Welcome to Week Three of Pursuing God’s Beauty: Stories from the Gospel of John. This summer, we’re digging deep into God’s Word and praying that with a word, passage, or story we will be wonderstruck by Scripture and fall in love with the Bible once again, or maybe for the first time. (Join us! Click here).
Here’s the homework for Week Three: When God Sees Through You:
- Watch Session Three (Recognizing the Blind Spots) on Your Pursuing God’s Beauty DVD (18 minutes) and begin working through the homework.
- Read John 9-11.
- Come back to MargaretFeinberg.com on Thursday, the same day you can enjoy the Midday Connection podcast on the session, to discuss what God’s revealing to you along the way. (To subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss a beat, click here).
If you have a blog, consider linking up with MargaretFeinberg.com each Thursday and share what God is teaching you through the Gospel of John!
Here are four things you must know before diving into John 9-11:
- The opening of blind eyes is rare in the Old Testament (2 Kings 6:8-23) and described under unusual circumstances. Jesus’ healing of a man who was born blind in John 7 is extraordinary. [Tweet this] Jesus uses saliva both in Mark 7 and Mark 8 to heal. Saliva was believed to have medicinal healing ability in the ancient world. Some even believed it had magical powers, which led to its use for healing being forbidden in the Jewish community.
- The Greek word kalos, which translates “good” as in “good shepherd,” can also be translated as “excellent” or “beautiful.” In describing himself as the good shepherd in John 10, Jesus reveals himself as the “beautiful shepherd.” [Tweet this]
- John 10:22 notes a somewhat odd detail, namely, that it was winter. While some scholars argue that this detail explained why Jesus was in the sheltered area of the portico of Solomon, others suggest the wintry mention is representative of the cold attitude toward Jesus and the icy receptivity of his listeners.
- John 11 records the story of Lazarus, one of Jesus’ dear friends. The name Lazarus means “whom God helps.” [Tweet this]
FOR DISCUSSION: Answer the following questions as a comment to this blog post. Feel free to ask questions, reply to others’ comments, and post prayer requests.
- What miracle of Jesus would you most like to witness?
Click here to download 20 Must-Read Passages from John’s Gospel Free PDF Download.
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Want to catch up on the online #SummerBibleStudy at MargaretFeinberg.com? Here are the links to the Pursuing God’s Beauty: Stories from the Gospel of John Online Bible Study Posts:
Session One: MONDAY | THURSDAY
Session Two: MONDAY | THURSDAY
Session Three: MONDAY | THURSDAY
Session Four: MONDAY | THURSDAY
Margaret, other than the resurrection, I would most like to have witnessed the calming of the storm from the vantage of the fearful disciples. Thanks for a great post!
Yes, I think the resurrection is on everyone’s top list, Wayne! Ooh, watching the waves still and the clouds dissipate would be AWESOME!
I think the miracle I would most like to witness would be the healing of the ten men with leprosy. What a moment of life-change for those people!
I would like to be standing nearby when Jesus seeks out the man who survived (although kicked out of the synogugue) the interrogation of the powers of the day in telling his story once again of the miraculous healing of his sight by the man called Jesus.
How tender of Jesus… I wonder if Jesus heard what the man said, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”…”If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” How ready the man was….Jesus came for him and the result was the man saying, “Lord, I believe.”
Karen,
I also was moved by this story but in a different way – something that struck me was this man had been blind since birth and now he was “of age” (what ever that age is…its a long time)…I’m sure he had been sitting by the pool trying to get healed and probably begging for YEARS. And here are his neighbors and the leaders (who probably walked by him daily) and they have no idea who he is or at the least aren’t “sure” of who he is. This saddened me . It made me think of the “those people” of today (which Margaret had asked us about after studying the woman at the well) – the homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts, unwed mothers, etc…that we put our heads down and walk by on a daily basis – would be recognize them if Jesus showed up and did a miraculous healing? Or would we miss it because our heads are down? Tara
You’re right, Tara. How often do we ignore the marginalized instead of reaching out, like Jesus would have done? Just yesterday I was pulling up to a red light at an intersection and was tempted to shy my eyes away from the man holding the sign on the corner. So convicting!
I love that chapter in John. He was physically blind and Jesus opens his eyes physically and spiritually. While they could see fine, the religious leaders were spiritually blind. They couldn’t see that Christ was in fact the Messiah!
And to answer your question Margaret…I think I would have liked to have some how witness the healing of the boy from a far. I am taken back by the father’s faith; he went from begging, pleading and I imagine being distraught to accepting Jesus at his word and moving on. How often do I beg and plead in front of the Lord but don’t believe that he’s heard me or will answer me.
I WANT to be like that boy’s father!!
Amazing the great faith the father displays, trusting that God can and will heal, even without seeing his son. I want to have that great faith, too, Tara!
Although not generally included in the list of miracles, I would like to witness the transformation of the Samaritan woman at the well from her past life to new life in Christ. This story resonates so deeply inside me and I’d like to be caught up in her enthusiasm and fervor to live a life fully entwined with the Divine.
That would be so cool… to watch her sprint into town and tell everyone she knows about Christ. What an amazing picture of transformation! Last week we discussed what her name should be before/after her encounter with Christ. Some of the answers people came up with were amazing!
Check it out:
http://margaretfeinberg.com/when-god-sees-right-through-you/
The blind man….his reaction to being able to see again. Oh, the colors, an things in the world the man had not ever seen.. To see his parents faces. I wonder what age he was as it says he was of age? How long had he been at the pool?
Can you imagine watching him as he saw colors and faces for the first time? Absolutely amazing!