Hi DownPour fam! sorry I couldn't post earlier, I have barely been home all day.
(no excuses I know.) I hope you guys all had a WONDERFUL Christmas! Mine was very low key which I always enjoy.
Ended up seeing Slumdog Millionaire with some HMCC people and i HIGHLY recommend it. It's so beautiful - the story, the visuals, the music, everything....it's really awesome. I'd put it in my top five.
So John 9 is about how Jesus heals a blind man.
I think one of the things that is stressed in this passage is how the man that is blind is born blind. The header is "Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind," which is repeated in John 9:1, and brought up again in verse 2, when Jesus' disciples ask Jesus about the cause of his blindness.
I thought it was interesting how being blind was seen as a punishment. That the disciples thought the man or his parents had to have sinned in order for this man to be blind. It was as though blindness from birth was out of the question. But Jesus states in verse 3 that his blindness was to display God's work in his life. Which to me, when I read this, was like...we shouldn't view this blindness as a negative thing because God will redeem his situation and through this redemption, God's glorly will be revealed.
And then if you think about blindness in the spiritual sense. When we are blind, we have an inability to see. With an inability to see, we cannot walk in the light because we are in darkness. And because we are in darkness, we sin. So ultimately, blindness = sinning. But we are sinning because we can't help the fact that we're blind, and like it says in John 9:41, we are not guilty of this sin. We do not know of the light because we have never experienced it.
However, God heals us our of blindness. I like the word "heal" because it's to make sound or healthy. And when you are healthy, it is a desirable/beneficial state to be in. You want to be healthy, no one wants to be sick. So to be healed of our blindness is showing that the right state to be in is one where we're walking in the light.
Oook that is like overarching, ultimate thought that I got from this passage.
I was also kind of stuck on this issue of how NOBODY believed the healed blind man. They wouldn't believe what he was saying so they had to bring in his parents. And his parents were too scared to speak and acknowledge Jesus, so they said that their son was of age. And being of age means that he's old enough to speak for himself...which goes back to how no body believed him....
and I didn't really understand John9:39. So if anyone wants to explain it to me. I understand the beginning part of it when Jesus says "Fod judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see..." But I don't understand the last part of it when he says, "and those who see will become blind." anyone?
alrighty...I guess that's all I have to offer on this passage....
Everyone, have a super New Years Eve/New Years!! See you in 2009!!! Can't wait to see all of your faces ^_____^
1 comment:
Slumdog Millionaire is soooooo good. Definitely a must see.
As for John 9:39, I think Jesus is referring to two different groups of people:
1. "the blind will see" = those who are now aware of their sin and turn to Christ
2. "those who see will become blind" = those who claimed they could see (aka Pharisees), but who Jesus calls blind
v. 40 says: Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?"
v. 41 says: Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."
I kind of picture Jesus saying v. 41 in almost a sarcastic manner. Like in my own words, I would see him saying, "You don't think you're blind? Ok, so if you're not blind, that means you can obviously see. But if you claim you can see, yet have not turned to me, then you are still guilty of all your sins." And the Pharisees don't say anything after that, so I feel like Jesus just implicitly answered their question: "Yes, you who claim to see are in fact blind."
Also, I see v. 41a (If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin) only applying to the time before Jesus' resurrection. Hebrews 8 refers to a new covenant that Jesus brings (sealed by his death and resurrection).
Hebrews 8:10-11:
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
After the new covenant was established by Jesus, people innately know what is right and wrong, and are accountable to and guilty of sin.
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.
So I still see it as:
blindness -> sinning -> guilt -> death
OR
blindness -> sinning -> guilt -> Christ/light/sight -> eternal life
So despite blindness, we are still accountable and guilty of this sin because the law is now written in our minds and hearts because of Christ.
A better and more literal translation (ESV) of v. 41 says: Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains.
So Jesus might have just been saying: If you were blind, you wouldn’t know what sin is (time before new covenant) so you wouldn’t feel any guilt; but since you say you see, you know what sin is, and your guilt for your sins remain with you.
At least, this is my take on all of this.
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