{"id":4106,"date":"2020-06-17T03:13:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T03:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/takingeverythoughtcaptivetoobeychrist.wordpress.com\/?p=4106"},"modified":"2020-06-17T03:13:40","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T03:13:40","slug":"the-man-who-had-formerly-been-blind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-man-who-had-formerly-been-blind\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man Who Had Formerly Been Blind"},"content":{"rendered":"

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.<\/span>\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup>And his disciples asked him,\u00a0\u201cRabbi,\u00a0who sinned,\u00a0this man or\u00a0his parents, that he was born blind?\u201d<\/span>\u00a03\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cIt was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but\u00a0that the works of God might be displayed in him.<\/span><\/span>\u00a04\u00a0<\/sup>We must\u00a0work the works of him who sent me\u00a0while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.<\/span><\/span>\u00a05\u00a0<\/sup>As long as I am in the world,\u00a0I am the light of the world.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup>Having said these things,\u00a0he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva.\u00a0Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud<\/span>\u00a07\u00a0<\/sup>and said to him,\u00a0\u201cGo, wash in\u00a0the pool of Siloam\u201d<\/span>\u00a0(which means Sent). So he went and washed and\u00a0came back seeing.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

8\u00a0<\/sup>The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying,\u00a0\u201cIs this not the man who used to sit and beg?\u201d<\/span>\u00a09\u00a0<\/sup>Some said, \u201cIt is he.\u201d Others said, \u201cNo, but he is like him.\u201d He kept saying, \u201cI am the man.\u201d<\/span>\u00a010\u00a0<\/sup>So they said to him, \u201cThen how were your eyes opened?\u201d<\/span>\u00a011\u00a0<\/sup>He answered,\u00a0\u201cThe man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me,\u00a0\u2018Go to Siloam and wash.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0So I went and washed and received my sight.\u201d<\/span>\u00a012\u00a0<\/sup>They said to him, \u201cWhere is he?\u201d He said, \u201cI do not know.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

13\u00a0<\/sup>They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.<\/span>\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.<\/span>\u00a015\u00a0<\/sup>So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, \u201cHe put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.\u201d<\/span>\u00a016\u00a0<\/sup>Some of the Pharisees said, \u201cThis man is not\u00a0from God,\u00a0for he does not keep the Sabbath.\u201d But others said,\u00a0\u201cHow can a man who is a sinner do such signs?\u201d And\u00a0there was a division among them.<\/span>\u00a017\u00a0<\/sup>So they said again to the blind man, \u201cWhat do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?\u201d He said,\u00a0\u201cHe is a prophet.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

18\u00a0<\/sup>The Jews[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight<\/span>\u00a019\u00a0<\/sup>and asked them, \u201cIs this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?\u201d<\/span>\u00a020\u00a0<\/sup>His parents answered, \u201cWe know that this is our son and that he was born blind.<\/span>\u00a021\u00a0<\/sup>But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.\u201d<\/span>\u00a022\u00a0<\/sup>(His parents said these things\u00a0because they feared the Jews, for\u00a0the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should\u00a0confess Jesus[b<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0to be Christ,\u00a0he was to be put out of the synagogue.)<\/span>\u00a023\u00a0<\/sup>Therefore his parents said,\u00a0\u201cHe is of age; ask him.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

24\u00a0<\/sup>So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him,\u00a0\u201cGive glory to God. We know that\u00a0this man is a sinner.\u201d<\/span>\u00a025\u00a0<\/sup>He answered, \u201cWhether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I\u00a0was blind, now I see.\u201d<\/span>\u00a026\u00a0<\/sup>They said to him, \u201cWhat did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?\u201d<\/span>\u00a027\u00a0<\/sup>He answered them,\u00a0\u201cI have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?\u201d<\/span>\u00a028\u00a0<\/sup>And they reviled him, saying, \u201cYou are his disciple, but\u00a0we are disciples of Moses.<\/span>\u00a029\u00a0<\/sup>We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man,\u00a0we do not know where he comes from.\u201d<\/span>\u00a030\u00a0<\/sup>The man answered, \u201cWhy, this is\u00a0an amazing thing!\u00a0You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.<\/span>\u00a031\u00a0<\/sup>We know that\u00a0God does not listen to sinners, but\u00a0if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.<\/span>\u00a032\u00a0<\/sup>Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.<\/span>\u00a033\u00a0<\/sup>If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.\u201d<\/span>\u00a034\u00a0<\/sup>They answered him,\u00a0\u201cYou were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?\u201d And they\u00a0cast him out.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

