Jesus

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Sunday, 17 March 2013 : 5th Sunday of Lent (Third Scrutiny for Baptism) (Gospel Reading)

John 8 : 1-11

As for Jesus, He went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak, Jesus appeared in the Temple again. All the people came to Him, and He sat down and began to teach them.

Then the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone. “Master,” they said, “this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now the Law of Moses orders that such women be stoned to death; but You, what do You say?” They said this to test Jesus, in order to have some charge against Him.

Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with His finger. And as they continued to ask Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among You who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And He bent down again, writing on the ground.

As a result of these words, they went away, one by one, starting with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him. Then Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

She replied, “No one.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go away and don’t sin again.”

 

Alternative Reading from Year A (For Third Scrutiny for Baptism)

 

John 11 : 1-45

There was a sick man named Lazarus who was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This is the same Mary, who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick.

So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” On hearing this, Jesus said, “This illness will not end in death; rather it is for God’s glory, and the Son of God will be glorified through it.”

It is a fact that Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus; yet, after He heard of the illness of Lazarus, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Only then did He say to His disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” They replied, “Master, recently the Jews wanted to stone You. Are You going there again?”

Jesus said to them, “Are not twelve working hours needed to complete a day? Those who walk in the daytime shall not stumble, for they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, for there is no light in them.”

After that, Jesus said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him.” The disciples replied, “Lord, a sick person who sleeps will recover.” But Jesus had referred to Lazarus’ death, while they thought that He had meant the repose of sleep. So Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there, for now you may believe. But let us go there, where he is.”

Then Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

When Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. As Bethany is near Jerusalem, about two miles away, many Jews had come to Martha and Mary, after the death of their brother, to comfort them. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house. And she said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection, at the last day.” But Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection. Whoever believes in Me, though He die, shall live. Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Martha then answered, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world.”

After that Martha went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The Master is here and is calling for you.” As soon as Mary heard this, she rose and went to Him. Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met Him.

The Jews, who were with her in the house consoling her, also came. When they saw her get up and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep. As for Mary, when she came to the place where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, who had come with her, He was moved in the depths of His Spirit and troubled. Then He asked, “Where have you laid Him?” They answered, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. The Jews said, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “If He could open the eyes of the blind man, could He not have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus was deeply moved again, and drew near to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across it. Jesus said, “Take the stone away.” Martha said to Him, “Lord, by now he will smell, for this is the fourth day.” Jesus replied, “Have I not told you that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone.

Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You for You have heard Me. I knew that You hear Me always; but My prayer was for the sake of these people, that they may believe that You sent Me.” When Jesus had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what He did.

 

Shorter version (John 11 : 3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45)

So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” On hearing this, Jesus said, “This illness will not end in death; rather it is for God’s glory, and the Son of God will be glorified through it.”

It is a fact that Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus; yet, after He heard of the illness of Lazarus, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Only then did He say to His disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.”

When Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house. And she said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection, at the last day.” But Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection. Whoever believes in Me, though He die, shall live. Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Martha then answered, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world.”

He was moved in the depths of His Spirit and troubled. Then He asked, “Where have you laid Him?” They answered, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. The Jews said, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “If He could open the eyes of the blind man, could He not have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus was deeply moved again, and drew near to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across it. Jesus said, “Take the stone away.” Martha said to Him, “Lord, by now he will smell, for this is the fourth day.” Jesus replied, “Have I not told you that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone.

Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You for You have heard Me. I knew that You hear Me always; but My prayer was for the sake of these people, that they may believe that You sent Me.” When Jesus had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what He did.

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Covering of Images and Crosses in churches : First Vespers of the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Today, in the evening of Saturday, 16 March 2013, after the First Vespers of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the images (statues of saints and our Lord included) and crosses in the Church should be covered, especially if the Bishops’ Conference recommends such a practice.

This is to prepare us for the Holy Week, and to begin the journey towards the Holy Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday), that culminates with the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The crosses are covered until the Good Friday services, when they are revealed to the people, in the Veneration of the Cross. The other images in the churches remain veiled until before Easter Vigil celebration begins.

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Friday, 15 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 7 : 1-2, 10, 25-30

After this Jesus went around Galilee; He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand. But after His brothers had gone to the festival, He also went up, not publicly but in secret.

Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the Man they want to kill? And here He is speaking freely, and they don’t say a word to Him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this Man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from.”

So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court where He was teaching, “You say that you know me and know where I come from! I have not come of Myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you don’t know Him. I know Him for I come from Him and He sent Me.”

They would have arrested Him, but no one laid hands on Him because His time had not yet come.

