Supernatural Jesus & Me 07: The Danger of Spiritual Blindness

Turn to John 9

Do you know what a “Paradigm Shift” is? Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.

When a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, they undergo a paradigm shift – they move from unfaith to faith, from not believing to believing, from living as if the natural world is all there is to living in the realm of the Holy Spirit of God!

Paradigm shifts take time. But, in order to grow in Christ, you cannot stay the way you are – you’ve got to move forward.

We’ve spent a great deal of time in the last two years making a paradigm shift – from a naturalistic principle driven form of Christianity into a more spiritually aware, supernatural faith.

Graham Cooke, a prophet out of England says that on average it takes three years to make this shift. We are in the second year of the shift. And God is moving.

Today, I want to focus in on the danger of being blind to the Supernatural Jesus. This is a message of warning – that none of us would miss out on the reality of the Supernatural Jesus!

PRAYER

Last week, we studied the healing of the man who had been born blind. Today, we are going to see the response to the healing.

Look at verse 13…
“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.” V. 13-16

The Pharisees, as the reigning religious powers in first century Israel, were brought into the picture. Somehow, in order for this miracle to be REAL, they had to give their stamp of approval. So, the man tells them what happened. But look at the divided response:

“This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.”

For the Pharisees it was vital that the Law of Moses be kept perfectly – according to their understanding of it. We’ve seen this before from these characters – they were more interested in the letter of the law than the spirit of the law. And because, in their opinion, Jesus did not keep the Sabbath, He couldn’t be from God. Yet, some of them realized that a sinner couldn’t possibly do such miraculous signs. So they were divided.


Many times people miss out on the Supernatural Jesus because He doesn’t fit into their preconceived notions of what they think He should be.

There is the first danger: 1. Preconceived notions.

We can easily become blind to what God is doing, because God doesn’t fit into our preconceived expectations. We get our expectations from a great many sources:
• Family
• Culture
• Education
• Church experience

One of the things that happens to us through these sources is that we are in danger of saying: “God can’t…” because we’ve never seen Him do it!

When the Charismatic movement of the late 60’s and early 70’s began to spread across California, my church said: “God can’t!” and guess what – God didn’t! God doesn’t work in environments who allow their preconceived notions to rule!

One of the best things you can do is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you become aware of your preconceived expectations – and then ask Him to help you see Jesus as He really is!

Now, look at verse 17…
“Finally they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” “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 is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.””
V. 17-23

So, the Pharisees are unhappy with the man’s response, so they pull in the parents. The parents – who had the miracle right in their own family – refused to deal with the Pharisees because – vs. 22 tells us that ‘they were afraid of the Jews…’

This is the second danger sign that we are becoming blind to the Supernatural Jesus – 2. Fearing man more than God!

The Pharisees had the power to make life pretty miserable for people who went against them, and that is exactly what the parents were afraid of.

In our lives, we can be tempted to fear men for what they can do to us, but to do so, hardens your heart and causes you to miss out on what the Supernatural Jesus is doing! For many years, because I was afraid, I kept my ‘prayer language’ in the closet, and that is to my shame.

Isaiah 51:7 warns us… “Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.” Isaiah 51:7
And again - “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Isaiah 35:4

We’ve learned early in life to fear each other – but ultimately, we must put our trust and hope in the One who is above all others – in might, power and glory!

Now, look at verse 24…
“A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t 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?”” v. 24-27

These Pharisees are becoming quite a pain. They are relentless in their pursuit, but unfortunately, they aren’t pursuing truth – they are looking for ways to discredit the formerly blind man.

This is the third warning sign that you are becoming blind to the Supernatural Jesus: 3. Rejecting the Truth that is right in front of you!

They just weren’t satisfied with the answers they were getting. Why? Because it didn’t fit their paradigm. They had decided that Jesus was a sinner. Therefore, He could not doing anything good. Yet, they were standing face-to-face with something Jesus did - but, instead of changing their paradigm, they were rejecting the truth!

