 Yes, let's resume. We have finished up to verse 18. So we will now begin with chapter 8 verse 19 onwards. So maybe we can have one person read out verses 19 and 20 please. Then they said to him, where is this father of yours? Jesus answered, you know my father as little as you know me. If you knew me, you would know my father also. Jesus said these things in the treasury while he was teaching in the temple, but no wonder then chose to arrest him because it's our annoyance. Right. So here, because Jesus said that his witness is not just him. He's not the only one testifying about himself, but even the father also testifies about him. So then they very mockingly say, who is your father? Because they believe that Mary gave birth to Jesus through sin, not because she was divinely anointed for it. And so they are indicating that he is an illegitimate son. And so they very mockingly say to him, oh, your father testifies. Who is your father? It's the comment that they pass regarding him. But then Jesus answers very cleverly. He says, you do not know me or my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. So Jesus is saying, yeah, you people are trying to cast aspersions on me, but you know what I'm talking about. You know all along that I have been speaking about the Heavenly Father. And the reason why you're not able to accept all of this is because you know, you don't really know me and you don't know the father either personally. If you really believed in God, if you were really submitted to him and wanted to hear his voice, then so easily you would have been willing to accept what I am saying. But then you know nothing about the spiritual father because you don't really belong to him at all. And so you're having much difficulty in accepting what I am saying about myself and about the father. So even though they are trying to, you know, talk about his physical father and then they're trying to make implications regarding that. Jesus goes back to the main point and points out to them. You know, if you really knew the father, then you would not even be having these issues. And they get what he is saying because they're quite offended. But it stays over here. He spoke these words while teaching in the temple quotes, yet no one seized him. So they probably really wanted to seize him and beat him up because of what he had said. They tried to insult him, but then they are the ones who got insulted because very openly he is saying to them, you know, you call yourself leaders and you don't even know your heavenly father because if you knew then, you know, then you would accept me. And so they are the ones who get insulted in the process. And then Jesus goes on to speak the verses 21 to 24 if we can have one person read out, please. Again, Jesus said to them, I will go away. You will look for me, but you will not, but you will die in your sins. You cannot go where I'm going. So the Jewish authority said, he says that we cannot go where he's going. Does this mean that he will kill himself? Jesus answered, you belong to this world here below, but I belong from above. You are from this world, but I'm not from this world. That is why... Oh, yeah, yeah, that's it. Up to verse 23. Thank you so much. All right. So here Jesus says to them, you will... Okay, that would be verse 21. In verse 21, Jesus says, you will die in your sin where I go, you cannot come. Now these religious leaders are under the impression that if they die, they will go to heaven. And Jesus is saying, where I go, you cannot come. So if they are going to go to heaven, then that means Jesus is not going to heaven in their twisted logic. So they ask, will he kill himself? Is that why he is saying, where I go, you cannot come? Because I mean, the Jewish teaching was that if a person committed suicide, then they would be placed in the lowest levels of heads, which is hell. So they would be placed at the lowest levels of hell. So if they are going to die, then they will be going to heaven, but Jesus says they will not be going where he is going. So maybe he is going to hell. Look at the way their thinking has become so perverted. And so they say to him, is he going to kill himself? And then Jesus very plainly says, you are from below, I am from above. So I obviously will be the one going to heaven because I am from above. I'm not even of this world. I have come from there to teach you certain things to guide you in a particular way through the science that I am doing to point you in the right direction. So I am from above. Obviously I will be going back above, but you people, you will die in your sins. You think that you're going to go to heaven, but no, not at all. You are the ones who would end up in heads. So that's basically the point that Jesus is trying to make over here. Then in verse 24, he says, he makes a very significant point. If someone could read out for us, verse 24. I'll read 24. Yes. