New Testament BIBLE STORY #15

New Testament  BIBLE  STORY  

#15

Especially written for children

Chapter Twenty-three:

Continuation on Last Great Feast Day

TRUE SONS OF ABRAHAM

     To those Jews who now believed in Jesus He said, "If you

continue and endure in following my word, then you will truly be

my disciples, and the truth you shall know, and what is more the

truth will make you FREE!"

     Many other Jews were standing and listening to Him, and when

they hear these words about being "free" they answered with some

disgust in their voices, "We are Abraham's offspring, and were

never in bondage to any man: why then do you say, 'You shall be

made free'?"

     Jesus answered them saying, "It is the truth I'm saying unto

you. Whoever practices a life of sin, just flowing along with it,

is the slave and servant of sin. And the servant does not abide

in his master's house forever, but the Son of the master does

abide there forever. If the Son therefore shall make you free,

you shall be free indeed."

     Jesus was talking about Himself as the atoning sacrifice for

our sins. With faith in His death, shed blood on the cross, and

His risen immortal life, we can have freedom from being a slave

to sin. The Jews were once more not getting it, and were

horrified to think He was telling them that they were slaves.

They had a large amount of self-righteous "religious" canopy over

them as a people who had been chosen by God as "His special

favored people" of all the peoples on the earth. Mentally, they

never thought they were in bondage to anyone or anything.

     Jesus continued: "I know that you are Abraham's offspring;

but I also know many of you seek to KILL me, because you cannot

understand my word, it's just going in one ear and out the other

ear. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you speak

what you have seen with your father."

     "You are talking ridiculously, how can we have been speaking

with Abraham who has been dead for centuries, as he is our

father," the Jews retorted again.

     "If you really were Abraham's children in attitude of mind

and spiritual maturity, you would be living and doing the works

of Abraham," Jesus replied to them. "But now many of you seek to

kill me, a man who has told what the truth is, which I received

from God. Abraham did not do what I've done. But you indeed do

the deeds of your father, the one who is not Abraham."

     Oh, these words from Jesus really got them as mad as a wild

snorting bull ready to charge. They knew there was some question

about His birth, and that Mary His mother was "with child" before

she was married to Joseph, so using this "crept out knowledge"

from ones who knew Mary and Joseph before they were married, they

flung back these words at Jesus, "Well...we are not born from

fornication (sexual relations before marriage). We have ONE

father, even God."

     Now, they changed from claiming Abraham as their father to

what they certainly felt was an answer that Jesus would not be

able to penetrate - that the one Almighty God was their father.

     But Jesus answered them, "If God was really in your heart

and mind your Father, you would love me; for I have come from

God; and I did not come of my own will and mind, but God Himself

sent me. You do not understand my words, because you cannot

comprehend in your mind what they are saying to you."

     Then, looking straight at them with piercing eyes, Jesus

spoke words that must have cut them like a sharp two-edged knife,

right between the ribs and into the heart. They were the plainest

words He ever spoke to any of His enemies up to this point in

time, "You are of YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your

father you keep doing. He was a murderer from the beginning, and

abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he

speaks a lie, he speaks from what he is, for he is a liar, and

he is the father and originator of lies. And because I tell you

the truth, you do not like to hear it, and so do not believe me.

Tell me if you can, which one of you convinces me of sin? None of

you, for it is the other way around, it is I that tells you the

truth, and convinces you of sin. So why then do you not believe

me? I will tell you. He that has a heart and mind that God loves

and can communicate with, they can hear and understand God's

word. But you hear not and do not understand because you are not

of the same mindset as God. You are not His children!"

     Many Jews had in the past openly thought, said, and taught

others, that this Jesus Christ man was from the Devil, doing all

He did by the power given to Him from the Devil himself. Jesus

had now laid it down also openly and plainly, that He taught it

was THEY not Him who was from the Devil. Once more they shouted

back to Jesus and all within hearing range, their old theme about

Him, "We have said well and correctly, that you are from the

Samaritan sect and that you have a demon in you."

