Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Gracious God, my Abba Father, please help me to recognize the opportunities you give me to share the story of how Jesus has blessed my life. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear when that moment comes. Thank you for blessing me in so many ways and thank you for being so faithful to your promises. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Then the people brought the man to the Pharisees. This was the man that had been blind. Jesus had made mud and healed the man's eyes. The day Jesus did this was a Sabbath day. So now the Pharisees asked the man, "How did you get your sight?" The man answered, "He put mud on my eyes. I washed, and now I can see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man (Jesus) does not obey the law about the Sabbath day. So he is not from God." Other men said, "But a person that is a sinner cannot do miracles like these." These Jews could not agree with each other. The Jewish leaders asked the man again, "This man (Jesus) healed you, and you can see. What do you say about him?" The man answered, "He is a prophet. " The Jews still did not believe that this really happened to the man. They did not believe that this man was blind and was now healed. But later they sent for the man's parents. They asked his parents, "Is this your son? You say that he was born blind. So why can he see now?" The parents answered, "We know that this man is our son. And we know that he was born blind. But we don't know why he can see now. We don't know who healed his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough to answer for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The Jewish leaders had already decided that they would punish any person that said Jesus was the Christ. They would put those people out of the synagogue. That is why his parents said, "He is old enough. Ask him." So the Jewish leaders called the man that had been blind. They told the man to come in again. They said, "You should give God the glory {by telling the truth}. We know that this man (Jesus) is a sinner." The man answered, "I don't know if he is a sinner. But I do know this: I was blind, and now I can see." The Jewish leaders asked, "What did he (Jesus) do to you? How did he heal your eyes?" The man answered, "I have already told you that. But you would not listen to me. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you wantto become his followers too?" The Jewish leaders {became angry and} said some very bad things to the man. Then they said, "You are a follower of that man (Jesus). We are followers of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses. But we don't even know where this man (Jesus) comes from!" The man answered, "This is a very strange thing. You don't know where Jesus comes from. But he healed my eyes. We all know that God does not listen to sinners. But God will listen to a person that worships and obeys him. This is the first time that any person ever healed a man that was born blind. This man (Jesus) must be from God. If he were not from God, he could not do anything {like this}." The Jewish leaders answered, "You were born full of sin! Are you trying to teach us?" And the Jewish leaders forced the man to leave.

Related Scripture Readings

If you are always trying to do good, then no person can really hurt you. But you may suffer for doing right. If that happens, then you are blessed (happy). "Don't be afraid of those people {that make you suffer}; don't be worried." But you should keep the Lord Christ holy in your hearts. Always be ready to answer every person who asks you to explain about the hope you have. But answer those people in a gentle way with respect. Always be able to feel that you are doing right. When you do that, the people who say bad things about you will be made ashamed. They say these bad things about the good way you live in Christ. They will be made ashamed for the bad things they said about you.

"{When I was a Pharisee }, even I thought I should do many things against the name of Jesus from Nazareth. And in Jerusalem I did many things against the believers. The leading priests gave me the power to put many of these people (believers) in jail. When the followers of Jesus were being killed, I agreed that it was a good thing. In every synagogue I punished them. I tried to make them say bad things against {Jesus}. I was so angry against these people (believers) that I went to other cities to find them and hurt them. "One time the leading priests gave me permission and the power to go to the city of Damascus. I was on the way to Damascus. It was noon. I saw a light from the sky. The light was brighter than the sun. The light shined all around me and the men who were traveling with me. We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice talking to me in the Jewish language. The voice said, 'Saul, Saul, why are you doing these bad things to me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting me.' I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' The Lord said, 'I am Jesus. I am the One you are persecuting. Stand up! I have chosen you to be my servant. You will be my witness—you will tell people the things that you have seen about me today and the things that I will show you. This is why I have come to you today. I will not let {your own} people (the Jews) hurt you. And I will keep you safe from the non-Jewish people too. I am sending you to these people. You will show the people the Truth. The people will turn away from darkness (sin) to the light (good). They will turn away from the power of Satan, and they will turn to God. Then their sins can be forgiven. They can have a share with those people who have been made holy by believing in me.'"

After Jesus said these things, many of his followers left him. They stopped following Jesus. Jesus asked the twelve apostles, "Do you want to leave too?" Simon Peter answered Jesus, "Lord, where would we go? You have the things that give life forever.