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ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 John 9:1-5

John 9:1-5 NASB

1 As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.

2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

COMMENTS:

I will leave chapter eight - the writer reiterates to an unbelieving people Jesus' origins, his mission, the importance of understanding this fact. While I knew all this, believing it, I have never before understood its importance and the impact it would have on a persons belief system, the theology he embraces.

In the verses quote above we see how Jesus met this blind person. Now Jesus was challenged with another important issue: why is this man blind? Who sinned, him or his parents? This issue was settled in their minds: someone sinned or else this fellow would not be blind!

This issue lives still among people. It dogged Job as well. It is a question that has perplexed people throughout all ages: why do these bad things happen? We look for answers but they are always elusive. The reason people want answers is so that they can prevent it from happening to them. People see this blindness or affliction as a severe calamity that interferes with a live of ease. It posses severe challenges. People recognize affliction as something that they can work to control and sometimes they can - if you pursue a lifestyle of sin it will bring with it its own consequences sometimes in the form of impaired health.

In any case, this fellow was blind, so what causes it? Jesus says it is to provide an opportunity to demonstrate the power of God...Ok. Good answer.

Do we understand affliction sent our way as something sent by God in order to give Him an opportunity to demonstrate his power to us or whoever? You know when a person allows this principle to abide in your heart where your response is "well, I wonder what God wants to teach us through this" it will relieve one of a tremendous burden because you can rest in His abiding strength. He will give you what you need to cope, to deal with it.

And....

Jesus goes on to say how urgent it is that he must work while he still has the time. Do you, do I regard my affliction as important in God's eyes - one that he will use to demonstrate himself to others? And that it is urgent that this will be accomplished? You know my response to it is very revealing what is in my heart. If we do not like it, the Holy Spirit convicts us, then we must do as he bids...

Ah, affliction...more can be said - any thoughts?


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Sandra Miller

 2012/10/30 10:46Profile
enid
Member



Joined: 2006/5/22
Posts: 2680
Nottingham, England

 Re: John 9:1-5


Psalm 119:71, 'It is good for me that I have been afflicted
that I may learn Your statues.'

There are varying afflictions, physical, spiritual, financial etc, and they all serve their purpose. We might be blind to that purpose, but God knows why it is there.

The old belief that someone sinned, hence the affliction, still lives. You would have thought it would have been done away with years ago. But no, it's still here.

If those affliction gets us to learn God's statutes, focus on Him, then, even though we hate them, and we do, then they are necessary.

All should be for God's glory.

God bless.

 2012/10/30 11:17Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 John 9:6-7

John 9:6,7 NASB

6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes,

7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.

COMMENT:

Jesus made some mud with his spittle, smeared it onto the eyes of a blind man and told him to go wash in a specific pool, the pool of Siloam.

The very idea of making a mud pack, placing it on eyes is so absurd. Logic would tell one to go wash at the closest water source to get this stuff off your eyes!

Yet, what did this blind man have to lose by doing as bidden? He had always been blind; according to verse 32 "it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind." What was the risk? Maybe feeling foolish to go wash and feeling foolish not to.

As I consider the absurdity of washing mud off ones eyes, I am impressed with the faith of this blind man. What does this teach us?

How many times does the LORD ask us to do something that appears absurd, ridiculous? Something that appears to be completely devoid of all logic and common sense? Is this not the method the LORD uses to teach people his majesty, his power, how his works are beyond comprehension? I think so. And the only way one can be a participant in in this learning process is by being a willing student, just like this blind man.


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Sandra Miller

 2012/10/31 10:42Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 Re:

____________________________________________________________
QUOTE:
If those affliction gets us to learn God's statutes, focus on Him, then, even though we hate them, and we do, then they are necessary.
______________________________________________________________

Hebrews 12:5-11 discusses this principle:

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;

6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

We like to feel that we are so good that we are beyond the need to be discipline/chastened, but this scriptures says that if we are loved by God we will experience it!

You know what? I see people who are not experiencing affliction or chastening and I am sad because it appears to me that they are not loved by God!

Isaiah 26:9b-10a (NASB) speaks of this very thing:

9...For when the earth experiences Your judgments
The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

10 Though the wicked is shown favor,
He does not learn righteousness;

God bless...


_________________
Sandra Miller

 2012/10/31 10:55Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 John 9:34

John 9:34 NASB
34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.

