Remember: "Therefore", said some of the Pharisees, "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such miracles?" And there was a division among them. John 9:16 


THE REAL WORLD


     Faith was in seventh grade and on her way to school.  It was 7:55a.m. and she had only 5 minutes to make it to school on time.  At Faith's school if you didn't make it through the gates at 8a.m. you were taken to detention and your parents were called.  As Faith approached the last corner of the school up ahead she saw, Leslie Mills, the school bully.   She immediately thought "trouble" but as she got closer she noticed Leslie's body shaking and her head moving to one side, then she suddenly fell to the ground.  Faith runs to Leslie and calls her name, but gets no response so she calls 911 and also her mother to inform her of the problem.  Finally, an adult neighbor comes from across the street to stay with Leslie until the paramedics arrived.  Faith now 15 minutes late hurries to school and was escorted straight to detention while trying to explain what happened.  Given the circumstances, do you think Faith deserved detention? Why or why not?  What do you think Faith's mother might have said to her after the call from school?  Should being on time to school have been her first priority? Why or why not?


                                   HEALING THE BLIND


TEXT: JOHN 9:1-17  DEVOTIONAL: ISAIAH 29:17-21


     In this lesson Jesus and disciples pass by a blind beggar.  As they pass him the disciples asked the question, "Master who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"  They were holding to the belief that if you're born with a disability or some type of suffering it's caused by sin or a lack of faith.  But how can a newborn have already sinned?  It was then believed that the child's parents sinned and caused the suffering.  Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man nor his parents: but that the works of God should be manifest in him.  However, Jesus was not interested in arguing the point he saw a man in need and He goes on to say in verse 4 and 5  that He must work while it is day because there will come a time when no man can work; also that "I am the light of the world."
After He had spoken He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spit and applied it to the blind man's eyes and told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.  When the man came back he could see.  (John 9:6-7)
     Ecstatically, the man ran to tell others of his blessing.  The neighbors seeing him were surprised and some didn't recognize him asking the question, "Is not this the man who sat and begged?"  John 9:8  After the man answered yes and told of how he was healed, his neighbors rushed him to the Pharisees.  Perhaps maybe they thought they might be excited also, instead they questioned the man and concluded that a crime had been committed.  Because he had been healed on the sabbath day Jesus had violated the law by working on the sabbath, the day of rest.  They stated that "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath." And others said, "How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?" And there was a division among them.  They asked the former blind beggar again, "What do say about this man who healed you?  (perhaps hoping to hear a different answer from him), but he declared, "He is a prophet." John 9:17.  It seems as if no one was getting the point here.  The point was that God doesn't always do things the way we expect and also that Jesus has compassion on all before He follows any rules or laws?  The beggar knew that once he was blind, but now he could see after his visit with Jesus.  Have you had a visit from Jesus? How do you know?  Is it right to break a rule sometimes to help someone in need?  What was Jesus' answer to his disciples concerning the beggars blindness?             

HELP SOMEONE FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER!