03And we do that often by meeting human needs. Physical needs are often the opportunities to initiate the true work, but in and of themselves, they are not the true work. You know, just recently, I think I may have told you. I stopped at a gas station and a young man was sitting there kneading some gas. He had satanic markings all over his body, all over his clothes, tattooed on his body. And he comes up to me and he says, I need some gas. Will you give me some gas?

40:47And I looked at him and I said, Sure, I'll be happy to give you some gas. Would you be willing to receive it in the name of Jesus? And I could tell it caused some pain. And he said, You know, gas is gas. I said, You're right, gas is gas, but you need to know the one who is compelling me to give this to you and let you deal with him. Years ago, I remember this happened in our guest house over here. We were not here, but downtown, so everyone's out of this picture, so don't worry. It's an ancient story, so you're not in jeopardy of me using you as an illustration.

41:39But many years ago, there was this lady who had basically come into our guest house and was very much ambivalent to all the rules. She would not go with the program and all that, and wouldn't follow the rules, so put her out. Had to. But then it got down to about 20 degrees, and she came back in a time of great need and said, I can handle 30-degree weather, but when it gets into the 20s, I'll die out there. Will you please, please take me back in? And so, you have, you do this all the time, you know. And so, after thinking about it and praying about it, we said, Of course, we can bring you back in.

42:33And she said, Oh, you are such a good person. I'm like, No, let me tell you something here. I am not a good person. We're trying to bring you in contact with the real good person here, because if it were up to me, I would put you out on the street, but the Lord, my God, will not allow me to do so. You need to look to him. He's the good one in all of this. He's the one who has compelled us to do this. But if you look to me and you think I'm good, you've missed the whole picture because, really, this is a struggle for me.

43:13Because you deserve to be out. We told you this was going to, right? We must point them to Christ. There is one who has set his gaze upon them and loves them. And we must bring them into contact with them. Well, work of Christ. It puts God's goodness on display. It involves his followers. It has a sense of urgency. It meets more than physical needs. And it, finally, in the last five verses, it forces a response. And this goes very quickly. This whole section is a chatterbox of conversation. But there are several more elements of the true work of Christ that can be seen here. First of all, a true work of Christ awakens curiosity. Look at verse 8. Therefore, the neighbors and those who had previously saw him as a beggar were saying, Is not this the one who used to sit and beg? So what's going on here? There's an awakened curiosity. This work of Christ had taken place, and it awakens a curiosity. Second, a true work of Christ causes division. Look back at verse 9. Others were saying, this is he. Still others were saying, no, but he is like him. And he kept saying, I am the one. So there's people like, this is the one. And other ones like, there is no way this is the one. It's got to be. There's some other explanation. This really couldn't be what it appears to be. And the man's just sitting there. But it is. I am the one.

44:55So a true work of Christ awakens curiosity. It causes division. But a true work is a division. Work of Christ prompts further investigation. Verse 10, so they were saying to them, How then were your eyes opened? He answered, The man who is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went away and washed, and I received sight. They said to him, Where is he? He said, I do not know.

45:27You see, what's interesting about this is Jesus wasn't through with that crowd or those leaders that picked up stones ready to stone him. So he goes out, he heals a blind man, tells him, Go down to wash in Siloam, just like what they've been doing all that week. Go down and wash in Siloam. And then, by the way, go to them and let them interrogate you. So he sends this man, this man is going to ultimately go back into the presence of these that rejected him, and he's going to witness to them again. He's going to give them another chance to embrace them as their Messiah. We'll walk through that interrogation next time. But as we conclude, I want you to go back to verse 1, and I just want you to settle your minds, rest your minds on this thought.

46:25And he passed by, literally, as he was. Passing by, or as passing by, he saw a blind man from birth. I just want you to think for a moment, this man had no idea. This guy was blind. He had no idea of the loving eyes that were fixed upon him. And here's Jesus passing by. He saw, he fixed his eyes upon a man blind from birth. He had no idea that such wonderful, benevolent, and loving eyes were fixed upon him.

47:09He saw none of this coming. You know what our ministry is? Our ministry is to let people know that loving eyes are fixed upon them. No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, there are loving eyes that are fixed upon you. His name is Jesus. He is the great I am. He is the one who redeems. He is the one who satisfies. And he is the one who has shouted out and said, Come to me. I will give you rest. I will provide satisfaction for your soul.

47:56The miracle of Christmas is simply this. It's a heavenly statement with an exclamation point that loving eyes are fixed upon you. So, what do you do? Simply obey. Simply believe. Abandon your idols. Abandon your pet sins. Come to him. And he will give you a life that you can really get excited about. That's why he came. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we know that simple obedience to your commands brings not only physical healing in the life of this man, but we also recognize that as he came face to face and encountered who you were, that there were other demands, and that demand simply believing, turning away from self-confidence or worldly confidence into confidence in you. Father, help our hearts. Help us to simply obey, simply believe.

49:23Sufficient. Thank you for this generous invitation. In Jesus' name, amen.