<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>John 9;13-16<div><br></div><div><b>13. &nbsp;They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.</b></div><div><b>14. &nbsp;Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.</b></div><div><b>15. &nbsp;The Pharisees again asked him how he had&nbsp;received his sight. &nbsp;And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”</b></div><div><b>16. &nbsp;Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath.”</b></div><div><b>But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” &nbsp;There was a division among them.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Did the Pharisees really&nbsp;care so much for the keeping of the sabbath? &nbsp;Or, did&nbsp;Jesus’ ‘doing this work’ on the sabbath provide the Pharisees with ammunition to use in their case against Jesus? &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>I think for some it was the former, for others the latter, for still others both.</div><div><br></div><div>The Pharisees held a positions of power, authority, wealth, and honor, by virtue of their cozy relationship&nbsp;with the&nbsp;Romans. &nbsp;The Romans were wise in their stewardship over the nations and the&nbsp;cultures they conquered. &nbsp;They used the corrupted&nbsp;established&nbsp;religious authorities&nbsp;<span>of the</span><span>&nbsp;Jews as a stabilizing force, so long as the religious leaders did nothing to challenge Roman authority over the people, (</span><span>especially to receive taxes for Caesar)</span><span>. &nbsp;If the Jewish religious leaders permitted the people to pay</span><span>&nbsp;taxes to Rome, those leaders were allowed to rule and themselves to become rich. &nbsp;The Pharisees were lovers of money. (see, Luke 16;14)&nbsp;</span><span> Mammon was their true God, (that is why I question the sincerity of their</span><span> concern for the sabbath).</span></div><div><br></div><div>Jesus was saying things which disturbed the Jewish leaders greatly. &nbsp;He was calling God ‘his Father’.</div><div>Clearly, this was a claim of higher authority even than the Pharisees or Caesar. &nbsp;Jesus was indeed the ‘Great Disrupter’, he had to be stopped, otherwise, the Romans would reject the Jewish leaders if they could not control the people. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The Jews were a troublesome rebellious&nbsp;people. &nbsp;That is why the books of Maccabees are&nbsp;included in Catholic Bibles, and we Lutherans encourage the reading of these books, not because they testify to Christ, but because they shed light on the immediate history of Israel prior to the birth of Christ. &nbsp;This is referred to as the “Intertestamental&nbsp;Period” the time between the close of the Old Testament with&nbsp;Malachi&nbsp;and the beginning of the New Testament with the account of the coming of John the Baptist, (a period of about 400 years).</div><div><br></div><div>Even some of the Pharisees understood that the signs Jesus was preforming revealed&nbsp;him as One sent&nbsp;from God. &nbsp;(see, Nicodemus, John 3;1ff). &nbsp;They were not all totally corrupt.</div><div><br></div><div>Those like Nicodemus are examples of open mindedness to us. &nbsp;It is a rare thing for anyone to be willing to risk both their livelihood and position for the sake of learning more of&nbsp;God’s truth. &nbsp;Such a willingness to rethink and reconsider what they thought to be true, is evidence of the work of God the Holy Spirit in them. &nbsp;This amounts to a willingness to risk change. &nbsp;Change in response to the truth,&nbsp;is the very&nbsp;definition of ‘repentance’.&nbsp; &nbsp;Repentance is God’s gift to us, (see, Acts 5;31).</div><div><br></div><div>I believe we the Church are in need of the disrupting work of the Holy Spirit and the Word in us as well.</div><div>For many, Christ represents the Savior who only&nbsp;forgives us, but does not change us, (until we die and go to heaven). &nbsp;Holiness of life, self-discipline, self-denial, and&nbsp;true&nbsp;love of our neighbor are thought to be beyond our present abilities. &nbsp;But, faith which believes in the in-dwelling Christ, (who not only forgives but who by his Word&nbsp;also sanctifies and transforms us), is an uncomfortable disruption of our current ways of carnal&nbsp;living.</div><div><br></div><div>We as the&nbsp;Church, fail to grasp the depth of the meaning of our death to sin with Christ in holy&nbsp;&nbsp;baptism, and the newness of fruitful&nbsp;life which&nbsp;our Lord desires for us to enjoy now by faith. &nbsp;This faith &nbsp;believes we now live in Christ and he in us. &nbsp;(see, Galatians 2;20, Romans 6;1-14, Galatians 5;16-26, Philippians 4;13, Colossians 1;27, Ephesians 3;14-21)</div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Have mercy on me O Lord, and grant me a humble heart which dares to believe you have cleansed me so that you can live in and through me. &nbsp;In Jesus I pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div>Love,&nbsp;</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”</div><div><br></div><div><br><br><a href="https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>


John 9;13-16
13.  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.14.  Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.15.  The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight.  And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”16.  Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath.”But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?”  There was a division among them.
