John 9 is about Jesus healing a man born blind. When Jesus' disciples ask if the man's blindness was due to his own or his parents' sins, Jesus says neither caused it, but it was so God's works could be displayed. Jesus heals the man by making mud and having him wash in the Pool of Siloam. Though the man receives physical sight, he requires further revelation from Jesus to believe. The Jewish leaders question the healing, which causes division.

1. John 9
Does God Punish The Children For The Sins Of The
Parents?; Miracle 6, Man Born Blind Healed, John 9:1-41; I
Am The Light Of The World; Bible Critics Wrong Again; He
Believed And Was Healed But Not Saved; Sin Hinders
Prayers; “The Jews”; The Prayers Of Unbelievers; Young
Earth?; He Worshiped Jesus
Jerusalem Daily Photo, Yehuda Poch's gorgeous photo of almond blossoms in
Latrun, central Israel. As the first of the trees to blossom, they are a delightful
harbinger of spring in the Land of Israel.

2. BIBLE IN FIVE
Pastor Dave Kooyers
Valley Bible Fellowship
Box 433
Boonville CA 95415
http://www.slideshare.net/dkooyers
www.ValleyBibleFellowship.org
(707) 895-2325
God bless you as you examine His Word,
Your servant in Christ, 2Cor. 4:5
These Microsoft PowerPoint presentations are provided "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ"
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there...by every wind of doctrine." They may be downloaded and modified free of charge.
Matthew 10:8 …Freely you received, freely give.

3. Let's read John 9

4. Eight weeks have passed between
the two feasts;
• NAU John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great
day of the feast…
• NAU John 10:22 At that time the Feast of the
Dedication took place at Jerusalem;
4

5. John 9:1, Sins Of The Parents
• NAU John 9:1 As He passed by, He saw a man
blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him,
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he would be born blind?”
• The Jews believed that poverty or sickness was
a direct result of someone's sin, or their
parents.
• The Jews believed that someone could sin in
the womb. (John, Believe and Live, Pg. 90)
5

6. John 9:1, Sins Of The Parents
• NAU John 9:1 …who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he would be born blind?”
• NAU 1 Corinthians 11:27 Therefore whoever eats the
bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of
the Lord… 30 For this reason many among you are
weak and sick, and a number sleep.
• NAU 1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there
is a sin not leading to death.
• The Jews believed that God would punish someone for
their parents sin. But Scripture says;
6

7. John 9:1, Sins Of The Parents
• NAU Ezekiel 18:2 …this proverb…The fathers eat the
sour grapes, But the children's teeth are set on edge '? 3
"As I live," declares the Lord God, "you are surely not
going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. 4 "Behold,
all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the
soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die… 20
"The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the
punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father
bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the
righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and
the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
7

8. 8

10. John 9:5, The Light
• NAU John 9:5 "While I am in the world, I am
the Light of the world.”
• CSB John 1:9 The true light, who gives light to
everyone, was coming into the world.
• John 3:19 "This is the judgment, that the Light
has come into the world, and men loved the
darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds
were evil.

11. John 9:5, The Light
• Luke 1:78-79 Through the tender mercy of our
God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath
visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide
our feet into the way of peace.
• NAU Revelation 21:23 And the city has no
need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God has illumined it, and its
lamp is the Lamb.

12. John 9:5
The Light
• John 8:12 Then Jesus
again spoke to them,
saying, "I am the
Light of the world;
he who follows Me
will not walk in the
darkness, but will
have the Light of
life."

13. NAU John 9:5 "While I am in the world, I
am the Light of the world."
• If the earth is only 6,000 years old, then how can we see light from
stars that are millions of light years away?
• Einstein's scientifically accepted Theory of Relativity shows that time
is relative to gravity and speed. Time simply varies depending on the
amount of mass, acceleration and gravity. Therefore, any
knowledgeable scientist will admit that in the extra-terrestrial spaces,
creation light could have traveled at unfathomable speeds. In the
Biblical model,Adam and Eve, as well as the trees, plants and animals,
were created with the appearance of age. Even though they were only
a few minutes old, they looked and acted like full-grown adults.
Therefore scripture supports God simply preforming another miracle.
If He could create the earth in 6 days, He certainly could create a light
beam from the stars to earth!"It is I who made the earth, and created
man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands, and I
ordained all their host." Is. 45:12
• "He stretches out the north over empty space,
and hangs the earth on nothing. Job 26:7

14. The Tetragrammaton
Ha Shem = ἐγώ εἰμι
• The Hebrew tetragrammaton is defined by
Mac dictionary as;
• “…the Hebrew name of God transliterated in
four letters as YHWH or JHVH and articulated
as Yahweh or Jehovah.”
• When the Hebrew translators in the
Septuagint translation (LXX) came to this word
they translated it into the Greek as “ἐγώ εἰμι.”
• Jesus hammers his detractors 5X’s in 8…
14

