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Series A – Fourth Sunday in Lent – Sunday, March 26, 2017 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:29	the holy Gospel According to Saint John chapter 9.
0:35	as Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth his disciples asked him Rabbi
0:40	who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind Jesus answered it was not that this man
0:48	sinned or his parents but that the works of God might be displayed in him we must
0:53	work the works of him who sent me while it is day night is coming when no one can work as long as I am in the world I
1:00	am the light of the world having said these things he spit on the ground made mud with the saliva then Anointed The
1:06	Man’s eyes with the mud and said to him go wash in the pool of Siloam which means sent so he went and washed and he
1:14	came back seeing the neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were
1:19	saying is this not the man who used to sit and beg some said it is he Heather
1:25	said no it just looks like him he kept saying I’m the man so they said to them
1:31	well how then were your eyes opened he answered the Man Called Jesus made modded anointed my eyes and said to me
1:38	go to Siloam and wash so I went and washed and I received my sight and they
1:43	said to him well where is he he said said I don’t know they brought to the Pharisees the man
1:49	who had formerly been blind now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes so the Pharisees again
1:56	asked him how he received his sight he said to them well he put mud on my eyes
2:02	and I washed and I see some of the Pharisees said this man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath but
2:08	others said well how can a man who’s a sinner do such signs and there was a division among them
2:14	and they began and they said again to the blind man what do you say about him since he opened your eyes he said well
2:21	he’s a prophet the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents
2:27	of the man who had received his sight and they asked them is this your son who
2:32	you say was born blind how then does he now see his parents answered well we
2:39	know that this is our son and that he was born blind but how he now sees we don’t know nor do we know who opened his
2:45	eyes ask him he’s of age he’ll speak for himself his parents said these things because they feared the Jews for the
2:52	Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ he
2:57	was to be put out of the synagogue therefore his parents said to him he’s of age ask him so for the second time they called the
3:04	man who had been blind and said to him give glory to God we know that this man is a sinner he answered well whether
3:10	he’s a sinner I don’t know one thing I do know I was blind and now I see
3:17	they said to them what did he do to you how did he open your eyes he answered them I’ve told you already and you would
3:24	not listen why do you want to hear it again do you want to become his disciples and they reviled him saying
3:31	you are his disciple but we are Disciples of Moses we know that God has
3:36	spoken to Moses but as for this man we don’t know where he comes from and the man answered why this is an amazing
3:43	thing you don’t know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes we know that God does not listen to Sinners but if
3:49	anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will God listens to him never since the world began has it been heard that
3:57	anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind if this man were not from God he
4:02	can do nothing they answered him you were born in utter sin and you would
4:07	teach us and they cast him out Jesus heard that they had cast him out
4:12	and having found him he said do you believe in the son of man he answered
4:19	and who is he sir so that I might believe in him Jesus said to him you have seen him and it is he who is
4:25	speaking to you he said Lord I believe and he worshiped him Jesus said for
4:31	judgment I came into this world that those who do not see may see and those
4:36	who see may become blind some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him are we also blind Jesus
4:44	said to them well if you were blind you would have no guilt but now that you say we see your guilt remains
4:51	this is the gospel of the Lord in the name of Jesus what a great text what a wonderful story
4:59	something seems to be terribly wrong with the Pharisees though the irony here
5:05	is thick as they like to say now to help us understand what is going on here the
5:11	Pharisees are not and we must always remember this they are not representatives of Orthodoxy they don’t
5:18	represent true Judaism they are self-righteous and they have added to
5:26	God’s word if you pay attention to the gospels we learn that well the Pharisees have created their own body of religious
5:34	Works called the tradition of the elders otherwise known as the oral Torah as The
5:40	Story Goes when Moses went up on Mount Sinai he came down with the written Torah which we have in our Bible but he
5:48	also gave the oral Torah and this is where all of these other teachings come
5:53	from and it’s the oral Torah that teaches that you are saved by your works