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am whom I am. Thank you. Yes. So over here in our English translations, just so that we get it grammatically correct. You have, for instance, here in our NIV, it says, if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins. But when you go to Bible Hub and look at the original wording, it just says, if you do not believe that I am, that's all. It's just the I am statement that is made over here. Wherever that Greek word, E-I-M-I-M-E is used in a divine sense. So Jesus simply says, if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins. If you don't believe that I am the I am, then you will die in your sins. Because they are under the impression that because they are descendants of Abraham, they will go to heaven. But he is saying that's not the criteria to enter heaven. The criteria is to believe that I am divine, that I am the Son of God, that I have been sent by the Father. You must accept this fact fact because only in that way will you escape hell. Otherwise, you know, you would have, you would be dying in your sins. Your sins would not be washed away. Your sins would not be forgiven. The atonement for your sins will not be done. You know, what I am going to do on the cross will not benefit you. And you will die in your sins if you refuse to believe who I am and what I am offering. Okay, so in this chapter, for the first time, Jesus used that term, that I-me term, E-I-M-I, that Greek word, which means I am. And he goes on to use it another two times. So there are three times in this chapter where he uses the term I-am to talk about who he is, that he is divine, that he is the Son of God. So he says, you know, in the beginning of the verse, he says, I told you that you would die in your sins. If you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins. You know, there's a repetition over here is emphasizing the point that he has made because for the Jews, they considered two things important. One, of course, that they should be descendants of Abraham to enter heaven. And the other thing, of course, is repentance. So which is why when John is preaching repentance and he's baptizing, if you remember, even the religious leaders also go to him for baptism. And we see that in Matthew chapter 3, verses 7 to 10, we don't need to read out that passage. But then, you know, even in your Bibles, if you could very quickly turn to Matthew chapter 3, verses 7 to 10, that is where even the Pharisees and Sadducees go. They also go over there to be baptized in the baptism of repentance. Why? Because they consider that all. You must be a descendant of Abraham. And second, you must have repented. So they want to do this outward ritual to show that they are repenting. But John the Baptist discerns what they are like on the inside. And he says, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wroth? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. So he says to them, there's no repentance at all inside you. So why on earth have you come over here? What on earth makes you think that you will escape judgment? You will definitely not escape judgment unless you produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And so then, you know, he says that in verse 9, he says, oh, they're in that Matthew 3 chapter. He says in verse 9, do not think you can say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham. And then he says the axe is already at the root of the trees. And every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So these are the points that Jesus is making over here. He says, indeed you will die in your sins if you do not believe in me. So these are people who must accept the words of Jesus. They must be willing to submit to him and repent of their attitude. Only then can they have a chance of their sins being washed away. So Jesus is making the point that it's not enough for you to just repent. The repentance should come through Jesus where you submit yourself to him. And you choose to believe what he is saying and you choose to walk in that. That would be true repentance. So he's kind of giving them a new definition of what repentance means. Repentance is not just simply getting water baptized. Repentance is actually believing in him and submitting to him and walking in him. Because that alone can save them. So that is why he says you will indeed die in your sins if you do not do that. So then again we come back to the same argument versus 25 to 30. Where the people are again saying who are you and then maybe we could just very quickly... Okay, about six verses. If someone could read out verses 25 to 30, we'll kind of sum up that and then move on to the next thing. Verses 25 to 30, please. Then they said to him... Want to go ahead? Please go ahead, brother President. Then they said to him, who are you? And Jesus said to them, just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you. But he who has sent me is true. I speak to the world those things which I heard from him. They did not understand that he spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, when you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he. And that I do nothing of myself. But as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And he who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone. For I always do those things that please him. As he spoke these words, many believed in him. