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| 1 And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. |
As Jesus passed by – Our Lord was in Jerusalem on the occasion of the Feast of the Tabernacles, in the fall of the third year of his ministry--just six months before his crucifixion. R4148:2
He saw a man – Sitting by the wayside soliciting alms, especially at that season of the year, when the crowds gathered for worship and were apt to feel benevolent. R4148:2
The blind man would fitly represent the world of mankind in general, who during the present life are mentally blind. R2670:1
Blind from his birth – Few now have the ability to see or hear. The majority are blind and deaf to his message, some completely blind and completely deaf, others partially so. R3519:4
Some of us were born blind--blind to the Lord and his true character, blind to the truth of the divine Word. The blindness upon us was neither our own fault nor the fault of our parents. R4150:2, 3520:5
This blindness does not represent a blindness on the part of those who have once seen God's grace, represented in his Word and plan, and who have then become blind thereto. R2670:1
Tabulated information shows that in 1870 the proportion of blind in America was one in 1900; in Egypt one to every 100; and Palestine probably one in every 200. R2667:3
At Gaza it is said that one-third of the population have lost one or both eyes, but amongst these cases it is difficult to find any born blind. R2667:6
This blindness is in great measure the result of the scarcity of water and the neglect of children, whose eyes are, in consequence, attacked by the flies. R2667:6
Showing the fallacy of the idea of Christian Science that there is no such thing as sickness or blindness, but they are simply mistaken thoughts or misbeliefs. R2669:2
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| 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? |
His disciples asked – It is proper, when we find ourselves in sickness, that we examine to what extent we have been responsible through careless living. If so, it is well that we repent and take steps to make correction. R4148:6, 2668:6
If we cannot find that our experiences and sickness was the result of self-gratification, we should examine carefully if they resulted from our activity in the Lord's service. If so, we should glory in them. R4149:1, 1773:3
Finding none of the above to fit the case, we should consider that our affliction is simply for our welfare, to assist us in the application of some valuable spiritual lesson. R4149:2, 2668:6
Who did sin – The question of the Lord's disciples was the expression of a common opinion among many Jews--that all suffering is the direct result of some personal sin. R1773:3
They had the thought that all sickness, pain and sorrow in the world was the result of sin. The Scriptures indicated that the various evils were, to some degree, the result of individual or inherited sin. R3519:1, 2668:4
While it is true that some afflictions are the direct results of personal sins and are promptly administered penalties designed for the warning and correction of the offender, such is not always the case. R1773:3
There is a great difference between claiming that all sickness is of sin and the devil, and admitting that much of it is produced or intensified by sin. R2668:4
This man – The man could not have sinned before birth; but it is barely possible that some of the heathen ideas respecting the transmigration of souls had come to their attention. R4148:3, 3519:1, 2668:1
It would be extremely unlikely that the apostles, "unlearned," should have any particular knowledge of these theories of the heathen. R3519:1
Job's case is another illustration of sickness and calamities of various kinds which were not the punishments of sin. R2668:5, 1773:3
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| 3 Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
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Neither hath – Not that he and his parents were without blemish; evidently meaning that it was not because of any special sin committed by this man or his parents that he had been born blind. R4148:3, 3519:2
Nor his parents – The principal point of this lesson is that calamities are not necessarily marks of divine disapproval. R4148:6, 2668:4
Not that God had specially intervened to cause blindness in this case, rather we may suppose that the blindness came through the general weakness of heredity. R3519:2
The Scriptures tell us that the darkness or blindness came from the Adversary, who blinds the minds of them who believe not, lest the glorious light of God's goodness shine in their hearts. (2 Cor. 4:4) R3520:6
The blindness that is upon the world is, to a large extent at least, a matter of heredity. R2670:1
Be made manifest – The miracle gave unmistakable evidence of divine power manifested through Christ, and was a testimony to the truth of his claim to the Messiahship. R2058:1*, 1773:3
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| 4 We must work the works of him that sent us, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
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I must work – It behooved the Lord and all the members of his body to make use of the opportunities in hand for doing that portion of the Father's work which is to be accomplished in the present age. R1774:1
Let us each do with our might what our Master has placed within our reach; and let us do it promptly and zealously, remembering the nearness of the night. R1746:5, 1591:5
The works of him – The works of God were not merely in the healing of one of the blind, but the manifestation of Jesus as the Light of the World and the influence and testing which that would mean to the Jewish people. R4149:2
We are not laboring for ourselves, but for the cause of the Lord, including the cause of all that are his. CR17:3
The work of him that sent him was the sacrificing of himself in the declaration of the good tidings, in the teaching of the people through parables, dark sayings and miracles. R3519:5
