The Good Shepherd

Jesus and His disciples were walking through Jerusalem. And as they were passing by, Jesus saw a man who had been blind from birth. At that time, it was widely believed that physical disabilities were the result of sin. And so, Jesus' disciples asked Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him. While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes. Then Jesus told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So, the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

At this, the man's neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg”

Some people claimed that he was, but others said, “No, that man just looks like him.”

But the man kept saying, “I am the one.”

“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”

“Where is He?” the people asked.

“I do not know,” he answered.

Then the people brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now, the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. So, the Pharisees also asked the man how he had received his sight.

The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”

Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.”

But other Pharisees said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?”

And there was division among the Pharisees. So, once again they asked the man who had been blind, “What do you say about Him, since it was your eyes He opened?”

“He is a prophet,” the man replied.

The Jewish leaders still did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned his parents and asked, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So, how is it that he can now see?”

His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But how he can now see or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.”

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. For the Jewish leaders had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ (Messiah) would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”

“What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?”

He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”

“That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”

They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

“You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”

“Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

Then Jesus declared, “For judgment, I have come into this world so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”

Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?”

“If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, they will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.

The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

Again, there was a division among the Jewish leaders because of Jesus’ message. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”

But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

See John 9:1-10:21

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