The Man Born Blind
READ John 9:1-5
Why
was the man born blind?
He was not born blind just so that He
could be healed by Christ, as many others have been born blind or with other
difficult infirmities that were never healed by Christ but might have been just
as “deserving”, in the various ways in which that might be defined; having said
that, “deserving” implies some kind of justice is due and even in the act of
being born blind or with any other sort of mortal disability (physical, mental,
emotional), it is not unjust that we are not all 100% healthy and perfect in
every way – this whole life is a complete gift. It was not a result of anyone,
in this life or the life before, that the man was born blind.
But his infirmity allowed the mercy of
God to be displayed by making him whole and the works of God could be manifest
through his healing.
What
is the relationship between light and eyesight?
If there is no light, everyone is effectively
blind.
READ John 9:6-11
Why
did Christ make clay to enable the healing?
He didn’t have to make or do anything
physical to heal; remember that He had healed the nobleman’s son just by
speaking the word, even though He was a day’s journey away from the boy (see
John 4:46-54).
Christ and others (Elijah, Joseph Smith)
used physical tools to aid them in their healings and miracles to increase the
faith of those involved; in Christ’s case, it would have been to increase the
faith of the participants; in the others’ cases, it may have also been to
sufficiently increase the faith of the individual performing the miracle (i.e.
why did Joseph Smith use a seer stone or the Urim and Thummim; or why did
Elijah have to “stretch himself” upon the child to heal him – why did he need
maximum proximity of energy connection points (see 1 Kings 17:17-23)?)
In this case, the blind man had to
exercise faith by washing away of the clay in the pool of Siloam (“the Sent
One”); his believing Christ enough to go to that pool and wash was a physical
show of faith and enabled him to see via the healing.
Did
the man see Jesus at the time of the healing?
No, as he was completely blind – Christ
told him to go and wash in the pool to “execute” the healing.
He was healed after he washed.
What
did he know of Jesus?
That He had anointed him.
That he could now see.
He would have heard His voice – maybe
could have recognized Him that way.
He might have heard about Christ’s
healing miracles, by this point in His ministry.
READ John 9:15-25
Did
Christ keep the Sabbath Day holy?
Yes; He kept the Law of Moses as it had
been revealed to the prophet.
But the Jewish leaders had changed the
definition of what was lawful to do on the Sabbath – and He did not keep their
law.
What
is the danger in changing the Law (or standards) to be even more restrictive –
shouldn’t it keep people safer?
If you change the Law in any way, you are
in trouble – you are intimating that you know more than God when you actually
know much less (see Isaiah 24:5-6); but you lack faith that God’s law will be
helpful – you feel the need to add safeguards, as you seem them.
You draw the focus away from the
spiritual realm and squarely into the temporal, physical realm – it is a
terrestrial, rule-making mindset rather than a celestial, heart-changing one,
since humans can’t really measure if a true spiritual change has occurred; they
depend on understanding physical changes only and equating spiritual outcomes
from what they think they can discern.
How
can a man do such miracles as Christ did and be a sinner?
He can’t do good (which is defined as the
will of the Father) and be a sinner (see Matthew 7:20-23).
By his works or fruits you will know a
true prophet from a false one (see Matthew 7:20 and Moroni 7:13-16) – the
fruits of this Sabbath day work was the healing of a man blind from birth.
The problem for the Jews is that they had
changed the definition of what constituted sin because they had changed the
Law; so because Christ violated their law (which was no longer God’s Law, but
they didn’t acknowledge that fact) they thought He was a sinner – despite the
paradox of the fact that He was doing godly miracles.
Implied in this is that spiritual power
can be manifested in this physical world separate from God’s will; and even
seemingly “good” things (by our mortal definition) could be done by a
spiritually gifted person that were not the will of God at that particular
moment – making them evil deeds. The
Jewish leaders are assuming that this is what is taking place here OR that it’s
some kind of “parlor” trick like modern magicians perform today.
READ John 9:26-34 (with JST v 32)
Were
the Jewish leaders open to the possibility that Christ might really have been
doing miracles by the power of God - that He was a prophet?
No.
Their going in conclusion (not just
assumption) was that Christ couldn’t possibly be sent from God because a) He
violated their Sabbath Day law, b) He was not a credentialed scholar or priest
and was from outside the official hierarchy, c) He demonstrated actual power,
while all they had was authority per the Temple and Priesthood keys, a focus on
observable outward religious performances and a lot of teachings they liked to
pontificate about.
Their logic was flawed because they
couldn’t admit the possibility that Christ was sent from God – that He was
telling the truth.
The fact that they would excommunicate
anyone who claimed Jesus was the Messiah shows how closed they were to Him.
