Consider anew the amazing fact that the divine and eternal Son of God emptied Himself and became God in the flesh. This astounding reality is abundantly substantiated in the Scriptures. Our limited human faculties are definitely challenged by trying to grasp this limitless reality. To aid us in this endeavor, God has done His utmost to help us comprehend, as much as possible, this Bible truth unto salvation.
This week, we shall consider three miracles that stand as definite proof of Christ’s divinity. These miracles certainly provide added evidence that Jesus was more than a mere man. Consider, by way of example, His transfiguration on the mountain, where His inner circle of three disciples witnessed His dazzling, divine glory. Suddenly, He was “transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matt. 17:2, NKJV). Moreover, this miracle was plainly attested to by the resurrected Moses and translated Elijah.
Or who can deny the divinity of Jesus in the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000? Such a phenomenon was unique, unprecedented in history. Some believed; yet, strangely enough, others did not, in spite of clear evidence. How tragic that stubbornness and pride led them to see darkness instead of the Light of the world, standing right there before them. The great I AM, with whom their revered prophet Moses was acquainted, dwelt among them, but they rebelled against receiving Him as their Messiah.
Temporal bread in the feeding of the 5,000 was intended to direct the attention of the people to Christ, the Bread of Life, who gives and sustains not only corporeal life but life everlasting. Reflecting further upon the “I AM” expression within the context of John’s Gospel, we realize that John was especially attentive to the divine depiction of God as revealed to Moses at the burning bush: “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’ ” (Exod. 3:14, NKJV). Jesus applied this title directly to Himself, in such statements as “ ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ ” (John 14:6), and “ ‘I am the resurrection, and the life’ ” (John 11:25).
In John 9:1–34, Jesus’ divine power also was manifested in the healing of the blind man and, particularly, as amplified in John 11, in the amazing miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. In the following commentary, we will study these two miracles more in depth.
Part II: Commentary
What a stupendous event it will be when we see Jesus’ face and our mortal flesh is transformed, fashioned after His own immortal, glorious body! We will know Him, experience His love, and spend an eternity in His presence, without ever exhausting the theme of His matchless love or fully fathoming His eternal nature.
“ ‘This Is Truly the Prophet’ ” (John 6:14, NKJV)
When Christ fed the 5,000 from the few, simple ingredients of a boy’s lunch, those who witnessed the miracle said this about Jesus: “ ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world’ ” (John 6:14, NKJV). These words hearken back to the words of Moses, which point to a type of Jesus: “ ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear’ ” (Deut. 18:15, NKJV).
It is reasonable to think of Moses as a type of Jesus. Moses and Jesus are similar in their mission of delivering people from bondage, for example. Of all biblical characters, Moses comes closest to Jesus in His ministry of intercession. After Israel in the wilderness rebelled against God in worshiping the golden calf, Moses offered to die in their place, to be their substitute. In Exodus 32:32, we read the moving account of Moses’ pleading with God to spare the lives of His rebellious people. Moses speaks to God, saying: “ ‘Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written’ ” (NKJV).
Moses’ self-sacrificing devotedness to his wayward people and his plea to die in the place of others is admirable. But such a gracious offer cannot forgive sin and commute its penalty, death, for only the sacrifice of the divine “Prophet” Jesus can accomplish such an impossible feat. Jesus alone is the One who possesses the requisite righteousness and life to exchange for our sin and death.
The Healing of the Blind Man (John 9:1–34)
As we saw last week in the narrative of the crippled man, he was in that hopeless state for 38 years. But the blind man in John 9 was “blind from birth” (John 9:1, NKJV). Imagine never having the chance to see anything or anybody!
Moreover, adding insult to injury, this poor blind man not only suffered physically, but he also suffered spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. The public perception was that those who were sick in society were suffering because of their own sins or the sins of their parents. The blind man was made to believe that not only others looked upon him as guilty but God also looked upon him with disfavor.
This misconception was also in the disciples’ minds, hence their question, “ ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ” (John 9:2, NKJV). In their desire to assign blame, they were akin to many well-meaning but mistaken Christians of today. In a similar fashion, Job’s misguided friends attempted to place the blame on him for his terrible tragedy and sickness. Let us learn from their mistakes. Why not, instead, follow the example of Jesus in focusing on the solution and not the problem? He came to this world not to condemn but to save. (See John 3:17.)
