Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Does Fear Hold You Back? | New Testament | John 9

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

Are you afraid of losing the respect and love of people around you? What motivates you? What holds you back from loving, trusting and following Jesus? In today's episode, Jensen finds encouragement from a man who was ostracized by people around him in John 9. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: John 9

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. When I was little, I was afraid of the dark. I always had a nightlight and frequently called out for my parents to come and make sure that no one was hiding in the dark corners of my room. As I grew up, I became afraid of spiders. I lived in a room in our basement, so I often called for my dad to come downstairs and save me from the many spiders that I encountered. Then I became afraid of heights. Despite riding in airplanes fairly often to visit my parents, that fear has never left me.

I still have to watch a video of a pilot explaining how planes work before I fly so that I can tell myself that we aren't going to plummet to the ground every time we hit turbulence. And as I've gotten older, my fears have changed. They've gotten bigger and more complex. When I think about all that I'm afraid of now, it doesn't just have to do with physical things I encounter, like darkness, spiders, and airplanes. I can see that many of my fears are immaterial fears. I'm afraid of what others might think of me. I'm afraid of being all alone. I'm afraid of losing the people I love, losing my community. I'm afraid of not belonging somewhere.

And just like my other fears, those fears cause me to take action to protect myself. Instead of calling out to my parents for help or learning everything I can about airplanes to calm my nerves. I try to make sure that I never mess up, never step out of line so people can't be mad at me, disappointed in me, walk away from me. I make sure I look presentable when I go to church and that my kids behave when we're in public so people won't think poorly of me as a mom. I desperately try to be a good mom so that one day when my kids are teenagers, they'll still want to hang out with me. And when I'm old, they'll help take care of me. See, my fear of losing the respect and love of the people around me guides so much of my thought life, choices, and actions.

I'm motivated by my fears. In John 9, we're introduced to a man who has been blind since birth. The world in which he lives in makes this ailment not just a physical problem, but a social one as well. He spent his life begging for the people around him to notice him, care for him, help him. and largely he's probably been ostracized from the group. We read in the first few verses of chapter 9 that the disciples asked Jesus, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind? See, the world that this man lived in believed that his blindness must have been the result

of something he had done or maybe his parents had done. He was an outsider, a sinner, someone who didn't belong. Let's see how Jesus responds in verse three. Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes. Go, he told him, wash in the pool of Salome. This word means scent. So the man went and washed

and came home seeing. Okay, so first, Jesus clears the air and tells the disciples that this man is not blind because of sin, but so that God may be glorified in his life. In a world where people walking past this man on a daily basis wondered what sin he had committed to leave him blind and begging, Jesus stepped in and set the record straight. Jesus came to be the light of the world to do the work God had given him and specifically to heal this man's blindness so that God might be glorified. And so he approaches this man. He sees him. He acknowledges him. He touches him and he speaks to him. Can you imagine what that may have meant to this man to be seen, acknowledged, touched? And Jesus tells him to go and wash and right away he gets up and washes his eyes and he is

instantly healed. This encounter with Jesus has changed everything for this man. And people notice they begin to ask questions. Is this the man who used to be blind and beg? And he tells them he is, he is that man. But they aren't sure if they believe him. So they bring him to the Pharisees so that they can figure it all out. We learn in verse 14 that the day that Jesus healed, this man was a Sabbath. And so the Pharisees once again are trying to trap Jesus and call him a sinner for breaking their additional rules on the Sabbath. They believe that to have made mud with his saliva, to have healed this man was to work on the Sabbath. After hearing this man's account of the healing, they say, this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But

others asked, how can a sinner perform such signs? And so they asked the blind man, they thought of Jesus, and he says, he is a prophet. He believes that Jesus is sent from God, although he does not yet realize that he is God. But the Pharisees, they aren't convinced. So they send for the man's parents to make sure that this man was indeed blind from birth. What happens here is interesting. When they ask the parents if this is their son, they answer this way. We know he is our son, the parents answered. And we know he was born blind. But how he can see now or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He's of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who already had

decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, he is of age. Ask him. This man's parents, they're afraid. They don't want any part of this interrogation because they do not want to be kicked out of the synagogue. You see, the synagogue was a place of worship, but it was also the community hub for the Jewish people. To be put out of the synagogue was to be an outcast, a social pariah. And so knowing that the Pharisees had the power to expel them, they did not dare make any judgments, but pointed the Pharisees back to their son. Rather than rejoice in the miracle that their son, blind from birth can see now, he can see their faces, see the sky, the trees, a smile for the very first time in his life. Rather than

first time in his life. He can now work. He has a chance to live in the world around him in a new way, to experience the creation all around him. And instead of rejoicing and running to the one who provided their son with sight, their fear keeps them tight-lipped. They refuse to acknowledge the gift and the giver. And they allow their fear of a man to keep them from the joy of this miracle. But the man who was blind will not do the same. Verse 24. A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. Give glory to God by telling the truth, they said. We know this man is a sinner. He replied, whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. Then they asked him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered, I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too? Then they hurled insults at him and said, You are this fellow's disciple.

We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from. The man answered, now that is remarkable. You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.

If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. To this, they replied, you were steeped in sin at birth. How dare you lecture us? And they threw him out. This man knew the consequences of aligning with Jesus just like his parents. But he had experienced the miracle of Jesus. He had been seen by Jesus, acknowledged by Jesus, touched by Jesus. He knew the goodness of this man, whoever he was, and he would not let the fear of being thrown out of the synagogue motivate him to deny the goodness that he had experienced. And his defense of Jesus led him to be cast out once again.

Verse 35. Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, Do you believe in the son of man? Who is he, sir? The man asked. tell me so that I may believe in him. Jesus said, you have now seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you. Then the man said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Hearing that this man has been cast out, Jesus goes to find him. And he gives him an even greater sign than his physical sight.

He helps him see the truth of who Jesus really is. He opens this man's spiritual eyes. He opens this man's spiritual eyes to see that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the promised one, the king who has come to deliver his people and to restore all of creation. He is the creator, God, Yahweh. And this man who has lost so much for his defense of Jesus believes, because although he lost so much for believing in Jesus, he knew the goodness of the man before him. Jesus had given him everything, and so he openly worships Jesus. I want so badly to be like this man, to see the goodness, the miracle of Jesus, God incarnate, to realize that he gives me everything I need. Even if my worst fears are realized and I lose everything, even if the people around me disapprove of me or mock me or

abandoned me, God came down to dwell among his people and he will be with me always. The Messiah has come and he offers his people the greatest gift himself. He is the light of the world. He has come to help the blind to see to open our eyes to his goodness. The blind man did not let his fear of man keep him from seeing and believing in the son of man before him. He knew the warmth and goodness and light that Jesus brings with him, and he refused to let that go. This Advent season, God, I pray that we would be like the blind man.

that we would see your goodness, Jesus, that you would show us who you are, that we wouldn't be distracted by our fear of what others might think, of what we might lose out on, but that we would keep our eyes locked on you. Our God and King who saw us, rescued us and gave us eyes to see the glory of God. May we never be blinded by our fear, and may we always keep our eyes fixed on you by the power of the Holy Spirit so that our lives, could be used to glorify you and you alone. Amen.