35\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said,\u00a0\u201cDo you believe in\u00a0the Son of Man?\u201d[c<\/a>]<\/sup><\/span><\/span>\u00a036\u00a0<\/sup>He answered,\u00a0\u201cAnd who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?\u201d<\/span>\u00a037\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said to him,\u00a0\u201cYou have seen him, and\u00a0it is he who is speaking to you.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a038\u00a0<\/sup>He said, \u201cLord, I believe,\u201d and he worshiped him.<\/span>\u00a039\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said,\u00a0\u201cFor judgment I came into this world,\u00a0that those who do not see may see, and\u00a0those who see may become blind.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a040\u00a0<\/sup>Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him,\u00a0\u201cAre we also blind?\u201d<\/span>\u00a041\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said to them,\u00a0\u201cIf you were blind,\u00a0you would have no guilt;[d<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0but now that you say, \u2018We see,\u2019 your guilt remains.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Last week we focused in on the miracle of Jesus giving sight to the blind man, this week we look at the reactions to this miracle in the rest of the chapter. But I would like to do so in terms of one of the overarching themes of this passage that I presented last week. Last week I made the case that this is a story about death and resurrection, as Jesus puts mud on the man\u2019s eyes, He is burying him so to speak, and the man raises to life out of the waters as a new man, a resurrected man with a new set of eyes. He\u2019s been made a new creation. He is a man back from the dead, as it were.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blindness and sight is a metaphor for death and resurrection. It is darkness and light. The darkness of the grave and the light of life. Blindness turned to sight is a metaphor for death and resurrection. So as great as a story about about a blind beggar given sight is, it is about much more, it is a story about death and resurrection, which in turn means that this is a story about Jesus, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and death and resurrection is only possible because Jesus died and came back to life. The light of Jesus goes into the darkness of the grave and gives life to the dead. Light is life.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I want to look at this man born blind, who is now a new creation, and see how his \u201cdeath and resurrection\u201d affects the way he faces the various reactions to what Jesus has done for him. Because one thing we do know is that people who have come back from the dead are different people than they were before. There are things demonstrably different about them. I think of the Lord of the Rings, when Gandalf the grey makes his stand against the Balrog in the Mines of Moria, and in the scene he falls down deep into the depths of the earth with this creature. And of course later on in the story Gandalf comes back from the dead, but he is no longer grey; he is now Gandalf the white, and some of the Hobbits who first saw him, didn\u2019t even recognize him. He was different.<\/span><\/p>\n

And of course think of our Lord. When Jesus comes back from the dead, Mary sees Him in the garden and mistakes Him for the gardener. He walks through walls. Thomas puts his hands in His scars, because it was so unbelievable that He could rise from the dead. One of my favorite passages about the resurrected Lord is in John\u2019s revelation, Revelation chapter 1, \u201cThen I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. THe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, \u201cFear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.\u201d\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So to regroup our thoughts here. This man born blind, as we saw last week, has had a death and resurrection experience, so to speak. And when you are resurrected from the dead, you are resurrected a new creature – a new creation in Christ. And one\u2019s resurrection is going to affect the way they live. And so we will see how this man\u2019s resurrection affects him, and thus by way of application, how our spiritual resurrection in Christ affects the way that we live.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The light of Jesus makes once dead, but now alive people, faithful among their neighbors<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Upon this man\u2019s new sight and set of eyes, we first see the response of his neighbors. And how fitting this is, as it is those among whom he lives that first sees the difference about this man. His neighbors present a mixed response. Some think it is him, the man who used to sit and beg, others say, no he is just like the man. The man was persistent in his testimony saying \u201cI am the man.\u201d Here is the case in point that through this man\u2019s \u201cresurrection\u201d he arose a new creation, quite different, such that some did not even recognize him with the man he was before. And you can tell the neighbors are not quite sure what to think. It isn\u2019t a celebration, but it also isn\u2019t necessarily negative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is that when you are raised to new life in Christ, people will look at you strange. Some people might laugh. Some people might avoid you now. Some people won\u2019t believe you, because they knew the old you and there\u2019s no way you\u2019ve changed. And yet a man whose eyes have been opened to the light of life will be faithful in witness saying, \u201cI am the man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Often it is among our neighbors and friends that it is hardest to be a new Christian, yet it is our first calling. After all, they were the people that knew us before, they were the people we sinned with, and thus are the easiest to fall back into sin with. Nevertheless, if we have been raised with new eyes, we are not just turning a new leaf, or attempting moral improvements upon our lives, we are actually a different creature than we were before. We have a new set of eyes. We have a new heart. We cannot help but be different, because we are different. Jesus has fundamentally changed us and changed who we are.<\/span><\/p>\n