Jesus’ answer expanded His disciples’ vision of His mission to a higher level. God desired to use this man’s blindness to reveal His mighty healing power. Moreover, this miracle was intended to reveal that Christ is the giver of eternal life and wisdom, inspiring people with the light of His truth and salvation. Christ linked His work with the light of day, saying, “ ‘I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world’ ” (John 9:4, 5, NKJV).
How telling and ironic that the religious leaders, with their physical sight intact, stubbornly refused to see the light that Christ shone all around them. Thus, they willfully shrouded themselves deeper and deeper in spiritual darkness until their blindness to the true light was irreversible. By contrast, the blind man’s openness to Christ’s light not only enabled him to see physically with his eyes but also enabled him to have the enlightened spiritual insight needed to recognize Jesus as the Son of God, who alone is worthy of worship.
Jesus could have healed this blind man immediately. But for His own wise reasons, He wanted the afflicted man to participate in his own healing process. After He used saliva to make clay, the Savior smeared the concoction upon the blind man’s eyes. The hands that made and applied the salve were hands of the Healer and Creator Himself, who fashioned the earth and the stars. The blind man, thus anointed with clay, obeyed Christ’s words and immediately proceeded to the pool of Siloam to wash. Upon washing, he was instantly healed. Compare this story with the Old Testament narrative of Naaman, general of the Syrian army. Naaman was instructed by the prophet Elijah to wash seven times in the Jordan River to be healed from leprosy. At first, Naaman strongly objected. But then he relented and washed himself and was miraculously cleansed.
The wet clay contained no magical properties; Christ alone was the true Healer. The Savior merely used this substance as a conduit for His power. Also, we may argue that Jesus used simple remedial agents to encourage their use in healing. “Christ made use of the simple agencies of nature. While He did not give countenance to drug medication, He sanctioned the use of simple and natural remedies.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 824.
Is Jesus as able and willing to heal today, instantaneously or gradually, through direct miracles and simple remedies? How should we participate in His healing ministry as His representatives? Contemplate this inspired statement: “He [Jesus] is just as willing to heal the sick now as when He was personally on earth. Christ’s servants are His representatives, the channels for His working. He desires through them to exercise His healing power.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 823, 824.
The Resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1–44)
Jesus said to Martha, “ ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live’ ” (John 11:25, NKJV). Notice, again, that Jesus uses the divine “I AM” to highlight that He does not merely give life, but He is life itself. This promise guarantees its fulfillment when Jesus returns to take His loved ones home. Those who sleep in Christ will be awakened in a split second at the resurrection, as if no time has passed.
Those who rest in Jesus rest as if already raised from the dead, for they already share in Christ’s eternal life and destiny. Jesus affirmed this glorious reality by assuring His disciples, “ ‘Because I live, you will live also’ ” (John 14:19, NKJV). Jesus is life itself and the Life and the Life-Giver. Believing in these Bible truths, we really should have no fear of death. In his first epistle, John reiterates this truth: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11, 12, NKJV).
This glorious hope is what the world desperately needs, for absolutely nobody possesses life except Christ. He is the only One who is the perfect solution to humanity’s demise. This truth is the best news ever, and we must be eager to share it with a dying world! “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. . . . The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 530.
Part III: Life Application
Think about and answer the following questions:
Consider the biblical term “prophet.” Why does the Bible refer to Jesus as one? This designation may confuse some people because He was not merely a prophet. For example, Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet. However, we believe that He is more: Jesus also is the divine Son of God and the Savior of the world.
Moses served as a type of Christ in His intercession for God’s rebellious people. Christ interceded for the ones who were crucifying Him. Who in the book of Acts comes closest to Jesus in interceding for his enemies? How can such a parallel instruct us in how we should view our persecutors?
Why is spiritual blindness incurable apart from the healing intervention of God?
Jesus said that the sins of the parents did not cause the suffering of the blind man. How then do you reconcile this truth with Exodus 20:5 about “ ‘visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me’ ” (NKJV)?
Although it is abundantly clear from John 14:19 and 1 John 5:11, 12 that we have the assurance of salvation in Christ, why, then, is it a challenge to actualize this assurance in our lives? How do we explain a believer’s fear of death?
