Reading the Bible Everyday – John 9

Joy: You’re listening to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Episode #77.  Today we’ll read John chapter 9 together.  This chapter is all about blindness, both physical and spiritual.

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me as we simply read God’s word together.  Some things require discipline and sometimes that’s just not easy to muster by yourself, no matter how badly you want to do it or how much you know you should.  It’s just easier to do it with a friend.  So refill your coffee or tea, get comfortable in your favorite chair and follow along as I read aloud.  I’m so glad you’re here!

Would you pray for us?  About a year ago, we started planning a trip to London with Mitch’s family, our girls, and some close friends.  It’s a joy for us to get together and especially this time since several have never been to Europe.  We have been so excited, sending out little newsletters, exploring excursions and the culture.  I love Mitch’s family.  I shamelessly made them my own from the very beginning and I know nothing of the usual stories about in-laws.  However, I suppose I don’t need to say that most of the reservations were made before Covid-19.  We’ve been pretty relaxed about it, thinking surely travel will open up before we go.  We still have a few months, but with every news story about travel restrictions, the less relaxed we are.  I hope it doesn’t sound self-serving to ask you to remember us in prayer.  There are so many people who are suffering during this pandemic; we are grateful for every provision we have.  We are praying that He would make a way for us to go as planned and ask that you join us in that prayer.

John Chapter 9:  1 As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth.  2 His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “[This came about] so that God’s works might be displayed in him. 4 We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After He said these things He spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. 7 “Go,” He told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who formerly had seen him as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the man who sat begging?” 9 Some said, “He’s the one.” “No,” others were saying, “but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one!” 10 Therefore they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.” 12 “Where is He?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he said. 13 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. 14 The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. 15 So again the Pharisees asked him how he received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.” 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He doesn’t keep the Sabbath!” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” “He’s a prophet,” he said. 18 The Jews did not believe this about him-that he was blind and received sight-until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son, [the one] you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. 21 “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him as Messiah, he would be banned from the synagogue. 23 This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.” 24 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner!” 25 He answered, “Whether or not He’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!” 26 Then they asked him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become His disciples too, do you?” 28 They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man-we don’t know where He’s from!” 30 “This is an amazing thing,” the man told them. “You don’t know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, He wouldn’t be able to do anything.” 34 “You were born entirely in sin,” they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out. 35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, He found him and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?” he asked. 37 Jesus answered, “You have seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you.” 38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped Him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and asked Him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?” 41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see’-your sin remains.

I love this story…it is so real.  We all know people – okay, maybe some of us have been those people from time to time – who just keep asking the same question until they get the answer they want.  This was not a good day for the Pharisees.  No one was giving them the answer they wanted.  But if I had to pick one moment among all these favorites, it would be the disciples’ question to Jesus at the very beginning of the chapter.  They observed this disabled man and assumed that someone must have sinned; either him or his parents.  Disconnecting from the belief that if good things happened to a person, that person must be good, and vice versa, was probably one of the hardest preconceived notions for the disciples to overcome.  It teaches us that God uses us and our circumstances to show Himself.  Not to punish us, not to show that we sinned or that someone sinned…but to show Himself.   And yes, sometimes that supporting role is hard.  But we have the joy of knowing we were used by God for His good purposes.  Let’s pray.  Dear Jesus, this chapter makes me smile in so many places, but it is equaling sobering in others.  Remove the scales from our eyes, Lord.  Help us not to be spiritually blind, but to see.  Amen.

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray God will grow in you what has been planted and watered here.  In this time of unprecedented struggle worldwide, we can look to God for guidance and comfort.  Be sensitive to those in your circle of influence who need a word of encouragement and invite them to join us.  If you like this show, it would be great if you give it a five-star review.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you right here tomorrow.  Be well!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.