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Friday, 15 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Wisdom 2 : 1a, 12-22

Led by mistaken reasons they think, “Life is short and sad, and there is no cure for death. Let us set a trap for the righteous, for He annoys us and opposes our way of life; He reproaches us for our breaches of the Law and accuses us of being false to our upbringing.”

“He claims knowledge of God and calls Himself, Son of the Lord. He has become a reproach to our way of thinking; even to meet Him is burdensome to us. He does not live like others and behave strangely.”

“According to Him, we have low standards, so He keeps aloof from us as if we were unclean. He emphatises the happy end of the righteous and boasts of having God as Father. Let us see the truth of what He says and find out what His end will be. If the righteous is a Son of God, God will defend Him and deliver Him from His adversaries.”

“Let us humble and torture Him, to prove His self-control and test His patience. When we have condemned Him to a shameful death, we may test His words.” This is the way they reason, but they are mistaken, blinded by their malice. They do not know the mysteries of God, nor do they hope for the reward of a holy life; they do not believe that the blameless will be recompensed.

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Thursday, 14 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

It is not easy to believe in God. Too often we are distracted by other things, by temptations, and those that offer items that seems to be better than what God can offer. Many would think, why do we believe in God, who we can’t see and who we can’t touch? Is it not better to put our faith in something more tangible? Something that is closer to us?

That is the exact argument of the people of Israel, when they thought that God has abandoned them, on the Mount Horeb, when He called Moses up the mountain for a long time. The people of Israel chose to turn to worldly god, the golden calf, because it can be touched, it can be seen, and it can be said as ‘present’ among the people of Israel. Then God was angry, and He wanted to wipe this rebellious people out of the face of the earth, but Moses begged God for their sake and God relented.

How is this then different from what is happening in our world today? Many of us today also have our own false gods, not in the form of a golden calf, but in the form of the distractions that we have in our world today. From materialism, consumerism, emphasis on wealth and affluence, worldly power, and many other different forms of temptations.

With all these things surrounding us, we become less perceptive of the Lord God, and His presence in our world today. The attention which we should have given Him alone, is now divided towards the things that keep us away from His love. These are the golden calves that we have to face in our lives. Those false gods that have kept us away from enjoying the fullness of God’s love and graces.

That is why, at the time of Jesus, the people of Israel have failed to open their eyes and see, and even if their eyes were open, they could not see, because their hardened hearts have kept the Lord away from them. For Jesus, the Son of God, had been sent into this world, so that through Him, all the works and love of God will be made manifest to all mankind. Those who believe in Him and believe in the prophets who proclaimed His coming would believe, but many would not.

That is because for the many people, their pride and their arrogance had become their golden calves, that prevented them from seeing the Lord in truth, and instead accused and mocked Him. They preferred something tangible, like miracles and wonders, which they can see and believe in, so that they will worship Jesus as their Lord. But they have failed to realise that the true mission of the Lord is not such, and as we knew, God has shown many signs and others through His prophets before the comng of Jesus, but yet they have failed to listen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us gathered here today have the benefit of listening the word of God, through the Holy Scripture, and through our priests, who teach us about the Lord and His mission in this world. And to all of us who had been baptised in the faith, we all have been promised great inheritance in heaven, if we remain faithful in God.

However, let us not be complacent, and let us strive to be not like the people of Israel, that is to remain faithful to God, and to turn not onto the false gods, in manner similar to that of the worship of the golden calf by most of the people of Israel. We should distance ourselves from these false gods, and began the path towards renewal in our faith towards our God.

To do that is to first be humble and be ready to lower ourselves before God, and not to blind ourselves with pride and arrogance, that with humility and faith in God, we will be able to see and recognise the Lord and His works in our daily lives. How to do this? None other than to have a constant prayer life, to pray continuously at all times, that God will empower us with faith in Him, that we can remain strong despite all the temptations the world places in our path.

And perhaps the best way is so that we will not be tempted to abandon God for something more ‘manifest’ and ‘tangible’ as in the false gods and the golden calf of Israel, is to make God truly manifest in our lives as well. There is nowhere better to make the Lord manifest, other than through the proper and solemn celebration of the Holy Mass. For in the Mass, we take part in the celebration of the Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which the bread and wine are truly transformed into the very Precious Body and Blood of our Saviour, that the Lord becomes manifest, and this manifested Lord is who we receive into ourselves when we receive Holy Communion.

This is why it is important to have a proper and solemn celebration of the Mass, tainted as little as possible from external and worldly distractions, such as loud music, improper behaviour and conduct, and even the way we dress is important, since coming to the Mass is like coming to the Banquet of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Master of the Banquet, who is manifest in the Mass. As we are coming to be at God’s banquet, then we truly should prepare ourselves well, dress well and appropriately, and behave properly.