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Study Focus: John 9:1–34, John 11:1–44, John 6:14
Consider anew the amazing fact that the divine and eternal Son of God emptied Himself and became God in the flesh. This astounding reality is abundantly substantiated in the Scriptures. Our limited human faculties are definitely challenged by trying to grasp this limitless reality. To aid us in this endeavor, God has done His utmost to help us comprehend, as much as possible, this Bible truth unto salvation.
This week, we shall consider three miracles that stand as definite proof of Christ’s divinity. These miracles certainly provide added evidence that Jesus was more than a mere man. Consider, by way of example, His transfiguration on the mountain, where His inner circle of three disciples witnessed His dazzling, divine glory. Suddenly, He was “transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matt. 17:2, NKJV). Moreover, this miracle was plainly attested to by the resurrected Moses and translated Elijah.
Or who can deny the divinity of Jesus in the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000? Such a phenomenon was unique, unprecedented in history. Some believed; yet, strangely enough, others did not, in spite of clear evidence. How tragic that stubbornness and pride led them to see darkness instead of the Light of the world, standing right there before them. The great I AM, with whom their revered prophet Moses was acquainted, dwelt among them, but they rebelled against receiving Him as their Messiah.
Temporal bread in the feeding of the 5,000 was intended to direct the attention of the people to Christ, the Bread of Life, who gives and sustains not only corporeal life but life everlasting. Reflecting further upon the “I AM” expression within the context of John’s Gospel, we realize that John was especially attentive to the divine depiction of God as revealed to Moses at the burning bush: “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’ ” (Exod. 3:14, NKJV). Jesus applied this title directly to Himself, in such statements as “ ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ ” (John 14:6), and “ ‘I am the resurrection, and the life’ ” (John 11:25).
In John 9:1–34, Jesus’ divine power also was manifested in the healing of the blind man and, particularly, as amplified in John 11, in the amazing miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. In the following commentary, we will study these two miracles more in depth.
Part II: Commentary
What a stupendous event it will be when we see Jesus’ face and our mortal flesh is transformed, fashioned after His own immortal, glorious body! We will know Him, experience His love, and spend an eternity in His presence, without ever exhausting the theme of His matchless love or fully fathoming His eternal nature.
“ ‘This Is Truly the Prophet’ ” (John 6:14, NKJV)
When Christ fed the 5,000 from the few, simple ingredients of a boy’s lunch, those who witnessed the miracle said this about Jesus: “ ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world’ ” (John 6:14, NKJV). These words hearken back to the words of Moses, which point to a type of Jesus: “ ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear’ ” (Deut. 18:15, NKJV).
It is reasonable to think of Moses as a type of Jesus. Moses and Jesus are similar in their mission of delivering people from bondage, for example. Of all biblical characters, Moses comes closest to Jesus in His ministry of intercession. After Israel in the wilderness rebelled against God in worshiping the golden calf, Moses offered to die in their place, to be their substitute. In Exodus 32:32, we read the moving account of Moses’ pleading with God to spare the lives of His rebellious people. Moses speaks to God, saying: “ ‘Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written’ ” (NKJV).
Moses’ self-sacrificing devotedness to his wayward people and his plea to die in the place of others is admirable. But such a gracious offer cannot forgive sin and commute its penalty, death, for only the sacrifice of the divine “Prophet” Jesus can accomplish such an impossible feat. Jesus alone is the One who possesses the requisite righteousness and life to exchange for our sin and death.
The Healing of the Blind Man (John 9:1–34)
As we saw last week in the narrative of the crippled man, he was in that hopeless state for 38 years. But the blind man in John 9 was “blind from birth” (John 9:1, NKJV). Imagine never having the chance to see anything or anybody!
Moreover, adding insult to injury, this poor blind man not only suffered physically, but he also suffered spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. The public perception was that those who were sick in society were suffering because of their own sins or the sins of their parents. The blind man was made to believe that not only others looked upon him as guilty but God also looked upon him with disfavor.
This misconception was also in the disciples’ minds, hence their question, “ ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ” (John 9:2, NKJV). In their desire to assign blame, they were akin to many well-meaning but mistaken Christians of today. In a similar fashion, Job’s misguided friends attempted to place the blame on him for his terrible tragedy and sickness. Let us learn from their mistakes. Why not, instead, follow the example of Jesus in focusing on the solution and not the problem? He came to this world not to condemn but to save. (See John 3:17.)