5:59	it is the oral Torah that teaches that if you’re born blind it is because you
6:06	sinned or maybe your parents did think of it this way here self-righteousness kind of works
6:12	with this logic two farmers one will call Leroy Leroy Brown we know about him
6:17	he owns a junkyard too right baddest man in the old whatever you get what I’m
6:22	saying can’t say that here but the idea behind Leroy Brown he’s a farmer out here and then you have Ole Olson and we
6:29	all know Oli right yeah but Leroy Brown this is a fellow he in his farming
6:36	Endeavors has a year where the crops totally fail he loses everything and we
6:45	say God’s punishing him but Oli has a farm next to Leroy Brown they don’t really
6:51	get along and all these crops failed too and he lost everything too and you sit
6:57	there and go well I guess that means only is up to no good he might have some secret sin that he hasn’t confessed and
7:05	so of course our farm just down the road we had a bumper crop showing that we are
7:10	blessed by God because we are so righteous we are so obedient you see you
7:16	start to look at circumstance and you start to figure out who’s The Sinner and who’s not based upon well what comes
7:22	down the pike but this story this wonderful text totally upsets the
7:30	self-righteous apple cart and the Pharisees are not having none of it and the irony here is those who claim that
7:38	they can see we’ll find out are utterly blind totally in the dark the story is
7:45	fantastic so we’ll work our way back through it John chapter 9. as Jesus passed by he
7:51	saw a man blind from birth and his disciples asked him Rabbi who sinned that this man or his parents that he was
7:58	born blind and there it is the self-righteous doctrine of the Pharisees
8:04	let me use an offensive metaphor here this is like a turd in the toilet that
8:09	Jesus is about to flush all right we got to get rid of this thing once and for all it’s stinking up the place
8:17	so Jesus answered it was not that this man sinned or his parents that but that the works of God might be displayed in
8:24	him oh wow this guy was born blind for different reasons than you would expect
8:31	this is akin to why job suffered think about that
8:37	but Jesus says we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day night is coming when no one can work as long as I
8:45	am in the world I am the light of the world in the whole Gospel of John
8:50	there’s this wonderful interplay between light and darkness blindness and seeing
8:57	deafness and hearing these wonderful interplays and Jesus is the light who has come into the world but the darkness
9:03	is not understood it so having said these things Jesus does this
9:11	and everyone goes what’s he doing right he makes a big old loogie in this
9:16	mud mixed it into this anointing thingy and everyone’s going
9:22	and he goes over to the blind man and he anoints his eyes and everyone’s going oh that’s
9:29	existing but there’s important things going on here you remember back in Genesis 2 how man was made
9:40	God took the mud formed it into a man and then breathed into his nostrils the Breath of
9:47	Life this has creation stuff written all over it and also tells us something
9:53	about the means of Grace if you would does Mud made with saliva have medicinal
9:59	properties like this well of course not okay so think of this as like a Sacrament you know in a way
10:06	so you annoyed to the Man’s eyes with the mud and all the girls in the congregation said ew and he said to them
10:12	go wash in the pool of Siloam which means sent and so he went and washed and
10:18	he came back seeing hmm now I want you to note the parallels between
10:25	yourself and this blind man our sermon hymn amazing grace these this important
10:33	opening stand is stanza Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like Me I once was lost but now I’m
10:40	found was blind but now I see
10:46	all of us and I mean every single one of us we’re born dead in trespasses and sins we were
10:52	born in darkness we were blind and God has opened our eyes and I want
10:58	you to think for a second here where have we been sent to have our eyes opened which pool of
11:05	water have we been sent to that one so now you can start to see there’s a parallel between this fellow and us
11:13	so he washed and he came back seeing keep this in mind he hasn’t seen Jesus
11:20	with his own eyes he’s only heard Jesus’s voice same with you you have not seen Jesus
11:27	with your eyes that doesn’t count you have not seen Jesus with your own
11:32	eyes but you have heard his voice in the preaching of his word keep that in mind
11:37	so the neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying is this not the man who used to sit and
11:42	vague some said it’s he other said no it just looks like him so he kept saying
11:49	I’m the man I I I’m that guy so they said to him well how then were your eyes
11:54	opened he answered well the man called Jesus made mud
12:00	anointed my eyes and said to me go to Siloam and wash so I went and I washed
12:06	and I received my sight and they said to him well where is he he said
12:12	I don’t know I don’t know well at this point it’s time to get the
12:19	religious authorities involved now I want you to note how what