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, there's a long conversation that's been going on. And in fact, this is not even the first conversation. He's told these things earlier and they go on questioning him again and again, repeating the very same questions. They don't seem to be getting the answers which Jesus is giving. And so it says in verse 27, they did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. They have become so blinded that the explanation that Jesus is giving the same explanation. You and I, by now after having gone through the same kind of teaching again and again, must be thinking, what is this so difficult about it? It's so easy to understand. Jesus is saying, I'm from above. The Father has sent me. Believe what I'm saying. And then, you know, you'll be saved. Simple teaching. And they go on and on about the same thing again and again. And in fact, it says over here, they did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. Imagine how blind they have become. They want to be blind. They do not want to accept the truth. It's too painful for them. And so they have chosen to blind themselves and they have chosen because and because they have chosen to blind themselves, the evil one has taken full advantage and totally blinded them. And they are so confused. They're not able to understand what he is saying. And so the danger we see over here is that if someone chooses to be blind, the evil one will most gladly help you in being really blind where you will not get it. And you see the contrast was 30, even as he spoke, many believed in him. So it's not a difficult thing to understand. What is being taught is very simple. A lot of ordinary people standing over there have caught what was being said and they have been able to believe it and accept it. But these very, very learned people are unable to even understand what is being said. They're getting more and more confused as the conversation is going on. Why? Because in their heart, they do not want the truth. They do not want it because they do not want the truth. They are unable to understand it. On the other hand, you have people who are just standing over there and listening to this whole conversation and they are catching what is being said. And so, even as he spoke, many believed in him. And wow. So here in verse 28, yes, true. In verse 28, we have the second time that Jesus refers to himself as I am. And again over here, the English word he has been attached just to make it grammatically smooth. But otherwise, Jesus is basically saying in verse 28, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am and that I do nothing on my own. So he says, I am so much in line with the Father. I don't say anything on my own. I even obey him to the extent of allowing myself to be lifted up on the cross. So when that happens, then you will really know and believe that I do everything in line with his will. And then you will have to admit and accept the fact that I have come from him, that I am the Son of God because my will is in line with the Father's will to that extent, to the extent of actually allowing myself to be lifted up on the cross. So of course, they would not have caught the nuances because the cross incident has not yet happened. But this is what Jesus is referring to. He says, on that day, you will have to accept that I am in line with the Father. And then of course, we come to the very famous verses which are very widely referred to. If we could have someone read out verses, just to comment on what was said over here, the heart of men is desperately wicked. I mean, it's so true. And it gets the heart reaches that stage of desperate wickedness because in their desperation, people do not want to accept the truth. They are willing to grab on to anything else which can maybe help them to avoid the truth. So they are willing to go for any theory, any explanation, anything. They are that desperate. And so because they are that desperate to run away from the truth, they end up becoming more and more hardened and they become desperately wicked. So true. So very true. Yes, if you could have someone read out verses 31 and 32. Verse 31, then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and truth shall make you free. Yes. So in the scriptures, like I'm sure you've been told before, you have two kinds of knowledge, two kinds of truth being given. You have the logos and you have the Reema. All of God's word is the word of God. It is logos. It has been given to us to know, educate ourselves to know that this is what God regards as the truth. This is what God regards as the right thing. So we have all of the word of God being given to us to know the truth. And then you have the Reema word where God takes a certain particular truth, one particular teaching, and he impresses it upon your heart for one particular situation. Maybe you're facing some particular circumstance. And in that particular circumstance that you're going through, this particular revelation will be useful to you. God picks up that one single truth and he impresses it upon your heart and it becomes very personal to you during that event that you're going through. And then there is another kind of truth which you don't really learn just in your head. It comes through experience. And so it's this third kind of thing that Jesus is talking about over here. So God gives you the whole logos, the entire word of God. He gives it to you so that you can educate yourself on what he believes in, what he regards as the truth, what he expects of us. So all of that is given to us, the logos is given to us and it is our duty to educate ourselves and study it and learn it and be well informed regarding it. And once we know it, God can take up specific little little portions which we require in a particular situation and