Day 54, John 9:1-10:21

John 9 and John 10:1-21

John’s accounts of the conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees from the Feast of Tabernacles until the Festival of Hanukkah reach a conclusion today. To cover them all we read one and a half chapters in John’s gospel.

There are two key battles, and Jesus triumphs in both!

Firstly there is a man born blind at the side of the street as Jesus is walking by. The disciples reveal the conventional wisdom: sin is to blame so either the man or his parents must have sinned. But such score-keeping is not God’s way. Instead, God sees such ailments as an opportunity to set free. So Jesus puts mud on his eyes and tells him to wash in the pool of Siloam. And light shines into the man’s soul for the first time in his life.

The battle is engaged, because the religious nit-pickers are more concerned that this breaks the law since healing is “work” and this is the Sabbath. In an almost comical escalation, the leaders turn from one poor soul to another, trying to get someone to say that Jesus is a sinner for breaking their laws. First the man, then his parents, are interrogated, all from the assumption that the religious system is right and Jesus is wrong. Such is the blindness of religious pride. This exchange almost looks like a dress-rehearsal for the kangaroo court that will unjustly convict Jesus before His crucifixion. Yet, Jesus is only after setting people free: first he reveals Himself to the man whose sight He restored, then He tells the religious bigots “If you would acknowledge your blindness, then your sin would be removed. But now that you claim to see, your sin remains with you!”

The problem for the religious leaders was that they were illegitimate leaders, failing to heed the voice of the Messiah they were supposed to be expecting. This is the point of the parable of the Good Shepherd in chapter 10:1-21. Jesus is entirely good. He lays down His life for His sheep. He is the true gate into the sheepfold of relationship with God. Since the Pharisees supervise a system of human effort and external appearance, they are the thieves and robbers climbing over the wall!

This of course enrages them further, and sets in place the enmity that will lead them to collude with their Roman oppressors to do away with Jesus soon!

Have you encountered the good shepherd today? Hear His loving voice call you back to where you belong: in the sheepfold of relationship with His Father.

Have a great day!

Mark.