seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 8:35 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.
a. John 9:39 Some early manuscripts do not have Then the man said … 39 Jesus said.
I was just talking to hubby about something like this. Jesus knew the man had been thrown out of the Temple. This was a horrible thing.
This is the easiest way I can explain this. The Pharisees and the Sadducees probably started out gung ho..... they probably studied the books of law... the books like Deuteronomy and especially Leviticus. These books were the first penned law. The laws were put in place so the people could worship the One True Living God while caring for one another.
I've seen it happen in public office over and over again. These fine politicians started out as a guy with a plan.... and they start talking up their good plan... and people start buying in.... and they get momentum and they get votes and they find themselves sitting in a Board Room..... deciding the fate of those without a plan. That's how it starts.... and then someone with a lot of influence introduces them to the latest and greatest thing.... and their eyes glaze over and they are hooked... they will be the one that brings this latest and greatest idea..... and when they do... they will be the top dog..... and then when they get to be top dog.... then they start treating everyone else the same way they were being treated when they came up with their great plan.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees were sure they were the only ones smart enough to control the next, latest, and greatest thing..... and anything they decided was "biblical" would be "biblical" and anything else was "demonic". They didn't see themselves loosing their footing.... they didn't see themselves growing that big head. They didn't see themselves turning away from God and toward whatever brought the glory to them..... they didn't see it.
Jesus heard the man had been thrown out of the Temple.... and He searched the man out. Jesus was the reason this guy was thrown out of the Temple. He was going along just fine. He was use to being blind. He had been blind his whole life. He had always wanted to be like everyone else... able to walk around and not run into stuff. He was probably tired of supporting the bandage makers running into stuff, tearing the skin off his arms and legs. He was a descendant of Jacob [Israel] who was use to people thinking he was a poor horrid sinner.... after all he must have committed a horrible sin to be blind in the womb.
I figure those Pharisees and Sadducees knew that Jesus would find out they threw the healed man out of the Temple. I think they hung out around him knowing Jesus would be back to comfort him when they tossed him out on the street. I figure it was a trap. That's why they were so ready with their ignorance.
Jesus told the healed man.... I came so everyone who is now blind can see. The Pharisee said "What, Are we blind too". They thought they saw everything... and controlled everything for those who were too ignorant to see what they saw. They thought they were "chosen" for the job they had and no one could do it better... not even God. God answered when they spoke.... so they didn't speak to Him often..... the rest of the time... they were in His shoes... saying who could be in the Temple... who could blow their nose on what day of the week.... and they were damned if anyone could see God better than them. Ironically... they set themselves up as little gods and they couldn't see God standing right there in front of them. I guess if He would have worn a Roman wardrobe they would have licked His feet.
Most of you know... I've gone blind. I have enough sight in one eye to post online, crochet, and sew. The words on the screen are now huge... and I couldn't type if I hadn't spent so many years memorizing the keyboard. My crochet projects are completely made up... I really can't read the directions anymore so I fabricate things from pictures or my imagination. My hand sewn seams are no longer straight... so I use a machine or I do hand embroidery to cover the wavy stitches. I have a doctor working on my right eye.... but he's done five surgeries so far.... and I'm pretty sure he's no longer confident the eye will work... the lens is gone now... he acts like I should know that... but I can't read the crap he gives me to sign before he performs his next big surgery. He sent me to a glaucoma doctor so they could take the pressure off my "good" eye.... and they wanted to operate on the bad eye instead. [I raised so much ruckus to get them to read the chart and do the correct eye.... they did... but then after I got home they called to tell me I never needed to come back... ah ha ha... but they were the ones going after the log in the wrong eye!]
I've left churches. I was never invited to leave.... I left. One church burned my Bible because it was not the King James. One insisted that having an affair with a woman was the woman's fault and to save his wife and the church from embarrassment.... he threw the woman out of the church. That woman was a friend... and I left with her.... I didn't tell his wife "who"... but she knew. I ran into one church that was all gung ho about me leaving my sinner ex-husband.... but when I did leave with my three kids [all in diapers].... they didn't know me. They found out what his sin was.... and they thought I was the same.... and they wanted me out because I was inconvenient. I couldn't buy a job and I couldn't feed my children without their help... and they turned their back. I've left churches and I know people who have been thrown out of churches.... but I've never actually been "thrown out of the Temple".
I don't know what it's like to be thrown out of a church. I know what it's like to not have a place to go... and that's where this man was.... he had been blind his whole life.... he didn't have a skill other than begging. He had no where to go. Jesus found him. I'm pretty sure he was so happy to finally see the face of the person who healed him... he just followed Jesus. The Bible doesn't tell us what his name is..... so now maybe I'll try to figure out if he's one of the "important" disciples..... walking along with the Messiah.
I listened yesterday.... a nurse sang "Amazing Grace".
There are a lot of people in this world who don't know what's killing them... their blind and they just don't know it.
They are just really good at "Being Blind".