Why doesn’t the national news media tell the stories of the miracles happening across the world through the power of the Holy Spirit? Because it doesn’t fit their paradigm. So they reject the truth!

What about us? Are we open to the truth – even when the truth requires us to change? Are we willing to submit ourselves to Him, regardless of the requirements? Are we willing to accept that our way of thinking – just might be wrong?

People who are going to move into the power of the Supernatural Jesus must be willing to embrace the truth.

Unfortunately, the Pharisees were not willing – look at verse 28:
“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.” V. 28-29

Do you know what their problem was? Here it is – and it’s the fourth warning sign against spiritual blindness: 4. Expecting God to Fully Explain Himself!

These guys wanted to know everything – they couldn’t handle the fact that Jesus didn’t come up the ranks through their system! They couldn’t handle that Jesus didn’t look for their approval. And they couldn’t handle that they weren’t ‘in the know’.

Many times, we want God to tell us the full story – before it unfolds. We expect God to fully explain Himself to us!

I don’t mean to be offensive, but how arrogant of us!

There are plenty of times in our journey into faith, that God asks us to do things that do not make sense to us. He asked Abraham to kill his son Isaac. That doesn’t make sense. He asked Noah to build a boat and start a zoo – that doesn’t make sense. Jesus told His disciples not to take extra clothes or money went they went out into the villages ministering, but to trust Him to meet the needs – that doesn’t make sense.

A life of faith in the Supernatural Jesus requires that we are willing to let God not fully explain Himself.

One more blindness warning – verse 30…
“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 man 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.” V. 30-34

Do you see what they say in verse 34? They go right back to the Conventional Wisdom of the day: “You were steeped in sin at birth!” – Remember last week how the disciples asked Jesus who had sinned – the man or the parents – because he was blind. And remember last week how Jesus said: “No, this isn’t because of sin, it’s because God’s Work is going to be shown!”

The Pharisees refused to be changed. They stubbornly dug in. They held their original position, regardless of what they saw right before their faces.

How tragic. And that is the next warning sign: 5. Refusing to be changed, regardless of the evidence!

I could put it another way: Being hard-hearted.

The Bible warns us numerous times against hard-heartedness. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s words:

“They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” Ephesians 4:18

Tragic. And all too common.

To reject the works of the Supernatural Jesus is to harden your heart and to move towards spiritual blindness.

Now, look at verse 35… and see the remedy:
“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.” V. 35-38

Do you see the remedy? It’s found three times in these verses. It’s the word: BELIEVE.

Jesus says: Do you believe?
The man says: Who is he? Tell me so that I may believe!
Jesus says: You have seen him, I am Him!
The man says: Lord, I believe!
And the man acts: and he worshipped him!

This is the Remedy to spiritual blindness – to BELIEVE and to WORSHIP!

Oh, how simple. Oh, how beautiful. Oh, how available. We can see the Supernatural Jesus – by believing! Put aside doubt, put aside fear, put aside preconceived notions, put aside expectation – and see Him for Who He really is – BELIEVE!

Are you struggling with believing in the Supernatural Jesus?

• Is it because He doesn’t fit into your previous experience and expectations?
• Is it because you fear the opinions of man more than God?
• Is it because you are rejecting the Truth that is right before you?
• Is it because you want Him to fully explain Himself?
• Is it because you are refusing to be changed, regardless of the evidence?

God is calling us to one simple thing: BELIEVE.

• Believe that because He can heal the blind, He can give me eyes to see Him!
• Believe that because He can walk on the water and calm the storms, He can be the Solution to my problems too!
• Believe that because He can provide food for thousands, He can meet my needs for provision!
• Believe that because He can heal the lame, He can set me free to walk in Him!
• Believe that because His Words have power to heal, He can speak life to me!
• Believe that because He can take ordinary water and make it into extraordinary wine, He can take ordinary me and make me into something extraordinary too!

Do you believe in the Supernatural Jesus?