Week 10

Thanks Tammy, Julie, Kara and April!

Jesus was not fooled – by the woman or the Pharisees.  He wasn’t influenced by the Pharisees and at the same time he didn’t ignore the sin.  He had compassion and extended love that wasn’t deserved.  He forgave but he challenged her to change.  What a wonderful picture of the character of Christ.  We see in this story the purpose of the law in the Old Testament and the purpose of Jesus in the New Testament……

1.  To articulate the holiness of God

2.  To leave man in silence

3.  To bring us the Messiah

4.  To forgive us

5. To elevate us to a life of purity

I am so excited for chapter 9.  Here we will see a picture of a “faithful believer” starting with his conversion.   Reflect on the following as you read the chapter.  What do you learn?  What does God impress upon you?

1.        State of the man – congenital blindness(1)

2.       Jesus comes to him and puts clay on his eyes and then commands him to wash in the pool of the “Sent” (6-7) …think of how God created Adam

3.       The man obeys(7)

4.       Sight is restored  - think of how this would have changed his life(7)

5.       People notice the change in the man (8-9)

6.       The man testifies to what happened to him (11,15)…think of what was included in this testimony

7.       The man takes a stand in light of antagonism (25, 30-33)

8.       The man has a consequence for his belief (34)

9.       Jesus seeks out the man

Also think about the following…what is the difference between salvation being personal but not private? Do you believe that? 

A way to think about verse 3….at that time sickness or handicaps where thought to be directly related to a specific sin.  Jesus says that is not the case – bad things don’t happen because of a sin (although sin can have consequences).  Sin entered the world through Adam and since then we live in an imperfect world which has imperfection including sickness and malformations.  Although this can bring pain it also can allow us to see God.  Think of all the characteristics of God which can only be experienced because we live in a sinful world.