Saturday, July 9, 2016

The Power (John 9:6-7)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/9/2016 7:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                               Focus:  The Power

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  John 9:6-7

            Message of the verses:   “6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, 7  and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.”

            We begin by looking at John 1:5 “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”  This verse, of course is speaking of Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world.  What we see here is a man who was born as all men are born spiritually blind, but this man was also physically blind and Jesus gave both spiritual light and physical light to him, however the spiritual light will come just a bit latter, but Jesus healing of this man is a wonderful picture of what all men need, that is spiritual light.

            This miracle comes after Jesus had finished His dialogue with His disciples and this miracle is very interesting how He performs it as in some cases Jesus is not even present with the person that He is doing the miracle for, and in some cases He just speaks and people receive their sight.  “46 Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49 And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him here." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you." 50 Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And answering him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!" 52 And Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road (Mark 10:46-50).”

            MacArthur writes on why He made the clay:  “Why He did so is not stated.  Some of the early church fathers interpreted Jesus’ actions in light of Genesis 2:7.  In that case, making the clay would symbolize the Lord’s creating a new, functioning pair of eyes to replace those which had never seen.  But as Leon Morris notes, ‘Jesus performed His miracles with a sovereign hand and He cannot be limited by rules of procedure.  He cured how He willed.’”

            Now we want to look at the “pool of Siloam” as this pool has been rediscovered.  http://www.bibleplaces.com/poolofsiloam/ This is a website that shows how this pool was discovered and what it looks like today.  This pool was made by Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:20) “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?”  This verse explains that Hezekiah brought water into the city of Jerusalem in order that they would have water in case of an attack on the city.  The water flows out of the Gihon spring which is located in the Kidron valley.  One can walk through that tunnel today and see how it was constructed by Hezekiah.

            John MacArthur writes “Jesus parenthetical note calls attention to the significance of the name ‘Siloam,’ which transliterates a Hebrew word that means ‘sent.’  The name probably originated because of the water sent into the pool (via Hezekiah’s tunnel) from the Gihon spring.  But, as it use in the Feast of Tabernacles suggests, the name also symbolized the blessings God sent to Israel.  Here it symbolizes God’s ultimate blessing to the nation:   Jesus the Messiah, the One sent from God (5:24, 30, 36-37; 6:38-39, 44, 57; 16:5; 17:8, 18, 21, 23, 25; 20:21; Matt. 10:40; Mark 9:37; Luke 4:18; 9:48; 10:16).  Sadly, just as their ancestors ‘rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah [Siloam]’ (Isa. 8:6) ‘"Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;’ so also did the people reject Jesus, the true Siloam, the One sent by God to save lost sinners (Luke 19:10) ‘"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’

            “As Jesus instructed, the blind man obediently ‘went away and washed’ in the pool, ‘and came back seeing.’  His response to the Lord’s command symbolizes the obedience that marks genuine saving faith (Rom. 1:5; 15:18; 16:26; Heb. 5:9)—which he would shortly manifest.”  We will see that as we continue our study in the 9th chapter of John’s Gospel.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I see obedience from the blind man which He did in response to what the Lord Jesus Christ told him to do.  Obedience is better than sacrifice is what we learned from the lips of Samuel while he was talking to Saul.

My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to get me ready to serve Him in teaching our Sunday school class tomorrow on the “Eternal God.”

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:  “David.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How many concubines did Solomon have?”  (Too many)

Answer in our next SD.

7/9/2016 8:07 AM

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