|
Received Sight - anablepo (BDAG, p. 59) “to gain sight, whether for the first time or again…w. total loss…J 9:11, 15, 18.”
Real Dudes, In John 9 we read about the man that was born blind. It wasn’t as if he could see the outline of objects or blurs…he had complete loss of eyesight from birth. As you read the passage below I want to draw your attention to a few statements…
Nate John 9 (NKJV) A Man Born Blind Receives Sight 9 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. 8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” 9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.” 10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” 12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.” The Pharisees Excommunicate the Healed Man 13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” 25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out. True Vision and True Blindness 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
0 Comments
Real Dudes,
A few weeks I was asked to preach at Church. Below is the message God laid on my hear to share that morning. John (Book of the Gospel of John) I’m thankful for the opportunity to be able to share something important with each of you this morning. My goal is to cover the entirety of the Book of John in the time I’ve been allotted. But before I do, believe it or not, this March will mark two years since I came on Staff here. Crazy, right? And in these nearly two years I feel like all y’all have gotten to know some things about me, but to begin this morning, I’d like to tell you a little bit more about me and my family. And trust me…it relates to today’s message. Not only am I going to tell you more about my family and I, but I’ll show you some pictures too…First of all…[these pictures can be seen in the live message] I’ve entitled today’s message… What or Who are we DRAWING ATTENTION TO? When approaching my devotions, I often ask the Lord to show me something I may have been missing during earlier times that I’ve read through certain books of the Bible. With the Book of John…God directed me to the phrase THIS IS… Did you happen to catch on to the repeated phrase I used when going through each of the pictures on the screen? “This is…” And you saw the passion and joy in my demeanor when I talked about each because each means a lot to me. In the New Testament, the Greek word for THIS is outos…, BDAG pp. 740-741, referring to “as subst., the person or thing comparatively near at hand in the discourse material, this, this one…w. ref. to something. here and now, directing attention to it…as adj., pert. to an entity perceived as present or near in the discourse, this. “THIS IS…” is a statement I used to direct and draw your attention to what is near and dear to me…to what’s important to and cherished by me. I couldn’t help but want to share THIS with you!!! I can’t help but want to draw your attention to THIS or THESE people who mean a lot to me and are the main focus in the discourse of my life!!! If you’ve spent some time around me, then you’ve probably heard me use the word “Dude” a lot.
I believe Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure influenced that in my generation. Same can be said for Biblical writers. They too often had a common word or phrase that identified their writing with them. The Apostle Paul’s writings were identifiable by his common use of the phrase “In Christ.” Paul wanted everyone to be reminded of their position in Christ. What’s interesting, is that the phrase “this is” is used by the Apostle John more than any other author in the New Testament…and he uses it to point his audience to Christ. To drive this point home… NKJV: New Testament (108) (John uses THIS IS 40x) Matthew (16); Mark (8); Luke (10); John (23); Acts (7); Romans (2); 1 Corinthians (3); Ephesians (2); Colossians (1); 1 Thessalonians (2); 1 Timothy (5); 2 Timothy (1); Titus (1); Hebrews (4); 1 Peter (5); 2 Peter (1); 1 John (13); 2 John (2); Revelation (2) CSB: New Testament (144) (John uses it 52x) Matthew (23); Mark (5); Luke (14); John (28); Acts (7); Romans (4); 1 Corinthians (8); 2 Corinthians (4); Galatians (1); Ephesians (5); Philippians (2); 1 Thessalonians (3); 2 Thessalonians (2); 1 Timothy (1); 2 Timothy (2); Philemon (1); Hebrews (7); 1 Peter (1); 2 Peter (2); 1 John (18); 2 John (2); 3 John (1); Revelation (3) John’s use of “This Is” is significant. That phrase drew attention / directed the attention to what mattered most to him, and should matter most to his audience. Listen to a few examples from the Book of John as I read aloud… NKJV:
If you have your Bibles with you, then please turn to John chapter 3. If you’re using the Bible under the seats, then you can find John 3 on page 604. What I want y’all to see is how John the Baptist is an example of what I’ve been referring to in the Book of John. Read John 3:22-30 (CSB) From that passage we learn that John the Baptist’s ministry was a success…it could have been easy for him to listen to his disciples, to get jealous, and attempt to embrace the attention – and say, “How dare He, that Jesus – this is my territory and this is my ministry.”
|
AuthorNate Smith is a husband, a father of 6 girls, grandpa to 3 granddaughters and one grandson, a police and fire chaplain, a pastor, and has a passion to see men grow in Christ. 
#girldad including granddaughter
Archives
February 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed
|
Let us know how we can pray for you.
|