So, they were never going to see the
truth because it was too hard to bear – it violated too many of their
traditions about “the way things are” including the conclusion that they were
in apostasy as they’d changed the Law; they were never going to become Christ’s
followers, so they were never able to see the truth of who He was.
Why
don’t the High Priests know “from whence (Jesus) is”?
They will not ask, seek or knock (see
Matthew 7:7-11).
They are ignoring the Spirit of Christ
(see Moroni 7:14-16).
They’ve never been to “whence He is” (heaven)
so they don’t recognize Him or where He is from; in other words, they’ve never
parted the veil, never been ministered to by an angel, and have never gone to
heaven via the fiery portal.
What
does it mean that they “cast him out”?
They excommunicated him – the cut him off
spiritually – a death sentence of His eternal life – in effect, to make the
atonement null and void for him.
READ 3 Nephi 18:32
Even
if they felt he was wrong, what should they have done to him?
Minister with love, that He might choose
to repent.
Do
they have the authority to do this?
Yes – they are the legitimately sustained
High Priests of Israel.
READ John 9:35-38
What
does Jesus do when He hears of the excommunication?
He gives the man His own one question
salvific interview: “do you believe on the Son of God?”
Salvation comes through the Lord and His truly
authorized servants; they are authorized because they have been given a message
directly from Him to us.
READ John 9:39-41
What
is the danger in proclaiming “I see”?
Your sin remains.
You are saying “I understand all things
and am now fully accountable”.
Your pride sets an impossible standard
that you will fail.
You don’t actually see. Seeing implies actually seeing through the
veil and comprehending all of what you are seeing there.
As a result of all this, the Lord will
leave you in your blindness and your sins.
Who
is the “man born blind”?
Anyone who cannot “see” what is really
going on – anyone who cannot see both the spiritual realm and physical realm is
“blind” to everything but the physical manifestations or outcomes of what is
going on in the spiritual world.
All people born into this world are “born
blind” because the veil has been drawn over their consciousness and spiritual
eyes; the difficult thing about being born blind is that you only know the
darkness – you have no real understanding of what you cannot “feel” until you
are healed, and then you are not even quite sure what it is you are looking at
because you’ve never seen anything like it before.
Always remember that the Lord can teach
all those who have been blinded by falsehoods to see, if they realize they are
blind and come unto Him. Being born
blind is not a hopeless state, with a Savior at hand.
The Good Shepherd
READ John 10:1-5
What
is the difference between the shepherd and all others?
Known: The shepherd enters in by the gate
– he is known by the porter or gatekeeper (he is legitimate) and by the sheep
(he is their owner – they belong to him and they love him) – and they will
follow him out.
Unknown: All others must climb the
barrier - because they are unknown to the porter and the sheep – and the sheep
will not follow but will flee; they are robbers.
How
does the shepherd lead the sheep?
The shepherd goes first – he leads the
sheep – he makes sure the way is safe – he is their example, and they follow
where he leads by listening to his voice and because he knows their names and
will speak to them individually as well as collectively.
The sheep respond to the voice of their
shepherd; they follow His example and path because they trust him and his
words; they know he loves them and will not lead them astray but has their
welfare at heart, even to laying down his life for them.
The sheep refuse to listen to another
voice.
READ John 10:7-10
What
is this “pasture” that the sheep seek to get to?
Eternal life or “abundant” life.
The pasture is within the sheepfold, not
outside of it.
What
does it mean that Jesus is the “door” to “pasture”?
It is like saying “I am the way” or that
he is the “gatekeeper”.
Pasture or eternal life goes through
Christ – there is no other way and those who promise another way are liars,
thieves and robbers.
READ John 10:11-15
What
is a hireling?
An employee not an owner; but a hireling
can be well paid, like a CEO, for instance.
Performs the job only when he/she
receives something in return.
The contract is entered into through
mutual self-interest; a fair fee for a valued service.
What
are the implications of this relationship? (Hireling)
It is a transactional exchange, which
always means that it is finite and limited.
The hireling “keeps score” and is very
aware of whether the contract is still “profitable”.
There will always be a point where the
hireling says “I’m not getting paid enough to do this” - at some point the
hireling will run from the wolf.
What
is a shepherd?
The person who owns the sheep.
What
are the implications of this relationship? (Shepherd)
There is no score to keep.
There is no “get out” clause because
there is nowhere else to go.
The shepherd says “this one is mine”; he
cares for his own and will lay down his life for the sheep; he will not run
from the “wolf” because he loves the sheep (they are his) and his own fortunes
rise or fall with the health of the sheep.
How
does the shepherd care for the health of the sheep?
He is close at hand – he cannot care for
the sheep by standing far off or being remote.
He has not contracted out the mundane or
difficult tasks to hirelings – he ministers to the needs of the sheep himself.