he brings that to our mind and he makes it very fresh in our minds and we see suddenly, oh, this is how I should apply that truth to my situation now and it becomes the Reema word of God. And then the third kind of learning happens when you apply and practice this logos and Reema even as you are obeying him, even as you are following these instructions and doing what you are being told, through your life experience, you begin to discover the truth of these things. It's no longer just head knowledge, now it is experiential knowledge where you have actually experienced it, tasted it and seen that it is real and true and good. Now that that truth becomes tested and proved to you. So here that is what Jesus is referring to. He says, if you hold to my teaching, if you do what I'm telling you to do, then you are really my disciples, you will know the truth experientially. You will practice it and discover that all that I'm saying is really correct. That it really works and once you know that, that will just set you free because you have not only just kept it in your head, but now you have applied it and allowed it to work out its fruit in your life. So the fruit that it has worked out, what is the fruit that the word has worked out? It has released you in certain areas. It has brought fruit, it has brought success into your life in certain areas. It has maybe increased your understanding of a situation in different ways. This word bears fruit and brings freedom in every area of your life so that you can walk deeper and deeper into Shalom, the abundant life that you're meant to have. So we have the logos, word of God, all of the word of God, which is logos. We have the reema, which is that little portion which God uses and reminds us of in specific situations. And even as we start practicing these logos and reema, even as we start doing it, the fruit of the word begins to operate. We start seeing the success, the peace, the faith, the increase in faith which we need. We need the change in the circumstances. We see victory happening. We see all of these things happening because the truth is now being acted out in your life. But you're actually putting it into practice and you will see the freedom which comes with it, the success which comes with it. And you will be set free in all areas of your life to walk into greater and greater abundance, abundant life into Shalom. So here it's not talking about just head knowledge, but knowledge which you have chosen to believe and put into practice. And then of course, you have these leaders immediately protesting and saying, no, no, we are free as well. So if we could read out verses 33 to 36, please. They answered him. We are Abraham's descendants who have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them. Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Okay, so they are not accepting what Jesus is saying and putting it into practice in their personal lives. And so he's unable to set them free and cause them to walk into abundant life. They're unable to achieve that. They're unable to reach that because they are not submitting to his word, believing it and practicing it. So they are like slaves who live in a house, in a household back in those times. Back in those times, not only would the family members be living in that large joint family, but you would also have all the servants and slaves and all of them also living over there. So because these would be large setups. When we think of house, we think of a little apartment with maybe two bedrooms or three bedrooms. But the houses of those times were not like that. Each time there are more people joining the family, you would just add an extra room. You would build an extra room and that becomes an extension of the original house. So you had these large houses where you have a lot of people living including the slaves and they're all benefiting from the provisions provided in the house. They all enjoy what privileges are granted in that house. But those slaves are not permanent. They're slaves. One day they will just remain as slaves and they will not step into the privileges which the sons would step into because there's paperwork backing up the sons. They are meant to inherit and they will go on to become masters. So the slave and the children are all at the same level in the early stages. The kids are enjoying benefits. The slaves are also enjoying benefits. But the slave will continue staying over there at that stage where he's just enjoying benefits. But he never becomes truly a son. He never really gets that paperwork in his hand which says that now he's no longer just a child but now he's the master and now he can take part in greater business or he can participate in things which only a son can participate in. Those rights will never be given to the slave. So it's very sad. Jesus is saying you people think that you are descendants of Abraham but you're not going to be having any of those privileges which are meant to be given to the actual true children of Abraham because you people are slaves and it's a very sad thing. You're not even sincere slaves, genuine slaves who are doing your work. You are slaves to sin. Sin has taken over as your master. So you're temporarily living over here in this family of Israel as slaves but you're not sons. One day the sons will go and take their places once they are fully grown and mature but you will not even have this position left. So he's pointing out the great danger that they are in. On the other hand if they repent of their attitude, if they choose to place their belief in him he says that he's willing to set them free. He's willing to set them free of their sins and help them to walk into their inheritance but that's a choice which they would need to make but they are still arguing, they are still insisting and so we have verses 39 to 41. If we could have someone read out verses 39 to 41. 