The Lord's people are eager to do good, but in the way that will be the most effective, and in the way that will not stumble others. Their good works are the works of God. R5462:2
While it is day – The present little season before the storm-cloud bursts upon the world is a most favorable time for the work of the Elijah class, and corresponds to the successful days of both Elijah and John. B257
Since our Lord's first advent the glorious light of truth has had more effect upon the world than at any previous time. So much so, that the Gospel age may be called "day" in contrast with previous experiences. R5097:3
The light now shining more closely resembles that which shone upon the early Church, and in both instances it is the light of the parousia, the light of the presence of the Son of Man. R4149:4
Our Lord's ministry was in the eventide which followed the Jewish day, the day of Moses. A little of its light still remained. R3519:5
Our Lord's day and opportunity were rapidly drawing to a close. R4149:2
Similarly, with each one of the Lord's followers their is a daytime of opportunity when his time, talent and zeal may bring fruitage to the Lord's praise. To each will come a night when the opportunities will pass as he passes into death. R4149:3
The word "day" would seem to belong to the present time. R2670:2
While the eyes and ears of the masses are open. R5559:5
The night cometh – He well knew of the dark night which would follow his ministry, in which darkness would cover the earth and gross darkness the people. (Isa. 60:2) R3519:5
The apostles after Pentecost entered fully into the Master's spirit in respect to the shortness of time, laboring incessantly with the Jews until all the elect had been gathered from the once favored nation. R3519:6
A much darker time in comparison with the present, called day. B257 [B257:2]
Even in this morning of dawning light we are to expect another time of deep darkness; a night time, an overcasting of the skies, a great morning storm. R4149:4, 3519:6
We may expect not only to see the storm-clouds grow much darker, but also to hear and to feel the rising "winds" which will culminate in a wild hurricane of human passion--a whirlwind of trouble. C230
When the religious liberty now enjoyed will be greatly restricted and when, as a consequence, the present work of disseminating the truth will be interfered with by the strong hand of combined civil and ecclesiastical power. R1409:1
Brought about by the wrath incurred by the true Church. R1754:5
"The morning cometh, and also the night." (Isa. 21:12) R1409:1
When the world, that has loved darkness rather than light, shall be overwhelmed by it, and in the midst of its shadows, reap the fruit of its own sowing. R1774:1
The opportunities for service will soon now be closed. The great time of trouble just preceding the shining forth of the Sun of Righteousness is near. R3521:1, 3332:1
As a snare, it shall overtake the world. D273
The gloom of that "night" will be dispelled only by the Millennial sunrise. C230
Typified by the imprisonment of John the Baptist. R1754:5
"The sun and the moon [the illuminating influences of the Gospel and Law] shall be dark [general infidelity having become widely prevalent], and the stars [apostolic lights] shall withdraw their shining." (Joel 2:10) D544
No man can work – Except those who worship the beast and his image. (Rev. 13:16,17) R1002:6
Our work will be cut short--gradually at first, and then completely and finally. C230
When our opportunities for serving the cause and the brethren and for the public dissemination of the truth will be forcibly closed by the powers that be. R4149:4
The closing of the "door" in the parable of Matt. 25, marks the end of all opportunity to prove worthy of the prize by faithfulness: all opportunity for service will there terminate. C213
The warning is designed to increase diligence in the use of present opportunities. R1409:2
The Millennial morning comes, and just as surely the great time of trouble will immediately precede it--the night wherein no man can labor for the dissemination of divine truth. R4926:2, 3332:1, 1409:1
"The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine." (2 Tim. 4:3) R948:2
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| 5 When I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
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I am the light – His light shone for another six months, but he left behind him some who were illuminated by the Pentecostal blessing. Of these he said, "Ye are the light of the world." (Matt. 5:14) R4149:4
Now, enlightened from his Word, we, as his representatives, are the light of the world. We should keep our light trimmed and burning. We must let it shine so that those following us may not walk in darkness. R3243:2
Our Lord let his light shine upon many, and so we have opportunity to let our light shine upon many. But no one has the light within him except he is begotten of the holy Spirit. R4149:5
The Spirit of Christ is the light which shines from the true Christian, which reproves or condemns and opposes the darkness of this world. R375:2; E293
Of the world – It will be at his second advent that our Lord will be "the Light of the world" in the full, glorious sense--The Sun of righteousness. R3519:5
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| 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed his eyes with the clay, |
He spat – As the blindness of the man was figurative of the general blindness upon the people--to the truth, to the Light of the world--so this method of healing the blindness well illustrates the method the Lord has been using throughout the Gospel age. R3520:2, 2669:6
Made clay – The making of the clay would represent the formation of the elect Church for the blessing of the poor, blind world. R2670:4
We are imperfect ourselves, blemished, fallen; but the spirit of the Lord's lips coming upon us so transforms our energies and talents as to make them useful in his service. R3520:2
The ointment had no particular virtue in it, neither had the waters used. It was merely an aid to the blind man's faith, but did not in his mind perform the cure. He recognized that it was a miracle, as did the Pharisees. R4149:6, 1774:1