COMMENT:

I stand amazed how Jesus' healing of this blind man and the lame man earlier evoked so much controversy among the Jewish leaders. In this case they ended throwing him out of the synagogue.

I wonder how many times this scenario has been repeated in the years since? People recognize that the healing of a person born blind or lame is nothing short of the miraculous. But many cannot handle that. It threatens their belief system.

We have all heard of stories of how people were questioned, challenged by their community - in places like India, Muslim countries - when a person was miraculously healed. One incident happened in a Mid-eastern country of a person supernaturally healed. He was arrested, hauled off to court...while there he shared what happened, a profound testimony of the grace and mercy of the LORD Jesus, something that was illegal to do...(am not sure what the gov did with him afterwards)but there was no denying that something wonderful had happened.

For some of the subjects who experienced Jesus healing it was costly, very costly. This stumps me...it is hard for me to get past this...people would rather see a body blind, lame, sick then to see him/her get healed?








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Sandra Miller

 2012/11/1 17:23Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 John 9:35-38

John 9:35-38 NASB

35 Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”

38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him


COMMENT:

Today I want to focus on the blind man who received his sight. I will use some imagination but hope it will not distract from the text...

Jesus and his disciples saw a blind man and so they asked Him a question as to why this fellow was blind, he was born this way. Who sinned, him or his parents? A question that dogs some folks still today. People want to know so they can prevent something similar in their own lives.

This blind man presented Jesus an opportunity to demonstrate who he was. He healed the man! He made some mud and plastered the mans eyes with it.

Imagine being this man - how would you feel? You certainly are going to feel like washing it off immediately and Jesus concurred but told him to go to a specific place to do it.

The blind man did as told...Can you imagine how he felt seeing for the first time, ever?! The colors in nature - I wonder if it was spring when the world is riot with color - how awesome they are, they are the work of an Almighty Creator...do we appreciate that? Somehow I suspect this healed man did. He could see people! Whereas before he recognized people by their voices now he could by sight - a whole different dimension. WOW!

Now this healed man could see food. Before he could see it with touch and taste but now in all its color, shape and this is what he was eating?!

He could walk - did he have to learn to walk, or was his ability to do so part of his healing? (I am told that when a blind person receives his sight he has to learn how to walk all over again.) There was so much to see and it was nothing short of amazing. He was filled with delight and pleasure. But not all people viewed this miracle in this fashion. The religious leaders, of all people, were not happy! I wonder how this man felt about that?

The healed man was questioned at length about the details of his healing and he told them. They were not satisfied with his answer so they asked his parents and they deferred to their son because they were scared of the synagogue authorities. When the Jewish leaders interrogated him the second time he got exasperated, asking them "You do not want to become his disciples too, do you?" (Smart answer - makes me smile.)

Up to this point this man had no encounter with Jesus other then the one where he plastered his eyes with mud. Since then things have not been going well for him with the Jewish leaders, his healing while enjoyed by himself and likely his family, was viewed with suspicion by some. I wonder if the man was not a tad bit frustrated?

Here he was, healed, enjoying this blessing but experiencing criticism by important people in the community. What do I do now? He had plenty of time to think - important issues that perhaps he never before had considered. Once again Jesus appears at the ripe time, at this man's greatest point of need.

Jesus asks, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

The man answered, "Who is he?"

Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”

And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.

Jesus allowed the man to experience ostracism, the blessings of sight, giving him time to mull over the recent drama in his life which I am sure was something radically new. Now he was ready to accept the Healer as being God, so he worshiped - he loved and adored this man - who else but God could do such a wonderful thing as healing a person born blind? (AND...it was this very thing the Jewish leaders feared...it is futile to fight against God - you will lose. Every time.)

Somehow, I sensed God smiling with pleasure and delight on this healed man, don't you?


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Sandra Miller

 2012/11/2 11:23Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 John 10:11a

John 10:11a

11 “I am the good shepherd;

COMMENT:

In chapter 10 John continues to reinforce the deity of Jesus...I never noticed this before - this is about all John wrote about so far in the book!

Anyhow...

My mind was stirred after reading the post about the Titanic. I cannot quit thinking about it, its captain, the policies that governed that ship, contrasting it with the "Good Ship of Zion" of whom Jesus is the captain. (In John 10 he is referred to as the 'Good Shepherd'.)

I would like to make more comparisons between the Titanic and the Ship of "Zion".