15. Ha Shem
• NAU Exodus 3:14 God
said to Moses, "I AM WHO
I AM"; and He said, "Thus
you shall say to the sons of
Israel, 'I AM has sent me
to you.’"
• NAU John 8:12,18, 24, 28,
58 ,9:5,10:7,11,36, 6:35
Jesus said to them, "I am
the bread of life…
15

16. The Tetragrammaton
Ha Shem = ἐγώ εἰμι
• The Hebrew tetra grammaton
BGT Exodus 3:14 …ὁ θεὸς πρὸς Μωυσῆν
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν…
BGT John 8:12 …ἐγώ εἰμι …
BGT John 8:18 ἐγώ εἰμι…
BGT John 8:24 … ἐγώ εἰμι,…
BGT John 8:28 … ἐγώ εἰμι,…
BGT John 8:58 … ἐγὼ εἰμί.
16

17. Luke 2:11
Which Savior?
• NIV Isaiah 43:10…I am he.
Before me no god was
formed, nor will there be one
after me. 11 I, even I, am the
LORD, and apart from me
there is no savior.
• BGT Isaiah 43:10 …ἐγώ εἰμι…
• Luke 2:11 for today in the city
of David there has been born
for you a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord.

18. John 9:6, Mixing Spit And Clay
• NAU John 9:6 When He had said this, He spat
on the ground, and made clay of the spittle,
and applied the clay to his eyes,
• Mixing spit and clay was specifically prohibited
under Jewish tradition
• Jesus not only did it, he did it on the Sabbath.
• Seems as though our Lord is still provoking
them, even after chapter 8.
18

19. John 9:7, Anagrams
• NAU John 9:7 and said to him, "Go, wash in the
pool of Siloam " (which is translated, Sent). So he
went away and washed, and came back seeing.
• Proverbs 20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The LORD has made both of them.
• THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

20. John 9:7, Critics wrong about the
pool of Siloam!
• Jesus Research said, “… Secondly, the Gospel of John is viewed as
having a later origin because it reveals some ignorance of
Jerusalem. That is, the author of John knows little about first-
century Jerusalem because he was never there and the Romans
thoroughly destroyed it in 70 A.D. Therefore, he invented places
like the Bethesda Pool having five porticoes (John 5) and the Pool
of Siloam (John 9), investing in them heavy symbolism as he
crafted his theological masterpiece…”
• But Biblical Archaeology has blown them out of the water. Bible
critics wrong again! “… But in 2004, archaeologists discovered an
ancient pool in the southern portion of the City of David
excavations, south of the Temple Mount, which had been hidden
since 70 A.D…” Complete article is after the “THE END” slide
(JERUSALEM FINDS VALIDATING GOSPEL OF JOHN). 20

21. John 9:7, God Tests Our Faith
• John 9:7 and said to him, "Go, wash [imperative]…
• Sometimes God tests our faith.
• It was not his obedience of going to the pool of
Siloam and washing that restored his sight. It was
the Lord! His faith could not heal him, but following
the Lord’s instruction, showed his faith in Jesus.
Jesus healed many without making them wash, but
to test his faith, Jesus required obedience to His
words.
• People had to go and look at the bronze serpent in
Numbers 21:9, John 3:14, God could've healed
them all without looking at the bronze serpent.
• Hebrews 11:30, 2 Kings 5:14

22. John 9:7, Healed But Not Saved
• NAU John 9:7 …came back seeing.
• The miracle of the physical healing gave him physical sight,
and he understood Jesus to be a prophet (vss.17, 22, 25), yet
he did not know Jesus. Jesus had to find him, reveal Himself
to him so that he might be saved.
• NAU Luke 16:31 …If they do not listen to Moses and the
Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises
from the dead.’"
• NAU Luke 17:17 And Jesus answered and said, "Were there
not ten cleansed? But the nine-- where are they? 18 "Was no
one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this
foreigner?"
2
2

23. John 9:7, Wash Your Hands
• John 9:7 …he went away and washed…
• I accompanied my four-year-old, Matt, to a pre-
kindergarten screening session where they
tested his hearing, eyesight, speech, and motor
skills. The last stop was with the school nurse
who emphasized the importance of washing
hands before meals. "Germs from our hands can
get on our food while eating," she explained.
• "Oh, I don't need to worry about that," Matt
assured her. "We use forks at our house."