41. Yes. They answered him. Our father is Abraham. If you really were Abraham's children, Jesus replied, you will do the same things that he did and all I have ever done is to tell you the truth. I heard from God. Yet you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like this. You are doing what your father did. God himself is the only father we have. Okay. Yeah. So here we have... Yes. Thank you. So here we have Jesus saying, they insist on the saying, Abraham is our father and then Jesus says, if he was really your father then you would do what your father does because Abraham, what did he do when messengers came to him from heaven? He received them. He was open to what they were saying, which we see in Genesis chapter 18 where messengers were sent to him from heaven and he believed what they were saying and he accepted it. On the other hand now someone, a greater messenger has been sent to these people and these religious leaders are rejecting him. They are not accepting him. So he says, he repeats the same thing. He says in verse 40, Abraham did not do such things. When Abraham, when those messengers came to Abraham, he did not conspire to kill them, but these people are doing that. And so he says, no, no, no, your father is not Abraham. Your deeds, your actions show that your father is somebody else and he goes on to talk about how they belong to the evil one rather than to the Lord. And so when they say that the people are very angry, yeah, so we have verse 41 where they say, we are not legitimate children. They protested. The only father we have is God himself. So again, this may be a slur against Jesus. They're again trying to mock him. So they are saying, at least we know who our fathers are, but then you claim that you are the result of a virgin birth. So we at least know who our human father is and we also have God as our father. And so they again mock him. And then maybe we can go to verses 48. Yeah, then 46, 47, Jesus says, I mean, if you really think that I'm not who I say I am, then you can point out my defects. So he says, can any of you prove me guilty of sin? And that's a question. If you look at the next few verses, nobody comes forward and says, okay, you have done this, this, this. So it's an amazing testimony. They could not find a single thing that they could accuse him of. So he is true in all that he is saying and they're not able to question his integrity regarding his lifestyle. So even his lifestyle is evidence that all that he is speaking is the truth. And then maybe we can just very quickly look at verses 48 to 50. So they say to him, you're a Samaritan. They very clearly know that he's not a Samaritan. They know that he is from Nazareth and his lineage is from David. So they're just making accusations now. By this time, I think they're kind of running out of good arguments. And so they just randomly saying whatever comes into their head. So now they are saying you're a Samaritan and then they're saying you're demon possessed. And then Jesus says, I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me because a demon possessed person or a person who is influenced by Satan would obviously want to promote themselves. But what is Jesus doing over here? He says, I am not seeking glory for myself. But there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. So I'm not even trying to glorify myself. It's the father who is testifying that I am from him to science and wonders to perform to back up what I am saying. So I have the father's backing and I am glorifying him. I'm not trying to glorify myself. So therefore I am not demon possessed. And then we come to the last portion where 56 to 59 where Jesus says, I think this is an interesting passage. Maybe you could very quickly look at it if someone could read out for us 56 to 59 please. 56 to 59 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see the time of my coming. He saw it and was glad. They said to him you are not even 50 years old and you have seen Abraham. I'm telling you the truth. Jesus replied, Abraham was born. I am. Then they up stones and they speak like stones to throw to him but Jesus himself Jesus hid himself and he left the temple. Thank you. Yes, thank you. So we have in verse 24 and in verse 28 and again here in verse 58 where Jesus uses that I-E-I-M-I that Greek word which means it's a divine word which is used for I-E-I-M. So this is the third time where he says before Abraham was born I-E-I-M. So in verse 56 Jesus says when Abraham was told about these things we are not sure to what extent Abraham was aware of what exactly his seed would do because he's told that these generations would be blessed through him so I don't know to what extent he was aware of how they would be blessed but whatever it is that he was told we learn over here that Abraham rejoiced when he heard about these things so