JOHN 7-9: DAY 238 JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
August 26, 2023
JOHN 7-9
DAY 238 JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Click here for the reading
Focus Verses For Today: John 9:30-34
Today our journey through the Gospel of John resumes at chapter 7, continuing through chapter 9.
Ask the Lord for His understanding of John 7-9. Read John 7-9. Let’s journey!
John 7-9: Beginning our journey for today, we find the Jewish leadership in a quandary over what needs to be done with this person, this son of Mary and Joseph, this Jesus. Nicodemus is the Jewish leader whom the Bible records meeting with Jesus privately and did so under the cover of darkness so it would not be known. Nicodemus is the only Jewish leader, recorded in the Bible, as showing an interest in confirming who Jesus is. The other Jewish leaders recorded in the Bible, saw Jesus as a threat to their status quo, and wanted Jesus executed. The course taken to assail Jesus was violating the Sabbath by doing work (healing the sick) on it. As we review our focus verses for today, the Jewish leadership had decided that Jesus must die regardless of who He actually is. (John 7:1–9:41)
Our focus verses for today:
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. (John 9:30-34, NIV)
This young man who was blind from birth presented a serious problem for the Jewish leadership. They called his parents, who testified that he was their son and was born blind. This didn’t help the leadership’s cause, for the young man’s parents took away any prospect of this being a hoax. Instead of rejoicing over the young man’s healing by Jesus, they threw him out of the synagogue because his testimony of Jesus restoring his sight was a threat to the leadership’s authority. Unfortunately, many, maybe most, people look for immediate gratification, looking only at short-term gains when they choose to undertake anything. Accepting Jesus as the Messiah would have had an immediate impact on the Jewish leadership, which they feared. They were unwilling to pay the cost of discipleship, earthly prestige, and power, which passes in the blink of an eye, rather than enjoy eternity with Jesus in perfect harmony. What is the true cost of what you may be protecting?
Godspeace!
For more information regarding how your financial support can help, please click here.