24. John 9:7, Wash Your Hands
• Leviticus 11:24 'By these, moreover, you will be
made unclean: whoever touches their carcasses
becomes unclean until evening, (Leviticus 15:11)
• Matthew 15:2 "Why do Your disciples break the
tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their
hands when they eat bread.“
• Mark 7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do
not eat unless they carefully wash their hands…
• John 13:9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, then
wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my
head."

25. John
Believe And Live, Elmer
Towns, Mal Couch and
Ed Hindson, Twenty-
First Century Biblical
Commentary Series,
page 91
25

26. John 9:7, Pool Of Siloam
• NAU John 9:7 ..Go, wash in the pool of Siloam "
(which is translated, Sent)…
• The pool of Siloam was, according to Elmer Towns,
“from which water was drawn on the eighth day
following the Feast of Booths. In that ceremony the
waters of Siloam were likened unto the "springs of
salvation” (Is. 12:3). Also, as John here emphasizes,
the name Siloam means “Sent" (9:7, see 9:4). Not
only is this idea closely related to the sending of the
Messiah into the world by God, but also one of the
titles of the Messiah,‘Shiloh’ (Gen. 49:10; Is. 8:6), is
actually translated ‘Siloam’ by the Septuagint
translators of Isaiah 8:6….” (John, Believe and Live, Pg. 91)

27. John 9:7, Pool Of Siloam
• NAU John 9:7 ..Go, wash in the pool of Siloam " (which is
translated, Sent)…
• The pool of Siloam was not the closest pool. And it was quite
a long walk.
• David Hocking says that the Jews would have understood a
relationship of salvation with the pool of Siloam. On one
feast day they would take a special golden pitcher, and with
much procession, pomp and ceremony, parade to the pool
of Siloam, draw water, then parade to the temple as an
offering. This is based on;
• NAU Isaiah 12:2 "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust
and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and
song, And He has become my salvation." 3 Therefore you
will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.

28. John 9:22, “The Jews” was not National Israel or
the laypeople but the Jewish leaders.
• NAS John 9:22 His parents said this because they
were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already
agreed, that if anyone should confess Him to be
Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
• The phrase “the Jews” is used more in the Gospel of
John than any other NAU book of the Bible (60 X’s).
More than one fourth of all the uses are in the Gospel
of John.
• John uses “The Jews” almost exclusively to mean the
enemies of Christ, the Jewish leaders.
28

29. John 9:22, ”The Jews" was not National Israel or
the laypeople but the Jewish leaders.
• NAS John 9:22 His parents … were afraid of the
Jews; for the Jews had already agreed, that if
anyone should confess Him to be Christ, he should
be put out of the synagogue.
29
Gentiles were not
allowed into the
synagogues. Only the
Jewish people. Jewish
leadership is here distinct
from Jewish people.

30. John 9:31, Hindered Prayers
• NAU John 9:31 "We know that God does not hear
sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His
will, He hears him.
• Oswald Chambers said, “Some prayers are followed
by silence because they are wrong, others because
they are bigger than we can understand.”
• R. A. Torrey said, “Oh, men and women, pray
through; pray through! Do not just begin to pray and
pray a little while and throw up your hands and quit,
but pray and pray and pray until God bends the
heavens and comes down!”
• NAU 1 Peter 3:7 You husbands…show her honor as a
fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers
will not be hindered.

31. John 9:31, Unbelievers Prayers
• QUESTION FOR THE DAY, Dear Compass,
• “Your GMLs on Mormons were eye-opening.
Now I have a question. We have a friend who
is a Mormon and last week we went to an art
show with her. She suggested we pray before
we leave to have a safe trip and she led the
prayer, out loud. If she was not praying to
Jehovah God, was Jehovah God hearing her
prayers? Who was she praying to?”

32. John 9:31, Unbelievers Prayers
• ANSWER: God knows everything so He certainly knows
what she said. But since she has no relationship with
God through Jesus, He views her prayers differently:
…Isaiah 1:15
• You can only be clean through proper sacrifice in the
Old Testament and through trusting Jesus' sacrifice in
the Church Age. As far as who she was praying to, while
she thought it was God, we're not exactly sure who it
was.
• No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel
of light. —2 Corinthians 11:14 But we are pretty sure it
wasn't God since she has no relationship with Him.”
• Additional resource for this GML: A past Compass eNews article about Mormonism. If you
wish to read it, go
to: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs011/1103404634488/archive/1106675477687.h
tml. You will need to scroll down the page to get to the article titled "The Mormon Cult."