The light of Jesus makes once dead people able to withstand their parent\u2019s alienation<\/b><\/p>\n

So after the man raises quite the stir among his neighbors he is brought before the Pharisees for some light questioning which results in some division among the Pharisees. The Pharisees then bring in the man\u2019s parents for questioning because they do not believe that this man was actually born blind. The man\u2019s parents sort of half-way throw him under the bus. Not completely because they don\u2019t disown him and they confirm the truth that he is their son who was born blind but can now see. But that\u2019s as far as they are willing to go. They are afraid of the Jews because at this point the Jews are already excommunicating people who confessed that Jesus was the Christ. So the parents say \u201che\u2019s our son. He was born blind, but now sees. But we don\u2019t know anything else, so ask him because he is of age. So they are ashamed of Christ and hand over their son back to the Jewish authorities instead of defending him all the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I would like to note here, as I mentioned, the Jews were at this point already putting people out of the synagogue for confessing Jesus to be the Christ, or the Messiah. But they aren\u2019t directly asking the man\u2019s parents about if they believe Jesus is the Messiah or not. So why is this fear brought up? The answer is in the fact that this miracle of Jesus giving sight to the blind, is not merely a random miracle. It is not a random act of kindness. It is not just something nice that Jesus decided to do for this man. The miracle of giving sight to the blind was distinctly messianic. It wasn\u2019t just a good deed, it was a sign that Jesus was the Christ. Based on their scriptural knowledge we have to believe the Pharisees are aware of this, and thus they are set out to try and prove that this miracle did not really happen, or that Jesus is a sinner in some way, thus disqualifying himself from being the Messiah. As in many other places they are clinging to the fact that Jesus did this thing on the Sabbath day, yet we know that that argument holds no ground, and it is clear the Pharisees know that by the way they frantically act to find other things to accuse Jesus of. But what is it about giving sight to the blind that was distinctly messianic that the Jews knew about? Well, the prophets, in prophesying about the Messiah, prophesied that when he comes he would give sight to the blind. Giving sight to the blind is one of the prophetic, messianic signs. When Jesus does this, He is fulfilling the Scriptures and fulfilling His Messianic role. Isaiah 29:18, \u201cIn that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.\u201d Isaiah 35:5, \u201cThen the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;\u201d Isaiah 42:7, \u201cI will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.\u201d And so the Pharisees are closely connecting the confession that Jesus healed this man born blind, with a confession that Jesus is the Christ. The man\u2019s parents are fearful and ashamed and hand their son back over to these Pharisees to stand on his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

And thus it is the case all too many times that there is an estrangement or alienation between parents and children when the children become Christians. It is obviously ideal that parents raise their children in the Lord and pass on their faith to them and there is generational honor and faith. But what happens when the child of an unbelieving family comes to Christ? There is alienation to some degree between parents and child. There is disappointment a child must endure. There are decisions they will need to make that their parents will not like. There can even be situations such as this where the parents turn their children in. But a resurrected man or woman can withstand, indeed must withstand even opposition such as this, for they are new.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The light of Jesus makes once dead people able to stand before the authorities with boldness<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So as this man is brought back before the Pharisees for a second round of questioning it is not as friendly this time around. It has now clearly escalated into conflict and tension, and the man grows ever braver, learning the strength of his newly resurrected self. He begins to flex a little, if you will, to such a degree that he even has the tenacity to turn the tables around and pin the questioning upon the Pharisees, something that indeed required a supernatural dose of courage, something that can only be accounted for by resurrection. The opposition this man faces intensifies, but not without the intensifying of his own faith. He is given sufficient grace for each moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The light of Jesus brings people back from the dead to stand with a new strength, boldness, and courage before those with far more earthly power than they. That is the story of the martyrs. That is our Christian heritage. That is the story of Moses. Think about it: after Moses killed the Egyptian that was oppressing the Hebrew people, Moses fled Egypt and lived in the wilderness for 40 years until God meets him and calls him to go back to Egypt to free the Hebrew people. And when Moses returns to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, it is as if Moses has returned from the dead. Despite all of Moses\u2019 infirmities, he is a man back from the dead with a new boldness he did have before. Before he ran away and hid, the resurrected Moses has a spell battle with the gods of Egypt, if you will – of course they were the works of Yahweh.<\/span><\/p>\n

