The Great Gospel of John
Volume 7
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and his adversary. Gospel of John, Chapter 9
- Chapter 187 -
The Lord talks to the one who was healed and to the Pharisees.
Now of course, this man came with all those who went together with him, immediately into the large temple hall where all the people were gathering. And everyone asked him what had happened to him in the counsel hall of the Pharisees and arch-Jews.
2
He told them completely freely and openly, and all who heard it became embittered because of the hardened hearts of the Pharisees and the Jews of the temple.
3
So it also came to the ears of My disciples and also to Me that the Jews of the temple had thrown the healed man out of the temple, as well as the men who went with him.
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And I said to My disciples: "Let us look for him, so that this poor man can come to know Him who gave him back the light in the eyes."
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We went, and we soon found him among the people.
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But also some of the Pharisees, who were not so much against him, went after him to the large people's hall, to listen to what he would say there to the people and how the people would react on it.
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But I went immediately to stand before the one who was healed, and said to him: "Listen to Me, you who were pushed out by the Pharisees and the Jews of the temple. Do you believe in the Son of God?"
8
Then the one who was healed answered: "Lord, who is it? Is He here in the temple? And is He the One who gave me the light in the eyes? Show Him to me, so that I can believe in Him."
9
I said: "You have already seen Him, although not yet recognized. But He is the One who is now speaking to you."
10
Now the one who was healed said: "Yes Lord, I do believe that. You are the One. When I came back from the pool I surely must have seen You, yet did not recognize You. If You were not the Son of God, Christ, the promised One, You could never make me, who was born blind, seeing again. Therefore I believe that You are truly the Son of God."
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Then he fell down on his knees before Me and was worshipping Me. But I said to him that he should stand up again.
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When the Pharisees and several Jews of the temple who were standing around and who belonged to the more temperate group, heard from Me as well as from the one who was healed that I was the promised Anointed of God, they looked sulky, and inwardly they became angry and embittered.
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But because I noticed it immediately I said aloud: "I came on this world to determine that those who do not see become seeing, and those who can see become blind!"
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When the Pharisees and the Jews of the temple, who stood around Me, heard this, they could not restrain themselves anymore, opened their mouth and said to Me: "Are we then also already blind, or will we - based on what You said - become blind, because now we still can see?"
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Then I said: "If you were blind, as far as your soul is concerned, there would not be any sin that clings on to you, but because you yourselves are giving testimony that you can see, your sin remains and clings on to you, and with that, judgment and eternal death. Because I came into this world, sent by God as the Truth, the Light and the Life. Whoever believes in Me and acts according to My word, will have eternal life in him and will not see nor feel death."
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(P.S.: What has been discussed in the temple from now on has been partly written down by the other evangelist writers, but not in the right order, for which reason their recordings were considered not to be agreeable with one another. And John did not write down the further developments because these things came back oftentimes in my speeches and were also written down, as far as the most important points are concerned.
17
The next chapter, the tenth, took place only 3 months later, again in the temple in Jerusalem, in the winter, during the time of the so-called Feast of the Sanctification of the Temple.
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Because this has been made clear, I will now let follow the further developments of the conversation with the Jews and the Pharisees in the temple).