John 10:1

 John 10:1 says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. Jesus spoke of the nature of a shepherd.  He first said that anyone who entered by any other method than by the gate was a thief and a robber.  If someone tells us that we as His followers, His sheep, can get into heaven by any method other than the gate of the cross of Christ, then they are as thieves and robbers.  There is only one way to heaven, and that is through the gate that Jesus leads us through.  Verse two adds, But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  Jesus said he who enters through the gate is the shepherd.  Jesus was telling the people that there was but One spiritual Shepherd, and He came openly and honestly.  God does not have to sneak into people's lives.  He calls us to enter into His fold openly.  We may hear Him as a still, small voice, but it will not be disguised as anything else.  Verse three continues, To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.  The porter opens the gate for the Shepherd, and His sheep recognize His voice, and He leads them out.  We could say that the Heavenly Father was the Porter Who opened the gate for Jesus to claim His sheep.  We, as His sheep, should recognize His voice.  There should be that close, intimate relationship between Christ and His followers.  Verse four concludes, And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.  If we have trouble recognizing His voice, we need to pray and listen.   Sheep need a shepherd to lead and protect them, and we need a Shepherd, Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, to lead and protect us.  If we ever fail to know where we are headed spiritually, then we can be sure we are not following the Shepherd.  Verse five says, And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.  The sheep will not follow a stranger but will flee because they do not recognize his voice.  When someone or something is calling us away from following Christ, we need to flee from it.  As long as we are following closely behind the Shepherd, nothing can lead us astray.  We simply have to listen to His voice and follow after Him. 

John 9:34

John 9:34 says, They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.  Through the end of the chapter, we have the end of the story of the man who was blind and the Pharisees.  In verse thirty-four, the Pharisees accused the man of having been born in sin.  Since they viewed him this way, which was in keeping with their teachings, they asked how he could think he could teach them.  When people feel superior to others, they will not readily listen to what that person has to say.  This is especially true with religion based on manmade rules.  Since they viewed him as a sinner from birth, they cast him out.  Since they viewed themselves as the keepers of the way to God, this was serious.  It would be like those denominations today that feel that a person must go through them to get to God putting a person out of the church. Fortunately, this was not true then nor is it now.  Verse thirty-five adds, Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?  When Jesus heard what had happened, He sought the man out.  No person nor organization can bar us from Christ.  Jesus asked the man did he believe on the Son of God. This is the key question for everyone throughout history. For those before Jesus, it meant believing the Messiah would come, and for those since, believing that He did come in the Person of Jesus.  Verse thirty-six continues. He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?  The man asked Who He was that he might believe.  We must come to the knowledge of Who Jesus is in order to believe in Him.  Verse thirty-seven states, And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.  Jesus said the man had both seen Him and was talking to Him.   Even if we don't at first recognize Christ, or even His works, He will make Himself known to us and recognizing Jesus for Who He is will always be the first step that we must take. Verse thirty-eight adds, And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. The man said, "Lord, I believe," and worshipped Him. If we accept Jesus as our Savior, He becomes our Lord, and we should always worship Him.  Verse thirty-nine continues, And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. Jesus said that he came for judgment into this world, so that they which did not see might see; and so that they which see might be made blind.  The Gentiles did not know God, but Jesus opened their eyes. The Jews professed to know God but were blind to Who Christ was.  They relied on manmade traditions to set themselves above others and needed to be blinded to that idea in order to see Jesus as the Messiah.  Verse forty says, And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?  Verse forty-one adds, Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.  When the Pharisees asked if they were blind, Jesus said no, that if they were blind, they would be without sin, but they professed to see, therefore their sin remained.  They felt superior, but Jesus said their attitude condemned them.  We can never excuse sin, but if we start to feel that we are above those poor sinners, we need to ask God to forgive us and reach out to them with His love. 

John 9:30

John 9:30 says, The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. The man stated that herein was a marvelous thing.  First, it was strange that they professed to know nothing about Jesus, especially since they sought to kill Him.  The Pharisees prided themselves on knowing what was going on in the community, but with Jesus performing miracles around them, they professed to not know Him.  There are many people today who take pride in their knowledge of the world, yet even if they have heard of Jesus, profess to know nothing about Who He is.  For the Pharisees, and all like them, that would fall under willful ignorance.  Second, it was a marvelous thing that they should question the divine mission of One Who had performed a divine miracle.  Verse thirty-one adds, Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. The man said that God hears not sinners.  Some believe that means that we have to go to someone here on this earth who is worthy to speak to God for us.  That is not what is being said.  God does not hear sinners who come to Him through any means other than the cross of Jesus.  It also means that even if God works through those who do not believe in Him, it is not because they asked it of Him.  Verse thirty-two continues, Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.  The man asked if anyone in history ever heard of a man blind from birth being given his sight.  This could not be explained in natural terms, nor had any prophet of God ever done such thing.  We can be sure that when God performs a miracle that nothing can explain it away. Verse thirty-three concludes, If this man were not of God, He could do nothing. We today, as His followers, must acknowledge that of ourselves, we can do nothing, but through Christ, all things are possible. 

John 9:24

John 9:24 says, Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.  They called the blind man again and told him to give God the praise, because they said they knew that Jesus was a sinner.  Verse twenty-five says, He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.  The man who had been blind said he didn’t know if Jesus was a sinner or not, but what he did know was that he had been blind and now he could see.  Again, he was not acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, but simply as the One Who had healed him.  It is a good thing to give praise to God, but not when that means that we are attempting to use praise for the Heavenly Father while denying the Son.  Jesus was not what the Jews were looking for in a Messiah, and He is still not what so many are looking for today.  Verse twenty-six continues, Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?  They continued to press the man for details about how Jesus had healed him.  They wanted anything that they could use against Jesus.  We may not be able to explain how Jeus saved us to the satisfaction of all who ask, but we should be able to declare it as an undeniable fact in our life.  Verse twenty-seven concludes, He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?  The man told the religious leaders that he had already told them once and asked if they couldn’t hear.  He then asked if they wanted to be Jesus’s disciples also.  This is a good question for us to ask people who question our faith today.  Matthew Henry states this could be a real invitation for them to become disciples, or most likely he was speaking ironically.  They didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah and wanted to kill Him, so why were they so interested in Him?  There are those people today who question everything God does, not because of a desire to follow Him but to attempt to discredit Him. Verse twenty-eight states, Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. They reviled the man, saying he was a disciple of Christ, and they were disciples of Moses, which they thought made them better than him. Verse twenty-nine adds, We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.  They said they knew God spoke through Moses, but they didn't know where this man came from.  They counted themselves as followers of the teachings of Moses but didn't hear his teachings of another Who would come, and they hadn't checked for themselves to see Who Jesus was.  If people today want to know Jesus, they will not find Him in history or tradition, but must go to Him personally and He will reveal to them Who He is.  Jesus did not deny the work of Moses, but instead validated it.  We need to acknowledge all those who have worked to further the gospel, but we also need to realize and proclaim that there is but One Savior, Jesus Christ, and any who would know Him can by simply responding to His call.  The Jewish religious leaders continued to try to claim Jesus was a sinner, but the man who was blind presented his case for why Jesus could not be a sinner.