Lesson 9
Who is Jesus?
"Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
Read John Chapter 9
To simplify things there are 3 main characters in this chapter; Jesus, a man born blind and the Pharisees.
Let's start with the man born blind. We know that he was born blind and has been begging for his living. We don't know how old he is but his parents said that "he is of age" which would make him 20+ years old according to Exodus 30:14 and Numbers 1:3. So for twenty years all he has known is darkness, using his hearing and touch for getting around. He has felt isolation and being left out from the rest of the children growing up and many of the activities that others would take for granted. We also know that he knew his scriptures and when he was confronted by the Pharisees, showed remarkable courage & poise in answering their questions. He was then thrown out of the synagogue by his religious leaders.
Now let's look at the Pharisees. We know that they are the religious leaders of the day; know the law, make new laws and have the power to throw people out of the synagogue. We also see that when the man born blind receives the miracle of sight (how amazing), the Pharisees are more concerned with the law, because the miracle happened on the Sabbath (how sad) We know that people feared the Jewish leaders because of their power, and we also know that the Pharisees had already decided to throw out of the synagogue anyone who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah (why).
Finally we come to Jesus and he claims to be the Son of God & the Son of Man. He has been doing amazing miracles in the first 8 chapters so far and now he restores sight to a man born blind, and he claims to be God in the flesh, walking among us.
Some questions to ask.
1: What is the difference between how Jesus deals with the man born blind & the Pharisees?
2: Why are the Pharisees so opposed to Jesus?
3: Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God & the Son of Man?
4: Who would you rather follow, the Pharisees or Jesus?
I hope you are enjoying your studying and getting to know Jesus. It's definitely an adventure!