Lesson 38

NOW I SEE

(Audio Transcript)

Scriptures Cited:
Matthew 11:4-5, Matthew 15:7-14, Luke 10:21-24, Luke 18:35-43, Luke 19:1-6, John 9:1:3, John 9:11, John 9:24-32, John 9:33-41, John 14:1-9, John 10:30, John 17:3, 1 John 2:23, Acts 2:38

Good morning, it’s good to see everyone here today and – I think I’ve said before, I really do appreciate every chance that we get to come together and share in God’s word, whether it be up here in service, or even in Bible study, or just in fellowship. I really do appreciate that we can share the word of God together every chance that we get. And today is no different, I’m really glad that we have this opportunity. And what we’re going to do as we normally do, get into the word of God and let His word speak for itself.

And so, if you guys would turn with me to Matthew chapter 11, we’re going to start in Matthew chapter 11 and we’re actually going to read verses 4 and 5. And to give a little context, this is when John the Baptist was in prison and he sent some people to Jesus to ask if he was the one, or if there should be another one that they should be looking for. And we see in Matthew chapter 11, verse 4 – we’re going to read verses 4 and 5, Jesus answered:

Matthew 11:4-5
⁴ Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
⁵ The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

And I wanted to start right there, you know we see a list of the miracles that Jesus was doing. And really, what I want to focus on today is that first thing that was listed there in verse 5. It says “The blind receive their sight…” And actually, if there was a title for this lesson, it’d be “Now I see”.

So, we’re going to look at some things that the scripture tells us about the importance of sight. We see it there in verse 5, but we also even see it in verse 4 when Jesus was telling them go to John, and – ‘tell John of the things that you hear, but also the things you see.’ You know, so there’s an importance to that and we’re going to look at some things that the Bible has to say to us about the importance of being able to see… or that focus on sight.

So, we’re going to stay here in the book of Matthew, and we’re actually going to flip over to chapter 15. And we’re going to see Jesus – once again as He normally had to do was dealing with the Pharisees. And it’s verse 14 that we really want to focus on, but we’re going to start back in verse 7 to give it some context leading into that verse 14… so, that we can make sure that we understand why this statement is made in verse 14. So, going back to verse 7 of Matthew chapter 15, Jesus, as I said, dealing with the Pharisees and those who were questioning Him and giving Him a hard time, thinking that they had their own righteousness… they weren’t accepting the truth of God that was right there before them. In verse 7 Jesus says:

Matthew 15:7-14
⁷ Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, ⁸ This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. ⁹ But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

¹⁰ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: ¹¹ Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

¹² Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? ¹³ But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

Note: And in verse 14…

¹⁴ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

And so we see here – we can see the importance of being able to see and to having sight, because we see Jesus saying what the fate of the blind is – is to be led and to fall into the ditch. Whether it be you know, blind on their own or as He says here the blind leading the blind.

So, we’re going to stay in the Gospels here, but we’re going to flip over to the book of Luke now – in Luke chapter 10. And to give us a little context here, this is after Jesus sent them out and He had given them power to cast out demons and to heal the sick through His name. And after they came back and they were amazed that they were able to do this, and Jesus kind of – you know, let them know ‘don’t be so happy about this but be happy rather that your names are written in Heaven’, that’s the true thing to be happy about. And in Luke chapter 10, like we said we’re going to start in verse 21 after Jesus said that to them – it says in verse 21:

Luke 10:21-24
²¹ In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

²² All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

²³ And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:

²⁴ For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

So, here obviously we can see Jesus pointing out again the importance of being able to see. And even, He’s saying – He’s putting a blessing on those eyes that are able to see the things that those men were there saying. He’s saying that those eyes are blessed. And not only that, that many of the prophets that we read about in the Old Testament, and wise men – wished that they could have seen the things that Jesus was doing and heard the things that He was saying. And I would say, not even just the old prophets; going forward after Jesus, I know myself – I wish that literally with my own eyes I could see, but I have to use spiritual eyes in order to see the things that Jesus was doing and to understand the things that He was saying.

But I also want to put a pin in it here, what He says in verse 22. I think it’s very important to note where He says “…and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”

And so what He’s saying there is that no man will know the Father, except for the one who the Son reveals the Father to. Like, that’s the only way we see it, when we see it later on… that Jesus lets us know that He is the only way to know the Father. So, we’ll stay here in the book of Luke; let’s go over to Luke chapter 18 and we’re going to see another case of a blind man who receives His sight. In Luke chapter 18 starting in verse 35, it reads:

Luke 18:35-43
³⁵ And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: ³⁶ And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. ³⁷ And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. ³⁸ And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. ³⁹ And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.

