Welcome to the Defender Bible Study, a weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is ministry of Lifeline Children's Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word. It's Monday, 03/17/2025, and I'm coming to you from Birmingham, Alabama. Well, today we're continuing our study on the book of John, and we're looking specifically at John chapter nine, all 41 verses today as we look at spiritual sight versus spiritual blindness. See the words of the hymn Amazing Grace contains the verse, I once was lost, but now I am found.

Was blind, but now I see. This describes what we see in John chapter nine, the story of a blind man who received not only physical sight, but also spiritual sight. You see the blind man's healing is a picture of what Jesus came to do, to bring light into darkness, to open blind eyes and to expose those who claim to see but remain in spiritual blindness. This passage is about more than just a miracle, It's about a deeper reality of spiritual blindness and the need for true sight. You see, Jesus tells us in John nine thirty nine, For judgment I came into the world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind.

There are two kinds of people in the story, those who recognize their blindness and receive sight, and those who believe they already see and remain in darkness. This passage is a reminder that our work is not just about meeting physical and emotional needs, but about leading people to the light of Christ. Rather, it's serving vulnerable children, counseling vulnerable women, equipping families, or supporting church based ministry, our ultimate goal is that people see their need for Jesus and embrace Him as Lord. In John chapter nine, Jesus heals a man who was born blind. Jesus reveals not only his power over physical blindness, but also a deeper reality of spiritual blindness.

The Pharisees reject the light while the healed man grows in faith and worships Jesus. This passage challenges us to recognize Christ as the true source of sight, both physically and spiritually. And so as we look through this passage, I want us to look at it in four stages. And the first stage we see is the first seven verses where Jesus gives sight to the blind. John chapter nine, starting in verse one, said, Then he, Jesus, passed by and he saw a man blind from birth.

And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, it's not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with saliva, and then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud, and he said to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent.

So he went and washed and came back seen. You see, Jesus is the light of the world, bringing both physical and spiritual sight to those in darkness. And Jesus demonstrates his divine power, and he reveals that suffering is ultimately for the glory of God. The disciples assume the blindness is due to sin, but Jesus redirects their thinking. The man's condition is an opportunity for God's work to be displayed.

And this reminds us that even in brokenness and suffering, God is at work bringing redemption. Pastor John Piper said, God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them. Even in suffering, God is sovereignly working for his glory. Second Corinthians chapter four verse six, For God who said, let light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not about how we get to heaven, but how we come into a true relationship with God.

And Jesus heals not just restore physical vision, but to bring people into relationship with the Father. Isaiah 40 two:six-seven, I am the Lord Yahweh. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.

To open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness. Many of the children, women and families we serve face brokenness and pain. But the Lord can use even the most difficult circumstances for his glory. Like Jesus, we are called to be light bearers bringing hope and healing. That brings us to the second stage that we see in this passage, and that is that the Pharisees reject the true light.

And this is a longer part of the passage, verses eight through 34, but it says this, it says, The neighbors and those who had seen him being the blind man before as a beggar were saying, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some said, It is he. Others said, No, but he is like him. He kept saying, I am the man. So they said to him, Then how were your eyes opened? And he answered, the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Salom and wash.

So I went and washed and received my sight. They said to him, where is he? He said, I do not know. And they brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, he put mud on my eyes and I wash and I see. Some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them.

So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he has opened your eyes? He said he is a prophet. The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind.

But how he now sees, we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.

Therefore, his parents said, he is of age. Ask him. So for the second time, they called the man who'd been blind and said to him, 'Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.' He answered, 'Rather he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that I was blind, but now I see.' And they said to him, what did he do to you?

How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him saying, you are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

We know that our God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. And the man who was once blind answered, well, this is an amazing thing. You do not know where He comes from. And yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to Him.

Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. And they, the Pharisees answered him, you were born in utter sin and would you teach us? And they cast him out. You see, beloved, spiritual blindness is more dangerous than physical blindness.

The religious leaders refuse to believe the miracle and interrogate the healed man. Their hardened hearts prevent them from seeing the truth standing right before them. The more they resist, the deeper they fall into spiritual blindness. This passage warns us that pride and legalism can keep us from truly seeing Jesus. R.

C. Sproul says, The closer we are to God, the more we see of our sin. The further we are from him, the more we judge others. You see the Pharisees were blind to their own sin, but quick to condemn others. Matthew chapter 15 verse 14, Jesus says, Let them alone.

They are blind guides, talking about the Pharisees. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. You see, beloved, spiritual blindness is often self inflicted. We choose to reject the light. John three nineteen-twenty says, And this is the judgment.

The light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works are evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed. The work for caring for vulnerable children must be rooted in the gospel. It can't just be social justice or activity. Like the Pharisees, it's easy to focus on external appearances while missing the heart of Christ's mission.

This is why the gospel must be the heart of our mission. The gospel is what changes hearts and minds. But the third stage we see in this passage is that the man who was once blind, his faith begins to grow. We look in verse 35 to 38 where it says, Jesus heard that they had cast him being the blind man out and having found him, he said, do you believe in the son of man? And the man who was once blind answered, and who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?

