October 24 (Daily reading: John 9-10, NIV) John 9 and 10 are tied together: “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind” (9:39). Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. The Pharisees called Jesus a sinner for healing him on the Sabbath, but the man said to the Pharisees: “Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind” (9:32). He also said: “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see … If this man were not from God, He could do nothing” (vv. 25, 33). For a man who had been born blind, seeing was believing!
Some Pharisees were present when Jesus made His statement about spiritual blindness. He had come to make blind men see, as he had done with the man born blind, and to make blind those who thought they could see, such as the Pharisees. He revealed their blindness concerning their relationship with God. He had already told them on another occasion: “You do not know me or my Father … you do not belong to God” (Jn. 8:19, 47).
Jesus continued His message to the Pharisees in chapter ten. He used an analogy of a shepherd and his flock to explain to them who He was. He first said He was the door for the sheep. They could enter through Him into life: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (10:10). He also said that He was the Good Shepherd: “I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (10:14). The Pharisees had come, but they were in reality “thieves and robbers, (and) the sheep did not listen to them” (10:8). But as the Good Shepherd, He said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (10:27).
– Al Gary
Leave a Reply