⁴⁰ And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, ⁴¹ Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. ⁴² And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.

⁴³ And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

And you know, when I was doing my studies through the week and I came to this passage of scripture, I almost put myself in this man’s position. You know, imagine being blind, unable to see – darkness. All you can do is hear, you know… and feel your way around. And, this blind man in complete darkness hears a commotion.

You know, imagine that you’re blind – you hear a commotion and you ask ‘What is it?’ and they say ‘Oh, it’s Jesus coming by’. And immediately from inside himself, he immediately knows… cry out to Jesus. I’m in this blinded condition, the only person that could help me is Jesus. And so, he cried out in that darkness to Jesus. And even when they tried to tell him, you know… ‘Keep your peace, calm down’ they say he cried even more. And that’s how we need to be. That’s how we need to really realize our state of blindness – the limitation of our understanding, and that we’re in that state, but we need to be crying out to Jesus to give us sight; to see the things that He would have us to see. And the main thing is to be able to see Him.

You know, where we started over in Matthew chapter 11 and that list, you know I was thinking about it – maybe it was last week, that Jesus healed the blind, so that they could see Him. He healed the deaf, so that they could hear Him. He healed the lame, so that they could follow Him. You know – so all of these things that Jesus was doing, and this is a perfect example: it says in verse 43 “And immediately he received his sight, and followed him”. You know, that’s what Jesus was doing and that’s why we need to ask Jesus to give us sight – give us the eyes that can see and ears that can hear, so that we might be able to follow Him properly – see Him and follow Him properly.

So, we’re going to go – actually we’re just going to continue on here. That was a blind man, but we’re going to continue on into chapter 19 and starting in verse 1 it says:

Luke 19:1-6
¹ And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. ² And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. ³ And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. ⁴ And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

⁶ And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

And I wanted to point this scripture out, it’s interesting how we just went from a blind man that couldn’t see Jesus because of His blindness – then we see another man that couldn’t see Jesus because of the crowd and he was short in stature. But he had the same reaction and the same zeal to see Jesus as the blind man did. The blind man cried out. Zacchaeus, rather than cry out, he said ‘I’m going to climb a tree, I’m going to do whatever I need to do to be able to see Jesus’. and Jesus recognized that desire in Zachaeus to see Him. And so, when Jesus saw that, He said “Yes you, up there in the tree… come down, I’m coming to your house.”

You know, and so we need to have that same type of zeal in us, like I said to really want to see Jesus – to seek Him. and Jesus will recognize that in us. And as it says here, He will come and abide in our house. I think that’s a very good way of saying it. So, we’re going to go to one other gospel here. We’re going to look at a couple of things in the book of John. So, let’s go to John chapter 9. It’s just kind of a long – it’s pretty much the whole chapter, so I’m not going to read the whole chapter, we’ll touch in a few places to get down to the end to the main thing. But in John chapter 9 and in verse 1, it says:

John 9:1-3
¹ And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. ² And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

³ Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

So, I think we’re all pretty familiar with this story of the man who was blind from birth. And the disciples were asking you know ‘Who sinned – who’s fault is this?’ Jesus says, ‘this is for the glory of God to be seen’ in reality. So, like I said rather than read this whole thing, I’m just going to jump in a few verses here if we drop down to verse – let’s go down to verse 11 which will be where Jesus actually did the healing by making the clay and He put it on the man’s eyes. And then in verse 11 it says:

John 9:11
¹¹ He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

And what I just wanted to point out there is that it’s interesting that for this man to receive his sight – you know Jesus could have done it in many ways, but what He did was He told him to put something on your eyes, and then go and wash. I think that’s just interesting to note – the method that Jesus used here to have him go wash in order to receive his sight.

If we continue on here, we’ll see that, that man was questioned once again by the Pharisees who were giving – everything that Jesus did, they were giving Him a hard time about… and we’ll see that, that man was brought in and he was actually questioned by the Pharisees. If we get down to verse 24, we see the Pharisees, it says:

John 9:24-32
²⁴ Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.

²⁵ He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

²⁶ Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
²⁷ He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?

²⁸ Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples. ²⁹ We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.