You see, time and time again Christians are called to stand before the authorities, whether it is religious authorities or civil authorities, they are called to stand and testify, and only people who have been spiritually resurrected and know that they will physically rise again can have the courage to stand and say what needs to be said. That kind of courage requires men and women to remember that the power of \u201cI AM\u201d is greater than the powers that be. It requires one to believe that Christ\u2019s power to resurrect is greater than the authorities\u2019 power to kill. And this man who was blind but can now see, knows that there is nothing they can say or do to change the fact that he was blind, but now he sees. If they put out his eyes and blind him again, he doesn\u2019t care because he already knows that Jesus can give him new eyes – He already did it once. He already knows that Jesus is more powerful than blindness. So Christian, what are you afraid of? Whatever is taken, Jesus, from His fullness can restore.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The light of Jesus makes once dead people okay to be cast out, because they\u2019ve already been cast out and came back to life (they\u2019ve already died)<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So of course the result of this second round of questioning which turns out to be a bit of a showdown results in the man being cast out. So he is here receiving the treatment his parents were afraid of receiving, being put out of the synagogue for confessing Jesus to be the Christ. He knew full well this could be the consequence of his courage before the authorities. And he was okay with it. He was already an outcast. He was already cast out by society.<\/span><\/p>\n

You see a man who has nothing to lose is a free man, a dangerous man, and a bold man. You see if you want to get to certain places in certain institutions or reach certain levels of success in certain industries, there are certain things that you cannot say and cannot do. Obviously this is true in the world, but it is also true in certain professing Christian institutions – if you want to get to a certain spot or keep a certain job, there are things you cannot say and cannot do. But Christian men – men who have come back from the dead, should not have certain things that we cannot say when it comes to the truth of God. And a man who does not have certain things that he cannot say in term of the truth of God is a free man, a dangerous man, and a bold man. He is a man not in the pockets of any big wigs. And of course I am not talking about any kind of sinful speech or wreckless speech or foolish speech or any such thing. I am talking about the truth spoken properly. Don\u2019t have truths you cannot say. Being cast out is nothing. Oh that men would cast us out, and that God would not. Who cares if we are cast out if we are accepted by God in Christ. Chris has brought us in because He was cast out for us, so that we have no need to fear being cast out. What matters is where you stand before God. And a man who can stand before God confidently clothed in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ is a bold man. He doesn\u2019t fear other men. And on the other hand he also doesn\u2019t need to act tough and put down other men either, because he knows who he is and where he stands with God, and he knows God. The guy wasn\u2019t looking to pick a fight with the Pharisees, they picked one with him, so he brought it.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The light of Jesus raises the dead to make worshippers for Himself\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After this man withstands his trial and is thrown out of the synagogue we see a most gracious scene where the Lord Jesus whom he confessed comes near to him and visits him. The Lord opens his eyes even further and reveals himself as the Son of Man. The man believes Jesus and he worshipped Him. I have brought this to your attention probably almost every time we come across a text that uses the title \u201cSon of Man;\u201d but this title, in terms of its biblical use comes from the prophet Daniel when he sees one like a son of man ascending to heaven to receive a kingdom and dominion and authority and power. There is a divine, kingly connection to this term that connects Jesus with being born a man. That is the term that Jesus uses here, and the man responds in belief by worshipping him, and all the Jews know that you are only to worship God, and God alone, and so this man recognizes, believes, and worships Jesus as God, the divine Son of Man – the Messiah, the Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

And this is what Jesus does: He comes to earth and is despised and rejected, the natural man will have nothing to do with. The natural man hates God. The natural man reviles His Christ. The natural man loves the darkness of his blindness and would have nothing to do with God. There is no natural man on earth who would worship Christ or love God. And Jesus comes and no one will worship Him, so Jesus raises dead people to worship Him. In Matthew 3, John the baptist is preaching and he is crying out against the hypocrisy and unbelief of the Pharisees and he says that the axe is laid against the root and God\u2019s going to cut down every tree that doesn\u2019t bear fruit, and the Pharisees boast that they are sons of Abraham, but John the Baptist says, so what, that\u2019s not going to save you if you don\u2019t repent for God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. And let me tell you that was not just a hypothetical warning, that was in fact what God did. That\u2019s what regeneration is – God takes our hearts of stone and gives us a heart of flesh, thus raising up Sons of Abraham from these stones. In John 4, Jesus talks about how God is searching for those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth. And he goes around searching and finds no one, so He raises people from the dead, who would worship him. Jesus goes and makes blind people see, so that they will worship Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

