week 11

Thanks Julie - I love what you had to say!

We will do two more weeks and then take a break until after Christmas.  Try to push through two more weeks as these are great chapters. 

A few things I love about the blind man passage

·         See that salvation is a work of God.  But the blind man responded to His call and obeyed.

·         Once the man was “saved” it was obvious to his friends and family that something was different. 

·         His new life changed the way the man could live….a significantly “better” life.  Sight gave him a right and new perspective, gave him freedom etc.

·         When people asked the man what happened – he gave a testimony but the testimony was simple – he just repeated the facts of what happened.  He didn’t know all the details of the how and why.  He was a witness not an expert.  Sometimes we feel like we can’t talk to people about God because we don’t know all the details – because we are not an expert….but we are a witness to what God has done in our life and that is all we are called to speak about. 

·         No matter who asks, or how they ask or what the consequence, the man doesn’t change his testimony.  At the end he says….”you may not believe but you cannot argue that my life has been changed and who else could make a blind man see?”  People may argue with me about the existence of God or the accuracy of scripture but they cannot argue with me about how my life has been changed or affected.  Hopefully my life will be different enough that I can say, “who else could do something like this?” 

This week we will think about Jesus as the shepherd and us as the sheep which is a beautiful picture.  Spend some time thinking about sheep and the role of the shepherd and relate that to God/Jesus and His relationship with us.  Some of the deeper meaning of especially the first 5 verses is difficult to understand.  I did a lot of reading this week about these verses and this is what I learned…..Shepherds would walk from place to place with their sheep finding pastures for them to graze in.  At night they would put the sheep in a common pen with other sheep from the area.  A guard would watch this pen at night to keep the sheep safe from wolves or robbers/thieves.  In the morning the shepherd would come to get his sheep.  The shepherd would call his sheep by name and the sheep really would know the voice of the shepherd and come out.  The thieves and robbers in verse 1 are the Pharisees and other leaders of Israel.  This section is talking about how God is calling Jews out for salvation through Jesus but the Pharisees are trying to steal them away.  Think about what this story says about the Pharisees and about other things that compete for our salvation.  Verse 16 talks about the fact that God is also calling Gentiles for salvation.  Really think about what it means for God to be your shepherd and relate this to your life.  Read Psalm 23:1-3 as well.