Remember the term ‘Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi’, which is when translated means, the way we worship determines the kind of faith that we have in us, and the faith that we have determines the kind of life that we will lead. If we do not approach the worship of the Mass with proper decorum and behaviour, how are we then to have a good faith in our Lord, who is indeed truly made manifest in the Mass through the Eucharist? Then if we have no faith, or little faith, our lives too will be barren, and we will be easily swayed and persuaded by the temptations of this world, to distance ourselves from our God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us pray that we will be strengthened by God in our resolve to know Him better, to love Him more, and to have greater faith in Him. That we will be able to lead a strong prayerful life, that is supported by active participation in the Holy Mass, that we finally will know that we serve the living God, made manifest in the Eucharist, which He gives us to eat and drink, that we may have a part in His salvific mission. Amen.

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Thursday, 14 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 5 : 31-47

If I bore witness to Myself, My testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to Me, and I know that His testimony is true when He bears witness to Me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to Him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.

John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John – the works which the Father entrusted to Me to carry out.

The very works I do bear witness : the Father has sent Me. Thus He who bears witness to Me is the Father who sent Me. You have never heard His voice and have never seen His likeness; therefore as long as you do not believe His Messenger, His word is not in you.

You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to Me. But you refuse to come to Me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not accept Me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?

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Wednesday, 13 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 5 : 17-30

Jesus replied, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made Himself equal with God, calling God, His own Father.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. And whatever He does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He does; and He will show Him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed.”

“As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom He wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for He has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and He wants all to honour the Son as they honour the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent Him.”

“Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life; and there is no judgment for him, because he has passed from death to life. Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live.”

“For the Father has life in Himself, and He has given to the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has empowered Him as well as to carry out Judgment, for He is Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this; the hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear My voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

“I can do nothing of Myself, and I need to hear Another One to judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

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Tuesday, 12 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Today, we see Christ, who bring upon us the living water, the water that satisfies all thirsts, in His miraculous healing of the sick man, on whom He had mercy and through His mercy, the sick man was healed and cured of his afflictions.

Yet again, we hear about the Jews and their laws on the Sabbath day, that is the day when the Lord completed His creation and rested. However, we must understand, the reason, and indeed the true reason behind having such a rule of the Sabbath, for the people of Israel, God’s chosen people.

The people of Israel was indeed a rebellious people, especially during the time when they escaped from Egypt on God’s providence, and crossed the Red Sea. Already they exhibited much doubts in the very God who saved them from the slavery of Egypt since then, and even forced Aaron, Moses’ brother to make for them a ‘replacement’ god in the shape of the golden calf.

They too had rebelled against the Lord often, and like at Massah and Meribah, again doubted God and His promise of delivering them into the Promised Land of milk and honey. They even complained that their lives in Egypt, though in slavery, had been much better than the present life, their lives in the desert. They refused the Lord’s offer in fearing the Canaanites, and was punished for forty years to wander in the desert, until all those who had defied the Lord had perished, and a new generation had come forth.

It is against this background of constant rebellion, pride, and arrogance of the Israelites at the time, that the laws of the Lord, and that of the Sabbath was made, when God delivered these laws to Moses on the Mount Horeb. Over time, these laws were enshrined by the people as the basic tenets and obligations (also prohibitions) that the people had to follow, otherwise they would be expelled or exiled from the society.

Sadly however, the Law eventually becomes a huge list, supposedly numbering 613 in total, of rules and regulations, that govern many aspects of the society’s life, even to trivial manners such as washing of the hands before meals, which had to be done to the precise and minute details exactly as it was said how it must be done.

This is how the law concerning the Sabbath was also made, that as the Lord has said that no one should work or labour on that day in honour of the Lord, and to make holy that day before God, just as we now make holy our first day of the week that is Sunday, and celebrate the Mass together as one Church on Sundays, to bring ourselves and offer ourselves as the offerings of prayer to God.

Nevertheless, this law and the other rules and regulations in the Law, were not created to constrain or restrict mankind, and definitely to enslave men to these laws, as what the situation at the time of Jesus was. It was well noted that Judas Maccabee, the leader of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucids, who tried to erase the worship of God in Israel and replaced it with pagan Greek gods, had decided with the leaders of the people that they be allowed to defend themselves on Sabbath, as the enemies had taken advantage of the Sabbath law to massacre many Israelites on the day of the Sabbath.

