The Living Bible (335 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
As he was walking along, he saw a man blind from birth.
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“Master,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?”
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“Neither,”
Jesus answered.
“But to demonstrate the power of God.
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All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, for there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end.
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But while I am still here in the world, I give it my light.”
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Then he spat on the ground and made mud from the spittle and smoothed the mud over the blind man’s eyes,
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and told him,
“Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam”
(the word
Siloam
means “Sent”). So the man went where he was sent and washed and came back seeing!
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His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Is this the same fellow—that beggar?”
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Some said yes, and some said no. “It can’t be the same man,” they thought, “but he surely looks like him!”
And the beggar said, “I
am
the same man!”
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Then they asked him how in the world he could see. What had happened?
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And he told them, “A man they call Jesus made mud and smoothed it over my eyes and told me to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash off the mud. I did, and I can see!”
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“Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
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Then they took the man to the Pharisees.
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Now as it happened, this all occurred on a Sabbath.
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Then the Pharisees asked him all about it. So he told them how Jesus had smoothed the mud over his eyes, and when it was washed away, he could see!
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Some of them said, “Then this fellow Jesus is not from God because he is working on the Sabbath.”
Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miracles?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
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Then the Pharisees turned on the man who had been blind and demanded, “This man who opened your eyes—who do you say he is?”
“I think he must be a prophet sent from God,” the man replied.
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The Jewish leaders wouldn’t believe he had been blind, until they called in his parents
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and asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he see?”
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His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,
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but we don’t know what happened to make him see, or who did it. He is old enough to speak for himself. Ask him.”
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They said this in fear of the Jewish leaders who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be excommunicated.
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So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “Give the glory to God, not to Jesus, for we know Jesus is an evil person.”
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“I don’t know whether he is good or bad,” the man replied, “but I know this:
I was blind, and now I see!”
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“But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”
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“Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once; didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
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Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
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We know God has spoken to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t know anything about him.”
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“Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He can heal blind men, and yet you don’t know anything about him!
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Well, God doesn’t listen to evil men, but he has open ears to those who worship him and do his will.
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Since the world began there has never been anyone who could open the eyes of someone born blind.
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If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do it.”
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“You illegitimate bastard,
*
you!” they shouted. “Are you trying to teach
us?”
And they threw him out.
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When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and said,
“Do you believe in the Messiah?”
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The man answered, “Who is he, sir, for I want to.”
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“You have seen him,”
Jesus said,
“and he is speaking to you!”
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“Yes, Lord,” the man said, “I believe!” And he worshiped Jesus.
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Then Jesus told him,
“I have come into the world to give sight to those who are spiritually blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
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The Pharisees who were standing there asked, “Are you saying we are blind?”
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“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,”
Jesus replied.
“But your guilt remains because you claim to know what you are doing.
“Anyone refusing to walk through the gate into a sheepfold, who sneaks over the wall, must surely be a thief!
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For a shepherd comes through the gate.
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The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
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He walks ahead of them; and they follow him, for they recognize his voice.
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They won’t follow a stranger but will run from him, for they don’t recognize his voice.”
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Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant,
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so he explained it to them.
“I am the Gate for the sheep,”
he said.
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“All others who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.
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Yes, I am the Gate. Those who come in by way of the Gate will be saved and will go in and out and find green pastures.
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The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
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“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
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A hired man will run when he sees a wolf coming and will leave the sheep, for they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf leaps on them and scatters the flock.
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The hired man runs because he is hired and has no real concern for the sheep.
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“I am the Good Shepherd and know my own sheep, and they know me,
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just as my Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
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I have other sheep, too, in another fold. I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice; and there will be one flock with one Shepherd.
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“The Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may have it back again.
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No one can kill me without my consent—I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right and power to lay it down when I want to and also the right and power to take it again. For the Father has given me this right.”
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When he said these things, the Jewish leaders were again divided in their opinions about him.
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Some of them said, “He has a demon or else is crazy. Why listen to a man like that?”
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Others said, “This doesn’t sound to us like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of blind men?”
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It was winter,
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and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of the Dedication Celebration. He was at the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Hall.
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The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
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“I have already told you,
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and you don’t believe me,”
Jesus replied.
“The proof is in the miracles I do in the name of my Father.
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But you don’t believe me because you are not part of my flock.
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My sheep recognize my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
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I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one shall snatch them away from me,
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for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else, so no one can kidnap them from me.
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I and the Father are one.”
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Then again the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him.
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Jesus said,
“At God’s direction I have done many a miracle to help the people. For which one are you killing me?”
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They replied, “Not for any good work, but for blasphemy; you, a mere man, have declared yourself to be God.”
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“In your own Law it says that men are gods!”
he replied.
“So if the Scripture, which cannot be untrue, speaks of those as gods to whom the message of God came, do you call it blasphemy when the one sanctified and sent into the world by the Father says, ‘I am the Son of God’?
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Don’t believe me unless I do miracles of God.
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But if I do, believe them even if you don’t believe me. Then you will become convinced that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
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Once again they started to arrest him. But he walked away and left them,
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and went beyond the Jordan River to stay near the place where John was first baptizing.
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And many followed him.
“John didn’t do miracles,” they remarked to one another, “but all his predictions concerning this man have come true.”
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And many came to the decision that he was the Messiah.
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