Of the spittle – The secretions of our Lord's mouth represent his grace and truth, while the earth used may well represent the poor earthly talents of us and his disciples. R3520:2, 2670:2
He took of the clay of human agency and mixed it with his Word, the fruit of his lips. With that combination he anointed the eyes of our understanding and bade us wash in the waters of Siloam, his Word of truth and grace. R4150:3
So now, the words of his mouth, mixed with and used through the clay of humanity, may have been the agency in the opening of your spiritual perceptions to understand the truth and see its beauties. R213:3
He uttered the truth, brought it in contact with the dust of the earth--not in contact with all the dust, but with a limited portion, an elect portion, and of this he made the anointing clay. R2670:2
The Word of God's grace is designed in the present age to act upon a small fragment of humanity, and to consecrate them for the Master's use in the anointing of the eyes of the blind. R2670:2
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| 7 and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam
(which is by interpretation, Sent). He went away therefore, and washed, and came seeing. |
Go wash – After the Lord has used us, his servants, as the clay in his hands for the anointing of blinded eyes, it is necessary that we should direct them to the fountain of his truth and grace where they may wash. R3520:2
The washing of his eyes and the cure would seem to belong to the next age, the Millennial age. R2670:2
The world must be witnessed to during this age, but will not have the eyes of their understanding opened until the great washing time of the Millennial age. R2670:4
The pool of Siloam – The word Siloam signifies "The sending forth," or "The fountain." R2670:4
"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David for sin and for uncleanness." (Zech. 13:1) R2670:4
He went – Implying some assistance from the blind man. Faith was first followed by works and this attested a degree of perfection. R4149:5
Had he had no confidence in Jesus he might have despised the means and ridiculed the idea that the anointing with clay and the washing in the pool of Siloam would accomplish such a miracle. R1774:4
An act based doubtless upon what he had heard of Jesus previously. R2058:1
Came seeing – The opening of blind natural eyes could not give sight to the eyes of his understanding, the eyes of the heart; but it could and did figure or illustrate this. R3519:4
Thus washing we realized the forgiveness of sins and saw in a new light the love and mercy of our Father in heaven. Then came testings, not to destroy us, but to prove us and to develop us. R3520:6
Only a sample of the great work of restitution to be performed in the Millennial age when not only will the bodies of men be blessed, but their minds and hearts similarly liberated from the fetters of sin. R1773:6
The methods of restitution will doubtless be as varied as were the methods employed by Jesus in healing diseases at his first advent. R759:3
Our Lord did not heal all of the blind; the recorded instances are just six. R4148:2
This lesson differs from the five other instances in that this man was born blind. R2667:6
While multitudes were healed, still greater multitudes remained unhealed. R3519:4
If it had been our Lord's special mission to heal all the lepers and all the blind and all the deaf, and to have awakened all the dead of Palestine, then he failed most signally in accomplishing the work. R3519:4
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| 8 The neighbors therefore, and they that saw him aforetime, that he was a beggar, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? |
The neighbours – The agencies used by our Lord for our blessing were produced perhaps by our friends. R3520:6
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| 9 Others said, It is he: others said, No, but he is like him. He said, I am he. |
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| 10 They said therefore unto him, How then were thine eyes opened? |
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| 11 He answered, The man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to Siloam, and wash: so I went away and washed, and I received sight. |
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| 12 And they said unto him, Where is he? He saith, I know not. |
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| 13 They bring to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. |
Brought to the Pharisees – This was a part of our Lord's design and a part of what he meant when he declared that the man was not born blind as a punishment for sin, but for the glory of God. R3520:3
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| 14 Now it was the sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. |
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| 15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. And he said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I see. |
The Pharisees also asked – Full of envy against Jesus. R3520:3
Lest the matter should spread, and, if possible to corner it and head it off, they made an investigation. R4149:6
The scribes and Pharisees of our day wonder, criticize and try to account for the blessing which has come to us, finding fault with every agency the Lord used in connection with our blessing. R4150:3
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| 16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, because he keepeth not the sabbath. But others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them. |
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| 17 They say therefore unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, in that he opened thine eyes? And he said, He is a prophet. |
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| 18 The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight, |
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| 19 and asked them, saying, Is this you son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? |
