Legitimacy

But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. (John 10:2) Read: Psalm 128-130, 132, 134, 135 Relate: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve grown frustrated with my microwave because two minutes is way too long to wait for that hot pocket to finish cooking. I should be able to…

Sneaky Thieves

 I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! (John 10:1) Read: Psalm 120 – 123, 125, 126 Relate: Anne Rice, author of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana along with a plethora of vampire…

Get Real

Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain…

Choosing Blindness

Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.” “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? We know that…

Desperate

“But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” (John 19:26-27) Read: Psalm 105 – 106 Relate: The only thing worse than being wrong is insisting…

Going Off Script

The Pharisees had a script they wanted the man born blind to follow. At first, they wanted to just ignore or at least discredit the story but neither of those options were viable. The story was getting out. For whatever reason, this was a story that was getting around. So instead of stopping it, they decided to control the spin.

προφήτης

Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?” The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.” (John 9:17) Read: Psalm 1-2, 10, 33, 71, 91 Relate: προφήτης. For those of us that can’t read Homer in the original, those squiggles should…

Jesus wasn’t very religious

“Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied. Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my…

Not The Same

His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”…

Getting Dirty

Are we as desperate for God’s healing hand as we should be? Does pride stand in the way of God moving in our life? Would I be willing to let God slap some spit and mud in my eye?