A fascinating passage

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Dropship

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John 9:1-7 is interesting (and slightly puzzling) on several counts.
Firstly it seems that people believed the sins of parents would be visited on their children-
"As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Secondly, Jesus seems to be saying that the man was born blind so that he could cure him to glorify God's power-
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.


Third, what's the coming "night", and why can nobody work in it?
Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'

Fourth, Jesus made an elaborate "mud pie" to smear on the mans eyes, which raises the question why didn't he simply tell the man he was cured like he told others?
After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.
'Go” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam
”So the man went and washed, and came home seeing." (John 9:1-7)


Any comments by CYB members would be welcome..:)

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Aunty Jane

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John 9:1-7 is interesting (and slightly puzzling) on several counts.
Firstly it seems that people believed the sins of parents would be visited on their children-
"As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
The Jews were led to believe many erroneous things from their Rabbis. But God's law had stated......
"for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
It stands to reason that those who hate Jehovah will teach their children to hate him as well, so those who love God will teach their children to love him as they do......but even then, there is no guarantee. Some of the most faithful Kings in Israel had wicked sons and vice versa.

Secondly, Jesus seems to be saying that the man was born blind so that he could cure him to glorify God's power-
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.
Like the resurrection of Lazarus where...."his sisters sent a message to him, saying: “Lord, see! the one you have affection for is sick.” 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said: “This sickness is not meant to end in death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
It was an opportunity to demonstrate the resurrection that Jews already believed in. They had no teaching of an immortal soul in their scripture so they believed in a resurrection to life here on earth. That will still take place in the future. (John 5:28-29)

Its not that God caused the blindness any more than he caused the death of Lazarus....but that God used the circumstances to show his power over these things through Christ Jesus....and to give his people a demonstration of what they could expect under the rulership of his Kingdom. (Revelation 21:2-4)
Third, what's the coming "night", and why can nobody work in it?
Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'
In the Bible, the word “night” is sometimes used in a figurative sense. I believe that Jesus is here referring to the time of his trial, execution, and death when he would be unable to engage in the works of his Father. He was "the light" while he was in the world, but the time would come, particularly after the death of the apostles, when no one would be doing the works that he did. The gifts ceased when the last apostle passed away. They had accomplished what God had sent them to do.
Fourth, Jesus made an elaborate "mud pie" to smear on the mans eyes, which raises the question why didn't he simply tell the man he was cured like he told others?
After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.
'Go” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam
”So the man went and washed, and came home seeing." (John 9:1-7)


Any comments by CYB members would be welcome..:)
Jesus merely used his saliva to make a paste. Apparently, it was a custom to use saliva in some medicinal applications back then, so it wasn't at all unusual.....but the man was told to go and wash himself in the pool to effect the miracle.
 

thelord's_pearl

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I like this thread. I hope it is a message sent to me that I will be healed of the form of social anxiety I have with eye contact, but I feel that my social anxiety arose as a curse from my parent's doing the wrong thing(s) and possibly goes back to previous generations too, sadly. However, I can be the first, to be a new creation, a Christian and be able to cut the curse off.
 

Dropship

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One of my grandads was a bit of a brawler and was killed in a pub fight many years before i was born.
His son (my dad) also had a nasty quarrelsome streak.
My mother was always neurotic and jumpy.
But despite my ancestry I'm pretty well-balanced and normal, which proves whatever bad genes we've inherited from our forebears need not affect us, especially if we're Christians and have got God and Jesus in our heads..:)-

Jesus said- "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you" (John 14:20)

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dev553344

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I think that sin passes from parents to children in behavioral disorders. That much is clear from modern psychology. So the first passage is obvious.
 
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Aunty Jane

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I like this thread. I hope it is a message sent to me that I will be healed of the form of social anxiety I have with eye contact, but I feel that my social anxiety arose as a curse from my parent's doing the wrong thing(s) and possibly goes back to previous generations too, sadly. However, I can be the first, to be a new creation, a Christian and be able to cut the curse off.
Every day is a new beginning, and our anxieties created from the past can only be understood in the knowledge of how our past affects our present and our future. Releasing the shackles that held us captive is a most liberating experience because we have dealt with the past so that it can no longer keep us bound to the pain we keep reliving without realizing it.
We have the freedom in Christ, who died for all of us who value his sacrifice, to leave the past in the past and create our own future.