John 9:35-41\u2028<\/strong><\/p>\n 35<\/span><\/i> Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, \u201cDo you believe in the Son of Man?\u201d <\/span><\/i>36<\/span><\/i> He answered, \u201cAnd who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.\u201d <\/span><\/i>37<\/span><\/i> Jesus said to him, \u201cYou have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.\u201d <\/span><\/i>38<\/span><\/i> He said, \u201cLord, I believe.\u201d And he worshiped him. <\/span><\/i>39<\/span><\/i> Jesus said, \u201cI came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.\u201d <\/span><\/i>40<\/span><\/i> Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, \u201cSurely we are not blind, are we?\u201d <\/span><\/i>41<\/span><\/i> Jesus said to them, \u201cIf you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, \u2018We see,\u2019 your sin remains. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Reflect” _builder_version=”3.21″] As John\u2019s Gospel progresses he increasingly pushes us towards making a decision about Jesus. In chapter 9 four conversations unfold following the healing of the blind beggar. The final one (9:36-37) is possibly the most beautiful in the whole of the Gospel. The man who had been ejected from the synagogue by the religious \u2018You have seen him,\u2019 <\/span><\/i>Jesus said. <\/span>\u2018The one who is speaking to you is he.\u2019 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n We can only begin to imagine the awesome implications of what Jesus said that day. And the man responded: <\/span>\u2018Lord, I believe.\u2019 <\/span><\/i>John tells us that he <\/span>worshiped <\/span><\/i>Jesus as though he were God. There are few mountain peaks higher than this in John\u2019s Gospel. The man had progressed from the first conversation where he called Jesus, <\/span>the man <\/span><\/i>(9:11), to the second where he spoke of Jesus as <\/span>a prophet <\/span><\/i>(9:17), to the third where he could say, <\/span>This man must be from God <\/span><\/i>(9:33). Now he worshiped him as Lord. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a picture of the road many of us travel as our understanding of Jesus is awakened. We come to agree that Jesus was a man \u2013 he did live; then we see that he\u2019s more than a man \u2013 he\u2019s a prophet; then, that he\u2019s much more than a prophet \u2013 he must be from God. He is God. He is my Lord. <\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Prayer” _builder_version=”3.21″] Almighty God, you wonderfully created men and women in your own image and have now more wonderfully rescued and restored them. Grant us, we pray, that as your Son our Lord Jesus Christ was made in our likeness, so may we share his divine nature; we ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (1978 AAPB, Second Sunday after Christmas – adapted) <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Daily Reading Plan” _builder_version=”3.21″] Read John 9:24-41<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As John\u2019s Gospel progresses he increasingly pushes us towards making a decision about Jesus. In chapter 9 four conversations unfold following the healing of the blind beggar. The final one (9:36-37) is possibly the most beautiful in the whole of the Gospel. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-29143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2019-lenten-series","tag-lenten-2019"],"yoast_head":"\nReflect<\/h2>\n
Prayer<\/h2>\n
Daily Reading Plan<\/h2>\n