33. John 9:31, Unbelievers Prayers
• John 9:31…God does not hear sinners…
• NAU Psalm 66:18 If I regard wickedness in my
heart, The Lord will not hear;
• NAU Jeremiah 7:16 "As for you, do not pray
for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer
for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I
[LORD] do not hear you.
• Proverbs 28:9 He who turns away his ear from
listening to the law, Even his prayer is an
abomination. 33

34. If Matthew 23:14 Is Original?
Then, Prayers Of Unbelievers
• NAU Matthew 23:14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and
for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you
will receive greater condemnation .
• Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God, And your sins have hidden
His face from you so that He does not hear.
• NAU Isaiah 1:15 "So when you spread out your hands in
prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though
you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are
covered with blood. 16 "Wash yourselves, make
yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from
My sight. Cease to do evil,

35. John 9:31, Unbelievers Prayers
• A female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who
had been going to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem to pray, twice a
day, every day, for a long, long time. To check it out, she went to
the Wall, and there he was, walking slowly up to the holy site. She
watched him pray, and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to
leave, using a cane and moving very slowly, she approached him
for an interview.
"Pardon me Sir, I'm Rebecca Smith from CNN. What's your
name?” "Morris Feinberg", he replied. "Sir, how long have you
been coming to the Wailing Wall to pray?"
"For about 60 years."
"60 years! That's amazing! What do you pray for?"
"I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims, I
pray for all the wars and all the hatred to stop, I pray for all our
children to grow up safely as responsible adults, and to love their
fellow man."
"And how do you feel Sir, after doing this for 60 years?"
• "It's like talking to a brick wall."

36. John 9:32, Young Earth?
• NAU John 9:32 "Since the beginning of time it has
never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a
person born blind.
• NAU Mark 10:6 "But from the beginning of creation,
God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE.
• NAU 2 Peter 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise
of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep,
all continues just as it was from the beginning of
creation.”
• NAU John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil,
…He was a murderer from the beginning… 36

37. John 9:35, Jesus “cast him out”
• NKJ John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him
out; and when He had found him, He said to him,
"Do you believe in the Son of God?”
• This was the second of three chastisements under
Judaism; #1 review lasted one week, #2 cast out
lasted 30 days, #3 cut off was permanent
• For 30 days he would have been alienated from
his people, unable to do business, under a curse,
ostracized by everyone.
37

38. John 9:35, Jesus “found him”
• NKJ John 9:35 Jesus … had found him, He said
to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?”
• NAU Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has
come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
• NAU John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that
you will die in your sins; for unless you believe
that I am He, you will die in your sins."
38

39. NAU John 9:38 And he said, "Lord, I
believe." And he worshiped Him.
39

40. John 9:38, He Worshiped Him
• Jehovah witnesses refuse to worship Jesus
• NAU Matthew 8:2 And a leper came to Him and
bowed down before Him…
• NAU Matthew 2:11…they saw the Child with Mary
His mother; and they fell to the ground and
worshiped Him…
• NAU Matthew 14:33 And those who were in the
boat worshiped Him…
• NAU Matthew 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them
and greeted them. And they… worshiped Him.
40

41. John 9:38, He Worshiped Him
• NIVO Daniel 7:14 He [Son of Man] was given
authority, glory and sovereign power; all
peoples, nations and men of every language
worshiped him…
• 06399 ‫ח‬ַ‫ל‬ ְּ‫פ‬pelach )Aramaic
• Meaning: 1) to serve, worship, revere,
minister for, pay reverence to…
• Ask a Jehovah's Witness if they “pay reverence
to, serve, worship, revere, minister for,” Jesus
Christ, Son of Man. 41

42. John 9:41, Spiritual Blindness
gracethrufaith.com
• Q. In John 9:41″ Jesus said, “If you were blind you would
not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim to see your sin
remains.”
• The part about being blind makes you not guilty of sin–to
whom would that apply? Does that mean that if someone
is blind to their sin they’re not accountable for it in some
way? Or does it mean that if they didn’t know it was a sin,
but they acted in good conscience, they’re o.k.?
• A. John 9 is about Jesus healing a man born blind and the
controversy it created among the Pharisees. From the rest
of the chapter we know that Jesus was speaking
metaphorically to the Pharisees in verse 41 by comparing
blindness to the inability to understand the Scriptures. He
was saying that had they not been capable of

43. John 9:41, Spiritual Blindness
gracethrufaith.com
• understanding, He would not have held them accountable for
their sin.
• But having claimed that they were capable by presenting
themselves as experts, they became accountable. Their sin
was their refusal to recognize Jesus as their Messiah even
though He was fulfilling Messianic prophecies from their own
Scriptures right before their eyes.
• This analogy helps us “see” that children who are not
intellectually mature enough to understand the
consequences of sin, along with those who are not mentally
competent to do so, are not held accountable for their sins
like the rest of us are. If they die before they’re old enough
to understand, or if they never become mentally competent,
they will go to be with the Lord as if they had never sinned.
• http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/spiritual-
blindness/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gracethrufaith+%28GraceThruFaith%29

