Yesterday, our elder Cara shared on passages between John 9 and 11. You can listen to it here. John’s Gospel is a great place for anyone to start reading. The grammar is simple (unlike Paul’s page long sentences). The concepts about Jesus are both personal and profound. It reads more as a friend relaying an experience than as a document recording a past event. We even see John’s personality come through in parts of the writing, like “The one whom Jesus loved.” So many passages in John are quotable. From 1:1 to 3:16 and beyond.
Today I’d like to reflect on three of the most popular passages from the section of John’s Gospel from 9-10. Those are
- The Healing of the Blind Man
- Jesus as the Gate
- Jesus’ Sheep Hear His Voice
The Healing of the Blind Man
The opening stanza of the old English hymn “Amazing Grace” starts out:
Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind but now I see.
This song has had a profound impact on both American and British culture. Written by a former ship captain who transported slaves, it is a song that came forth from the heart of a man afflicted by his past sins who experienced the new life that Jesus gives. For the longest time, I knew it was a Gospel hymn, but didn’t know there was a Biblical reference in it (whether intentional or not). I simply thought it was all about the author’s personal experience with Jesus.
Yet when we read the account in John 9 about Jesus opening the eyes of a blind man, we get a first hand account from the man who was healed. In the account, there was a man born blind. He was a beggar who relied on charity from passersby to give him money for food and drink. There was a religious assumption in that day that someone born with an affliction was either being punished for their parents’ sin or sinned early on. We see this both by the disciples asking Jesus “Who sinned that this man was born blind, him or his parents?” and the Pharisees when they rebuked the man “You were steeped in sin at birth.”
When the man was healed, John notes that it happened on the Sabbath. He also notes that the Pharisees of that synagogue had already determined that anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah was to be excommunicated, or banned from their services.
So Jesus heals this man by spitting on the ground and smearing the mud in his eyes, then instructing him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The man does and receives his sight. When word spread that this man born blind was now able to see, it caught the attention of the local Pharisees. During his interview/interrogation, it came out that Jesus healed the man. That Jesus did it on the Sabbath, so he must be a sinner for breaking the Sabbath law. That the man might not be fully truthful. They call in his parents, who were afraid of the standing orders to ban anyone who acknowledges Jesus. They put the burden back on the man, saying “He is of age, ask him.”
As they are interrogating the man more, they say, “It is clear this Jesus is a sinner, since he worked on the Sabbath.” To which the man replies, “Whether he is a sinner or not, all I know is that I once was blind, but now I see.” He even goes so far as to reflect the standing Jewish belief that God is only required to hear the prayers of a righteous man, so therefore Jesus must be righteous, because no one has ever heard of a man born blind receiving his sight.
One of the best things for our witness is not the eloquence in which we can explain the Bible. It is not the ability to convince people into Christianity with our persuasive words. The best thing is our testimony. This man didn’t claim eloquence, education, or astute reasoning. All he knew was that his life was permanently and dramatically changed after his encounter with Jesus. He was blind and everyone knew it. Yet somehow, this encounter with Jesus reversed an affliction from birth and now he sees. It doesn’t matter that he was kicked out of the synagogue. The undeniable fact remained–he has his sight because of Jesus.
What God moments changed us? Where is our testimony. In our efforts to get ahead in the rat-race of life, we can so often forget about those life changing encounters with Jesus. Those encounters (sometimes called Chiros moments) are a profound resource in sharing with people. Sometimes its a supernatural event–medical healing/recover. Sometimes it’s a profound insight to a standing problem. Sometimes it’s the Holy Spirit revealing a lie that we have been believing and acting out of. At the end of the day, what are our God moments, where God encounters us as humans in a situation?
Jesus is the Gate
When I was in college, I took a field trip with my Classics department to the Parthenon museum in TN. On the bus ride, I sat next to a girl named Cassy. We started talking about our faith journeys. Shortly into the trip, a philosophy student sitting in front of us joined in and turned the talk to a philosophical level. During the talk, he made a false analogy that I wasn’t aware enough to pick up. He referred to getting to God as a mountain and that Jesus was “up.” Though there may be many different paths to that “up.” It was only years later that I realized that falseness of that claim. The truth is, Jesus never referred to himself as a way “up.” He only made references as the way “through.” There was never a directional analogy in Jesus’ teachings. He didn’t give us that option. He referred to himself as “the path,” “the way, the truth, the life,” and “the Gate.” There is only one entry point to God, that is through Jesus.