Jesus’ answer expanded His disciples’ vision of His mission to a higher level. God desired to use this man’s blindness to reveal His mighty healing power. Moreover, this miracle was intended to reveal that Christ is the giver of eternal life and wisdom, inspiring people with the light of His truth and salvation. Christ linked His work with the light of day, saying, “ ‘I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world’ ” (John 9:4, 5, NKJV).
How telling and ironic that the religious leaders, with their physical sight intact, stubbornly refused to see the light that Christ shone all around them. Thus, they willfully shrouded themselves deeper and deeper in spiritual darkness until their blindness to the true light was irreversible. By contrast, the blind man’s openness to Christ’s light not only enabled him to see physically with his eyes but also enabled him to have the enlightened spiritual insight needed to recognize Jesus as the Son of God, who alone is worthy of worship.
Jesus could have healed this blind man immediately. But for His own wise reasons, He wanted the afflicted man to participate in his own healing process. After He used saliva to make clay, the Savior smeared the concoction upon the blind man’s eyes. The hands that made and applied the salve were hands of the Healer and Creator Himself, who fashioned the earth and the stars. The blind man, thus anointed with clay, obeyed Christ’s words and immediately proceeded to the pool of Siloam to wash. Upon washing, he was instantly healed. Compare this story with the Old Testament narrative of Naaman, general of the Syrian army. Naaman was instructed by the prophet Elijah to wash seven times in the Jordan River to be healed from leprosy. At first, Naaman strongly objected. But then he relented and washed himself and was miraculously cleansed.
The wet clay contained no magical properties; Christ alone was the true Healer. The Savior merely used this substance as a conduit for His power. Also, we may argue that Jesus used simple remedial agents to encourage their use in healing. “Christ made use of the simple agencies of nature. While He did not give countenance to drug medication, He sanctioned the use of simple and natural remedies.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 824.
Is Jesus as able and willing to heal today, instantaneously or gradually, through direct miracles and simple remedies? How should we participate in His healing ministry as His representatives? Contemplate this inspired statement: “He [Jesus] is just as willing to heal the sick now as when He was personally on earth. Christ’s servants are His representatives, the channels for His working. He desires through them to exercise His healing power.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 823, 824.
The Resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1–44)
Jesus said to Martha, “ ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live’ ” (John 11:25, NKJV). Notice, again, that Jesus uses the divine “I AM” to highlight that He does not merely give life, but He is life itself. This promise guarantees its fulfillment when Jesus returns to take His loved ones home. Those who sleep in Christ will be awakened in a split second at the resurrection, as if no time has passed.
Those who rest in Jesus rest as if already raised from the dead, for they already share in Christ’s eternal life and destiny. Jesus affirmed this glorious reality by assuring His disciples, “ ‘Because I live, you will live also’ ” (John 14:19, NKJV). Jesus is life itself and the Life and the Life-Giver. Believing in these Bible truths, we really should have no fear of death. In his first epistle, John reiterates this truth: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11, 12, NKJV).
This glorious hope is what the world desperately needs, for absolutely nobody possesses life except Christ. He is the only One who is the perfect solution to humanity’s demise. This truth is the best news ever, and we must be eager to share it with a dying world! “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. . . . The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 530.
Part III: Life Application
Think about and answer the following questions:
Consider the biblical term “prophet.” Why does the Bible refer to Jesus as one? This designation may confuse some people because He was not merely a prophet. For example, Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet. However, we believe that He is more: Jesus also is the divine Son of God and the Savior of the world.
Moses served as a type of Christ in His intercession for God’s rebellious people. Christ interceded for the ones who were crucifying Him. Who in the book of Acts comes closest to Jesus in interceding for his enemies? How can such a parallel instruct us in how we should view our persecutors?
Why is spiritual blindness incurable apart from the healing intervention of God?
Jesus said that the sins of the parents did not cause the suffering of the blind man. How then do you reconcile this truth with Exodus 20:5 about “ ‘visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me’ ” (NKJV)?
Although it is abundantly clear from John 14:19 and 1 John 5:11, 12 that we have the assurance of salvation in Christ, why, then, is it a challenge to actualize this assurance in our lives? How do we explain a believer’s fear of death?