The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-03-14
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR MARCH io,


Subject: Healing Of the Ran Born Blind,
John tx, 1-11A-Golden TEXT, John tx,
5--Melnory verses. 10, 11--Cummentary
on the Days Lesson.
I. A man born blind ". ii. i. "As
Jesus passed by Jesus stil fingered at
Jerusalem and in one OF His walks, per-
haps to or from a synagogue, He came to
this blind man He saw Jesus took
notice Of his affliction looked Dpon him
with concern He anticipated his need
That look meant sight to the bind man.
A man. He was beggar: it was his
4 trade, but among all his petitions he did
not ask for sight Yet Jesus gave it. All
Illustration 1f free grace. This man wal
4 hopeless. helpless, poor. Blind from bis
BIRTH OF the six miracles connected with
blindness which are recorded in the Cos
| pels this is the only case described as
i blindness from birth. In this lies its spe-
cial characteristic for since the world be-
! gan it was not heard that any man opened
! the eyes Of one that was born blind II. By
| Blindness is very common in Palestine
Ii. Jesus explains the mystery Of provi-
| denee Tvs. 2-5). 2. Disciples asked, 4 The
| was why this blindness existed. Who did
sin" Scripture teaches that all disease,
and even DEATH is the fruit OF sin The
/ Jewish error consisted in! believing that all
special Affections We're divine visitations
for special sins This error Jesus cor
I
thoughts and those Of Jesus in reply. Re-
| pentance calls our own Affections punish
ments, but love calls the affections of 9TH
ers trials This man" But how could
the man SIN before his birth? The doctrine
of the TRANSPORTATION of souls, by which
the same soul is supposed to inhabit differ
emit bodies, was quite general among the
Greeks and Asiatics, but there is no clear
proof that this doctrine was prevalent
among these Jews. On the popular suppo-
aifior that cTaoeaI ara H.
ment for special sins, the disciples desire~-.
TO know whose sin caused this mans suf-
fering. Was it his parents sin or his own?
If jesus had replied his own they would
have asked, How
8. Neither That is, so as to be the
cause of the blindness. Our Lord does not
deny the existence of sin, either in this
man or in his parents. The disciples
looked to the origin of the suffering; our
LORD looked to its .. removal They asked,
is to save?' Instead Of looking to the
dark abyss, out Of which sin and misery
originated, the Lords heart looks to the
glory of God, who by redemption exalts
fallen man to even higher blessedness than
that Of creature Innocence. Works OF
God-manifest." Not that this man was
born blind for the sole purpose that a
miracle might be wrought, but that his
blindness furnished the occasion for Jesus
to perform the divine work Of healing him
not responsible for sin and its eonse-
1uences, but both afford Him an opportu-
nifty to show His power. and grace.
4. I'VE must work (R. VI By the
plural we, as given in the r: ", Jesus
associates His apostles with Him in the
work. 1t is encouraging to think that
we poor weak men, can be workers
together with Christ" To rid the world
Of evil, of Indebtedness, lonely sorrow,
destitution and disease is the work Of God.
i 4
portunity the night opportunity past
5. In the world. He would not be
long in the flesh, but he has never ceased
to be the light Of the world. Sin is dark
ness. He is in bod contrast to sin. ! am
the light" Lake the sun, it is My business
to dispense light and heat everywhere; to
neglect no opportunity to enlghten and
save the bodies and souls of men. The case
before them was altogether beyond human
means, but Jesus reminded His disciples
that in Him were light and life.
I'LL The blind man was healed TVS 6, 4
y. g. Made clay-anointed' Jesus
shows His power by proceeding. in His
own way, to heal the man. Notice, J,
There is no connection between the means
used and the effect produced q Christ
came into physical contact to attract at
tention and to stimulate faith; where faith 4
was in lively exercise, He healed by His
word. and at distance. 8. Christ appea-s
to two of the mans senses, his hearing and
Lceilug, JueIeDyN aIOuSluR 1d1tQ+ AuflSL
gave His personal attention to this case,
even though His patient was a beggar. z.
"Go." Would He now prove His faith in
stranger? Would He hesitate because of
His lifelong teaching that He must not
wash the eyes incidentally on the Sabbath;
much less at pool of water? Would He
now do what He could Here came the
practical test, proving His faith and ODE
dience. "Sloam.v A fountain under the
walls Of Jerusalem toward the east, be
tween the city and the brook Kidron 1t
is still to be seen, one OF the few undis-
puted sites in Jerusalem. by interpreted
ton, sent" That is, "0utlet of waters;''
either because 1t was looked upon as gift
sent from God for the use of the city, or
because its waters were directed or sent
for the same purpose. Some think there is
an allusion to Gen. 1910; that this .foun-
tain was type of Shiloh, the Christ, the
sent of God, and that it was to direct the
mans mind to the accomplishment of that
prophecy, he might find encouragement of
faith in this The pool by its very name
was type Of Christ. He went" He be-
lieved and obeyed. We frequently lose
Gods best gifts because we fail to act in
time. Game seeing" The cure was in
Simultaneous.
w. Various discussions Tvs. S-ll) 8.
us not this he?" There was an immediate
stir among the neighhors; they noticed the
great change in the man. The same is true
when Christ gives spiritual eyeslght
Begged" This is the first mention of the
fact that he was beggar He must have
been well known, 9. ~ am he" Jesus
had met and healed the man on Friday
night, at the beginning of the Sabbath,
and the neighbors had not seen him go to
the pool, so that on the next morning they
were hardly able to believe their senses.
But the man himself gave a positive testi-
mony. 10. "How-opened. His neigh
bors gathered around him and asked for
an explanation Many are anxious to know
how things are done, even though they
have no faith. H.. He answered" He
had never seen his neighbors before, but
now, looking right at them, he delivers
this wonderful testimony to the power Of
Christ 1t is short, clear, positive. A
man. FIRST he knew Him only as "the
Man" (R VI called Jesus. then as a pro-
phet ". ny, then as a Man with whom
God was Tvs. 1889, then He was the Son
of God Tvs. 353S).
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