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| 20 His parents answered and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: |
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| 21 but how he now seeth, we know not; or who opened his eyes, we know not: ask him; he is of age; he shall speak for himself. |
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| 22 These things said his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man should confess him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. |
Be put out – Be counted unworthy of the name and privileges of a Jew, treated as an outcast from God and his people. R3520:3, 4149:6
This was the only "respectable church" in those days, and to the poor Jew it seemed disgraceful to be cut off from the church. R213:5
So now, those who receive present truth have so long been identified with the churches that the thought of sundering those ties is like cutting off a right hand. R213:5
All through the Dark Ages those who were faithful to the light were kept out of the churches. The church creeds and practices were conscience-barriers to keep light-bearers out. R5479:2
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| 23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him. |
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| 24 So they called a second time the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give glory to God: we know that this man is a sinner. |
They – The Pharisees. R4150:1
Give God the praise – The time of the healing of the world's blindness is in the Millennial age. R2670:1
Turning to the healed man, the Pharisee said to him, Thank God for your sight, even though it came through a bad channel, for we know that Jesus is a sinner, a hypocrite, a falsifier in claiming to be Messiah. R4150:1
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| 25 He therefore answered, Whether he is a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. |
He answered – He might have kept quiet and believed in his heart and retained his standing in the church, but that would have been cowardly, and had he done so he would have missed his subsequent communion with Jesus. R213:6
It remains with us, as it did with him, to keep silence and remain in the church, or confess his presence and be cast out. R213:6
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| 26 They said therefore unto him, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? |
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| 27 He answered them, I told you even now, and ye did not hear; wherefore would ye hear it again? would ye also become his disciples? |
He answered them – It is for us now to take a similar stand--to confess the truth, confess the light, confess the miracle which the Lord has wrought upon the eyes of our understanding, and to give him our hearts. R4150:4
Ye did not hear – As they repeated their questions, he became more indignant at their evil spirit. R3520:4
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| 28 And they reviled him, and said, Thou art a disciple of that man; but we are disciples of Moses. |
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| 29 We know that God hath spoken unto Moses: but as for this man, we know not whence he is. |
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| 30 The man answered and said unto them, Why, herein is the marvel, that ye know not whence he is, and yet he opened mine eyes. |
A marvelous thing – Envy, hatred and the spirit of rivalry were absent from his mind, and wonder and gratitude prompted him to reason out the logical deductions from this marvelous fact. R2058:1*
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| 31 We know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do his will, him he heareth. |
Heareth not sinners – Consequently we, who by nature were sinners even as others, could have no audience with Jehovah until justified by faith in the sin-offering of Jesus, our Lord. R1410:4
Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by him. ( John 14:6) Prayer is the privilege of "believers," reconciled children of God, only. R2024:4
The habit of inviting people who are out of covenant-relationship with God to pray is both unscriptural and unreasonable. Those who come to him through Christ are acceptable only because Jesus is their Advocate. R5021:6
It is to no purpose to be a saint in the morning in thy closet, and then a sinner all day in the world. Having prayed against sin, be sure to watch against it. R585:3*
There is a significance to the words so often sung, "Come to Jesus." God "heareth not sinners," but Jesus does. He says, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden [with sin], and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) R469:1*
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| 32 Since the world began it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. |
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| 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. |
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| 34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. |
Cast him out – Consider yourself an outcast from the religious people of your own nation. R4150:2
The threat of ostracism was before our mind as we had confessed the blessing we had received and the source from which it came. R3520:6
All who follow the noble course of loyalty and obedience to God have found that, while it leads to a loss of fellowship in the nominal church, it leads also to greater fellowship with the Lord himself. R2670:5
It is for us to find that this will lead men to separate us from their company. R4150:4
As the Lord and the apostles shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God, they soon found little and finally no opportunity to teach the people in the synagogues. R986:5, 805:3
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| 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and finding him, he said, Dost thou believe on the Son of man?
