Monthly Archives: May 2023

Spiritual Blindness

Sunday Lesson Notes from May 7, 2023

Read Isaiah 42:1-9: What do we learn about Jesus from this passage?

  • God calls Jesus his servant
  • The Messiah will show who God is
  • He will show the way to life eternal
  • He will open eyes that are blind
  • Jesus will bring justice to the nations, we do not have to seek justice for ourselves when we are wronged
  • God was intimately involved with Jesus, holding his hand
  • God gave Jesus his glory, so we could trust that He was from God

Read John 9:1-8: Who were the blind characters in this passage and why?

  • The disciples were blinded by their own traditions, they believed bad things happened to people as a result of sins their parents committed. They could not see the real reason this beggar was blind from birth.
  • The beggar was born blind so that God’s work could be displayed in his life. It is important to understand that the beggar was chosen by God for this purpose. When bad things happen to you in your life do you see it as an opportunity for God’s work to be displayed in your life? It is very inspiring when individuals overcome hardships in their lives and trust in God’s deliverance.
  • What was Jesus referring to when he said they were to work as long as he was there with them? Meaning, make the most of every opportunity to do good. Healing on the Sabbath was more important than obeying the man-made rules of the Sabbath.
  • Neat trivial fact: the Pool of Siloam-means “sent”. Remember in Isaiah, Jesus was going to be "sent" to save the world.

Read John 9:8-12: Why were the onlookers unable to recognize the healed beggar?

  • Perhaps the healed beggar was acting differently now that he was healed.
  • Perhaps they never even really knew what he looked like because he was an outcast, ie. the blind beggar that no one really paid any attention.
  • Perhaps the onlookers were still blinded by their own inability to recognize the power of Jesus to heal lifelong conditions. They could not connect the miracle to Jesus in their minds. Afterall, using mud in someone’s eyes to heal them seems ridiculous.
  • It is important to note also that the man did not require faith to be healed, he was healed although he did not know who Jesus was. In order to be healed however, he had to obey Jesus and do something- go wash in the pool.

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Read John 9:13-17: Why were the Pharisees having such a difficult time understanding this miracle?

  • The Pharisees were blinded by their own religious traditions. They were caught up in obeying the tradition of the Sabbath and unable to recognize that Jesus was more important than the Sabbath itself. We need to still do good things on the Sabbath. Jesus performed lots of miracles on the Sabbath to drive this point home to his followers.
  • God created the Sabbath for humans to rest. God stopped creating on the Sabbath, he did not stop existing. The Pharisees went as far to say this man was not from God because he did not keep the Sabbath, by their definition. How many times do we say someone is not a Christian because they do not obey rules that were man-made?

Read John 9:35-38: Who are the spiritually blind in this passage and did they regain true sight?

  • The Pharisees were unable to see that Jesus was doing good on the sabbath and this man was able to see as a result. Instead of rejoicing and worshiping God for this miracle, they threw the healed man out of the synagogue. The Pharisees remained blind.
  • The man was thrown out but Jesus found him and helped him to realize who really healed him. The beggar transformed from not knowing who Jesus was, to calling him an unknown man, to calling him a prophet and finally to proclaiming Jesus was the Son of Man. The blind man allowed himself to be transformed by this interaction with Jesus. We can be transformed in the same way if we allow our eyes to really be healed by Jesus to see who he is. We can be healed from our spiritual blindness when we obey his commands and acknowledge that he is the one doing the healing in our lives.
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