John - Week 27

Night Is Coming 

READ 

John 9:4-5 

4 “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” 

While He was in the world, Jesus was the light of it. This truth is also recorded in John 8:12 where it is recorded that He said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” Regrettably, so many in that day and today choose to walk in darkness. John 3:19 tells us why they choose to walk in darkness, “The judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.” 

REFLECT 

Think about your own experience: when you were walking out of fellowship with God, did He seem farther away because your actions were not honoring to Him? 

RESPOND 

Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-5. This passage will help you understand that even though you seek to make the Gospel clear to others, sometimes no response is seen. On the other hand, the Christ-follower can only witness and leave it up to the Holy Spirit to convict hearts and draw people to Christ so they will believe in Him.  

The Pool of Siloam  

READ 

John 9:6-7 

6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! 

This passage leaves many wondering why Jesus used a process rather than just immediately giving sight to the blind man. The Bible does not tell us. It does record, however, that Jesus touched the man although He didn’t always touch those he healed. Notice also the man had a responsibility in the process, he had to obey Jesus by going to the pool to wash. Although not everyone Jesus healed had to do something, this person did and was healed as a result. 

REFLECT 

Think what it would have been like had you been the blind man. Imagine how special it would have been to have someone give you a caring touch and instruct you to do something. Would you have done it? 

RESPOND 

The obedience of the blind man to do what Jesus told him to do is a reminder of the Scripture passage found in John 6:36-37. Read these verses and be ready to point out to others that they must personally come to Jesus if God is tugging at their hearts. And assure them that Jesus rejects no one who comes to Him. 

The Formerly Blind Beggar 

READ 

John 9:8-9 

8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” 

But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” 

The neighbors could not agree whether this was the same person as the beggar they had seen before. Here we see the importance of a personal testimony. When trusting Jesus for salvation, some are so radically changed that their neighbors wonder if it’s the same person. How beautiful it is when the Christ-follower speaks up and says, “Yes, I’m the same one you used to know, but I no longer have the same desires and lifestyle. I want to please Jesus in what I do.” 

REFLECT 

Consider how you will respond and write a short statement or two about how you think you can best answer those who see a change in you after your conversion to Christ. 

RESPOND 

Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 and ask yourself if this change is seen in your life. Also ask yourself if you are the same in private as you are in the public. 

Explain Yourself 

READ 

John 9:10-12 

10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” 

11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” 

12 “Where is he now?” they asked. 

“I don’t know,” he replied. 

This passage reveals that the formerly blind man did not know Jesus personally. He referred to Him as “The man they call Jesus.” This was not a claim to know Jesus personally. Imagine, if Jesus could only heal those who believed in Him, the healings could be suspect. But He was able to heal even unbelievers. This demonstrated that He was truly the Son of God with divine powers. And the ability to heal physically even pointed to His ability to heal spiritually. This is seen from Mark 2:9 that records the question Jesus asked, “Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’”? 

Interviewed by the Pharisees 

READ 

John 9:13-15 

13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” 

When things seem unreasonable to people, they often want to hear it again. So the blessed blind man told them of the process he went through to regain his sight. Notice here that the real issue was not the process through which he went but the fact that it was done on the Sabbath day. His accusers were more concerned that an act of kindness was done on the Sabbath than that he had been given sight. And notice from the context of the verses who it was that took him to the overly scrupulous Pharisees: it was his neighbors.  

REFLECT 

How did your neighbors change their thinking about you when it became clear to them that your trust was in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Were they pleased that you were trying to honor the Lord in your life rather than fitting into the pleasures of the world? 

RESPOND 

Read 1 Peter 3:13-17. Focus especially on verses 15 and 16 that tell the kind of manner you should answer others who ask about your hope as a believer in Jesus.