12:25	follows next sounds like an interrogation this sounds like Well when
12:31	the Pharisees arrive on the scene that they have to grab that yellow tape the pool of Siloam is now cut you know
12:38	surrounded by tape don’t cross this barrier we’re investigating a crime a
12:45	crime has occurred a blind man has been healed he can see hmm that sounds like a miracle to me
12:52	maybe God is at work don’t you think but they’re going to treat this like a crime so they brought the Pharisees brought to
12:59	the Pharisees the man who had formally been blind the soundtrack of the story now changes
13:08	and you’ll notice the religious authorities are not the good guys here
13:14	because they’re Heretics they are self-righteous they believe
13:20	that they well they will be saved by how good they
13:25	are and they’re not even sinners in need of a savior they’re doing it all on their own they’re just fine they don’t
13:30	need no Jesus so it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes
13:37	and if you know your tradition of the elders and the oral Torah oh lots of
13:43	time is spent in the oral Torah of the many different ways in which you can break the Sabbath
13:49	so think of it this way one of the rules regarding the Sabbath goes something like this so you’re it’s the Sabbath the
13:55	sun has set on Friday evening and you’re enjoying a fine meal with your family you’re sitting down and having your
14:01	Shabbat meal and you happen to live in a home well where you can’t afford the tile or the carpet and so you have a
14:07	dirt floor and so you say oh I that was just a
14:12	wonderful meal and you pushed back from the table but the legs of your chair then in the dirt create furrows you have
14:21	just broken the Sabbath because you are plowing and plowing his work and work as
14:27	a sin on the Sabbath you sit there and go really yeah so this
14:33	mud making thing oh that’s over the line but Jesus didn’t break the Sabbath so
14:38	the Pharisees pulled out their clipboard their pencil they’re going to take a report
14:44	so they asked so the Pharisees again asked him how he
14:51	had received his sight he said to them well he put mud on my eyes I washed and I see this thing mud wash see got it any
14:59	other important details as we’re conducting our investigation
15:04	so some of the Pharisees then upon hearing this said this man is not from
15:10	God for he does not keep the Sabbath no he doesn’t keep the oral Torah let’s be
15:15	specific here but others said how can a man who’s a sinner do such
15:21	Signs Now their theology is starting to short-circuit the um inconsistencies are
15:27	starting to show through but others said how can he do such scientific Sinners and so there was division among them and so they again
15:34	said to the blind man what do you say about him since he opened your eyes
15:41	man talk about an unsafe question well he said oh well he’s a prophet
15:46	the Jews did not believe that he had been blind no no this is a joke this is
15:52	a total joke somebody’s pulling one on they’re punking us you know you weren’t really born blind were you yeah this is
15:58	a you know you guys are just scamming us so they didn’t believe that he had been blind and had received a sight until
16:04	they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and they asked him
16:09	watch how the interrogation goes is this your son whom you say was born blind
16:17	wow wow what’s going on here
16:23	the man was blind a miracle has happened he can see when we strike up the praise
16:30	band man we should be on our faces worshiping God and these guys literally are trying to
16:37	figure out who they can send to court because someone needs to be crucified
16:42	for this and isn’t that the point
16:50	someone needs to be crucified for this so is this your son whom you say was
16:55	born blind how then does he now see his parents watch this squishy answer
17:01	how we know that this is our son and um yeah he was born blind but how he now
17:08	sees we don’t know nor do we we know who opened his eyes ask him he’s of age he’ll speak for himself goodbye
17:15	thanks Mom thanks Dad and you’ll notice here
17:22	the persecution is thick they know it is not safe to answer these questions
17:30	and so well you’ll notice that the gospel and Jesus
17:35	create division in synagogue as well as family
17:42	so they said these things because they feared that the Jew fear the Jews and here’s the reason why
17:47	for the Jews had already agreed if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Messiah that’s how we should understand
17:53	Christ here he was to be put out of the synagogue let me rework the word synagogue here synagogue is the Assembly
17:59	of those who come together who have the faith of Abraham to hear the Torah and
18:05	the prophets think of synagogue as well a prototype of church so the Pharisees
18:11	had already agreed if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Messiah he’s to be excommunicated from church
18:20	what kind of church is that what kind of synagogue is that this
18:27	should clue you in on the fact these fellows don’t have the faith of Abraham they don’t have the faith of David
18:35	they don’t have the faith of Isaiah or Jeremiah or Micah or any of the prophets
18:40	of old these men hate Christ which doesn’t make
