Episode Transcript
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Greetings, friends.
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Welcome to Walking in His Word,
where we dive into the Word of God
to find wisdom, encouragement,
and inspiration.
I'm Jason Gohl, your host,
and I'm excited
to bring to you a brand new devotionals
series called One Thing.
Join us as we explore
various passages of Scripture
where Jesus speaks about one thing,
a single focus that challenges
and transforms us
from the story of the rich young ruler
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to Jesus's visit to Mary and Martha.
Each episode
will guide you to reflect
on your life and ask,
what is my one thing?
So stay tuned and be prepared
to be inspired and uplifted.
Don't forget to follow us at WW
walking in his word.com.
This week
we continue our study on the subject.
One thing in our previous studies,
we've covered the rich young ruler
and how he held back
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one thing from the Lord.
We also looked at Mary
and Martha and learned how to prioritize
what matters in this life,
and how we can balance the practical
with the contemplative.
This week
we look at the next one thing,
which is one thing I know
the focus of this study
will be the events
surrounding Jesus's
healing of the man born blind.
In John chapter
nine,
the theme versus John 925
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which says, he answered and said,
whether he be a sinner or know
I know not one thing,
I know that whereas I was blind.
Now I see
the only thing that this man knew
at the beginning of the story is
that there was a man called Jesus.
As Jesus
initially heals
this man, he addresses
the physical need
by opening his blind eyes.
But as the story progresses, Jesus
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also opens his spiritual eyes
so that he could see
Jesus as the Son of God.
He has a personal encounter
with Jesus that changes him forever.
By the end of the story,
this man, while facing an intense
confrontation, proclaims
before an entire city
that Jesus is the Son of God.
Unfortunately,
the people do not believe it.
We will also learn from this story
that we each
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must have a personal encounter
with Jesus.
This man couldn't
convince the people
based on his testimony,
even though it was quite
powerful and irrefutable.
Sadly, even though in the end
the blind man is able to see
both physically and spiritually.
Those who have physical sight
remain spiritually blind.
Since this is a long portion
of Scripture.
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We're going to break it down
into the following three sections.
We're going to talk about The cure,
which covers verses one through seven.
It deals with the miracle itself.
It also deals with the disciples
assumption that this man was blind
because of some sort of sin.
Then we're going to talk
about the controversy.
This section covers verses
eight through 34
and deals with the fallout in the city
related to this man's healing.
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We'll see this man grow
in his revelation of Jesus
from a man called Jesus in verse
11 to a prophet in verse 17,
and finally in verses 31 to 33,
he calls Jesus a man of God.
The final section covers
verses 35
through 41 and concludes
the controversy with the Pharisees.
The trouble
led the man to the final realization
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that Jesus is
not just a man called
Jesus, not just a prophet,
not just a man of God,
but truly is the Son of God.
The first portion of this story dealt
with Jesus restoring the physical sight
of this blind man.
Now, in this last section,
Jesus opens his spiritual eyes.
So let's start by reading
the first few verses, which in John nine
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one through seven.
As he passed by,
he saw blind man from birth,
and his disciples asked him, Rabbi,
who sin this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?
And Jesus answered, it is not
that this man sinned or his parents,
but that the works of God
might be displayed in him.
We must work the works of him
who sent me while it is day.
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Night is coming when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.
Having said these things,
he spit on the ground,
made mud with the saliva.
He anointed the man's eyes with mud
and said to him, go
wash in the pool of Siloam.
So he went his way in,
washed, and came back.
Seeing one of the first talk
about the disciples
question, who sinned, this man
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or his parents?
Their question reflects
the assumption, which was customary
at the time, that the suffering
could be traced to some sort of sin.
The rabbis taught,
based on Exodus
34 seven,
that if a person suffered
from a physical ailment from birth,
that this must have been
because the individual's parents
or grandparents
had committed some sort of sin,
or because the sick person
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had sinned before birth.
The disciples could have interpreted
a previous encounter found in John 514,
where Jesus said to a man
that he healed by the pool, see,
you are well.
Sin no more.
That nothing worse may happen to you.
The disciples could have taken
that encounter to mean
that all sick and disabled persons
are being punished for some sort of sin.
This encounter with the man
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born blind seems to contradict
that teaching.
What we can glean from
this incident
is that John 514
cannot be a universal principle.
Often God has specific purposes
in allowing his people to remain unwell.
Just look at Second
Corinthians 12,
verse nine, in which the Lord tells Paul
when they asked
to be healed of an infirmity,
my grace is sufficient for you.
My power is made perfect in weakness.
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Therefore I will boast
all the more gladly of my weakness.
So that the power of Christ
may rest upon me.
It is a human tendency
to look at things
through a myopic lens,
and think that God is judging
someone that is sick or suffering.
However, in this case, Jesus is clear
that God will grant healing
to this man
born blind,
but he will do it to bring himself
the glory.
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And as we will see
through the following events
and now we come to the point of the story
where the controversy occurs.
And let's read
just a few verses from this section.
The neighbors
and those who had seen him before
as a beggar were saying,
is this not the man who
used to sit and beg?
And some said, is it is he?
Others said, no, but he is like him.
He kept saying, I am the man.
So they said to him,
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then how were your eyes open?
He answered and said,
this man called
Jesus made mud,
and anointed
my eyes, and said,
go wash in the pool of Siloam.