And King David too ate the bread for the sacrifice that is reserved only for the priests, when he and his companions were hungry. Clearly it shows that God did not create this Law to punish or enslave His beloved people, but rather to shape them and to ensure that they remain faithful to Him, by keeping His laws and keeping themselves in good order. It is not to restrain them, and as Jesus said, that the Law is made for man and not man for the Law.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not be like the Israelites and be embroiled too much on societal rules, but instead, through the Church, strive to do more loving acts and good works for the benefit of others, because, in doing so, we glorify the Lord far more than mere profession of faith by words, or by fulfilling laws, rules, and regulations.

It is by making our faith alive through action, that we are justified, not enough by just how pious we are in fulfilling and adhering ‘strictly’ to laws of the Lord and men who made these laws of God into tangible laws that we see today. Nevertheless, we do still have to obey the laws and fulfill them. Jesus did not give us an excuse to do away with the laws, since did He not come to perfect the Law? and not destroy it? So that the Law that had once lost its true meaning, was given full meaning in love by Christ.

We are also taught the value of humility and accepting God’s divine providence and mercy today. Christ asked the sick man, “Do you want to be healed?” This shows that God gives His love and blessings freely, only if we ask Him, and forgiveness will be given to us if we are sincere and if we truly humble ourselves before God, we are sure to receive His welcoming embrace and healing, as what had happened to the sick man.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us then pray for humility, that despite all our human achievements and greatness, and worldly strengths, we will remain humble, and will use our best resources for the purpose of helping those others around us who need them, and those who are in great disadvantaged, those who are hated, and those who are prejudiced against. Pray too for those who had persecuted the righteous, like what happened when the Jews persecuted Jesus and His followers. That they too will learn about the true wonder of God, and repent from their sinful ways. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 5 : 1-16

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, there is a pool (called Bethzatha in Hebrew) surrounded by five galleries. In these galleries lay a multitude of sick people : blind, lame, and paralysed.

All were waiting for the water to move, for at times an angel of the Lord would descend into the pool and stir up the water; and the first person to enter the pool, after this movement of the water, would be healed of whatever disease that he had.

There was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him, and because He knew how long this man had been lying there, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” And the sick man answered, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; so while I am still on my way, another steps down before me.”

Jesus then said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk!” And at once the man was heaed, and he took up his mat and walked. Now that day happened to be the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had just been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and the Law does not allow you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The One who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk!'” They asked him, “Who is the One who said to you : Take up your mat and walk?”

But the sick man had no idea who it was who had cured him, for Jesus had slipped away among the crowd that filled the place. Afterwards Jesus met him in the Temple court and told him, “Now you are well; do not sin again, lest something worse happen to you.” And the man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. So the Jews persecuted Jesus because He performed healings like that on the Sabbath.

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(Special) Readings for Baptismal Catechesis, for the 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 9 : 1-41

As Jesus walked along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Master, was he born blind because of a sin of his, or of his parents?” Jesus answered, “Neither was it for his own sin nor for his parents’ sin. He was born blind so that God’s power might be shown in him. While it is day we must do the work of the One who sent Me; for the night will come when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

As Jesus said this, He made paste with spittle and clay, and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then He said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means sent.) So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbours, and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Isn’t this the beggar who used to sit here?” Some said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am he.”

Then they asked him, “How is it that your eyes were opened?” And he answered, “The Man called Jesus made a mud paste, put it on my eyes abd said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went, and washed, and I could see.” They asked, “Where is He?” and the man answered, “I don’t know.”

The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “That Man is not from God, for He works on the sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided, and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this Man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a prophet!”

After all this, the Jews refused to believe that the man had been blind and had recovered his sight; so they called his parents and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind, how is it that he now sees?” The parents answered, “He really is our son and he was born blind; but how it is that he now sees, we don’t know, neither do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is old enough. Let him speak for himself.”

The parents said this because they feared the Jews, who had already agreed that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ was to be expelled from the synagogue. Because of that his parents said, “He is old enough, ask him.”

So a second time the Pharisees called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Tell us the truth; we know that this Man is a sinner.” He replied, “I don’t know whether He is a sinner or not; I only know that I was blind and now I see.” They said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He replied, “I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Then they started to insult him. “Become His disciple yourself! We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this Man, we don’t know where He comes from.” The man replied, “It is amazing that you don’t know where the Man comes from, and yet He opened my eyes! We know God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone honours God and does His will, God listens to him. Never, since the world began, has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said, “You have seen Him and He is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped Him. Jesus said, “I came into this world to carry out a judgment : Those who do not see shall see, and those who see shall become blind.”

Some Pharisees stood by and asked Him, “So we are blind?” And Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty. But you say, ‘We see’; this is the proof of your sin.”