whatever revelations were given to him it made him glad and he rejoiced but here these people who are calling themselves sons of Abraham they are not at all rejoicing they are not at all happy with what God has planned for them so they say how would you know whether Abraham rejoiced or not you are not around at that time and then Jesus says I was very much around at that time because I am and he has said it three times in a row in the same conversation so now they are really upset and they pick up stones to stone him but of course it is not yet his time and so he slips away from there so we come into John chapter 9 which is mainly the story of a man who was born blind and Jesus you know gives him back his eyesight and if you look in your textbook you would see a table in which you have a comparison being made between the Bethesda pool incident and the man over here who is healed of blindness so John chapter 5 is the story about the paralytic who is healed of his paralysis and here in John chapter 9 you have a person who is blind from birth and he too is healed and in the table you have some interesting comparisons being made one I think very interesting comparison is that in the Bethesda pool incident the man who became sick got that way because of his sinfulness it was his sinful actions which led to his sickness but over here in this story we see that this poor man never did anything sinful to deserve what he had done it is just something which happened to him because of the kind of fallen world that we live in another thing that we see is that both the stories involve a pool of course in the Bethesda pool incident the pool does not really play any role at all in the healing over here in this particular story this blind man is asked to go and wash the mud which Jesus has put on his eyes is asked to go and wash it off in the pool of Siloam so I think that's a rather superficial comparison nothing much doesn't really help us much maybe one interesting comparison that we could see between the two is the Bethesda pool man doesn't really stand up for Jesus or anything he says Jesus is the one who made me carry the mat and he just passes on the blame to Jesus but over here you see this blind man was recovered his eyesight he kind of takes a stand for Jesus and in fact openly says now I am his follower so as for the Bethesda pool man we don't really know what Jesus says to him don't sin anymore because something worse may happen to you and so we do not know whether the man acted upon Jesus advice or not but over here we very clearly see that this blind person he takes a stand for Jesus and he decides to become a follower and in fact he worships him it's the wording that is used about him so to very quickly go through some of the main things in this story maybe if someone could read out verses one and two and Jesus was walking along Jesus was walking along he saw a man who had been born blind his disciples asked him teacher who sin cost him to be born blind was it his own or his parents thank you yes okay so they were probably thinking about Exodus chapter 20 verse 5 and also Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 9 where it says that the children would be punished for the sins of their father so they are wondering whether this man was born blind you know right from babyhood right from the time he was born so did his parents commit some terrible sin or maybe some ancestors who committed some terrible sin because of which this man has been born in this condition that is one question the other question is did this man himself commit some sin so in what they are trying to say is I know did God anticipate that in during his lifetime he's going to do something really horrible and so knowing that because of God's fore knowledge regarding our sins is it because of that that God decides to bring a judgment upon him even before he has committed that sinful deed so they made it in that sense and Jesus of course replies and says no no this man has not committed any terrible sin and nor have the parents sinned in any way rather this is just going to be one occasion where God gets one more chance to display his glory okay so so we could say what learning can we take away from this there are unfortunate circumstances that come upon us because of the wrong decisions that we have taken it can be because of the sins which we have done so sometimes things may go really bad in our lives and we may end up with a lot of suffering and a lot of trials because of the sin in our lives and because of the wrong decisions which we took without God's guidance that could be the case on the other hand certain things just happen to us because we are living in a in an imperfect world other people do things to us they are the ones who are sinning and we are the innocent victims of their sin and we suffer because of what they have done so it could be any of those you know reasons because of which the suffering has come but one thing we can take away from this verse is that you can just see it as one more occasion where God can display his glory so it doesn't matter whether the suffering has come because of my own stupidity and my sin or because of something that someone else has done whatever the source may be there is hope in the Lord you know God who is willing to to display his glory in our lives and help us and bring us out of that situation