06-16-20 Kevin Goins - The Church's Ministry of Healing, John 9:13-16, Conclusion

“Anatomy of an Illness: The Church’s Ministry of Healing”
John 9:13-16 (Conclusion)

I First, sickness gets our attention and it gets the attention of Jesus (9:1).
II Second, sickness makes us uncomfortable (9:2).
III Third, sickness is caused by alienation (9:2).
IV Fourth, oftentimes our best theological or commonsense explanations for sickness are not good enough (9:3a).
V Fifth, sometimes sickness happens for a good reason, so that God can be glorified in our life (9:3b).
VI Sixth, all believers in Jesus are called to help sick people find health (9:4).
VII Seventh, sickness is a work of the kingdom of darkness; healing is a work of the Kingdom of light (9:5).
VIII Eighth, the how of healing is very important (9:6).
IX Ninth, sickness can be overcome by divine healing, but healing does not happen without some action on our part (9:7).
X Tenth, divine healing will always arouse doubt (9:8-9).
XI Eleventh, the response to the healing of sickness is often questions (9:10-12)

XII Twelfth, healing is not only a debated topic, it is also a very divisive issue.

A. Four truths stand out in these four verses:

1. First, people are often divided over what kind of authority to consult when a miracle has occurred.

2. Second, in the presence of a miracle people will often create division by looking for some reason to call a miracle of healing into question.

3. Third, in the presence of a miracle, people often create division by focusing on the “how” question rather than the “who” question.

4. Fourth, in the presence of a miracle, people will often divide themselves over how they feel about _______________.

a. How did the Pharisees and the crowd respond to the miraculous healing of the man born blind?

i. First, they tried to d__________ the healing.

ii. Second, they turned their attention to the __________.

iii. Finally, they directed their focus to the ____________.

b. We need to point out several things about their judgment:

i. First, their judgment ignores the c_______________ of the miracle.

ii. Second, their judgement is focused on the character of the o______ w________ performed the miracle.

iii. Third, their judgment is not u____________________.

c. Why is there always division when it comes to Jesus?

i. It happens because Jesus himself p________________ division.

ii. What we see here is that Jesus not only caused division by the __________ he _________, he also caused division by the __________ he _________.

iii. One group of Pharisees thought the most important thing about the miracle was that __________ had accomplished it.

iv. For the other group, however, the most important thing was that Jesus did this miracle on the Sabbath day and that, they believed, was a v____________ of the ten commandments.

d. That raises an important question: _______ did Jesus carry out this miracle on the Sabbath.

i. I believe there were _______ reasons why Jesus did not wait:

A. First there was a p______________ reason: It is quite likely that if Jesus had not healed this man on this particular day, he may ____________ have had another opportunity.

B. Second, there was a t______________ reason: Jesus saw two things:

1. He saw how the faith of the Jewish people had become more of a __________ ___________ than a relationship with God.

2. And, he saw that the Pharisees had very little compassion for those who did not live up to their concept of h________________.

ii. It is also very obvious that the Pharisees express no _________ or ____________________ when they first hear of this man and how he was healed.

iii. Jesus saw the Pharisees attempts to protect the Sabbath observance as evidence of the fact that they loved the ___________ far more than they loved ____________.

iv. They thought humans should obey the law for the sake of the law, instead of realizing that God gave the Sabbath law to p________________ people from working themselves to _____________.

e. We should not, however, overlook how r________________ this is to our own day.

i. Do we ever say about people: “Because she does not understand the political issues the way I understand them, she _________________ be from God?”

ii. A person may be ______________ about their interpretation of the Bible on some issue, … because we are not ________.

iii. But even if someone’s understanding of God’s Word is not in total agreement with ours, that does not mean they are o_________________ to God.

iv. Some were judging on the basis of their p______________, and some were judging on the basis of the f___________, and so there was division.

f. Some people cannot believe in miracles because they will not believe in a Savior who would ___________ them enough to do a miracle for them.

g. Here is a question we really need to ask ourselves: Can we accept the healing ministry of Jesus as an act of God’s grace and love which is meant for _________?