     The Samaritans were a Jewish sect just to the north of

Judea. In going to Galilee from Jerusalem, as Jesus and His

disciples often did, they would frequently have passed through

this area called Samaria (not the land area of the Old Testament

Samaria, but only a small portion of land, see a Bible Atlas on

the four Gospel period). The Samaritans were hated by the Jews of

Judea because they had their own "temple" and "Jewish

worship system" apart from and separate from, the Jews of the

rest of Palestine. To say that you were a Samaritan and had a

demon possessing you, was about the lowest, and dirtiest language

of the time, that a Jew could rail at anyone.

     Jesus was not about to back down this time around, "I have

not a demon; but I honor my Father, and you, by your words and

mental attitude, dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory. There

is ONE that seeks and judges, He knows my heart and your hearts.

I'm telling you the truth, if any person will obey my saying,

live by what I teach, he shall not die."

     "Oh, now we know for sure, " the Jews replied, "now we know

you have a demon in you. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and

you stand here and tell us that if anyone keeps your words, they

shall not taste of death. Are you greater than our father

Abraham, who is dead? Are you greater than the prophets, who are

dead also? Who do you think you are? What are you saying about

yourself?"

     Jesus was not saying to them that people who lived by His

words would never taste of physical death, but somehow keep right

on living. He was saying (as we have seen before in other

chapters) that people who follow Him, would have eternal life

within them, and would one day inherit the Kingdom of God. They

would not die forever, but be raised to immortal life in a

resurrection. In some translations from the Greek, it is

rendered this way, as Jesus actually saying, "If a man keep my

sayings he shall not die forever."

     But, the Jews took it to mean Jesus was teaching that those

who followed Him would never die in this physical life. They knew

that great men of God like Abraham, was not still alive. They

knew such men did not have an immortal soul that kept on

thinking, and talking, and walking around, in some "other world"

- be it heaven or wherever. So they naturally wanted to know who

He thought He was that could have followers who would live and

never die.

     Jesus was not about to loose the opportunity to now be

pretty plain and frank about who He was and that He had lived in

the ages past.

     "If I honor myself, my honor is then nothing, just ones

man's talk and idea. It is my Father that honors me; of whom you

are claiming He is your God, and that you are His children. Yet,

you do not know Him, you just think you do. But I know Him, if I

should say that I did not, I would simply be a liar, and so be

like all of you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word and

teachings. Your father Abraham rejoiced TO SEE MY DAY, and he

did SEE IT, and was overjoyed."

     The Jews knew exactly what Jesus was meaning by these last

words especially. They were not blinded at all to what Jesus was

now telling them. He was telling them that He lived in the days

of Abraham. They knew He was saying this for with amazement they

replied to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, no where near

that age, and you are telling us that you lived when Abraham

lived and that you saw Abraham when he lived on this

earth. Is not that what you are telling us?"

     With truth at His side, Jesus replied to them, "It is true,

very true, I'm saying to you that before Abraham was ever born, 

the I AM was me."

     The letters "I AM" in the English translations as found in

the book of Exodus. The God that talked to Moses at the burning

bush, the God who told Moses to tell the people, if they asked

who had sent him to them, to tell them His name was I AM. It

means "Eternal, self-existent one." All religious Jews of

Christ's time knew very well that the "I AM" of the Old Testament

was none other than God Almighty. They did not know there were

two person in the one God or Godhead, and that both had the same

names, just as it sometimes is with a father and son who have the

same names (but with us we usually call the son, John Junior, and

the father as just John). They did not know that fact, and to

them it would not have mattered anyway. All they knew for sure

was that this Jesus man, was now clearly claiming to be their

God, the I AM, the eternal one of Moses' time.

     For anyone to claim such a title, to claim they were God,

was, in Jewish eyes complete and utter blasphemy! Such blasphemy

of sin  was punishable by death. They knew Roman law forbade them

to put anyone to death without consent from the Roman

authorities, but they were so filled with outrage at what they

now knew Jesus was saying about Himself, that they forgot about

any Roman law and immediately picked up stones to throw at Him

and to kill Him on the spot. But Jesus walked through the midst

of them. It was not yet His time to be put to death (John 8:

31-59).