How
do the sheep learn the voice of the shepherd?
He lives with the sheep.
Why
do we need a shepherd and not a hireling?
Because a sacrifice is required to save
us – an infinite and eternal sacrifice.
The shepherd will make the sacrifice and
lay down his life for the sheep while the hireling will run.
Why
will the shepherd lay down his life for the sheep?
He loves the sheep more than life itself.
They are his work and his glory.
READ John 10:16-18
Who
are the other sheep not part of this fold?
The Lehites (see 3 Nephi 15:13-19).
The Lost Tribes of Israel (see 3 Nephi
15:20-22).
Others who have sought Him out – although,
like the Nephites, He may not have ministered to them in the flesh prior to His
resurrection (see 3 Nephi 15:23).
What
does it mean that Christ has sheep distributed all over the world but they are
of one fold?
They are of one fold because they share
the same shepherd (Christ).
It doesn’t mean they are of the same fold
because they share the same hirelings (Church leaders).
Christ is talking about people across the
world and throughout time, who have sought to know Him and have found Him.
In a future day, they will be introduced
to each other and come together to form Zion.
Why
does the Father trust Christ with the flock?
Christ had already risen up to be a god.
He had foreknowledge of Christ’s
capabilities from His choices and behavior in a “first place” (see Alma 13:3-5).
Christ is a true shepherd – He would willingly
sacrifice His life – he would make a choice to lay it down; no one took His
life.
Christ possessed the power to take His
life up again to provide life for the flock – which commandment to do so, He
received from His Father.
READ John 10:19-30
Why
did the Jewish leaders think Christ had a devil in Him?
They could not deny the reality of His
miracles.
So, they had two choices with regards to
how He was able to perform them: either He was sent by God or He was in league
with the Devil.
They were unwilling to be open to the
possibility that He could have been sent from God, due to the fact that He had
exposed them as false preachers with no power or authority.
As they saw it, they only had one choice:
Jesus must be in league with the devil.
What
is the problem with the argument that Christ was in league with the devil?
He did not teach the words of a devil –
He spoke about repentance and a higher law of love.
Would a devil restore sight to the
blind? Devils are destructive in the use
of their power – they do not bless people like this.
In a terrible irony, it is the Jewish
leaders who are completely in Satan’s power but don’t realize it.
What
does it mean that the Jewish leaders were not part of the flock given to Christ
by the Father, and what is implied by this statement?
The Father “gave” Christ a “flock” or
group of people born onto this earth.
That flock is a subset of all of the
people born on this earth (i.e. the Jewish leaders are not part of that flock);
this means that while all might be “children of God”, they are not all the
Father’s flock or people or family or rightful heirs.
That flock belonged to the Father before
Christ was called to be the Son of God.
They must have
differentiated themselves through their exceeding faith and good works in a
“first place” before this earth (see Alma 13:3-5); that differentiation
included becoming the Father’s (Ahman’s) Son or Daughter – they had become
“His” flock prior to their birth on this earth because they knew His voice just
like they know Christ’s voice on this earth.
Implied is
that they gained a relationship with the Father, either through a role He was
filling as a Savior or through a previous Savior; also implied is that some
others (the Jewish leaders and many others) did not gain such a relationship
but that ALL of them might have been together in a prior eternity’s life.
READ John 10:31-42
What
doctrine is Christ teaching here – that “ye are gods”?
He is teaching the doctrine of
exaltation; that God’s children can all rise up to become precisely as God is.
He is also teaching that we are already
Gods; we are self-existent, non-created, beings that are co-equal with God (see
D&C 93:29-30; TPJS 395-398).
We have chosen to be separated from the
divine unity and life which we had with the Gods in heaven, to be enlarged or
gain more light through experiences that we could not have in a heavenly realm
– there is a kind of perfection that only comes through experience of pain and
stark alienation from God and each other.
Will we choose, like Christ, to
rediscover who we truly are? Christ was
fully exposed to our mortal condition as an individual alienated from God’s
presence and isolated from every other individual on earth, however He lived in
complete fidelity with God – seeking and finding that oneness with the Gods
that He had enjoyed in Heaven – thereby living a life reconciling our
alienation – He bridged the gap between the separated, alienated telestial
state and the completed unified oneness of the Celestial state and is our
example.
Why
is Christ teaching this doctrine as a defense against blasphemy?
If the doctrine of theosis (that man can
become a god) is true and if God was talking to ordinary men (that it was
possible for them), then how can the Jewish leaders condemn Christ for
testifying that He is God’s son, as they, themselves, are “gods”, as per the
scriptures.
How
are we supposed to judge Christ – or anyone who comes in His name, for that
matter?
Judge him by what he does and by his
message.
If he fails to do what God expects or
wishes, then you are free to reject him.