I do love the famous John Piper quote where he says that \u201cmissions exists because worship doesn\u2019t.\u201d By that he means that the reason we do missions is because the world is not worshipping God as it ought to. We do missions in order that people would come to Christ and worship at His feet. That is the goal of missions that the heavens and earth would be filled with the worship of God. That is God\u2019s mission in the world, seeking those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth. Raising sons of Abraham from stones to worship Him. That is the goal of missions: not just to snatch souls from the flames, but that God would get what is due to Him. That God\u2019s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. That God would be worshipped on earth as He is in heaven. That the knowledge of the glory of God would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and that every knee would bow and confess that Jesus is Lord. We want the entire cosmos praising God in Christ! How do we get there? One at a time. Faithful with what\u2019s in front of you.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The light of Jesus gives sight to the blind, and blinds those with sight<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Finally, it is obvious in the text that there is a divide when it comes to Jesus. Yet, Jesus is said to be the light of the world. Jesus is the light of the world – He doesn\u2019t just have a light that shines in certain places – He is the Light of the World. It\u2019s who He is. So why the divide? What doesn\u2019t everyone believe? Jesus said, \u201cFor judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.\u201d The light of Jesus Christ opens the eyes of the blind, and blinds those who see. There is certainly a lot of playing on words going on here. But the point is that Jesus came both as a stumbling block, a rock of offense, a judgment on the adulterous people of Israel, and as a shepherd bringing in the lost sheep, the power of God unto salvation. What I\u2019m saying is that the hardening or blinding that went on the Jews was a specific judgment upon them for the rejection of God. Jesus came specifically to judge the rebellious apostate Jews, while at the same time being a light to the world, a light to the gentiles. Yet there is a general principle here that we all know that the gospel forces a reaction. Jesus makes a divide wherever He is preached. There is no neutral response to Jesus. You are either for Him or against Him, Jesus said. He is a light shedding light into the darkness, and a light blinding others. This is 1st Corinthians 1, that the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the light of Christ blinds some and opens the eyes of others, then what is the difference? The difference is the purposes of the grace of God.Everyone apart from the grace of God responds in hatred, unbelief, rebellion, etc. It takes resurrection to come and worship at the feet of Jesus Christ. It takes Jesus coming to us. It takes the light of the world shining in the darkness of our blindness and our grave and saying \u201clet there be light!\u201d and we are made new, given a new set of eyes, to worship at His feet. \u201cThe word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.\u201d You see when you come to the cross, you must be humbled as a blind beggar. You must be poor and wretched. You must be an outcast sinner. The prideful and the self-righteous; the boastful and the arrogant will find no need of the cross, and it will seem as folly to them. If you are blind and poor and needy for Christ, Jesus comes to you today. Lord God, give us eyes to see. Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.\u00a02\u00a0And his disciples asked him,\u00a0\u201cRabbi,\u00a0who sinned,\u00a0this man or\u00a0his parents, that he was born blind?\u201d\u00a03\u00a0Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cIt was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but\u00a0that the works of God might be displayed in him.\u00a04\u00a0We must\u00a0work the works of him who sent me\u00a0while it is day; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":4109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,25,27,32],"tags":[123,187,213,274,345,352,382,469,516,557,569,577,679,681,749,765,786,936,1049,1050,1080,1111,1138,1144,1172,1339,1365],"class_list":{"0":"post-4106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-faith","9":"category-gospel","10":"category-theology","11":"tag-alive","12":"tag-been","13":"tag-blind","14":"tag-christ","15":"tag-darkness","16":"tag-dead","17":"tag-disciples","18":"tag-eyes","19":"tag-formerly","20":"tag-god","21":"tag-grave","22":"tag-had","23":"tag-jesus","24":"tag-jews","25":"tag-light","26":"tag-lord","27":"tag-man","28":"tag-pharisees","29":"tag-resurrected","30":"tag-resurrection","31":"tag-salvation","32":"tag-see","33":"tag-sight","34":"tag-sin","35":"tag-spirit","36":"tag-who","37":"tag-world","38":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/06\/unnamed-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4100,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-mud-making-god-john-91-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":4106,"position":0},"title":"The Mud-Making God; John 9:1-7","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"June 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Verse 1, \"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.\": So Jesus is walking by with his disciples and he sees a blind man. 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It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.\u00a018\u00a0The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.\u00a019\u00a0When they had rowed about three or four miles,[a]\u00a0they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/11\/depositphotos_13295885-stock-photo-christ-on-the-sea.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":468,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/behold-the-lamb-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":4106,"position":5},"title":"Behold, the Lamb of God","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"November 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I was recently reading John 1 v 29-51, saw some magnificent things, and now I have to write about it. 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