      

HEALING THE MAN BORN BLIND

     Jesus leaves the Temple and as He is walking along He sees a

blind man, and it is known by the disciples that this man was

born blind. They asked Him, "Master, tell us, who was it that

sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"

     Before we see how Jesus answered them, we need to note that

in this question we find that there are physical sins we or

others can commit, and in so doing there could very well be a

physical penalty to carry with us for the rest of our lives. The

disciples knew this truth and so asked their question to Jesus.

     He replied, "It was not this man that sinned, nor was it his

parents that sinned, but it was so ordained that he be born blind

so the works of God could be manifested in him by his healing."

This answer may at first seem somewhat harsh. Why would God

ordain that a person be born blind and have to wait many years

before God would heal him of that blindness? All I can give you

for the answer to that question is to read Romans 9: 14-23 in a

modern translation.

     Jesus continued to answer them, "I must work the works of

Him that sent me, while it is day: the night comes, when no man

can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the LIGHT of the

world."

     Jesus was relatively soon going to be arrested and finally

put to death on the cross. In that sense it would be night. Then

He was going to be resurrected and return to the Father in

heaven. So, now He was in the world in person, and now it was day

and light and time to work the works of God.

     After He had spoken these words, He spat on the ground and

made some clay of the spittle. He then anointed the eyes of the

blind man with the clay, and said to him, "Go and wash your face

in the pool of Siloam (which word means - Sent). He did as Jesus

commanded and washed, and he was healed from his blindness and

came among the people seeing clearly.

     Why did Jesus make clay from spittle and anoint the blind

man's eyes with it, and tell him to go and wash? Why not just say

"the word" and heal him? Possibly the answer is that sometimes in

being healed from our sicknesses and afflictions, we must do our

part in doing whatever needs to be done on the physical side, a

"getting in harmony with nature" some like to call it. Our body

is a very intricate machine and we must keep all parts in balance

and good working order to have and maintain good health. The

physical laws of food, water, sleep, exercise, proper mental and

emotional health, must all be kept in balance and correct

function within God's physical laws, to be healthy.

     Then again, Jesus making clay and anointing his eyes might

just have been an example to us that God heals in different ways,

at different times, with different people.

     As the man went among the people now being healed, many who

had known that he was born blind began to talk among themselves.

"Is this not the man that we know was born blind and sat and

begged?" some asked with amazement. "Yes, it is indeed

him!" replied others, but then some said, "No, I do not think so,

it is someone who just looks like him." But the man himself, on

hearing all this, spoke up and said, "It is I, I am the man who

was born blind, but now I can see like the rest of you."

     "Well, this is fantastic," some shouted out, "so please tell

us who performed this miracle on you?"

     "A man they call Jesus. He made some clay, anointed my eyes

with it, and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Shiloam and wash,' so

I did, and I received sight in my eyes," replied the man with

great happiness and excitement in his voice.

     "Where is this man,?" they asked him.

     "Well...he is...hummm, I don't know," he answered them.

     Some individuals brought the man to the Pharisees. John the

apostle tells us, as it is in the original Greek, "it was Sabbath

when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes." Yes, it was the

same day as Jesus was teaching in the Temple earlier, which was

the day AFTER the seven day Feast of Tabernacles. It was the

EIGHTH day (as Leviticus chapter 23 calls it). It was a Sabbath,

not THE SABBATH, which is used in the Gospels to indicate the

SEVENTH DAY Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The word "THE" is

not in the Greek. The Greek reads, "It was Sabbath...."  And the

context makes it clear that it was Sabbath of the EIGHTH DAY

FEAST.....the LAST GREAT FEAST of God's festivals as outlined in

Leviticus 23.

     Some knew the Pharisees would be very interested in this man

and who had healed him ON a Sabbath day. They would deem it as

breaking the Sabbath, especially when going to the work of making

clay. Such was their interpretations and man made rules of "not

working on a Sabbath" as we saw earlier, and as we can find in

written history by orthodox Jews even to this day.

     Now it was the turn of the Pharisees to ask the man how he

received his sight. He answered them as he did the people  before

who asked the same question.

     Sure enough, when the Pharisees heard the man's reply as to

how he was healed, some said, "The man who did this healing is

not of God, because he has broken the law of Sabbath keeping."

But to this some replied, "How can such a man you claim is a

sinner, do such mighty miracles?" So once again there was

division among them concerning Jesus.

