Text: John 9<\/p>\n
I. The disciples wondered what often is curious to us, “Where does suffering come from?”<\/p>\n
A. We understand that God controls his creation. We know that God is all knowing.<\/p>\n
B. Suffering is generally viewed as a punishment.<\/p>\n
1. But that is not what the Scriptures teach. <\/p>\n
2. Suffering, or trials, is a time for instruction – James 1:2-4<\/p>\n 3. We know from the sufferings of Job that Satan employs sufferings to get us\nto turn from God – Job 1:9-12\n C. Jesus said that his man’s blindness was an opportunity for God’s power to be\ndisplayed.\n 1. Jesus declares that he is here to do the work of God and that he is the light\nof the world\n
2. Only then does he mix clay and apply it to the man’s eyes<\/p>\n 3. Why do you think Jesus precedes the healing with a declaration of his\nwork and who he is?\n a. If God was not behind Jesus (in other words if Jesus was lying),\nwould he have given Jesus the power to heal?\n
4. The man is then instructed to wash in the pool of Siloam. <\/p>\n
a. Why would the man need to wash?<\/p>\n b. Couldn’t Jesus have pronounced his healing without all the extras?\nWhat did the extras prove?\n
D. The man came back immediately with sight.<\/p>\n
II. Now comes the dispute. Was it a miracle or not?<\/p>\n A. The people who lived near him are amazed, but others said no, the man just looks\nlike him.\n
B. Until the man verified that he was the one who once begged in their streets.<\/p>\n
1. He explains how he received his sight.<\/p>\n
2. The details prove it was not an accident, but a deliberate healing.<\/p>\n C. When the people ask for the miracle worker, the man did not know who it was.\nAfter all, he was unable to see who healed him and the healer did not tell him who\nhe was.\n
III. The Pharisees are called in to judge the matter<\/p>\n
A. It just happened to be the Sabbath day when the miracle took place.<\/p>\n B. The immediate decision is that it cannot be from God because the man “worked” a\nmiracle on the Sabbath and therefore violated the law.\n 1. Others pointed out that it had to have been done by God’s power, so\ntherefore it could not have been a violation of the law.\n
2. God would not give power to a sinner.<\/p>\n C. They ask the once blind man for his opinion, and he said the man must be a\nprophet.\n
1. The response was almost “Who asked you?”<\/p>\n 2. They decide the man was lying about being blind, that is until his parents\nwere called and they testified that the man was his son and that he was\nblind from birth.\n 3. However, his parents refused to speculate as to how he was now able to\nsee.\n a. They knew the Pharisees were on a witch-hunt. Word had gotten\nout that any suggesting that the man doing it was the Messiah\nwould be tossed out of the synagogue.\n
b. They took the easy way out. The man is full-grown, ask him.<\/p>\n
D. The Pharisees give the once blind man a second chance.<\/p>\n 1. They insist the man state that it was a miracle from God that had nothing to\ndo with a man who sinned by working on the Sabbath.\n 2. The man states that he is unable to testify as to whether the man sinned.\nHowever, he is certain that he was able to see because of this man.\n 3. The Pharisees, looking for some excuse, ask for the details again, but the\nman refuses because they did not believe him the first time. So why would\nthey believe him a second time?\n 4. He asks if they wanted to hear it again to become a follower of this man?\n(a low-blow to these people who think so highly of themselves.)\n
a. They accuse the once blind man of being a disciple of this man.<\/p>\n
b. However, the Pharisees claimed to be above such things.<\/p>\n c. They knew that Moses came from God, but they don’t know where\nthis man is from.\n 5. The once blind man is amazed. The religious rulers say they don’t know\nwhere Jesus is from, yet an obvious miracle from God had just taken place.\n
a. He points out that they know God doesn’t listen to sinners.<\/p>\n b. He notes that the healing of blindness is unique, especially for one\nborn blind.\n
c. Obviously this man must be from God.<\/p>\n
6. The Pharisees reject the man plain logic.<\/p>\n a. Since he was born blind, God must have marked him as a sinner\nfrom birth.\n
b. Why should religious people listen to a sinner?<\/p>\n
7. The man was tossed out of the synagogue.<\/p>\n
IV. Jesus hears of the once blind man’s rejection and seeks him out<\/p>\n
A. He asks if the man believes in the Messiah?<\/p>\n
B. The once blind man asks who he is?<\/p>\n
C. Jesus states that he is the Messiah. <\/p>\n
1. Of course, the man recognized the voice of the man who healed him.<\/p>\n
