February 6, 2023
Loved | John 9
WHEN YOU’RE AN OUTCAST
What’s it like to be loved by Jesus and to love him back? Or put another way, what’s it like to believe Jesus? John tells the story of the blind man healed by Jesus to help us imagine this. He wants this story to be our story: one where in love Jesus transforms us, sends us, and includes us.
Listen to an audio version of the message
Songs for this week: Spotify
John 9
- The disciples ask Jesus to explain why bad things, like blindness, happen to people. How would you respond to that question? Is there anything in Jesus’ response that makes you think about this differently?
- The man’s first encounter with Jesus is initiated by Jesus, who in love reaches out to heal the blindness that kept him on the margins. Tell the story of your first encounter with Jesus.
- This healing requires trust and obedience. Where in your life might Jesus be inviting you to greater trust and obedience so that he can heal you of an area of shame or sin or brokenness?
- The man is called to witness when he doesn’t even know who Jesus is! Where are you being called to witness? Have you felt like you knew what you were doing?
- The man’s understanding of who Jesus is grows throughout this story. How has your vision of Jesus changed over time? What have been the points that most changed it?
Bonus: Through this story, the man’s vision of Jesus progressively improves. He “sees” more and more. There’s another progression that’s happening, of the Pharisees’ blindness. How do they refuse the light?
Share with a friend
Recent Sermons
John 12:9-19 -When Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts and cheers of the crowd, there was no mistaking what was happening: the King was back in his rightful place. There were several responses to this long-awaited event: some celebrated, some grumbled, and then… everyone went home. It may have looked anticlimactic, but Jesus wasn’t going anywhere. He had come to do what only the true King of Israel could do.
John 14:1-14 -John’s biography of Jesus slows as he chronicles the week leading up to Jesus’ death. Jesus has a long, careful conversation with the disciples, and today, we listen to the beginning of that conversation. He begins with a strong command: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He then reinforces it with three unshakable assurances: He is going ahead of them, He has cleared the way to the Father, and He will send supernatural power so they can continue His work.
John 8:48-59 -Jesus’ friend John was very careful to record the things that Jesus said about Himself. As an observant Jew, John knew that there is only one God. From time to time, God sent prophets, ordained priests, and crowned kings so that the people of God had someone to lead them to Him. Everyone knew that these leaders only ever pointed to God; they never claimed any status beyond being messengers. But when Jesus came, He was different. He claimed to be “the Light of the World,” “the Truth that sets you free,” and “the Resurrection and the Life”—all of them ridiculous claims for anyone but God to make. That was exactly His point.
Luke 15:11-32 - Jesus tells a story about a father with two lost sons. The rule-breaking younger son was lost in self-indulgence, and the rule-keeping older son was lost in self-righteousness. The father loved both generously and even recklessly. Both needed to be found. Were they?
John 4:4-26 - Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God had arrived and everyone wondered what that would look like. Would it mean swords and fighting or a political takeover? John records a couple of one-on-one conversations that Jesus had. What an interesting Kingdom! It turns out that each person matters in the Kingdom of God, each woman and each man matter eternally.
John 1:1-14A - The story of the Bible is the Story of Jesus, God’s plan all along was to come as one of us to rescue us from sin and death and to reset us to live radically different lives. Today’s passage offers a different (still true!) beginning to the story of Jesus' life on earth.