     They then turned to the man himself who had been healed and

said, "Well, what do you think about this man that opened your

eyes so you can now see? Do you think he is from God?"

     "I think he must be a prophet from God, yes, I think he must

be," the man answered them.

     Now, the Pharisees, began to doubt that the man had ever

been born blind in the first place. They decided they wanted to

hear from his parents if such was really true. They called for

the parents to be found and to coming to them, they asked, "Is

this your son, who you say was born blind? If so, then how do you

suppose he can now see?"

     "Yes, he certainly is our son, and yes, he was indeed born

blind, this we know being his parents. But we have no clue as to

the means by which his eyes were opened to be able to see. He is

an adult, he can speak for himself. Ask him," responded the

man's parents.

     The apostle John tells us that the reply by these parents

was precipitated because they feared the Pharisees and their

supporters, as they had agreed among themselves to put out of the

synagogue's fellowship, anyone who confessed that Jesus was the

Christ. So the parents turned it back to their son to answer this

question of how he was healed from blindness.

     The man who could now see was called again to appear before

the Jewish leaders. They confronted him with, "You should give

God all the praise, for we know the man who did this to you is a

great sinner."

     "If he be a sinner or not a sinner, I do not know. I only

know this one thing, whereas I was blind, I can now see,"

answered the man.

     "Very well, but what did he do to you, how did he go about

healing you and restoring your sight?" asked the leaders.

     "I've already told you, I've answered you before on this

question. Why are you asking me again the same question, is it

because you want to be his disciples?" the man replied with some

sarcasm in his voice, knowing they had no such intention in being

disciples of Jesus.

     Did this reply ever make them upset, and with anger they

told him, "We are Moses' disciples, but we bet that you are a

disciple of this man Jesus. We know God spoke to Moses face to

face, but as to this fellow who healed you from blindness, we

don't know where he is from or who has sent him."

     With a gasp of amazement the man answered, "Well, this is

surely quite something, what a marvel, you do not know even from

where he comes, yet he opened my eyes. We know it is a fact that

God does not hear gross sinners, and we also know that if someone

be a worshipper of God in sincerity and truth, and obeys Him,

then God will hear that person.  Then, it is also a fact that

since the world began, no one has ever heard of anyone opening

the eyes of a person born blind. If this man Jesus is not from

God, he could not do anything like this miracle."

     Getting even hotter under the collar, the leaders screamed

back, "You were born in sins, you are from the gutter of society,

and are you trying to teach us?" Then they cast him out and away

from their company.

     It was reported to Jesus that the man had been cast out  by

the Jewish leaders, and He went searching for him. Finding him

Jesus said, "Do you believe on the Son of God?"

     "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe?" the man asked.

     "You have seen Him, and He is the person now talking to

you," Jesus answered.

     "Oh yes, Lord, I do believe," the man replied with praise in

his voice, and he fell down and worshipped Him.

     Jesus said, "For judgment I am come into this world, that

they which see not might see; and they which see might be made

blind."

     Some of the Pharisees standing nearby and hearing these

words, said, "Are we blind also?" They knew what Jesus was

meaning, and they knew the truth of what had being going on this

whole day. They knew the truth as to what Jesus was saying and

the miracles He was performing, that it was all from God. Deep in

their hearts they knew the

truth.

     Jesus knew they knew and so responded to their question with

these words, "If you were blind, you should have no sin; but now

you admit, 'We see'; therefore your sin remains."

     When you are ignorantly blind there can be a good reason to

say "we have no sin" for you do not know or understand that you

have sin, but when you know better, and say "Are we also blind?"

meaning that you are not blind to the truth, then you are in a

position to repent of sin. These Pharisees knew the truth, but

would not repent, hence their sins still remained on the books so

to speak, and could not be blotted out by mercy through believing

in Christ.