Consider the accommodations:

In the Titanic the rooms for the wealthy were lavish, luxurious and roomy. Very beautiful, and expensively decorated with the latest in home accessories. These well-heeled passengers were not allowed to socially mingle with the poorer people who were on board this ship unless you were a servant to a wealthy passenger. (I think I am right about this.)Their dining rooms were lavish...

The cabins occupied by the poor were very tiny: each had four bunks, a sink and chamber pot that was emptied everyday by a ship employee. Luggage was stored under the bunks. They were almost packed in there like sardines. Food was consumed at a separate dining room, austerity ruled there. No mingling with the wealthy.

On the Good Ship of "Zion" there is neither male nor female nor Jew, nor Greek, nor rich or poor. All belong to the Captain who provides for the well-being of all of his sheep unlike the one who captained the Titanic. The captain does not show any favoritism to his sheep.

Contrast these policies with what Jesus and James taught about the wealthy, being partial to people of wealth.

I deeply appreciate Jesus love for all people independent of social status, wealth, education or social/family connections.

Are we not rich with such a wonderful shepherd? Can we regard other passengers on this ship with equal appreciation like Jesus did?

Now, perhaps tomorrow I can get back on topic...


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Sandra Miller

 2012/11/5 11:51Profile
ginnyrose
Member



Joined: 2004/7/7
Posts: 7534
Mississippi

 John 10:1,2,8,10

John 10:1,2,8,10 NASB
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

COMMENT:

This analogy of the shepherd, sheep and sheepfold is known to most of us so today I want to focus on the thief.

A thief is one who works to obtain something through illegal means. To acquire using acceptable methods would mean he would have to submit to the will of another. So, a thief wants, desires but will not submit to acceptable work to attain.

In this analogy we understand the sheepfold to house something that is desirable and people will work to enter in. Many will want to enter in but do not appreciate the rules, restrictions that limit or is required by all who will enter in by the door.

So it is with the church of Jesus Christ. It looks desirable to the ungodly. Many will want to be a part of it but refuse to submit to the lordship of he one who manages the sheepfold.

Is it not fascinating how folks have this sense of a supreme being and will work to please the god of their imagination? But when informed of the true God, find him too controlling so will use dubious methods to circumvent the doorkeepers authority?

Since this is the case, they will work havoc with the sheep because they have not submitted to the will of the Doorkeeper.

The ministry of the Doorkeeper is one that will work to protect the sheep from enemies, hence his restrictions.

Do we appreciate the ministry of the doorkeeper? Jesus says he came to give life and that one can have it abundantly. Is my life abundant? Do I experience His care? Is life enjoyable? peaceful? Or, have I been robbed by a thief who masquerades as a sheep - but is a goat?


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Sandra Miller

 2012/11/6 10:14Profile
enid
Member



Joined: 2006/5/22
Posts: 2680
Nottingham, England

 Re: John 10:1,2,8,10


People do want to enter the sheepfold, but on their terms, not God's. It won't happen. They would, sadly, rather perish.

There are, and have to be, restrictions in the Christian life. It is not a please yourself life that we have. It is to please God.

Thank God for the abundant life He gives us.

 2012/11/6 11:08Profile
Sree
Member



Joined: 2011/8/20
Posts: 1953


 Re: John 10:1,2,8,10

Quote:

John 10:1,2,8,10 NASB
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.




This is my understanding of these two verses, very similar to yours as well.

John 10:7:- Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

So the Door that Jesus spoke in Verse 1 is he himself. A good shepherd will come through Jesus. He will come proclaiming Jesus. He will not boast on his own achievements or ministry but will preach Christ alone. He will have the way of Christ in his life first. He will not be one who is un-christlike in his personal life with Divorce, adultery etc.. Such a person is a thief, he does did not come in the way of Christ. He did not follow Christ in his personal life but he is trying to Gide the sheep. I tell you many Sheep that does not belong to Jesus, will follow him. But as Jesus said - 'my sheep will hear my voice'. A true Sheep of Jesus will not be deceived by these so called UnChristlike Christian workers.

So even we when we hear a preacher we should first check his personal life and see whether he has practiced what he preaches. If he preaches Christ saves, then is his personal life first saved from sin? Does he and his household obey God. This is an area where many false Christian workers have fallen, they fail to manage their own household but come out to manage sheep and be a shepherd. Such people will only deceive those who are destined to be deceived. The true sheep of Christ will not be fooled by them.


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Sreeram

 2012/11/6 11:29Profile





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