John 9:1-41
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore 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.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
17 Then 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.”
18 They 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. 21 But 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.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He 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?”
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
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, “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.
John 14:6
Jesus is Truth
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 3:16-17
Jesus Came to Save the World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 14:15-31
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
What a great thing is would have been to meet Jesus face to face...Yet, meeting, believing and having faith in Jesus is a hard thing to explain...It is often hard to understand (and explain to yourself) and to me harder to put in the right words to explain to others...How one comes to believe in Jesus maybe by love, some act of kindness one sees, or does it come from one's parents teaching them the Bible, or does it come from the Holy Spirit, or somewhere else?...
Jesus met many people during His three year ministry and many of them believed in Him, and some did not...And explaining why one believes in Jesus in His time is just about as hard to explain as it is in our time, it seems to me...Jesus touched many people's heart in His time on earth and He healed more people by miracles than at any other time ever...I, at least, have never read or heard of a man or woman that healed people, and a variety of different diseases and ailments, the way He healed people...
In these verses Jesus spits on the ground and makes some saliva, and rubs the blind man's eyes...Jesus tells the blind man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud out...When the man does as he is instructed his eyes are healed, and Jesus has left...The blind man can now see, for the first time in his life...
The blind man can see and he is telling others...He is telling them: “The Man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes...He told me to go to Siloam and wash...So I went and washed, and then I could see.”...The Pharisees want to investigate this healing as this former blind man is telling others about this Man named Jesus...The Pharisees question this blind man about his new found sight and want details to their questions about his healing...The blind man could not put into words what or how he was healed...The best thing he can say about his new sight is: "One thing I do know...I was blind but now I see!"...
The Pharisees keep questioning the former blind man more questions about Jesus and they ask “What did he do to you?...How did he open your eyes?”...The seeing man now answers: “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?”...Now the Pharisees start insulting the man, because they do not want to be disciples of Jesus...
It is hard to put into details why one believes in Jesus and the things he did...In this story the best we get is one thing I do know...I was blind but now I see...The fact is Jesus is so great and humble in the healings He did those who were healed do not know how He did it...He healed people because He is Divine...He had the authority from God to heal others...And so He did...Now many believed in Him after He was healed by them...This former blind man knew where Jesus came from, he just could not explain the things about Him, and why he believes in Him now...He clearly tells the Pharisees: "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."...
I believe the blind man's answer is right Jesus came from above and God has given Him all authority to heal and to do the miracles He did...And this is an interesting point...Jesus was a Jew and from Israel...His parents were God, Mary, and His stepfather was Joseph...He could have healed every sick person in Israel, or at least Nazareth, and the other towns He visited, but He does not...His mission and ministry were about teaching us about God, having faith in Him and His Father, and saving us from our sins by being our Savior on a cross...He gives us many teachings and all the things He does it out of LOVE for us...
God and His Son have put a Holy Spirit in us...When we meet and find Jesus, it is difficult to explain to others...He was and is difficult to explain our faith in Him, and who He is...
But their is this tendency toward faith in people...And when we have a sacred moment, we want believe that it is a sacred and holy moment...These moments are glimpses and slices of God's work and His Plan...Since the beginning of time the vast majority of mankind has believed in God...We hear more today about atheists and non-believers than I think others did, because of books, communication, and their global reach with computers and the internet...But there are many believers in a Superior Being called God...But back to this "tendency toward faith" as stated earlier...I believe that "tendency toward faith" is the Holy Spirit searching for an Absolute Truth and Absolute LOVE...The Holy Spirit gives us these sacred and holy moments in our lives, however fleeting and few they are...And those two things of Absolute Truth and Absolute LOVE can only be found in God and His Son...