|
Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the door-keeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. John 9: 40 - 10: 6 |
Please help me by letting me know your thoughts. What did Jesus mean when, around AD 30, he replied to this question asked of him by some Pharisees; “Are we also blind?”
They had seen him give sight to a man born blind – yes born blind. Jesus’ reply was: “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains…..” What did he mean by that?
The Pharisees were members of a politico-religious body of people who were in positions of power and authority in Jerusalem and its surrounding area known as Judea. Like all those who are in authority and also believe in their God-given right to rule, they said, “We see”. Jesus said, in effect, to all appearances, that the fact that they said that they saw meant that their “guilt remains.” “Remains?”
They had decided that the man born blind was an utter sinner and that Jesus was a sinner as well. Could it be that Jesus was referring to that decision of theirs – they saw Jesus as a sinner and not as the restorer of sight to the man born blind? Was that the “We see” which meant that their “guilt remained”?
I’m not sure that’s all there is to it. Can you help? |
|
.
|
‘Amazing grace! How sweet the sound/ That saved a wretch like me;/ I once was lost, but now am found,/ Was blind, but now I see.’ (John Newton, slave ship captain, 1725-1807)
|
Jesus said something more which was relevant to these particular Pharisees. John says this of these additional words of Jesus: This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
The “figure of speech” (see bold above) was about a sheepfold. Apparently certain people were in the sheepfold but had entered by climbing over the wall and not by the door of the fold. Jesus described these people (who were only sheep in appearance and not in reality) as “thieves and robbers.”
To me, it seems that Jesus was saying (“Truly, truly, I say to you…”) that these Pharisees appeared to be in the fold – to be God’s people – but had not entered the fold by the door and were not, therefore, God’s people but were, in fact, thieves and robbers. What or who is this all-important door into the fold to which Jesus refers?
When Jesus had earlier found the man born blind (with sight restored) (he had been thrown out of the Temple by the Pharisees – out of the fold, as it were), he asked him: ““Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”
Like many other Christians, I believe that Jesus is “the door” into “the fold” to which he was referring. If that is true, then these Pharisees, members of this politico-religious party with great authority in the nation and its religious life, were “thieves and robbers” inasmuch as they were self-seeking. They did not wish to ascribe any authority to the Most High (“the door-keeper”), let alone to Jesus the door. |
|
.
|
'The Lord has promised good to me,/ His word my hope secures;/ He will my shield and portion be/ As long as life endures.(John Newton, slave ship captain, 1725-1807)
|
What then is true Christianity? Jesus told the Pharisees: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
But I’m still puzzled. What did Jesus mean when he said: “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains…..” |
|
|