44. Don't forget to give thanks to the Lord for
our veterans this Memorial Day
44

45. THE
END
45
They defend us from our adversaries at home and abroad!

46. Chapter 8 starts at 2:42 minutes in
• The slides that follow, that have the blue
background, are from DTS.
• http://courses.dts.edu/module-1/week-
5/?login=dkooyers@gmail.com&utm_source=m
c_automation&utm_medium=email&utm_conte
nt=email5&utm_campaign=gospelofjohn
• file:///Users/davidkooyers/Documents/Bible%2
0in%205%20Years,%20Keynote/John%207-
8,%20Others,%20DTS,%20be105-week-5.pdf
46

47. http://int.icej.org/news/special-reports/jerusalem-finds-
validating-gospel-john , JERUSALEM FINDS VALIDATING GOSPEL
OF JOHN, John 5, 9
• JERUSALEM FINDS VALIDATING GOSPEL OF JOHN
• 2nd Temple Period
• By:
• John Black
• Posted on:
• Sat, 09 Mar 2013 +0100
• When we study the life of Jesus, most Christians turn to the pages of the New Testament and the four canonical gospels. These include the three synoptic (chronological) gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, plus the book of John, which is a considerably different work.
The distinctive nature of John has led many modern scholars to conclude that John was the last gospel compiled, dating to the second century A.D. and, as such, is irrelevant for historical Jesus studies (known officially as Jesus Research since 1980).
These scholars argue it is of later authorship because John is dependent upon the synoptic gospels and it was written specifically to offer a much more theologically advanced and sophisticated literary work that served to complement the earlier gospel accounts.
Secondly, the Gospel of John is viewed as having a later origin because it reveals some ignorance of Jerusalem. That is, the author of John knows little about first-century Jerusalem because he was never there and the Romans thoroughly destroyed it in 70 A.D. Therefore, he invented places like the Bethesda Pool having
five porticoes (John 5) and the Pool of Siloam (John 9), investing in them heavy symbolism as he crafted his theological masterpiece.
However, a paradigm shift in Jesus Research has taken place in recent years. It is a shift that is challenging the skeptical scholars while proving to be edifying for the believers in Christ. What is the catalyst for this shift? In a word – Archaeology! More specifically – Biblical Archaeology!
To be clear, it is not that biblical archaeology proves or disproves the Bible. As Avraham Biran, Director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, attests, “the Bible, as a book of divine inspiration, needs no proof.” Yet, it is the marriage of both disciplines, archaeology and
biblical studies, that is rocking the boat of modern scholarship.
In a recent lecture in Jerusalem, James H. Charlesworth, Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and Editor of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary, outlined some of the new archeological finds in the environs of Jerusalem that are challenging the detractors of the Apostle John being
the author of the book by his name. Charlesworth contended that recent finds demonstrate convincingly that the Gospel of John was probably written much earlier than often suggested and is, therefore, valuable for the study of the historical Jesus — in recreating his time, place and social environment, and in helping us
understand his life, actions, teachings and agenda.
For instance, John chapter 5 records the story of the healing of an invalid man at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. The pool is said to have consisted of five porticoes, or porches.
For hundreds of years, people believing the pool did not exist read this text symbolically and theologically. ‘Bethesda’ means ‘house of mercy’ and was interpreted to be a symbol for the mercy Jesus showed the disabled man. ‘Five porticoes’ symbolized the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses), since there has not been found
a pentagon (5-sided structure) in antiquity. And what the Pentateuch could not do, Jesus will do. Verse 8 reads, “Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up!’” – providing a beautiful explanation of what Jesus does. Spiritually speaking, he makes people upright!
Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing in stages since then, archaeological excavations have been carried out in a location in the northeast quadrant of Jerusalem’s Old City based upon literary evidence in Josephus (War 2.15.5 §328) and Eusebius (Onomasticon 58.21–26). The Copper Scroll text discovered in 1947 at
Qumran also describes a hidden treasure “in the Bet ‘Eshdatayin (pool precinct) in the pool at the entrance to its smaller basin” (3Q15 11.12).
Bet ‘Eshdatayin is in the dual Aramaic form and refers to two basins for the pool. Excavations have revealed sections of two massive pools, covered colonnades and a segment of Herodian steps in the general area described in John 5 and in Josephus’ writings. Rather than a pentagon shape, the five porticoes mentioned in
John 5 surrounded the pools on the north, south, east and west, with the fifth portico dividing the 2 pools east to west (as seen in the photograph).
The photo depicts an artist’s rendition of the two pools – north and south – surrounded and divided by porticoes. The artist’s model of Second Temple Jerusalem can be viewed today at The Israel Museum.
