John 9:35-41 “Lord, I trust!”

Prayer and Praise

Jesus said, “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” Matthew 26:40, so we start our journey of giving God time to work in us, by praying along with this hymn…  “Above All…” with Lennie Le Blanc…

John 9:35-41 “Lord, I trust!”

Acknowledgments to the Complete Jewish Bible.

35. Previously, as a result of the exchange that just occurred between the healed man and the Pharisees, the healed man was banned from the temple and Jesus heard about it. Jesus located the man and asked if he believed in the Son of Man…

35 Yeshua heard that they had thrown the man out. He found him and said, “Do you trust in the Son of Man?” 

36. The man answered as best he could… given that he didn’t know who the Son of Man was. 

36 “Sir,” he answered, “tell me who he is so that I can trust in him.” 

37. Jesus told him plainly that it was Himself.

37 Yeshua said to him, “You have seen him. In fact, he’s the one speaking with you now.” 

38. The healed man immediately worshipped Him.

38 “Lord, I trust!” he said, and he kneeled down in front of him.

39. Jesus explained His purpose… to shed light on those who were open to receiving Him. It’s all about the heart.

39 Yeshua said, “It is to judge that I came into this world so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” 

40. Pharisees immediately knew Jesus was writing them off for being blind guides. 

40 Some of the P’rushim nearby heard this and said to him, “So we’re blind too, are we?” 

41. The ignorant cannot help being ignorant; (Cf. Jonah’s message to Nineveh!), but because the religious leaders pretended they could see, made themselves guilty of misleading people who could have found God. Jesus will go on to make new teaching points; (covered next time…). The Pharisees were not only spiritually blind, made out that they were spiritual guides. That made it much worse for them, by using their ignorance to mislead others, – which made them guilty. They made themselves blind guides by pretending that they could see and then making out that they were signposts to God. Others looking for guidance would look to them for guidance. So Jesus is making reference to the blindness of the heart, soul, and spirit. 

41 Yeshua answered them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you still say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Further comment re. v. 41.

Acts 2:38 tells us we must i) Repent for the forgiveness of our sin. (Babies can’t do that!)

ii). Be ‘immersed’ in water. (After repenting!).

And iii). receive the Holy Spirit.  (The promise is conditional.)

We can be forgiven of our sin by repenting. Repenting is a condition for being forgiven. Babies cannot repent and anyway, have not yet even sinned.

These things were written down so that sinners in the future who were also looking for the way to God – could find the answers they were looking for in the Bible – so it is applicable to us too, (John 21:2). That actually means that anyone who can read is not dependant on religious leaders. All they have to do is to read the eyewitness accounts in the gospels.

—-Summary

John 9:39 Yeshua said, “It is to judge that I came into this world so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” 

Memory verse…

Who is Jesus? John 9:38 “Lord, I trust!” he said, and he kneeled down in front of him.

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Today’s Challenge…

There were two different responses to Jesus… Which one resembles your response? 

John 9:38 “Lord, I trust!” he said, and he kneeled down in front of him.

or

John 9:41 Yeshua answered them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you still say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Prayer and Worship

“… He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.” Matthew 14:23. 

Jesus taught His disciples what we call ‘The Lord’s Prayer’; (Luke 11).

Listen here to Albert Malotte’s ‘The Lord’s Prayer’. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, 

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever;- Amen.

Prayer suggestions;-

1. The world. (ie ‘For those in authority.’)
2. The ‘suffering church.’ https://barnabasfund.org/nz/pray/daily-prayer/#previous-dates
3. Your own situation. (Suggest ‘needs’ rather than ‘wants’.)