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Jesus heard – So with you, the Lord will hear of your witness for him. R214:1
When he had found him – He did not spare him from being cast out of the synagogue, but turned the same into a special blessing of instruction of much advantage to the man in every way. R4150:2
It was after we had endured something for the Lord's sake that the Lord found us in a particular sense, revealed himself to us, and thus we became his disciples in the highest sense. R3520:6, 1774:4
His faithfulness under trials and difficulties, and his willingness to suffer the loss of earthly fellowship, led directly to a still greater blessing, even direct fellowship and communion with the Lord himself. R2670:5
On the Son of God – The belief that Jesus, the Son of Man, was also the Christ, the Son of the living God, lies at the very foundation of Christianity--on it the Church was to be built. R944:4*
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| 36 He answered and said, And who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him? |
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| 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and he it is that speaketh with thee.
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And Jesus said – When you are separated from the nominal church, your experience will be that Jesus himself will teach you. R214:1
Seen him – The Lord granted him the opening of the eyes of his understanding in addition to the opening of his natural eyes. R3520:5, 2669:1
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| 38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. |
I believe – This ignorant beggar was evidently at heart honest and sincere, because character and principle cannot be put on in a moment, but is the result of development. R3520:4
And he worshipped – In spirit and in truth, and no longer worshipped the creeds of men. R214:1
In many instances the Lord's people, looking back, can clearly see that things which at the time seemed to be adversities were really blessings, leading to the opening of their eyes of understanding. R2669:2
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| 39 And Jesus said, For condemnation came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and they that see may become blind.
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For judgment – Greek, krima. Its strongest significance is condemnation or rejection. R699:6
A trial. R214:1
Messages of divine truth are the oracles of God and the principles of his holy law by which every man must be judged as worthy or unworthy of eternal life. R2057:5*
The judgment in the case of the Lord's consecrated people culminates with the present life, and in the case of the world it will culminate in the world to come. R2058:5*
There was the natural judgment of Israel, so also upon the nominal spiritual Israel, the nations of Christendom, the judgment of God is also to blindness and an overthrow in a great time of trouble. R2058:5*
I am come – It was to establish the principles of judgment, and to acquaint men with them, as well as to redeem them, that Jesus came into this world. R2057:6*
Might see – The authority of truth was received and appreciated, and from its blessed testimony were drawn the precious lessons of faith. R2058:4*
And that they – The same truth which blinded one, enlightened and blessed the other. R2058:4*
Be made blind – The blind sectarians who retained control of the synagogues were the more blinded by their prejudices. R805:3
The authority of truth was despised and its light rejected, the darkness being preferred because their deeds were evil. ( John 3:19) R2058:2*
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| 40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind? |
Are we blind also? – The theological pride of the Pharisees, representing some of their successors in spiritual Israel who are spiritually proud. R4150:4
Let us not be high-minded but fear lest the light should pass from us, lest pride of heart, the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches should again blind us to the goodness and grace of God in Christ. (Matt. 13:22) R3475:4
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| 41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth.
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If ye were blind – It would have been better for them if they had been blind, if their course had been actuated by total ignorance. R4150:5
Your sin remaineth – If you (Pharisees) were totally blind, you would not have been responsible. But now you admit that you see some; therefore you have sin. R723:6
They had considerable enlightenment and therefore corresponding responsibility. R4150:5, 723:6
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