So I went and washed and received
my sight.
They said to him, where is he?
He said, I do not know.
This was a notable miracle.
Everyone knew about the man who was born
blind and was looking for an explanation
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about how he received his sight.
Initially, it's difficult to discern
why the responses were so vague,
even though the man himself
said he was healed.
The man's simple confession
in verse 11 exalted
Christ, though
at that time he did
not fully know who the man called
Jesus really was.
In verses 13 through 15,
the town takes the man to the Pharisees
because Jesus healed
the man on the Sabbath.
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They were all trying to find
Jesus and determine who he was,
but they were not doing it
out of a desire for the truth,
but out of a desire to discredit him.
And the Pharisees said in verse
16 that he could not be of God,
but was a sinner
because he healed on the Sabbath.
Others questioned
how Jesus could be a sinner
and still be able
to perform such miracles.
So we can see that
this miracle caused
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quite a stir in this city.
The town was divided in their
and their opinions of who Jesus was.
So they asked the man
chapter nine and verse 17,
what do you say about him
since he has opened your eyes?
And he said, he is a prophet.
A prophet is what the man called him
when the Pharisees questioned him.
And this short time
the man's belief has grown
from a man called Jesus to a prophet.
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The people of the town
and the Pharisees
were trying to rationalize
what had occurred.
They were trying to explain away
the miraculous
and discredit what Jesus had done.
Verse 18
says that they did not believe the man.
They did not believe
that he was born blind
or that he had been healed.
They were blinded by their pride
and their hatred for Christ.
They could not see the miracle
that was right in front of their eyes.
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So they called the man's parents
and asked
if he was truly their son
and had been born blind.
And when they confirmed,
they asked, well, how does he see?
And his parents replied in John 921
how he sees.
We do not know,
nor do we know who opened his eyes.
Ask him. He is of age.
He will speak for himself.
The religious leaders said,
let it be known that
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anyone who confess Christ openly
would be cast out of the synagogue.
That's found
later on in the chapter verse 22.
This man, of course,
losing friends and family
and all the benefits
of the Jew of their religion.
It was this declaration
that forced the blind man's parents
and neighbors
to kind of beat around the bush
when asked about this amazing cure
and calling him a sinner.
And in verse 25,
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the son only told what he knew.
He answered and said,
whether he be a sinner
or know I know not.
One thing I do know is that I was blind,
and now I see.
And this is the crux of the whole matter,
the one thing that we know.
It would have been easy for the son
to hide his confession
and thus avoid controversy,
but he fearlessly stood his ground
and knew what a difference
Christ had made in his life,
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and he could not deny it.
Everyone who has met
Christ and trusted him
should make it known openly. Like this.
And now we come to this confession of
he is a man of God.
Verses 31 through 33.
The man answered, why?
This is an amazing thing.
You do not know where he comes from.
And yet he opened my eyes.
Do you know that
God does not listen to sinners?
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But if anyone is a worshiper of God
and does his will, God listens to him.
Never since the world began
has it been
heard that anyone opened
the eyes of a man born blind.
If this man were not from God,
he could do nothing.
His confession showed the Pharisees
how foolish their thinking was.
The simple hearted believer knows
more spiritual truth
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than these unsaved, educated theologians.
The final result
is they excommunicated
the man from the synagogue.
Even in the face of undeniable facts,
the Pharisees still cast him out.
They said you were born in utter sin.
How dare you teach us!
So we close out this story
with the last
few verses, verses 35 through 41.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out,
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and having found him, said,
do you believe in the Son of Man?
And he answered,
and who is he, sir,
that I might believe in him?
Jesus said to him,
you have seen him,
and it is he to whom you are speaking.
And Jesus said, Lord, I believe.
And he worshiped him.
For Jesus and for judgment,
I came into this world,
and for those who do not see may see,
and those who see may become blind.
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Some of the Pharisees near him
heard these things and said,
are we also blind?
And Jesus said, if you were blind,
you would have no guilt.
But now that you say,
we see, your guilt remains.
In just a short time,
this man progressed
from being blind physically
and spiritually
to understanding Jesus as the Son of God.
And at the end of the story,
the Pharisees continued to reject Jesus
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even though they could physically see
they remained spiritually blind.
At first,
all this man knew was a man called
Jesus had healed him.
He then thought he was a prophet
and a man of God.
And his final revelation
is complete confession of faith
that Jesus truly was the Son of God.
It would have been easy for the son
to hide his confession
and thus avoid all of this
controversy and excommunication,
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but he fearlessly stood his ground.
He said, I do not know
whether he's a sinner or not,
but I do know one thing I was blind,
and now I see
he knew what a difference
Christ had made in his life,
and he could not deny it.
I'd like to encourage you
to take some time today
and reflect on what
Christ has done for you.
Do we make it known openly,
or do we hide it to avoid controversy?
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What is that one thing we know?
May God bless you and keep you.
And may we all embrace
what Jesus has done for us
and proclaim it to the world.
Thank you for joining us
for today's episode of the Walking
in His Word podcast.
We hope you found today's devotional
on one thing
both challenging and encouraging.
Remember discovering
that one thing can change your life
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and deepen your relationship with God.
These episodes have inspired you.
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Till then,
may God's peace and blessings
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be with you always and
keep walking in His Word.