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Proverbs 20:21-30
21 An inheritance gained hastily at the
beginning Will not be blessed at the end.
22 Do not say, "I will recompense
evil"; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD, And dishonest scales are not good.
24 A man's steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way?
25 It
is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward to reconsider his vows.
26 A wise king sifts out the wicked, And brings
the threshing wheel over them.
27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his
heart.
28 Mercy and truth preserve the king, And by
loving-kindness he upholds his throne.
29 The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor
of old men is their gray head.
30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the
heart.
Father God, we give thanks and praise for all that you do
in our lives, even for the things that we don’t realize you had a hand in.
Bless us and all that we do, You are the Great I Am! In Jesus name we pray. Amen!
Gospel of John 9:13-25 NKJV
This week’s topic is about the formerly blind man that
received his sight by Jesus and the leaders of the Sanhedrin trying to convince
this man that his new sight is all a hoax. What hatred and disbelief these so
called leaders had for Jesus. Why is it that some leaders are so evil and
corrupt that they will only support their agenda and turn their back on other
ideas that are good for people?
13 They
brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.
This
formerly blind man that was healed by Jesus was taken to the Pharisees, and you
know it wasn’t to find out who healed him or how it was done. The Pharisees
already knew it was Jesus, what they wanted was the details of how Jesus did it
so that they could accuse Him of working on the Sabbath and breaking one of
their sacred laws, then they could condemn Jesus.
14 Now it
was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
The
Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, was the weekly holy day of rest. The Pharisees had
made a long list of specific dos and don'ts regarding the Sabbath. Kneading the
mud and healing the man was considered work and therefore forbidden. Jesus may
have purposely made the clay in order to emphasize his teaching about the
Sabbath that it is right to care for others' needs even if it involves working
on a day of rest.
There
were no doubt many other miracles that took place on the Sabbath that healed
and helped people that the leaders were not aware of. Instead of seeing the
good and wonders that Jesus perform, which could only be performed through
God’s grace, these leaders were preoccupied with finding ways to do away with
Jesus because He was pulling the Jewish people away from the false religion
they were practicing. They were losing favor with the people in other words
their pride and position among the people was being threatened and they thrived
on self esteem.
It
is no different today self esteem and pride is what keeps many from humbling
themselves and coming to Jesus in repentance, instead they cling to the rules
and regulations of a religion that aren’t in the Bible.
15 Then the
Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them,
"He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."
At
this time this man was standing before the Scribes and Pharisees as verse 13
above states. In last week’s lesson this man told his story on how he received
his sight to his neighbors, see verse 8. So now standing before the leaders he
is asked how it came about that he received his sight. This man saw right
through the intent of these leaders and why they were so interested in how he
received his sight. It wasn’t to give Jesus glory, but to persecute Him,
therefore he didn’t give all the detail as to how Jesus made the clay. The Holy
Spirit directed this man in his response because it wasn’t Jesus time to die
for us.
As
stated previously it was jealousy, pride, and envy that had these leaders in an
uproar. Why, because they weren’t anointed by the Holy Spirit to perform
miracles; they were losing the people because there was massive crowds
following Jesus; people were recognizing that these leaders weren’t as holy as
they claimed to be; their eyes were being opened that man had corrupted the
scriptures over time and a yoke had been place on the shoulders of the people.
This is religion and that is what the Scribes and Pharisees had the people
practicing, they were in bondage to the laws that these, and past leaders had
made and put in place. The people were practicing faith in manmade rules and
not faith in God. This still goes on today by some denominations that model the
religion of Jesus time.
The
majority of people practice and keep holy the laws of a denomination for
salvation and not faith in Jesus Christ. They may think their faith is in
Jesus, but if asked where they will go when they die, the reply is Heaven with
the justification being they do this or that which is required of the
denomination they belong to. Example being: I was baptized; I go to church on
Sunday; I observe Feast and Holy days; I receive communion; I was Confirmed;
etc. When an example of this type is given, salvation faith is in the doctrine
of the denomination and not in Jesus Christ even though they know who Jesus is
and what He did, but have been taught you have to do this or that for salvation
which nullifies Jesus death on the Cross. In other words Jesus dying on the
Cross and rising from the dead wasn’t enough for them, they need to do more.
Those established in the Christianity of a religion find it very difficult in
coming out of her. It is like waking in the morning and the temperature is
below zero and the bedroom has no heat. You want to stay snuggled in bed where
it is warm, comfortable, and safe.
16 Therefore
some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not
keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do
such signs?" And there was a division among them.
Therefore some of the Pharisees said,
"This Man is not from God”; Meaning He wasn’t sent by God.
Because He does not keep the Sabbath; They assumed
that their views of the Sabbath were correct, and by those views they judged others.
It did not occur to them their interpretation of the law might be erroneous.
Men often assume their own interpretations of the Scriptures to be infallible,
and then judge and condemn all others by those interpretations.