Did the Pharisees really care so much for the keeping of the sabbath?  Or, did Jesus’ ‘doing this work’ on the sabbath provide the Pharisees with ammunition to use in their case against Jesus?  
I think for some it was the former, for others the latter, for still others both.
The Pharisees held a positions of power, authority, wealth, and honor, by virtue of their cozy relationship with the Romans.  The Romans were wise in their stewardship over the nations and the cultures they conquered.  They used the corrupted established religious authorities of the Jews as a stabilizing force, so long as the religious leaders did nothing to challenge Roman authority over the people, (especially to receive taxes for Caesar).  If the Jewish religious leaders permitted the people to pay taxes to Rome, those leaders were allowed to rule and themselves to become rich.  The Pharisees were lovers of money. (see, Luke 16;14)  Mammon was their true God, (that is why I question the sincerity of their concern for the sabbath).
Jesus was saying things which disturbed the Jewish leaders greatly.  He was calling God ‘his Father’.Clearly, this was a claim of higher authority even than the Pharisees or Caesar.  Jesus was indeed the ‘Great Disrupter’, he had to be stopped, otherwise, the Romans would reject the Jewish leaders if they could not control the people.  
The Jews were a troublesome rebellious people.  That is why the books of Maccabees are included in Catholic Bibles, and we Lutherans encourage the reading of these books, not because they testify to Christ, but because they shed light on the immediate history of Israel prior to the birth of Christ.  This is referred to as the “Intertestamental Period” the time between the close of the Old Testament with Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament with the account of the coming of John the Baptist, (a period of about 400 years).
Even some of the Pharisees understood that the signs Jesus was preforming revealed him as One sent from God.  (see, Nicodemus, John 3;1ff).  They were not all totally corrupt.
Those like Nicodemus are examples of open mindedness to us.  It is a rare thing for anyone to be willing to risk both their livelihood and position for the sake of learning more of God’s truth.  Such a willingness to rethink and reconsider what they thought to be true, is evidence of the work of God the Holy Spirit in them.  This amounts to a willingness to risk change.  Change in response to the truth, is the very definition of ‘repentance’.   Repentance is God’s gift to us, (see, Acts 5;31).
I believe we the Church are in need of the disrupting work of the Holy Spirit and the Word in us as well.For many, Christ represents the Savior who only forgives us, but does not change us, (until we die and go to heaven).  Holiness of life, self-discipline, self-denial, and true love of our neighbor are thought to be beyond our present abilities.  But, faith which believes in the in-dwelling Christ, (who not only forgives but who by his Word also sanctifies and transforms us), is an uncomfortable disruption of our current ways of carnal living.
We as the Church, fail to grasp the depth of the meaning of our death to sin with Christ in holy  baptism, and the newness of fruitful life which our Lord desires for us to enjoy now by faith.  This faith  believes we now live in Christ and he in us.  (see, Galatians 2;20, Romans 6;1-14, Galatians 5;16-26, Philippians 4;13, Colossians 1;27, Ephesians 3;14-21)
Prayer:  Have mercy on me O Lord, and grant me a humble heart which dares to believe you have cleansed me so that you can live in and through me.  In Jesus I pray, Amen.
Love, Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”


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