Daily Scripture: John 9:13-41
13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15Therefore 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.”
16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.
17Finally 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.”
18The Jews 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. 21But 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.” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
26Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27He 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?”
28Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
30The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
Spiritual Blindness
35Jesus 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.”
37Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com
Reflection Questions:
Jesus met a man who was blind from birth, and gave him sight. The religious leaders, sure of their spiritual authority, tried to deny the fact of a healing everyone could see. Pride blinded them to God in their midst when Jesus didn’t act as they thought God should. Pride blinds us, too, to the needs of others and to ourselves and our need for a Savior.
- In verse 25, you may recognize the line John Newton used centuries later when he wrote “Amazing Grace.” In what parts of your spiritual life is this your testimony – what do you now see to which you were once blind? How can realizing that God is the source of your spiritual sight protect against pride?
- How did pride blind the religious leaders in this case (v. 16, 18, 24, 28, 29, 34, and 40)? How can you hold clear beliefs without letting them turn into the kind of blinding pride the Pharisees had? Can you recall a time when a spiritual “truth” you “knew” turned out to be partial, or simply false?
Read Pastor Molly Simpson’s insights on today’s scripture at gpsinsights.wordpress.com
Weekly Prayer:
Dear Jesus, you were compassionate with people who saw themselves too often as “being” wrong and bad, as missing the mark. You were honest with people who proudly saw themselves as “being” right and good, always hitting that mark. Be an accurate mirror to me, Lord, reflecting who I am and where I need your grace and instruction in my life. Amen.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.