And Jesus said to him, You have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you. And the man once blind said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. You see, sight leads to faith and worship. After being cast out by the Pharisees, the healed man meets Jesus again.

And Jesus reveals himself as the son of man and the man responds in worship. This shows that spiritual sight is not just about understanding truth, but it is about personally surrendering to Jesus and worship with our life. Matt Chandler says, Jesus is better. He's better than anything life can give you and better than anything death can take from you. The blind man loses his place in the synagogue but gains something better than physical sight.

He gains Christ. Philippians three:seven-eleven says, But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God that depends on faith that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share His sufferings becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

See beloved, the ultimate goal of our work is not just meeting physical needs, but leading people to worship Jesus. True transformation happens when people move from knowing about Jesus to surrendering their lives to him. And this is our prayer for vulnerable women and children that they would come to know Jesus and then ultimately they would grow in their faith. And that brings us to the fourth and last stage in this passage. And this is where Jesus exposes true blindness.

Verse 39 through the end of the chapter says this, it says, Jesus said, For judgment I came into the world and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? But Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. Those who claim to see or reject Jesus remain in darkness.

And Jesus declares that he came to bring judgment, to give sight to the blind, and to expose those who claim they can see. The Pharisees' pride keeps them from recognizing their need for a savior. And this is a warning to all who trust in their own wisdom rather than in Christ. We're not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.

And the Pharisees' blindness wasn't just about failing to recognize Jesus, it was about their refusal to admit their own sinfulness. Proverbs 2six 12, Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for a fool than for him. Second Corinthians four:four, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel. Beloved, we must always examine our hearts, ensuring we are not trusting religious works, but in the finished work of Christ.

Our mission is to help people truly see, not just with their eyes, but with their hearts. John chapter nine shows us contrasts, sight versus blindness, faith versus rejection, humility versus pride. The blind man represents every sinner who by God's grace is given spiritual sight. And the Pharisees and their self righteousness refuse to admit their blindness and remain in darkness. But Jesus makes it clear, those who recognize their need for him will receive sight, but those who think they see apart from him will remain blind.

So as we close, three applications. First, let's see brokenness with gospel eyes. Just as Jesus saw the blind man, not as an object of pity, but as a person to whom God's glory would be revealed. We must see the vulnerable, vulnerable children, vulnerable women and families that we serve through the lens of redemption. Every broken situation is an opportunity for God's healing and restoration.

But then second, we proclaim the truth boldly. The healed man was unafraid to stand for Jesus. Even when the religious leaders opposed him. But in today's culture proclaiming biblical truth, especially about the sanctity of life and God's design for family will bring opposition. But like the blind man, we must remain faithful, trusting that the truth will prevail.

And then third, we must rejoice in true sight. The greatest miracle is not physical healing, but spiritual transformation. And at Lifeline, our mission is not just about earthly restoration, but about leading people to Christ. Every adoption, every foster care placement, every counseling session is an opportunity for the gospel to take root in life. And may we never lose sight of that mission to manifest the gospel.

May we, as a ministry, pray that those we serve will one day be able to say, like we read in John chapter nine, verse 25, One thing I do know, I was blind, but now, now I see. Beloved, thank you for joining us for the Definitor Bible Study. We hope that you will continue to join us each and every week. And now we are going to pray for our administrative team at Lifeline for all the different things that they do, from those who care for our physical plant, to those who care for our finances, and those who do all of the administrative work to keep this ministry going. Let's pray.

Father God, I thank you so much for not just Lifeline's administrative team, but administrative teams and ministries throughout our country, as well as administrative people in our businesses throughout the world. God, would you help those, especially at Lifeline who are in administration, to see the joy of their work, to know that what they do is enabling others to do ministry for the hope of the gospel. God, I pray that you would open up the hearts and the minds of funders to see that the administration that we do is so important, our physical plant, finances, development, marketing, human resources. And Lord, we pray that our staff would have wisdom and discernment and patience as they navigate challenges and as they care well for our team and do the work behind the scenes. We pray that that team would be a light to those who may not share our faith as they work with our vendors, as they work with people outside and insularity to lifelines ministry, would they demonstrate Christ's love through their interactions?

And Lord, would you create efficiency and effectiveness in our administrative team so that as they serve, Lord God, that you would do a work, that you would work through them to supply all of the needs of all of our workers so that the social workers and the counselors on the front lines would have everything they need to be able to do the work. And Lord, would you supply greatly to the needs of Lifelongs Ministry? Would you provide for us financially? Would you provide for us spiritually? Would you prick the hearts and the minds of those who may one day fund us and may one day, Lord God, just invest in the ministry here at Lifelong?

Would you, God, go before us? Would you bless us? Would you keep us? Would you let your face to shine upon us? And, oh, God, would you give us great rest.

Oh, Lord, you are good. And we ask all these things in your great name, the name of Jesus. Amen. Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find.

For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly infolifelinechild dot org. We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Bible Study.