18:47	any sense they’re in Israel Jesus is the god of Israel and human flesh so second
18:54	time they called the man who had been blind and said to him give glory to God we
19:01	know that this man is a sinner makes me wonder if you know two of them had agreed I’ll play good Pharisee you play
19:06	Bad Pharisees see if we get this guy to crack give glory to God we know this man’s a sinner
19:12	and he answered whether he’s a sinner I don’t know one thing I do know that though I was blind
19:19	now I see what did this fellow do
19:25	what has this fellow done he was minding his own business
19:35	doing what he normally does begging because what that’s what well blind
19:40	people did in the day and Jesus gave him his sight by Grace as a gift
19:48	and what is happening he is being persecuted for this
19:53	and in a similar way we Christians have who have received Christ who have
20:00	had our sins forgiven have been United with him in the waters of our baptism have had our eyes opened we too well
20:08	suffer persecution of this type because the world and false religion hates
20:16	Jesus and wants him dead so the one thing I do know that though I
20:22	was blind now I see so they said to him what did he do to you how did he open your eyes
20:28	he answered them I have told you already and you would not listen why do you want
20:35	to hear it again do you want to become his disciples man this guy’s standing his ground and
20:44	so they reviled him saying and here comes their false Doctrine you are his disciple but we are
20:50	Disciples of Moses now wait a second here Moses was a disciple of God
20:56	Moses was a prophet he was not somebody that we are to be Disciples of you could be Disciples of Yahweh but not Disciples
21:03	of Moses in the truest sense and by the way they’re not telling the truth they’ve added to Moses’s works
21:10	we know that God has spoken to Moses but as for this man we don’t know where he comes from
21:16	and so he answered why this is an amazing thing you don’t know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes we
21:22	know that God does not listen to Sinners but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will God listens to him never
21:28	since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind and here comes the kicker if
21:36	this man were not from God he could do nothing foreign
21:46	now note the armor of well the Christian faith
21:51	talked about in Ephesians you know our armor that we have tells us to have our shoes ready and our belt fastened in our
22:00	sword and hand so that we can stand our ground this guy is being assaulted by
22:07	the darts of the Enemy by the Devil Himself and he stands his ground and
22:14	with just a wee bit of knowledge of the scripture is able to take those fiery darts aimed right at his head and knock
22:20	him down and Proclaim Christ wow what amazing
22:26	Faith he’s been given if this man were not from God he can do
22:33	nothing and now they start to vomit out their false theology
22:40	you were born in utter sin and you would teach us so they excommunicated him they
22:47	cast him out you see notice by saying you were born and utter sin they’re saying we weren’t you are inferior we’re not we’re not
22:55	scumbag sinner like you are the fact that you were blind proves that you were hated by God but we’re not blind that
23:01	means we’re loved by God we’re righteous and we’re keeping his law
23:08	no they’re not through all of their actions they show
23:13	that they are in utter darkness that they are children of the devil they are blind to their own sin and
23:22	their need for Jesus and they revile and hate the light because their deeds are
23:28	evil and they love the darkness so they excommunicate him really
23:34	excommunicated for believing Jesus excommunicated for
23:39	being healed by Jesus excommunicated for
23:45	having my blindness turned into sight and many of us if we’ve had any exposure
23:52	to self-righteousness and this religion of works we think that
23:58	God is a lot like these Pharisees and here’s what I mean
24:03	have you ever had that time you know it’s the middle of the night maybe two or three in the morning and you have
24:09	kind of a startling dream or something wakes you up and you come out of your sleep with a start and you go
24:15	[Music] I’m gonna die someday and stand before God
24:20	and you’re terrified by the thought because no sooner do you say that that
24:25	out comes the list of all the ways in which you have seriously fallen short
24:31	and don’t forget all the little ways too all those little white lies they’re not
24:37	white there’s no such thing they’re all black so you start to think about this and you
24:42	go oh man what am I going to do what am I going to say and you begin to fear God’s Gonna no man when I see God he’s going to say to me get out
24:50	be gone from me you’re a sinner well yeah actually we are
24:59	and when the devil reminds you that you’re a sinner which you are and so am I
25:05	you just remind him that Christ died for sinners and so you thank the devil thank you for
25:11	reminding me I’m a sinner because Christ only died for Sinners I’m one of them so
25:17	we think well God’s like the Pharisees casting us out having nothing to do with us self-righteous indignant and just