2. He immediately falls before him to give worship.<\/p>\n
D. This, Jesus declares, is why he came into the world<\/p>\n
1. The blinds’ eyes are open and the rest become blind.<\/p>\n 2. In other words, Jesus came to give people a choice. Some open their eyes\nand see the obvious. Others refuse to admit the obvious.\n
E. Some Pharisees with Jesus as if he was talking about them.<\/p>\n 1. If they did not see because of a lack of knowledge, they wouldn’t be in sin,\nbut because they claim to know and still could not see, they were in sin.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Study of John\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Blind Man Text: John 9 I. The disciples wondered what often is curious to us, “Where does suffering come from?” A. We understand that God controls his creation. We know that God is all knowing. B. Suffering is generally viewed as a punishment. 1. But that is not what the Scriptures teach. 2. Suffering, or trials, is a time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":21925,"menu_order":24,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65000","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66054,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-gospel-accounts-a-chronological-harmony\/the-blind-man-who-saw\/","url_meta":{"origin":65000,"position":0},"title":"The Blind Man Who Saw","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Blind Man Who Saw Reading Assignment: John 9:1-41 Did you understand what you read? What question did the disciples ask Jesus? What led them to ask this question? Why was the man blind according to Jesus? Did the blind man ask to be healed? Did he have faith? Did\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Pool-of-Siloam.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-young-persons-guide-to-becoming-a-christian\/i-can-confess\/","url_meta":{"origin":65000,"position":1},"title":"I Can Confess","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I Can Confess Lesson text: John 9:1-38, Romans 10:9 Memory Verse: Romans 10:9 We have now discussed the importance of hearing what God has to say, believing what He has to say, and repenting of our sins. In this lesson, we will study something that the Bible teaches us to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10516,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/genesis-a-study-of-the-beginning\/gods-covenant-with-abram\/faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":65000,"position":2},"title":"Faith (Genesis)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Faith We talk so often about faith and our need to have faith, but exactly what is faith? How would you describe it? In the Bible, faith is used in two different senses. First there is the faith that consists of the things you believe. The doctrines and teachings that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69600,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-isaiah\/woe-to-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":65000,"position":3},"title":"Woe to Jerusalem","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Woe to Jerusalem Text: Isaiah 29 Jerusalem Will Be Brought Low - Isaiah 29:1-4 Jerusalem is called Ariel, \"The Lion of God.\" It took comfort in being the city of David and the place where God's worship was centered. But despite that, it will undergo distress as a foreign army\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9802,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/david-and-his-psalms\/psalm-22\/","url_meta":{"origin":65000,"position":4},"title":"Psalm 22","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Lesson 11 Psalm 22 Psalm 22 - My God, My God, why have You forsaken me? Does David write of his own suffering or that of someone else? How do you know? Explain how this Psalm is messianic in its prophecy of the suffering, death, resurrection of Jesus. What are\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67603,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-young-persons-guide-to-becoming-a-christian\/i-can-repent\/","url_meta":{"origin":65000,"position":5},"title":"I Can Repent","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I Can Repent Lesson text: Luke 13:3; Mark 1:15; Acts 9:1-22; 22:16 Memory Verse: Mark 1:15 There once was a young man named Saul. He hated Christians. In fact, he hated them so much that he tracked them down and had them thrown into jail. Stephen, the first Christian martyr,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65000\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}