The Gospel of John #52

By Robert E Guenther
    Continuing our review of the Gospel of John, Chapter 8:58-9:6, the debate on whether or not the rulers should believe that Jesus is indeed the Christ of God even the great I AM. The Lord also heals the blind man.  
     Vs John 8:58 “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”  Our God is different from us in that He does have eternal life. God is eternal and so is the Son of God in that He can determine how long He remains alive on this earth.
    Vs John 8:59 “Then they took up stones to cast at Him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” They were going to stone Him to death because they did not believe that He is the Christ of God. He became invisible to prevent them from trying to end His life too soon. We can choose to believe the truth and have life in His name.
    Vs John 9:1 “And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth.” Even while the Lord was invisible to them, He was thinking of yet another way in which He could use the blind man for a teachable moment.    
    Vs John 9:2 “And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” The Lord’s disciples concluded that this man’s blindness is a direct result of sins committed by one of  the  family members.
    Vs John 9:3 “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Blindness does not indicate that someone in the family had sinned but rather the Lord is going to use this opportunity to make Himself known.
    Vs John 9:4 “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” To heal the sick is a good work but He wants to do these types of activities while others can see. The Jews required the Lord to show them a sign and this was a great time to perform one.      
    Vs John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” The Lord’s life is not wasted while He was upon the earth but He was going to do the Fathers’ work whenever possible.
    Vs. John 9:6 “When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.” The Lord used dirt and spittle to anoint this man’s eyes and heal the blindness, an act that can’t be repeated by others. Our next verse reveals the blind man doing as instructed and his sight is restored.      
                                                                                                  to be continued..