SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/7/2016 7:00 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-1 “The Purpose”
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 9:2-5
Message of the verses: “2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" 3 Jesus
answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God
might be displayed in him. 4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day;
night is coming when no one can work. 5 “While I am in the world, I am the
Light of the world.’”
“2 And his
disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents,
that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his
parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of
him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (KJV)
As we read
this narrative we may wonder ourselves as the disciples did “why was this man
born blind?” We may say that there was
sin involved by the parents and that is why this person was born blind, and to
an extent that would be correct for the Bible teaches us that “All have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God,” and this verse takes us back to when
Adam and Eve sinned the original sin which brought about death and sickness and
evil and all the other things that sin produces. There is another reason that it could have
been the parents fault and that is that back in those days and even in our
modern times there is a venereal disease that can cause blindness, and this
disease has cause many children to be born blind. My thoughts are that this was not the problem
with this man for we read later about his parents as they both had to give an
account of the fact that this was their son.
One more thing I want to talk about before we jump into some of the
things that John MacArthur has to say about this and that is the reason that I
quoted from both the NASB and the KJB and that has to do with verse four where
we find the word “we” at the beginning of the NASB and the word “I” at the
beginning of the KJV. There are people
who think that there are not mistakes or problems with the KJV of the Bible,
but the manuscripts that are used by the NASB are older and many people believe
are more reliable than that of the KJV and therefore in verse four we see an
example of the difference. It is my belief
that the word “we” should be there meaning that Jesus was talking about Himself
and His disciples doing the works of the One who sent Him, and as you look
further into the book of John, especially the later chapters where Jesus is
giving more instructions to His disciples and then in chapter seventeen where
He prays for them and also for those who would believe because of their
ministry, which includes all believers you can understand why the word “we” is
the proper word to be there.
Once again
we go back to the question of His disciples and we wonder how it could have
been the sin of an unborn child that would cause Him to be born blind. Could he have sinned in the womb? The fact is that this was a popular teaching
in Judaism during those days. MacArthur
writes “Perhaps the disciples considered that a possibility, since the view that
children could sin while still in the womb was widespread in contemporary
Judaism. In addition, some Hellenistic
Jews, influenced by Greek philosophy, argued for the soul’s preexistence. Therefore, they believed people could be
punished in this life for sins they committed in a previous existence. (The Bible, of course, rejects such views.) On the other hand, if the man’s parents were
responsible, it hardly seems fair that their child should be punished for their
sin.”
The Bible
does give examples of specific sins causing consequences to specific
people. “But when the cloud had
withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As
Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous (Numbers 12:10).” This speaks of Miriam’s sin of rejecting
against Moses’ authority. (The Lord did
heal her after she repented.) How about
the man in John chapter five that we earlier looked at for Jesus said to Him
after He healed him “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so nothing
worse happens to you (John 5:14).” Let
us look at a verse that is in 1 Corinthians chapter eleven as Paul warns the
Corinthians of sin done by some in their church that caused them to die because
they refused to repent of it “30 For this reason many among you are weak and
sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged
ourselves rightly, we
would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not
be condemned along with the world (1 Cor. 11:30-32).” This chapter in 1 Corinthians is the great
chapter on the Lord’s Table, and some in this church were not treating the Lord’s
Table in the proper way, evening getting drunk at their love feasts that took
place before the Lord’s Table was celebrated.
I mentioned
a venereal disease earlier and did not mention the specific name or why that disease
causes blindness. MacArthur writes “For
example, the eyes of babies born to women who have gonorrhea can become
infected when they pass through the birth canal. If the babies’ eyes are not treated medically
after birth, blindness can result. A
baby’s health can also be negatively affected by the mother’s smoking,
excessive drinking, or substance abuse during pregnancy.” In an earlier SD I mentioned why this chapter
meant so much for me as our son was born with a bad heart problem and I was
wondering why this had happened. My wife
took wonderful care of herself while carrying our son and she was in a room
where another woman gave birth to a healthy baby and the woman was very much
over weight and smoked a lot, and so one can understand the questions that we
had. As mentioned earlier our son, after
a number of operations now is married and has three children of his own. My conclusions were then that his heart issues
did indeed bring honor and glory to the Lord.
We will go
into some other things that may have been on the minds of the disciples in our
next SD on these verses.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Knowing that all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, certainly me included, I am thankful for the grace of God
that is a part of who He is, that brings forgiveness and healing to broken
hearts.
My Steps of Faith for
today: Continue to remember the
truths that are taught in the 6th chapter of the book of Romans that
shows me that when I became born from above that I became dead to sin.
Memory verses for the week:
(Romans 6:1-2) “1. What shall we
say then? Are we to continue in sin so that
grace may increase? 2. May it never be! How shall we who died to sin
still live in it?”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Antioch” (Acts 11:26).
Today’s Bible question:
“What was the name of the son born to Abraham and Sarah?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/7/2016 8:06 AM
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