Please forgive this rough draft format, as these are my raw study notes on the Gospel of John, although they are a bit better formatted than former efforts. I felt a great sense of urgency to publish them rather than waiting until I had the time to pretty them up. Thank you and I pray that God blesses and encourages you through this material. I’m not sure of the condition of the world at the time of this publication. But at the time of its writing, fall 2009 through late spring 2010, things are looking increasingly bleak with the economy, health care and unemployment, there is a renewal and increase of racism, and godly principles of living being disregarded, there are floods in India, earthquake and tsunami in Samoa. Are these the first stages of birth pains? The last? God only knows. And He is very busy these days. Seek His wisdom. Encourage each other. Pray. Jesus is coming to deliver His people and judge the wicked…Stacey
Take a few minutes to pray and savor chapter 9 of the book of John. Then return here and ponder the thoughts, answer the questions, and be sure to leave comments about your own revelations…
9:1-12 – Sixth piece of evidence for Christ – Jesus heals a man born blind. The Light of the world removes darkness from a man’s sight. Jesus is the Master of circumstances.
This is one of the Messianic miracles. The Messianic Miracles are part of Jewish tradition. Three miracles that only the Messiah could perform: raising a man from the dead after three days, healing a Jewish leper, and healing a man born blind. Jesus performed them all. (When Good News, p. 53-54)
9:2 – What would be the purpose of the disciples’ question about who sinned – the man born blind or his parents?
9:4-5 – What is the purpose of this parable? I understand it – Jesus is the light. He must do God’s work while it is light – while He is here to do it. The darkness is coming when Jesus will no longer walk the earth. But why interject this statement into this place and conversation? To emphasize that this action was to glorify God?
9:6 – Why do you think Jesus exerted effort to heal this man rather than just speak healing over him?
9:7 – How did the blind man get to the pool? He couldn’t see. How did he get around at all? Since he was born blind, he was used to doing so. It would be more foreign to him when sight was given to him.
9:8-9 – The man’s neighbors argued about his identity.
9:11-34 – Shows a progression of understanding of the formerly blind man for who Jesus is.
9:11 – The man sees Jesus as a man.
9:12 – Why did the people want to know where Jesus was? Did they need healing, too?
9:13-34 – It’s awesome how God used the Pharisees – who wanted to destroy Jesus – to elevate the Lord to His rightful position in the formerly blind man’s newly opened eyes!
9:14 – This healing took place on the Sabbath.
9:15 – The man understands that Jesus’ actions resulted in his being able to see.
9:16 – The Pharisees were split. Some thought legalistically that Jesus was a sinner because He broke the Sabbath. Others believed that a sinner couldn’t perform a miracle, so Jesus wasn’t a sinner.
9:17 – The man sees Jesus as a prophet.
How do you think this man felt about being interviewed? Do you think anyone ever asked his opinion before?
9:18 – Are the Jews mentioned here the same Pharisees mentioned above? John uses the term “the Jews” to describe the group that is hostile toward Jesus. So maybe these are the Pharisees who opposed Jesus in v. 16.
9:19-23 – The man’s parents confirmed his identity, but were afraid to say more about the healing because they feared excommunication.
When was the last time you were challenged with speaking the truth or keeping your mouth shut because of consequences for acknowledging Jesus?
How important is your church body to your life?
9:24 – Being summoned a second time probably made this man think a bit. Was he overcome with a sense of his own importance? Did he realize that he wasn’t the real attraction, but that Jesus was?
asking the man to give glory to God was like asking him to swear on a Bible.
9:27 – The man sees Jesus as a teacher with disciples.
The man seems impatient, but sincere, because he risks being vulnerable in revealing that he has become Jesus’ disciple.
9:28-29 – The Jews claim to be the disciples of Moses.
9:30-34 – By attributing this miracle to Jesus, the man was declaring Him to be a man of God. The Jews took it to mean he was acknowledging Jesus to be the Christ and excommunicated him from the synagogue. See v. 22.
9:31 – This is the choice we must all make: to be willfully sinful or to seek to do God’s will by accepting the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for us. What is your choice?
9:33 – The man sees Jesus as coming from God.
9:38 – The man sees Jesus as One to be worshiped. And he worshiped Him!
9:40 – What Pharisees would have been with the man? The ones who made sure he left the assembly? Those who thought Jesus wasn’t a sinner? From Jesus’ response to them in v. 41, I imagine that these were Pharisees who opposed Him.
9:41 – if you were blind – the meaning here is a blindness by smoke. WOW! So, Jesus is saying that if they were blind because of ignorance, they wouldn’t be responsible, but they arrogantly claim superiority, so they are guilty!
• The book of John is called the “Love Gospel”. How have you seen God’s love at work in this chapter of scripture and how will you apply it to your life this week?
• What attributes of God do you see in this book?
• What verse of scripture seemed to be God speaking directly to you? What is He teaching you in these verses? How does He want you to respond?
Comments