The Herodian steps in the Pool of Bethesda (see photo) can be seen today and are believed to extend for the length of the southern pool, or approximately 100 meters. It is a massive pool that is mostly covered by a parking lot today. The repetition of steps-landing-steps-landing can be easily seen and is typical of
a mikvah, a pool or bath used to perform purification rites in Judaism.
In order to enter the courts of the Temple, located a little over 100 meters from the Pool of Bethesda, one had to be pure. In order to be pure, one had to be fully immersed in ‘living water.’ Thus a host of scholars today believe that the Pool of Bethesda was a first-century mikvah that served this purpose for tens of
thousands of Jerusalem residents and for the thousands more that visited Jerusalem during the three annual pilgrimage feasts.
It has been estimated by some that over 100,000 Jews were in Jerusalem during the feasts. That is a lot of ‘living water’ needed for purification. It is likely the massive Pool of Bethesda helped to serve this purpose, along with other ritual baths surrounding the Temple. The requirement was that the worshipper must dip
himself or herself in a mikvah before entering the courts of the Lord.
Re-reading John 5 with the pools, colonnades and steps in view, one can now easily envision the disabled man lying on his mat on the landing trying, with great difficulty, to immerse himself in the water just below. One can also envision another individual racing past him as the water is stirred up.
Now we can begin to understand that what the Gospel of John describes is precisely what had happened. The surviving literary records, such as the Copper Scroll, Josephus, Tacitus and the New Testament, refer to the water systems of Jerusalem, but none except John specifically mentions the Pool of Bethesda. That is to
say, no other literary record but John and the Copper Scroll appear to have been aware of the pools which were likely destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
This is especially important because the Gospel of John is the only gospel that claims to have an eyewitness. Luke interviews the eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-4), but John actually claims to have been an eyewitness to the miracles of Jesus (John 1:14; 19:35; 21:24-25).
Therefore, the story in John 5 was not a later creation of Christology (explaining the divinity of Jesus), but a real historical event that took place in a real time at a real place. That is how he knew the details about the pool, its name, its function, the age of the disabled man and the fact he was lying on a mat. All of these
incredible details of the account attest to the eyewitness testimony of John, thereby adding to the credibility of its author and the early date of its authorship.
Visitors to Jerusalem today can enter the premises of St. Anne’s Church in the Muslim Quarter and see the real place where Jesus healed the invalid, perhaps on the very steps that you can observe today.
Meanwhile, John 9 tells the story of Jesus healing a blind man by smearing mud on his eyes and telling him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. The old paradigm in Jesus Research interpreted this passage on a very Christological basis, since they concluded there was no Pool of Siloam nor a relationship between the Gospel of
John and actual history. The invented story simply shows how Jesus is the “light of the world” (verse 5) by showing the progression from first receiving physical eyesight followed eventually by receiving spiritual eyesight.
But in 2004, archaeologists discovered an ancient pool in the southern portion of the City of David excavations, south of the Temple Mount, which had been hidden since 70 A.D. The 50-meter northern edge and part of the eastern edge of the pool have been excavated while the remaining pool is on property owned by
the Greek Orthodox Church.
Like the Pool of Bethesda, one can easily see the pattern of steps and platforms allowing pilgrims to easily enter the pool for full immersion in preparation for entering the Temple located 700 meters to the north. That is to say, like the Pool of Bethesda, the Pool of Siloam was also likely a mikvah, according to many
archaeologists. These two pools represent the largest mikvaot (plural form) that have been discovered to date in the Land of Israel. Also, like the Pool of Bethesda, it is conceivable that Jesus immersed himself at this pool before entering the Temple.
The discipline of biblical archaeology and its resulting discoveries are forcing Jesus Research to undergo a paradigm shift. It is challenging the skeptic scholar because the recent discoveries of the Pool of Bethesda and Pool of Siloam demonstrate that the author of the Gospel of John knew intimate details of pre-70 AD
Jerusalem that even Josephus failed to know or mention. He also knew things about Jerusalem that we did not know ten years ago.
“The accuracy of the Johannine information is clearly established,” writes Urban C. von Wahlde, Professor of Theology at Loyola University of Chicago, in his work Jesus and Archaeology. John can no longer be read as strictly a theological work comprised of invented stories to illustrate its theological truths.
Moreover, biblical archaeology is proving edifying to the passionate believer who can now point with confidence to the excavated Pool of Bethesda and say, “Jesus healed a disabled man here.” Or, they can sit on the steps of the Pool of Siloam, read John 9 and imagine how the story unfolded before their very eyes,
bolstering their faith in the Light of the world.
•