     The giving of sight to the man born blind was done on a

Sabbath day, the one after the last day of the Feast of

Tabernacles, the eighth day, the last great Feast Day of the

religious festivals outlined in Leviticus 23. The Feast of

Tabernacles pictures the 1,000 years reign of Christ on the

earth, the millennium as it is commonly called today

(see Zechariah 14). The Last Great Feast Day pictures the second

judgment resurrection, when millions who were spiritually blinded

in their physical life, who died in that blindness, will be

raised to physical life once more, and will be given the book of

life and a chance to have that spiritual blindness removed. They

will be given an opportunity to be healed from sin, and to accept

Jesus as Savior, as the Son of God, and to worship Him, just as

the man born blind was given his physical sight and an

opportunity to know who the Son of God was, and to worship Him.

     It was and is a wonderful example of what is to happen in

the future when this Last Great Feast Day becomes a reality, as

the plan of God for the salvation of all who have ever lived, is

unfolded for all to see. For most they will accept sight, but for

some, their sins will remain, and sadly they may reject knowing

the very Son of God (John 9: 1 - 41). 

MORE LAST FEAST DAY TRUTH

     Jesus taught more fitting truths on this Sabbath Feast Day,

saying:

     "Truly, truly, I say to you, he that enters not by the door

into the sheep-fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a

thief and a robber. But he that enters in through the door is the

shepherd of the sheep. And to him the gatekeeper opens; and the

sheep hear his voice: and he calls his own sheep by name, and

leads them out. And when he leads out his own sheep he goes

before them leading the way, and the sheep follow him: for they

know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but will

actually flee from him; for they do not know the voice of

strangers."

     Again, most of the people did not understand what Jesus was

talking about. They could not gather that He was talking about

Himself being THE shepherd and only through Him could you enter

the Kingdom of God. Salvation could not be obtained by being a

"good" ....whatever....Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist, Communist, native

in some tribe in dark Africa or anything else, WITHOUT Christ as

your Lord and Savior. Jesus is the ONLY door, the only shepherd

of the sheep (Acts 4: 12). Those that are His sheep will know

Him and know His voice. This is why there needs to be a day, an

age, when millions who have never known the only shepherd and

door to the Kingdom, will be raised to life again, so they can

have blindness removed and the book of life opened to them

(Rev.20: 11-15).

     Jesus continued and explained, "Truly, it is very true, that

I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are

thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I am the

door; by me if any person enters in, they shall be saved, and

shall go in and out and find pasture."

     Yes, all other forms of religion, or self-help, or "new age"

philosophy or whatever else is out there to teach people they can

find eternal life through belief in them, are simply thieves and

robbers. They just do not cut the mustard as we might say.

     Jesus went on talking about the thief and Himself as the

good shepherd:

     "The thief comes, but only to steel, and to kill, and to

destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that people

might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd:

the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But he that is

only hired as a stand in for the shepherd, is not the shepherd,

and the sheep do not belong to him. When he sees the wolf coming,

he doesn't care about the sheep, and runs off. The wolf then

breaks in, catches some, and scatters the rest of the sheep. The

hired hand flees, because he is only a hired hand, and doesn't

really have personal concern for the sheep. I am the good

shepherd, and I know my sheep, and they know me.

     As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father: and I lay

down my life for the sheep. And there are other sheep I have

which are not of this fold of Judah: them I must also bring into

the my sheep-fold, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall

be ONE fold, and ONE shepherd. Therefore my Father loves me,

because I will lay down my life, that I might take it up again.

No man takes it from me, but I willingly will lay it down. I

have the authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take

it again. This commandment I have received from my Father."

     Jesus' life was "in his own hands" we would say. It was the

Father's wish, directive, that He lay it down for the sheep, and

in so doing He had the knowledge that it would be taken up again.

His life would be resurrected from the dead. Jesus was a willing

sacrifice for the sheep, and so the Father loved Him greatly.

Also the sheep-fold of Jesus was more than just the people of

Judea, even more than all the people of Israel. It would

include people from all nations of the world eventually, as we

shall see when we come to the Bible Story in the book of Acts.

But being made up of many from all nations it would still be ONE

sheep-fold, belonging to Christ, and He would still be the only

shepherd of that fold, the only door for the sheep to enter to

obtain eternal life.

     After Jesus ended this teaching, there was once more

disagreement and division among the Jews about Him for all that

He taught. Some again said He had a demon, that He was mad, and

not to listen to Him. Others said, "No, these are not the words

of him that has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

(John 10: 1-21).

                  .........................

Written October 2002