「御心を行う人に応えられる神」 九月第一主日礼拝 宣教 2024年9月4日
ヨハネによる福音書 John 9章24〜34節 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning, and welcome to September of the year 2024. I thank the Lord for the blessing of being able to worship with you all this morning. Last week, we were troubled by Typhoon No. 10. How was your week? Let us remember the areas that were severely damaged by the typhoon and the people who suffered from the disaster, and pray to the Lord of mercy for help.
Well, this morning’s worship service is attended by a mission team sent from Tacoma First Baptist Church in Tacoma, Washington, USA. Welcome to Okubo Church! We welcome you. We are thankful for the new encounters God has given us. We pray for God’s guidance, protection, and blessings for your remaining time in Japan, even though heavy rains and other factors may force changes in your plans.
As we announced last week, September is Sunday School Month. In September, we will be listening to the story of Joseph in Genesis chapters 37-50. This is a very interesting story that describes God’s will and plan to work for the salvation of Israel. The first session has just ended, but there are four more chances to participate. The message at the service is one-way, but the study at the Sunday school is interactive. You will hear new perspectives and stories from the participants’ sharing.
Now, we have been listening to the Gospel of John for the past five weeks under the theme of “Searching and Living for the Will,” and this morning’s message is the last one. This morning, under the theme of “God responding to those who do His will,” we hope to listen to Jesus’ words, focusing on chapter 9, verses 24-34, where the word “will” appears in verse 31. However, in our previous studies, the word “Will” came from the mouth of Jesus, but this time, the word “Will” came from the mouth of a man who was healed by Jesus and became able to see.
See verse 31. It says, “We know that God does not listen to sinners. But he listens to those who praise him and do his will”. The point of this morning’s message is that God answers the prayers and desires of those who praise Him and do His will.
Before we hear that fact, that truth together, I would like to tell you two things. One is that the main point of this morning’s message is intriguingly related to John 7, which we heard last week. So, if you missed last week’s message, please read it from the church website. The other thing is that for the sake of this morning’s message, we think it would be better to read the entire chapter 9. However, since we have limited time, I would like you to return to your homes and carefully read the entire chapter. This morning, I would like to go over the entire chapter 9 with you and pick out the parts of it that I think are important.
First, verses 1-3 read, “Now Jesus was passing by and saw a man born blind. His disciples asked Jesus, ‘Rabbi, who sinned that this man was born blind? Was it him or his parents? Or his parents?” Jesus answered, “It is not because he sinned, nor because his parents sinned. But because the work of God is manifest in him”. We are reminded that there is a fundamental difference between what Jesus focused on and what we focus on.
We often try to put the blame for our suffering on someone else, always looking to others, asking, “Who sinned that I should suffer this way?” This is fundamentally wrong. It is God, who is rich in love and mercy, who we must look to when we suffer and ask for help. To correct our errors, the direction to which our eyes and hearts are directed, Jesus says, “Turn your eyes to God, that the work of God may be manifested in him.”
I believe that the “work of God” that Jesus refers to is God’s will, power, care, plan, work of salvation, and mercy. As I read through chapter 9, I strongly feel that there is only one thing that is necessary for us to experience God’s work of salvation, to be freed from suffering, anxiety, and fear, and to be saved. That is to live according to God’s Word. To live according to God’s Word means to faithfully follow the words of Jesus Christ. It means that we do not arrange things in our own way.
I would like to read verses 6 and 7. ‘Jesus spit on the ground, kneaded the earth with his spit, and smeared it on the man’s eyes. And He said, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam – meaning “the sent one” – and wash. So he went and washed and came back with his eyesight restored. What the man who was born blind did, is that he followed Jesus and did exactly as he was commanded, without adding or omitting anything from Jesus’ words.
He does not know that Jesus applied mud, made by kneading His own spit and soil, to his eyelids. He does not even know how he came to be able to see. The only thing we do know is the amazing fact that he was able to see when he did as Jesus said. But that is what he had been asking for all his life.
In the midst of anxiety, fear, and hardship, all we need is God’s love and mercy. We need only to rejoice and be thankful that God’s mercy has freed us from the pain of sin, that we are alive in grace, to worship God, to offer praise to God, to share grace with others, and to confess Jesus as our Savior. This is God’s will for us in our daily lives.
In verses 8 and 9, when the man who had been begging came back to see, people said, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” or “No, it is not”. Some said, “It is only a resemblance,” but it is important to note that the person himself confessed, “I am the one”. He said in verse 11, “The One named Jesus kneaded dirt and applied it to my eyes and said, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed them, and I was able to see.
Verse 14 says, “It was on the Sabbath that Jesus kneaded the earth and opened His eyes. Here, as in chapter 7, the Pharisees are focused only to the fact that Jesus broke the Sabbath discipline, but our focus should be on the truth that a man was healed and saved on the Sabbath, God’s love, Jesus’ saving work, and His will.
The next thing I want to focus on with you is the “change of heart” of the man who was able to see. He knew that it was the man Jesus who opened his eyes so that he could see, but he did not actually see Jesus, so we don’t know much more than that; look at verse 17: “And the people said again to the man who was blind, ‘What do you think of him? ‘What on earth do you think of that man, that he has opened your eyes?’ He said, ‘He is a prophet’”. At first, he thought Jesus was one of the prophets.
But in the midst of being abandoned by his parents, being harshly pursued by the Pharisees who kept criticizing the person who gave him his sight spoken against him, saying “He (Jesus) is a sinful man,” he says in verse 25, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. The only thing I know is that I who was blind can now see,” and in thanking God for His mercy. Let me jumps to verses 32 and 33, “I have never heard that anyone has opened the eyes of one who was born blind. I have never heard of anyone who has opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If that man had not come from God, he could not have done anything,” and he says clearly that Jesus is “the one who came from God”.
The Pharisees were incensed at these words, and in verse 34, “They retorted, ‘You were born in utter sin, and now you want to teach us?” Verse 22 says, “The Jews had already decided that if anyone publicly declared Jesus to be the Messiah, they would expel him from the synagogue,” and those who feared being driven out of the community could not speak their honest thoughts and feelings.
They had to keep their honest feelings to themselves and remain silent for fear of being ostracized. We have the weakness to give in to the pressure of sin for fear of being hurt, even when we know it is not right or His will.
But not Jesus; look at verse 35. “Jesus heard that he had been cast out. And when he met him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Jesus is truly a great shepherd. Jesus seeks him out, meets him, and says to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man? He invites, “Do you believe in your Savior?”
I would like to read verses 36-38. ‘He answered and said. ‘Lord, what is he like? I want to believe in him.’ Jesus said. ‘You have already seen him. It is he who is speaking with you.’ He knelt down, saying, ‘Lord, I believe.”
“Kneeling” is the true posture of worship offered before the true God. It is the attitude of one who admits his own weakness and trusts in God, the attitude of one who is truly humble. It is an attitude that expresses the determination and heart to believe in Jesus as Savior and to live in obedience to His words. Believing in God and Jesus, worshiping and serving with the help of the Holy Spirit is God’s will for us.
The Pharisees called themselves “disciples of Moses”. They were to keep the Law and the Word of God by their own efforts. But Jesus invites us to “Be my disciples, listen to me and follow me”. Only when we trust in Jesus and obey his words, are we broken by his Word and transformed into faithful doers of God’s will. Everything begins with God’s love and mercy and is given in grace.