Jesus clearly used exclusionary language. Are all invited to come? I believe the answer is “yes.” However, not all “will” come. Jesus used the analogy of a gate to denote only one way to access the Father. Any other way is illegitimate and denotes malicious intent, namely trying to get to God on our own merits.
I’ve learned a lot since that bus ride to the Parthenon, but that conversation was a lesson I’ve since learned and grown upon. There will never be “many” ways to heaven. Christianity just doesn’t allow for that.
So what are some lessons you’ve learned about Jesus being the “Gate?” How have you made it through the exclusionary nature of being “In Christ?”
A Shepherd
My final reflection on the section in John’s Gospel is 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.”
In this day in age, many people stereotype Christianity as a religion of bigots and hypocrites. In every culture that doesn’t have Christianity as the underlying assumptions, it is very easy and very common to misrepresent it through outsider lenses. From Rome to the modern West, Christianity is regularly maligned because it doesn’t bow to societal gods. Add on top of the the presence of a few very loud bigots and hypocrites, and its easy to walk away thinking these loud voices reflect the reality of whole group. Nevermind that the same standard is rarely applied to other groups.
Yet in the end, Jesus clearly states that His sheep hear his voice and follow Him. Is there a defined morality code in following Jesus? Yes. Are there clauses about not judging? Yes. Are there words about forgiveness and turning the other cheek? Yes. There are also terms of exclusion. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Jesus’ true followers listen to his voice and follow him. They live lives reflective of their faith. The rub comes in the fact that all who name the name of Jesus are still trying to work out their faith in practice. Peter was hot tempered and quick to speak all throughout Jesus’ ministry and into the book of Acts. Yet in the end, he was one of the main pillars of the faith. He didn’t do things perfectly, but he did them for Jesus and he became more Christ like as the years went on.
Outsiders will always malign Christians, Jesus even said so right after the Beatitudes in Matthew. And even though our walks of faith may not be perfect or stellar, as we sincerely press into the father, striving to shed anything not reflective of Jesus, we will change. We will hear the voice of Jesus via the Holy Spirit regarding our attitudes and actions. If we belong to Him, we will listen and change. That’s what Jesus’ sheep do. We are not bound by our past mistakes and sins. We are given opportunities to become new creations in the present. It’s what we start doing in Jesus during our current situation that determines who we will become in the future. The whole transformation process is to turn from the thinking and habits of the ungodly past toward thinking and habits that reflect Jesus in our present and future.
Many traditions and non-Christian belief systems keep people locked to their past failures. People spend endless hours and years trying to atone for their past. All the while they miss the opportunity to build into their future. And most of that is done outside the view of eternity. They’re just trying to make things right for a better life here and now. With Jesus, He offers to wipe the slate clean, then offers to teach us new spiritual life habits, disciplines, and efforts to build on that slate, cleaning us up when we fail in the process. There is no other belief system that allows for that.
So hearing Jesus’ voice as the Good Shepherd means we follow his promptings and put our feet toward the direction of his voice.
What things has the voice of Jesus been beckoning to you? What energies and efforts is He prompting you toward? His voice leads to abundant life and joy. How is he guiding you toward that? Are there any lies (the voice of the enemy) you are believing that keep you from the abundant life and joy? Are there directions you are headed that hinder your walk with Jesus? What are they? How can you invite the Holy Spirit to speak into that and bring true freedom…eternal freedom?
Those are the 3 reflections in this week’s John passage. I hope you were encouraged and able to recenter yourself in Jesus, finding Him as the source for your life and motivation. I pray this post has built you up in your walk with the Lord. Remember, He is for you and not against you. If you follow Him, you will hear his voice. Only take the time to listen. Have a great week! God bless you! I hope you continue to experiences our Lord’s