48. The Seven Miracles In John
Saturday, April 5th, 2014
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
• The Seven Miracles In John
• Saturday, April 5th, 2014Featured
• Grace
• Healing
• Israel
• Salvation
• A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
• In the past I’ve explained the need for 4 Gospels and the tremendous increase in understanding we can gain by comparing events from the different perspectives of each (read The Four Faces of Jesus). In this study we’ll focus on the unique character of John’s Gospel.
• Due to his extensive use of symbolism John’s Gospel, written to the church, can be the most intriguing. Everything he recorded in his gospel actually happened, but he arranged and described them in such a way as to convey additional truth beyond the obvious point of his narrative. Sometimes he even rearranged the
order of events to underscore emphasize this additional truth. John 2 is a good example of this. He placed the cleansing of the Temple right after the wedding at Cana to illustrate the point that the Lord came to create an intimate personal relationship with His church (as in a marriage), not to fix a broken religion.
• The focus of John’s gospel is the Lord’s Judean ministry and really only the last part of that. He devoted most of 9 chapters (John 12-20) to the Lord’s last week and used 1/3 of the gospel’s 879 verses to describe His last 24 hours. The first 11 chapters define the Lord’s ministry through John’s selective use of 7 miracles,
and we’ll use them to show how John’s Gospel contains more than meets the eye.
• Miracle 1, Water Into Wine (John 2:1-11)
• This one is misunderstood by most and yet results in the disciples putting their faith in the Lord. (This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed His Glory and the disciples put their faith in Him, John 2:11). It seems so insignificant when compared the opening miracles in the other
gospels, which involved either casting out demons or curing leprosy.
• This miracle took place because an embarrassing discovery had been made. A wedding banquet Jesus was attending was in full swing when the servants suddenly realized they were out of wine. His mother, who was also there, asked Him to help. The Lord had 6 empty jars of stone filled with water which He then turned
into wine. The master of the banquet proclaimed the wine Jesus had made to be superior to the wine they had served earlier, saying they had saved the best for last.
• Look at the symbolism: These six stone jars normally held water used for used for ceremonial cleansing, an important part of Old Covenant life. Now they contained wine, which is often associated with the New Covenant due to the Lord’s Supper.
• What’s more, the wine these jars now contained was superior to the wine the wedding guests had been drinking before, just as the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:6). This miracle symbolized nothing less than the Mission of the Messiah; changing the empty way of man’s religion into a living,
joyful, relationship with the Lord, as demonstrated by the wedding celebration.
• Miracle 2, Healing the Official’s Son (John 4:43-54).
• Here’s an act of God’s Grace, pure and simple. There’s no indication of the official’s nationality or background, his religious conviction or his worthiness, only his faith. He had heard of Jesus and of His miraculous power and begged Him to come heal his dying son. Jesus didn’t go with him but simply told the man his son
would live. The man took Jesus at His word and departed for home. The next day, while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his son had recovered. From their discussion he learned that his son had been made well from the very time he had spoken with Jesus. Because of this He and all his
household became believers, saved by grace through faith.
• Miracle 3, The Healing at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9)
• Tradition holds that an angel periodically stirred the waters at the Pool of Bethesda. The first one into the water when that happened was healed. Many people who were sick or disabled waited there by the pool day after day for a chance to be healed. But a cripple can’t get himself to the pool in time. This man had
been crippled for 38 years and had repeatedly tried and failed. Then Jesus came along and healed him.
• I believe this man’s predicament demonstrates the poverty of the Law, which was never intended to heal us of our infirmities (physical and spiritual) but to show us our need for a Savior … that we’re hopeless and helpless without Him.
• He was at the very edge of healing, but all of his unsuccessful efforts to get into the pool had only made it obvious that his infirmity was preventing him from being healed. In the same way, the Law leaves us at the very edge of salvation but all of our unsuccessful efforts to keep it only make it obvious that our sinfulness
will prevent us from being saved. Just like the cripple needed someone to heal him, we need someone to save us.
• Miracle 4, The Feeding of the 5000 (John 6:1-5).
• This is perhaps the best known of all the Lord’s miracles and the only one before the resurrection that is recorded in all four gospels. A large crowd had followed Jesus into a remote location and Jesus could see that they would need to be fed. But the men alone numbered 5,000 and adding the women and children could
have more than doubled that number. Andrew found a boy with 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish, and Jesus multiplied it into a satisfying meal for everyone with enough left over to fill 12 baskets.
• This is the practical demonstration of the Lord’s promise that if we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, all our other needs will be met as well (Matt. 6:31-33). But there’s more in view here than just our physical needs. We who believe in Jesus will never again feel that emptiness that tells us there’s more to life than
just having our physical needs met. This is what Jesus meant when He said;
• I AM the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty (John 6:35).
• Miracle 5, Walking on the Water (John 6:16-25).
• The 5th miracle is also well known to everyone familiar with the Lord’s ministry. The disciples had labored all night long to row only about half way across the Sea of Galilee (about 3 miles), when the Lord passed by them … walking on the water! When they realized it was Jesus, they let him into the boat and immediately
reached their destination. Without Him they were struggling just to make headway, but with Him in their midst the struggle was over.
• Miracle 6, Healing The Man Born Blind (John 9:1-41).
• A man had been blind from birth. Jesus made some mud, put it on the man’s eyes and told him to go wash it off. When the man did as Jesus instructed he could see.
• While Jesus performed this miracle early in Chapter 9, the balance of the narrative clearly (and sometimes comically) shows how much more spiritual discernment this blind beggar had than the learned officials of the religion, who had studied all their lives. In their experience, no one had ever opened the eyes of a man
born blind and they were determined to discredit the lowly beggar, especially since this event took place on the Sabbath. A lengthy interrogation followed, where the beggar put the religious experts to shame, and they ended up throwing him out. Afterward Jesus found him and introduced Himself. The man became a
believer and worshiped him.
• Jesus said He came so the blind would see and those who see would become blind. When the Pharisees asked if He thought they were blind He said, “If you were blind you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:39-41).
• As it concerns your eternity, it doesn’t matter what you claim to know about Jesus. What matters is whether you know Jesus.
• Miracle 7, Raising Lazarus From The Dead (John 11:1-44).
• The last miracle John recorded before the resurrection shows the fulfillment of our Lord’s promise to all who believe in His name, as He called Lazarus out of the grave and restored him from death to life. The text shows that even though Jesus knew Lazarus was sick He actually waited until Lazarus was dead and buried
before He responded to the sisters’ call for help. He did this so He could bring Lazarus back to life. It was an unmistakable model of the resurrection of the believing dead that contains the tiniest hint of the rapture. I don’t think people who don’t already know about the rapture see this, but those who do can take
comfort in this faint hint contained in John 11:25-26.
• Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
• What’s The Point?
• Near the end of his gospel account John said, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).
• This tells us he selected these seven miracles specifically for their ability to help us believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be, and that by believing we might have eternal life. So what does these particular miracles show us that would help us believe?
• Miracle 1 shows He came to take us from the stone cold and empty way of man’s religion into a living and joyful relationship with Him.
• Miracle 2 shows we are saved by grace through faith.
• Miracle 3 shows our own futile works are insufficient to save ourselves. We need Him to save us.
• Miracle 4 is a demonstration of His supernatural care and provision for those who seek Him.
• Miracle 5 shows that because of His miraculous power, we can easily accomplish things through Him that would be all but impossible on our own.
• Miracle 6 reveals that if we’ll allow it, He can cause even the lowliest person born spiritually blind to see and believe, and
• Miracle 7 is a promise that all who believe in Him will live even though they die, and those who live and believe will never die.
• I purposely confined my commentary on these miracles to what I believe John was trying to convey to us in his gospel. Some of these miracles are contained in one or more of the other gospels where you might see details John didn’t include or where the emphasis might be a little different. Matthew’s account of Jesus
walking on the water is a good example (Matt. 14:22-33). I encourage you to read the different accounts of all these miracles to get the whole story. Selah 04-05-14
• http://gracethrufaith.com/topical-studies/spiritual-life/the-seven-miracles-in-john/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gracethrufaith+%28GraceThruFaith%29

