Tuesday, 27 March 2012

Quiet Time today--John9:13-4

 
There are QT passages for the month in the side bar. Feel free to print or download.

John 9:13-41
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 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.”
 16 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 perform such signs?” So they were divided.
 17 Then 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.”
 18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
 20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 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.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
 24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
 25 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!”
 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
 27 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?”
 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
 30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 3233 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.
 34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
Spiritual Blindness
 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
 37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
 38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
 39 Jesus said,[a] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
 41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
Footnotes:
  1. John 9:39 Some early manuscripts do not have Then the man said … Jesus said. 
vs 41: Those who would acknowledge they were blind would be able to see their own sin, and thus have the choice to repent and be forgiven of their sins. But the Pharisees said they didn't have sin. This was and is grave if a person were so proud as to decry their sinful nature. Not recognising one's sin means one would not feel the need to repent of their sins, and thus would have no chance to be forgiven or rid of their sins. Their "guilt remains". They stay in sin.
APPLICATION: In starting my day, my daily application is to come to God in prayer to deny myself and do his will--whether for fellowship or witnessing. But to deny myself, I need to affirm that I have sin in my life and to confess it. I find myself particularly falling short on my heart for people, or loving them in general, which is God's desire. In confessing my shortcomings I hope that after that, to deny myself is to let Christ be the one who helps me in my heart for people, and other areas I lack in. Only he can make up for that.