is willing to deliver us so we can always have hope that whether it is our fault or whether it is someone else's fault if we can just go to him humbly you know with an attitude of submission then he will be willing to display his glory in our lives and act on our behalf coming to verses 6 and 7 where Jesus you know I think maybe we should read these 2 verses if someone could please read out verses 6 and 7 when he had said these things he spat on the ground and made clay with a saliva and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay and he said to him go wash in the pool of Silom which is translated scent so he went and washed and came back seeing yeah no explanation is given as to why Jesus chose this mode of healing it seems rather messy and unhygienic but you know all we can we can just maybe try to make some assumptions or you know draw some inferences one thing that was mentioned in your textbook was the kind of maybe slight similarity to the Genesis act of creation where you have God literally taking you know mud and creating a human out of it and then he does something he breathes into that clay which he has created and it becomes a living person and so over there in that incident you had breath being released here you have saliva being used so is Jesus doing this with some kind of spiritual significance in mind maybe it's something from him that he is putting in that mud mud is just mud you know there's no life in it there's no restoration or healing in it but Jesus adds saliva to it and now it is no longer just mud there's something of the living God there's something of the creator in human form so there's something of Jesus in that mud now and so this man goes over there and washes his eyes and he's actually so maybe there's some kind of spiritual significance because Jesus has the creator God who was there in creation when the first human was created now he's using saliva over here to restore this man's eyesight in this remarkable way so we can only make assumptions and of course Jesus very very deliberately chooses to do this on the Sabbath as it is pointed out in verse 14 and this in fact an explanation that Jesus gives about why he's doing it on the Sabbath he says you know as long as it is day we must do the works of him who sent me so now is the time for healing Jesus has come onto the earth to do these things to deliver people from the stronghold of Satan to redeem them from the consequences of sin and so as long as it is day as long as crucifixion time has not yet come he has come over here to do the works of him who sent him and so it doesn't matter to him whether it is a Sabbath day and whether the Pharisees have made any rules regarding the Sabbath day that is irrelevant only what the Lord, only the laws and commands given by God you know those matter and so man made practical rules about the Sabbath don't apply and so God Jesus chooses to continuing to doing the works of the Father even on the Sabbath day and then we move into verses 17 to 23 where the Pharisees question the man's parents and they say is it really true that Jesus healed him and the parents do not want to take a stand afraid that they would be excommunicated and so they just say why are you questioning us, you talk to him directly he is the one who got healed let him speak for himself and so we come to verses 24 to 34 where the healed man he speaks up and he says that you know this maybe we should leave this passage for next class because it's nice some of the things that he says it would just take maybe about 5 minutes or so so it wouldn't really interfere with next week's portion so we'll deal with John chapter 9 verses 24 onwards at the beginning of next class alright, anyone has any questions otherwise you know we can conclude with the word of prayer alright, let's close with the word of prayer Lord we just thank you so much for the things that we could learn from your word today we thank you O Lord that if we believe in you if we submit to you even if we have not led perfect lives you will still be willing to display your glory in our lives thank you O Lord that you are a god of second chances thank you O Lord that you don't bring judgment upon us immediately but you advise us and say go and sin no more so we thank you that in you we always have hope so O Lord we pray that we would not be people who foolishly keep running away from the truth and allow the heart to get more and more hardened because that's a thing which those leaders did O Lord to themselves if they had not kept running away from the truth then their hearts probably would have remained sensitive to you and they could have probably repented and been saved but Lord they allowed themselves to be hardened more and more so O Lord whenever you speak uncomfortable truths to us help us O Lord to humble ourselves and accept even those uncomfortable truths we pray that they would not make the mistake of running away from the truth trying to hide from it because that leads to a hardening O Lord and that's so dangerous we pray O Lord that you would guard us against those things and Lord all the things that we have learned today in today's lesson bring these truths back to our mind O Lord as and when we need it in our own lives thank you Lord in Jesus name amen amen thank you so much for participating in the class and we'll meet again next week thank you thank you