49. John 9:41, Spiritual Blindness
gracethrufaith.com
• Q. In John 9:41″ Jesus said, “If you were blind you would not be guilty of sin, but
now that you claim to see your sin remains.”
• The part about being blind makes you not guilty of sin–to whom would that apply?
Does that mean that if someone is blind to their sin they’re not accountable for it
in some way? Or does it mean that if they didn’t know it was a sin, but they acted
in good conscience, they’re o.k.?
• A. John 9 is about Jesus healing a man born blind and the controversy it created
among the Pharisees. From the rest of the chapter we know that Jesus was
speaking metaphorically to the Pharisees in verse 41 by comparing blindness to
the inability to understand the Scriptures. He was saying that had they not been
capable of understanding, He would not have held them accountable for their sin.
• But having claimed that they were capable by presenting themselves as experts,
they became accountable. Their sin was their refusal to recognize Jesus as their
Messiah even though He was fulfilling Messianic prophecies from their own
Scriptures right before their eyes.
• This analogy helps us “see” that children who are not intellectually mature enough
to understand the consequences of sin, along with those who are not mentally
competent to do so, are not held accountable for their sins like the rest of us
are. If they die before they’re old enough to understand, or if they never become
mentally competent, they will go to be with the Lord as if they had never sinned.
• http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/spiritual-blindness/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gracethrufaith+%28GraceThruFaith%29