John 9-10

John 9

¹Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth,

²and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.

⁴While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.

⁷Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

⁸At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

⁹Some claimed that he was, but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” But the man kept saying, “I am the one.”

¹⁰“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

¹¹He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”

¹²“Where is He?” they asked. “I do not know,” he answered.

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.

¹⁴Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.

¹⁵So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”

¹⁶Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was division among them.

¹⁷So once again they asked the man who had been blind, “What do you say about Him, since it was your eyes He opened?” “He is a prophet,” the man replied.

¹⁸The Jews still did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned his parents

¹⁹and asked, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he can now see?”

²⁰His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind.

²¹But how he can now see or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.”

²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

²³That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

²⁴So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”

²⁶“What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?”

²⁷He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

²⁸Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses.

²⁹We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”

³⁰“That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.

³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.

³²Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.

³³If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”

³⁴They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

³⁵When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man ?”

³⁶“Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

³⁷“You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”

³⁸“Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

³⁹Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”

⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?”

⁴¹“If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

John 10

¹“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

²But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

⁵But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

⁶Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.

⁷So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

⁸All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

⁹I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.

¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

¹²The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.

¹³The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.

¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,

¹⁵just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.

¹⁶I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.

¹⁷The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.

¹⁸No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

¹⁹Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message.

²⁰Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”

²¹But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,

²³and Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon’s Colonnade.

²⁴So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵“I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf.

²⁶But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe.

²⁷My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.

²⁹My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.

³²But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”

³³“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”

³⁴Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’?

³⁵If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—

³⁶then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?

³⁷If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me.

³⁸But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”

³⁹At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.

⁴⁰Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there.

⁴¹Many came to Him and said, “Although John never performed a sign, everything he said about this man was true.”

⁴²And many in that place believed in Jesus.