³⁰ The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. ³¹ Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

Note: and then in verse 32…

³² Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

I think that’s just an amazing statement in itself – that he was saying it’s never been – we’ve never seen anything like this before. And yet, you guys are – don’t want to accept it. You know they – like they said, they had their own righteousness that they thought they could lean and rest on, of Moses and the fact that they were the Jews. And it’s just amazing how over and over and over through the scriptures, we can see that getting in the way of them being able to come to believe in Jesus and who He was and what He was doing. So, I’m just going to continue reading through the rest of this chapter, and like I said keeping in mind… we’re looking at the importance of being able to see here. So in verse 33 it says:

John 9:33-41
³³ If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. ³⁴ They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. ³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

³⁶ He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? ³⁷ And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. ³⁸ And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

³⁹ And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

⁴⁰ And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
⁴¹ Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

So, there’s a lot in there. Jesus was… I almost sometimes say Jesus did jiu-jitsu on them, like He would totally redirect their energy and catch them up in their own words, in their own disbelief. And that’s basically what He’s saying here… is they were so boastful to say ‘We’re not blind, we know what we could see… we’re not blind.’ and Jesus would say ‘If you’re not blind, then you’re guilty because here I am and you don’t see Me‘.

And so we see here, just the importance of being able to see throughout the scriptures, and most importantly to be able to see Jesus. So, the last place we’re going to go – yeah the last place we’ll go for now (I’ll say it like that), we’ll go to John – staying in John, chapter 14. and it’s really probably around verses 6,7, and 8. But we’re going to read through 9, I’m just going to start at the beginning of the chapter. And John chapter 14, verse 1. It reads:

John 14:1-9
¹ Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. ⁴ And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

⁵ Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? ⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

⁷ If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. ⁸ Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

So in those scriptures, we can see Jesus talking about… when they were asking Him about the Father in verse 7 and He says “…and from henceforth ye know him” – you know the Father. Not only that, you have seen Him. And then He goes further in verse 9, when He says “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father…”

And so, that leads us to the question, I’ll say one of the assessment questions for this lesson I guess, to see if we’ve all been following. And the question is:

Have you seen Jesus?

I think that’s a very important question; that’s what all these people were needing their sight for. That’s what Zacchaeus climbed a tree for, that’s what the blind man was begging for. He wanted to be able to see. And so I ask you if you have seen Jesus… I would say, if the answer to that question is no, the place to look for Jesus – obviously, you want to humble yourself, you want to pray and you want to read the scriptures for yourself. That’s where Jesus can be found, is in this word. This word is spirit and it is life.

If you say that the answer to that question is yes and you say that you have seen Jesus, that leads me to a second question, which is…

If you say that you saw Jesus – when you saw Jesus, did you see the Father?

Or did you see another person? Did you see Him as another person? Because here we see Jesus says “If you have seen me, you have seen the father.” So, if you saw Jesus but you didn’t see the Father, you might need to ask yourself “Did I really see Jesus?” Because He says here twice that if you’ve seen Me you’ve seen the Father. And then we also see in other places, I think it’s in John, where He says “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)

So it’s really important that we understand who Jesus is. What is Jesus saying when He says these things and how important is it for us to know Jesus? We could go off… you know, continue on into chapter 17 when He tells us what is eternal life. He says it’s to know God the Father – the only true God, God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent. (John 17:3)

So, we really need to be mindful in seeking Jesus because only in Jesus can we have eternal life. And only through Jesus can we get to the Father. We see it later on in, I believe it’s in 1 John. And I’m going to paraphrase a little bit, but he says that the one who rejects the Son doesn’t have the father. But he says whosoever accepts the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:23)

And so, the real understanding of these things – I think it makes the whole of the scripture unlock, and you can see clearly the way of salvation to the Father… the way that Jesus came and laid out for salvation, through Him – which is why we see when the church began, and that first sermon was preached… and the people heard about Jesus and what He had done, and they asked “What must we do?” and the answer that Peter gave those people was to ‘Repent every one of you and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins’ (Acts 2:37-38) because He is the only Way. He’s the only way to the Father.

And so, with that I would say… if you’re someone today who hasn’t obeyed that Gospel, who hasn’t put on Christ in baptism and accepted Him in the way that the scripture has prescribed and laid out for us, you can do that today. Whatever your spiritual need is, we will meet you where you are and we will get you where you need to be, simply by coming forward as together we stand and sing.