Bible Stories for Adults

Jesus Gives Sight to a Man Born Blind

John 9

Next Week - Jesus, Our Good Shepherd (John 10:1-30)
Bible Words to Remember:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to hose who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

Where is Jesus in John 8?
John 8:1-2
Was it easy for Jesus to teach in the temple without challenge?
John 8:3-6
Were the leaders just trying to test Him or were they already trying to get rid of Him?
John 7:32
Why were they unable to arrest Him?
John 7:30

Unable to trap Jesus in any way, what tactics do the Jewish leaders resort to?
John 8:48
How does Jesus respond to this name calling?
John 8:49-51
How do the Jews respond to Jesus' claim to have the Way to eternal life?
John 8:52-53

How does Jesus basically say He is the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham?
John 8:54-56
How did Jesus drive this claim even stronger after the Jews took this as proof that He was crazy?
John 8:57-58
How did the Jewish leaders respond to Jesus claiming to be God?
John 8:59

What did Jesus and His disciples see as they walked away from the temple?
John 9:1
Note: This is the only miracle in the gospels where the sufferer was afflicted from birth
Jesus gave sight to the blind more than any other type of miracle recorded
Did Jesus heal every blind man He encountered?
Luke 4:25-27
Why did Jesus give sight to the blind and perform other healing miracles?
Luke 7:18-23 (Isaiah 35:5)
Note: John already knew who Jesus was, Needed his disciples to realize & follow Jesus
Did Jesus fulfill Messianic prophesies because the prophets had said He would?
John 20:31

How did this man create an opportunity for Jesus to teach?
John 9:2
Note: Some rabbis taught that man can sin in the womb, or even in a pre-existent state
Why did the disciples believe his blindness was the result of some horrible sin?
Job 8:1-4

Why did rabbis teach that you could be punished for the sins of your parents?
Exodus 34:4-7
What fuller meaning do we get of this from the original context?
Exodus 20:1-5
What is the important contrast given in the next verse?
Exodus 20:6

What is an example of God punishing those who hate Him to the 4th generation?
Numbers 16:31-33
Note: Households usually consisted of 3, sometimes 4, generations
What is another way that the sin of parents can affect their children and later generations?
Matthew 18:6
Does sinning only affect the sinner, or does it affect others as well?
Notice the many aspects of society that have resulted from past generations going astray

What are some examples of God blessing those who love Him to 1000 generations?
Genesis 17:5-7
2 Samuel 7:11c-13, 16
What is another way that the faithfulness of parents can affect their children and later generations?
Deuteronomy 4:9

Had anyone before Jesus challenged the teaching that children are punished for their parents' sins?
Job 21:19
Did anyone else address the situation more directly?
Ezekiel 18:1-4
What did God say was the correct understanding of the result of sin?
Ezekiel 18:19-20
How does Paul contrast the results of living in sin versus in the righteousness of faith?
Romans 6:23

How did Jesus answer the question of who sinned?
John 9:3
Does God sometimes allow bad things to happen so His glory will show through?
John 11:1, 4, 11, 43-44
Note: Heavy publicity from this miracle led Jewish leaders to find a way to get rid of Jesus

What did Job's friends believe was the cause of his disasters?
Job 36:5-12
Were the friends correct?
Job 42:7
Although Job never learned the reason, why had these things happened to him?
Job 2:2-6
How should we respond when we have trouble understanding why bad things happen to good people?
Job 26:14

How did Jesus explain to His disciples that giving God's vision to this man was part of His calling?
John 9:4-5
How is Jesus the light of the world?
John 8:12
If Jesus is the light of life, why don't all people fly to Him like June bugs on a window screen?
John 3:19-20

Why do men love the darkness and hate the light?
Ephesians 5:11-14
How should we conduct ourselves when living in the light of the Lord?
Ephesians 5:8-10
Why is it important to bear the fruit of the light?
Matthew 5:14-16
Is this light from us doing these good deeds?
2 Corinthians 4:6

How did Jesus deal with the man's blindness?
John 9:6
Was this Jesus' magical way to repair bad eye? Maybe a first century radial kerototomy?
Matthew 9:27-31
How did Jesus call upon the man's faith to complete the healing?
John 9:7
Did Jesus' approach help people focus on the message rather than the method?
John 9:10, 15, 19, 26
Was it typical for people to look for the how instead of the why?
John 3:3-4

Didn't the fact that this man who had been blind since birth could see bring his neighbors to faith?
John 9:8-9
How did they respond when they couldn't dispute that this really was the blind man?
John 9:10-12

Unable to find a logical explanation on their own, to whom did the neighbors turn?
John 9:13
What issues concerned the Pharisees when they heard what Jesus had done?
John 9:14-16
Unable to figure it out, where do they turn for insight?
John 9:17

With this man appearing to be a liar or in cahoots with this Jesus, what do they investigate next?
John 9:18-21
Why did the parents avoid responding to how their son received their sight?
John 9:22-23
Note: The synagogue was the center of Jewish community life, membership was important

Realizing that a significant miracle had really happened, what do the Pharisees do next?
John 9:24-26
How did they respond when the man questioned their motives?
John 9:27-29
How did the man respond that showed his understanding of Jesus and growing faith in Him?
John 9:30-33
How did the Pharisees respond to this claim that reflected an erroneous belief they had?
John 9:34

How was the man who had stood up for Jesus before the Pharisees even further blessed?
John 9:35
Note: Son of Man was a term recognized by the Jews to refer to the Messiah (Dan. 7:13-14)
How did the man respond to Jesus' inquiry of his faith in the Messiah?
John 9:36
How did the man respond when Jesus pointed him to the Messiah?
John 9:37-38
How did the man grow in faith and understanding of Jesus through this story?
John 9:11, 17, 33, 35-38

What other lesson does this story have for us besides gaining sight through faith?
John 9:39
What does Jesus tell the Pharisees that warns us of the blindness of sin without the sight of faith?
John 9:40-41