The Pharisees skeptically asked Jesus in this Text of Scripture, “Are we blind?” (Verse 40) And they were, spiritually!

But they did not know that they were! More precisely, they would not acknowledge that! They considered themselves true “seers!” An Old Testament word for a Prophet! It means “one who sees!” A sad situation indeed! (Like “blind eye specialists!”)

I called our Text (in the video class, the Evening Meditation) a “Reversal Saying” of Jesus. Here are three more, for comparison …

Mark 8:35 … “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”

Mark 10:43-44 … “But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

And Matthew 23:12 … “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

Wow!

In the Book of Isaiah particularly, when the Messiah comes blind people will see. That’s Bible prophecy and it happened during Jesus’ Ministry! Again, I give you a few among many …

Isaiah 29:18 … “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.”

Isaiah 42:18 … “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.”

Then in reverse … Isaiah 6:10 … “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”

Isaiah 56:10 … “His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.”

In our Passage yet again, I had not time to say that Jesus was often misunderstood …

John 2:18-21 … “Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.”

John 3:3-4 … ” Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”

John 4:10-11 … “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?”

John 6:50-52 … “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Listen to Jesus describe these Pharisees in Matthew 15:14 … “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

Wow!

But I did not leave out lots of other information! Watch the Class now and you will “see” …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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One of the loveliest Stories (though an actual historical account) in all the Gospels, full to the brim with faith, saving faith!

John 9:1-38 recounts the healing of a man born blind, a poor beggar in fact. Gradually through the Chapter his apprehension of Jesus grows! First, He’s a man. Then a man named Jesus (meaning Saviour)! Next the ex-blind man decides Jesus is a Prophet! Then He is “of God,” coming from God Himself! And finally Jesus is the “Son of God!”

Someone wrote of this new believer … “Before the Pharisees he was bold as a lion! But before Jesus he was meek as a lamb!”

I (in class today) did not have time to tell you this …

Jesus Self-Discloses Himself as “God the Son” four times in John’s Gospel!

In John 5:25 … “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”

John 9:35-37 … “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.”

John 10:36 … “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”

John 11:4 … “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”

Wow!

The trajectory of this once blind man’s life is amazing, his “spiritual history.” It is an apt illustration of Philippians 1:6 … “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath BEGUN a good work in you will PERFORM it until the day of Jesus Christ.”(Until Jesus comes again!)

Amen!

Now, why not watch the entire class?

Glory to God!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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When the Pharisees (the “Jews”) commanded the now healed blind man to “Give God the praise,” they as much as took God’s precious Name in vain! They actually used God’s reverent Name to attempt to trick the ex-blind man into denying his healing miracle (!!!) and further denigrate Jesus.

The Clause (“Give God the praise”) remembers (maybe even partially quotes) Joshua 7:19 and Jeremiah 13:16. As used in the Old Testament these Words at least form a threat of judgment! Or demand some kind of confession!

They were trying to get this latest recipient of Jesus’ healing Power to turn on the Saviour and agree that He was a sinner! Wisely he responded to their badgering with the words … “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25)

I failed to share with you this quote … “The ex-blind man’s courage here increases as does his eloquence!”

Another noted … “Truth (the man was always a truth-teller) is the route to Jesus!”

This Statement led me to wonder, is John 14:6 perhaps sequential? Is Jesus first the Truth then the Way and finally the Life? (“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”) If so, TRUTH leads to LIFE!

Why do these Jews, these Pharisees HATE Jesus so much? I honestly believe I know the reason! I found it in Matthew 27:17-18 … “Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that FOR ENVY they had delivered him.” And Mark 15:10 agrees … “for envy” they had Jesus killed!

“The Pharisees had a DOGMA, the healed man had a FACT!” They had Moses, the blind beggar had Jesus!

A beggar teaching the Sanhedrin! Because they were living the spirit of 2 Timothy 3:7. “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Or Romans 1:22 … “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

“One thing I know,” quipped the poor (but now seeing very well) man, sounding like us Christians often do …

2 Timothy 1:12 … For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I KNOW whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Job 19:25 … For I KNOW that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.

1 John 3:14 … We KNOW that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Romans 8:28 … And we KNOW that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

1 John 3:2 … Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we KNOW that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

One more quote … “Moses, among all his miracles, never gave sight to a blind man!”

The man Jesus made well, to whom He gave sight … “testified by LIP and by LIFE!”

Wow!

Now, watch the whole Class if you can …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Yes, the healed “blind beggar” soon learned that even his parents were not excited about his “miracle!” They turned their backs on their own son, for fear of the Pharisees!

The exact verse Reference I forgot to include in our Class today is Matthew 19:29. “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold.” Wow, no wonder this man is presented so positively in John’s Gospel!

Someone defined a Pharisee as “a good man gone bad!” Once defenders of the purity of the Word of God, they had drifted into genuine legalism. Here is the Lord describing such a haughty attitude, quoting Isaiah 65:5. First a description of them … “Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.” Then God’s evaluation of them … “These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” Irritating to God Almighty!

Here’s the attitude of those self-centered parents … “Near is my friend. Near is my child. NEARER IS MYSELF!”

Now, note the attitude God blesses … “Thus saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Isaiah 66:2, humble and meek!

The Pharisees in our chapter REFUSED to believe in Jesus! I’m going to say they violently refused our Lord. But (praise be to His dear Name) there are many through the ages who have believed, EAGERLY BELIEVED, VIOLENTLY (the King James Version’s word) BELIEVED IN HIM!

Believers who wanted Jesus so bad that their very conversion created a commotion! That’s part of what Matthew 11:12 means, I think … “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” One Greek scholar renders the verse something like this … “From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has been taken by storm, and violent men seize it by force (that eagerly) as a precious prize.”

Yet, wicked as these men had become, Jesus still had a burden for them and their city … “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matthew 23:37, clearly amazing Grace!

By the way, God is not though with Israel yet! He has (ultimately) bright plans for her future! Here’s a hint … “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” Paul writing in Romans 11:26! He’s alluding to Isaiah 59:20 when he says “as it is written.”

Now do this, watch the whole Lesson …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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The Pharisees (as leaders of the Jews) seem to have a dominant role in much of John chapter 9. The once blind man’s neighbors brought him to these Pharisees … likely for their “approval.” These religious (but hypocritical) leaders asked questions of the healed man. As if they were a governing board over Israel. Oh, how they loved their power!

What I did not get to say in this lesson was how these men compared to a character in the little Book of III John (that’s 3rd John). Read with me: “I (John, the author of this Gospel as well) wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.” 3rd John 9-10, where “preeminence” means “first place!”

Church bosses, I call them!

The Pharisees!

Diotrephes!

And some of their descendants still exist in today’s Churches! “Wolves in sheep’s clothing!” (Matthew 7:15)

God, deliver us!

On another note … I forgot to give you the Reference for Jesus being the Lord of the Sabbath.

You will find this amazing verse at Mark 2:28 … “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”

One more thought … The Pharisees to the blind man to whom Jesus gave sight … “What sayest thou of him.” (Verse 17)

This new Believer sure answered well! “He is a Prophet!”

This reminds me of something Peter wrote long ago. “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”(1 Peter 3:15)

Well, our Mr. Truth-telling, healed blind man sure had the right answer!

By the way, reader here today … “WHAT THINK YE OF HIM?”

Eternity hinges on your answer, Heaven or Hell!

Now, if you’re interested, watch the whole class …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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