Bible Society of South Africa

Bible Reading Plan – Day 354

Bible text(s)

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

1As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2His disciples asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents' sin?”

3Jesus answered, “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents' sins. He is blind so that God's power might be seen at work in him. 4As long as it is day, we must keep on doing the work of him who sent me; night is coming when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light for the world.”

6After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man's eyes 7and said, “Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam.” (This name means “Sent”.) So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.

8His neighbours, then, and the people who had seen him begging before this, asked, “Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?”

9Some said, “He is the one,” but others said, “No he isn't; he just looks like him.”

So the man himself said, “I am the man.”

10“How is it that you can now see?” they asked him.

11He answered, “The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see.”

12“Where is he?” they asked.

“I don't know,” he answered.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

13Then they took to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14The day that Jesus made the mud and cured him of his blindness was a Sabbath. 15The Pharisees, then, asked the man again how he had received his sight. He told them, “He put some mud on my eyes; I washed my face, and now I can see.”

16Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this cannot be from God, for he does not obey the Sabbath law.”

Others, however, said, “How could a man who is a sinner perform such miracles as these?” And there was a division among them.

17So the Pharisees asked the man once more, “You say he cured you of your blindness — well, what do you say about him?”

“He is a prophet,” the man answered.

18The Jewish authorities, however, were not willing to believe that he had been blind and could now see, until they called his parents 19and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind; how is it, then, that he can now see?”

20His parents answered, “We know that he is our son, and we know that he was born blind. 21But we do not know how it is that he is now able to see, nor do we know who cured him of his blindness. Ask him; he is old enough, and he can answer for himself!” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, who had already agreed that anyone who said he believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23That is why his parents said, “He is old enough; ask him!”

24A second time they called back the man who had been born blind, and said to him, “Promise before God that you will tell the truth! We know that this man who cured you is a sinner.”

25“I do not know if he is a sinner or not,” the man replied. “One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see.”

26“What did he do to you?” they asked. “How did he cure you of your blindness?”

27“I have already told you,” he answered, “and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you, too, would like to be his disciples?”

28They cursed him and said, “You are that fellow's disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. 29We know that God spoke to Moses; as for that fellow, however, we do not even know where he comes from!”

30The man answered, “What a strange thing that is! You do not know where he comes from, but he cured me of my blindness! 31We know that God does not listen to sinners; he does listen to people who respect him and do what he wants them to do. 32Since the beginning of the world nobody has ever heard of anyone giving sight to a person born blind. 33Unless this man came from God, he would not be able to do a thing.”

34They answered, “You were born and brought up in sin — and you are trying to teach us?” And they expelled him from the synagogue.

Spiritual Blindness

35When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36The man answered, “Tell me who he is, sir, so that I can believe in him!”

37Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him, and he is the one who is talking with you now.”

38“I believe, Lord!” the man said, and knelt down before Jesus.

39Jesus said, “I came to this world to judge, so that the blind should see and those who see should become blind.”

40Some Pharisees who were there with him heard him say this and asked him, “Surely you don't mean that we are blind, too?”

41Jesus answered, “If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still guilty.”

The Parable of the Shepherd

1Jesus said, “I am telling you the truth: the man who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. 4When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5They will not follow someone else; instead, they will run away from such a person, because they do not know his voice.”

6Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he meant.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

7So Jesus said again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep. 8All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever comes in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life — life in all its fullness.

11“I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep. 12When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep. 14-15I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them. 16There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

17“The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. 18No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”

19Again there was a division among the people because of these words. 20Many of them were saying, “He has a demon! He is mad! Why do you listen to him?”

21But others were saying, “A man with a demon could not talk like this! How could a demon give sight to blind people?”

Jesus is Rejected

22It was winter, and the Festival of the Dedication of the Temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem. 23Jesus was walking in Solomon's Porch in the Temple, 24when the people gathered round him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? Tell us the plain truth: are you the Messiah?”

25Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you would not believe me. The things I do by my Father's authority speak on my behalf; 26but you will not believe, for you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me. 29What my Father has given me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father's care. 30The Father and I are one.”

31Then the people again picked up stones to throw at him. 32Jesus said to them, “I have done many good deeds in your presence which the Father gave me to do; for which one of these do you want to stone me?”

33They replied, “We do not want to stone you because of any good deeds, but because of your blasphemy! You are only a man, but you are trying to make yourself God!”

34Jesus answered, “It is written in your own Law that God said, ‘You are gods.’ 35We know that what the scripture says is true for ever; and God called those people gods, the people to whom his message was given. 36As for me, the Father chose me and sent me into the world. How, then, can you say that I blaspheme because I said that I am the Son of God? 37Do not believe me, then, if I am not doing the things my Father wants me to do. 38But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, you should at least believe my deeds, in order that you may know once and for all that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father.”

39Once more they tried to seize Jesus, but he slipped out of their hands.

40Jesus then went back again across the River Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing, and he stayed there. 41Many people came to him. “John performed no miracles,” they said, “but everything he said about this man was true.” 42And many people there believed in him.

The Death of Lazarus

1A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, was ill. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2(This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.) 3The sisters sent Jesus a message: “Lord, your dear friend is ill.”

4When Jesus heard it, he said, “The final result of this illness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.”

5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7Then he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

8“Teacher,” the disciples answered, “just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you; and are you planning to go back?”

9Jesus said, “A day has twelve hours, hasn't it? So whoever walks in broad daylight does not stumble, for they see the light of this world. 10But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light.” 11Jesus said this and then added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up.”

12The disciples answered, “If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well.”

13Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. 14So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him.”

16Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow-disciples, “Let us all go with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!”

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried four days before. 18Bethany was less than three kilometres from Jerusalem, 19and many Judeans had come to see Martha and Mary to comfort them over their brother's death.

20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died! 22But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask him for.”

23“Your brother will rise to life,” Jesus told her.

24“I know,” she replied, “that he will rise to life on the last day.”

25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; 26and all those who live and believe in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27“Yes, Lord!” she answered. “I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

28After Martha said this, she went back and called her sister Mary privately. “The Teacher is here,” she told her, “and is asking for you.” 29When Mary heard this, she got up and hurried out to meet him. 30(Jesus had not yet arrived in the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.) 31The people who were in the house with Mary, comforting her, followed her when they saw her get up and hurry out. They thought that she was going to the grave to weep there.

32Mary arrived where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet. “Lord,” she said, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”

33Jesus saw her weeping, and he saw how the people who were with her were weeping also; his heart was touched, and he was deeply moved. 34“Where have you buried him?” he asked them.

“Come and see, Lord,” they answered.

35Jesus wept. 36“See how much he loved him!” the people said.

37But some of them said, “He gave sight to the blind man, didn't he? Could he not have kept Lazarus from dying?”

Lazarus is Brought to Life

38Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed at the entrance. 39“Take the stone away!” Jesus ordered.

Martha, the dead man's sister, answered, “There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!”

40Jesus said to her, “Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?” 41They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “I thank you, Father, that you listen to me. 42I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me.” 43After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave clothes, and with a cloth round his face. “Untie him,” Jesus told them, “and let him go.”

John 9:1-11:44GNBOpen in Bible reader
Bible Society of South Africav.4.17.10
Find us on