25:24	really kind of a jerk but that’s not how God is and we see this in the actions of Jesus remember he like us has not seen
25:32	Jesus face to face and so what comes next is a beautiful
25:37	picture of what it’s going to be like on the day when you or I whichever of us
25:45	goes first gets to stand before Jesus and see him face to face watch Jesus’s
25:50	kindness and love and mercy juxtaposed against the blindness hatred and rage of
25:57	the Pharisees Jesus heard that they had cast the fellow out literally
26:03	excommunicated him and so Jesus sought him out and having found him he said
26:09	do you believe in the son of man he answered well who is he sir
26:16	so that I might believe in him Jesus said to him
26:21	you have seen him it is he who is speaking to you you’re
26:27	looking at him you can see you can see me
26:33	and he said Lord I believe and he worshiped
26:38	Jesus Brothers and Sisters You who’ve been set to the Waters of baptism
26:44	who have been United to Christ in his death and his resurrection you who’ve had your sins forgiven
26:52	do you believe in the son of man
26:58	you do I know you do God so loved the world that he gave his
27:04	only begotten son that whosoever including you including me believes in him will not perish
27:13	but have eternal life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be
27:19	saved through him you brothers and sisters believe and on that day when you see Jesus face to face
27:28	you will hear from him that I do not judge you I love you and
27:35	you will say Lord I believe and you will worship Jesus just like this fellow worshiped Jesus
27:41	there at his feet you will see and hold and touch his
27:47	scarred feet you will see his scarred hands and head inside all of the tokens
27:54	of his death to save and redeem you so that he can open your eyes
28:00	to him so that you may see and worship only him and notice the kindness of Jesus
28:07	compared to the hatred and rage of the Pharisees you see the religion of
28:13	self-righteousness creates an angry intolerable jerk of a God who actually
28:18	well sounds a lot more like Satan to me than the god of scripture
28:25	Jesus is not like that those who believe in him he does not cast out those who believe in him
28:32	he seeks them out to strengthen them to comfort them to assure them
28:38	and Christ has met with you today he has thought you out today to feed you with his word to have you here in your ears
28:45	his voice of the Forgiveness of your sins next week we will Feast on his body and blood broken and shed for the
28:52	Forgiveness of our sins all of these ways in which he comes to seek you out to assure you of his love his grace and
29:00	his Mercy for you and so Jesus then says this is for
29:06	judgment that I came into this world so that those who do not see may see
29:13	and those who see may become blind those who do not see are those who
29:19	recognize that they are sinners recognize that they do not measure up
29:24	and they are in need of a savior and God opens their eyes those who see that become blind are those who in their
29:30	self-righteousness believe that they conceive but through all of their actions in their false theology prove
29:37	over and again that they are totally in the dark proof positive the god that they claim
29:44	to worship is standing there among them and they hate and revile him and will
29:51	excommunicate anyone who says they believe in him that proves that they’re in the dark
29:59	and so Jesus through his grace shows them to be what they are utterly blind
30:05	so some of the Pharisees near Jesus heard these things and he said are we also blind
30:12	and everyone said yeah you betcha you are Jesus said to them if you were
30:18	blind you would have no guilt and he takes their false self-righteous Theology and shoves it right up their
30:24	nose if you were blind you would have no guilt but now that you say we see your
30:30	guilt remains you keep acting like you’re not the sinner you’re wrong you
30:37	are a sinner and you are guilty of sin and guilty and stand judged before me
30:43	and I’m God but those who I give sight to who were
30:49	born blind they have no guilt and brothers and sisters that’s the
30:56	thing if you are trying to get to heaven and save yourself on your own steam by your
31:03	own works by your own piety well I read my Bible at least 45 minutes every day
31:10	and I pray for at least an hour every day so therefore I deserve to go to heaven
31:16	if you think that that’s what’s going to get to you to heaven you’re blind and you deserve to go to hell
31:23	no amount of Bible reading will save you
31:29	yet if you recognize that you are by Nature sinful and unclean
31:35	that you have sinned against God and thought word Deed by the things that you’ve done by the things that you’ve
31:42	left undone and you beseech God and Christ to be merciful to you to open your eyes to
31:49	forgive you to remind you again remind you again of how he opened your eyes in the pool of
31:56	the Waters of baptism your guilt no longer remains
32:02	you are forgiven your eyes have been opened you can see
32:08	and the one whom you see is Jesus in the name of Jesus Amen
32:15	[Music]

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