Others said, "How can a man who is
a sinner do such signs?"; They reasoned conclusively that God would not
give the power of working such miracles to an impostor. The miracles were such
as could not be denied, nor did the enemies of Jesus attempt to deny them or to
explain them away, they were open, public, and frequent. This shows that they
could not deny their reality, for had it been possible, they would have done it.
The early opponents of Christianity never denied the reality of the miracles
performed by Jesus and His Apostles. They always attempted to show that it was
by some evil influence, or to account for the miracles in some other way than
by admitting a Divine Origin.
And there was a division among them; Meaning some
became believers and others remained unbelievers.
17 They said
to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your
eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."
Why
would these leaders want to know this man’s opinion? Verse 34 of this Chapter
tells us why. If this man proclaims Jesus as being sent from God, which they
suspected him to be a follower, then they will excommunicate this man; make an
example of him.
With
this man claiming Jesus is a prophet, this connotation states He is from God
without actually saying it; it was the highest title he could give Jesus. That
is, I think that the power to work such a miracle proves that He is sent from
God, even though this has been done on the Sabbath, it proves that He is from God,
for such a power could never have proceeded from man.
18 But the
Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his
sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.
Here
the Jewish leaders are attempting to nullify the miracle. They don’t believe
anything about Jesus and what He does and now they are calling this former
blind man a liar. They now attempt to call in the parents of this man in hopes
of finding out this man was not born blind. It is amazing what man will do to
justify manmade laws that are viewed infallible.
19 And they
asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How
then does he now see?"
Here
we see the Pharisees proposed three questions to the parents, by which they
hoped to convict the man of falsehood: 1) Whether he was their son? 2) Whether
they would affirm that he was born blind? and, 3) Whether they knew by what
means he now could see? They evidently intended to intimidate the parents, so
that they might give an answer to one of these questions that would convict the
man of deception. We see the art to which men will resort to rather than admit
the truth.
20 His
parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he
was born blind;
21 but by
what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know.
He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself."
The
parents here answer the first two questions that it is their son and that he
was born blind, but third question they state they don’t know who performed
this miracle. Whether they knew or not we don’t know for sure. It is reasonable
to assume they knew, but because of the law the Jewish leaders laid down of
excommunication they feared being excommunicated.
Here
we see that in Jesus time people were afraid to proclaim Jesus name just like
it is today. Many proclaim Jesus with their lips only and not their heart,
which tells you where their heart is. You will know them by their fruit!
22 His
parents said these things
because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone
confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of
the synagogue.
So
this verse tells us that the parents knew who healed their son’s eyes. They did
fear being cast from the Synagogue. They had not only forsaken Jesus, but they
threw their son under the bus.
Among
the Jews there were two grades of excommunication; the one for lighter
offences, and the other for greater offences. The first excluded a man for 30
days from the privilege of entering a synagogue, and from coming nearer than 72
inches or 6 feet of his wife or friends. The other was a solemn exclusion
forever from worshipping in the synagogue and an exclusion from all contact
with the brethren. These people were accused of being possessed by demon
spirits. The leaders called this a curse, and excluded the person from all
communion whatsoever with his countrymen, that they were not allowed to sell to
him anything, even the necessities of life. It is probable that this latter
punishment was what they intended to inflict if anyone should confess that Jesus
was the Messiah: and it was the fear of this terrible punishment that deterred
his parents from expressing their opinion.
23 Therefore
his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
The
Holy Spirit brings this out twice as to the position taken by the parents, in
that they were adamant in refusing to accept any responsibility whatsoever for
the opinions of their son about his Healer (Reynolds).
24 So they
again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!
We know that this Man is a sinner."
So they again called the man who was
blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory!; The statement
about giving God the Glory, was the words used in making an oath. To give God
praise was equivalent of swearing to tell the truth. Joshua 7:19 Now Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I beg
you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell
me now what you have done; do not hide it
from me."
We know that this Man is a sinner."; They were not
willing to admit that this man had been cured, but wanted a confession that this
miracle was all fabricated; that he declared a falsehood and by confessing his
sins it would give praise and honor to God who condemns all falsehoods, and he
would then set thing right between him and God. To persuade him to do this,
they added that they knew, or were satisfied that Jesus was a sinner. As they
considered this point settled, they urged him to confess that he had attempted
to deceive them.
25 He
answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind,
now I see."
This
man states he doesn’t know if Jesus is a sinner or not, which no doubt is a
true statement from him, but he pulls the attention back to the miracle of him
seeing now. He is standing by the truth of his experience and proclaiming the
glorious thing that transpired with him.
A
Born Again person has this same type of experience with Jesus and wants all to
know His Love, Mercy, and Grace.
Next week we will continue this discussion between the man
and the Sanhedrin.
Colossians
1:16
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans
3:23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans
6:23
For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most
assuredly, I say to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you
believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a
sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am
sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful lifestyle.)
of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John
3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8;
10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10;
1 John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom. 1:22-32; Gal.
5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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