The Twist family studies the Gospel of John

[Wayne]

The disciples asked whose sin caused the man to be blind, his own sin or his parents' sin.   

Jesus responded that several things can lead to congenital blindness including genetics, trachoma, poor nutrition, and staring at the sun.

Just kidding. He said "neither the parents nor the child sinned." In other words, cut it out with all this blaming the victim business. Just help him.

[Wayne]

But of course Jesus makes the classic Jesus mistake of doing this when he should be at church.     

I love verse 16: So some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.'

    I mean come on now, were the authorities really so superstitious and hard-hearted that they would criticize somebody for breaking the Sabbath by making a blind man see?!? 

That seems pretty ridiculous. But maybe that's how it happened ...   

[Artiste]

Interesting thread you created wdj!

Thanks!

Hugs!

[Wayne]

Thanks Artiste! Glad you're enjoying it ... join in the conversation any time!

I was thinking about the Pharisees - who were they? What did they stand for? What power did they have?

Wikipedia says

"The word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew פרושים prushim from פרוש parush, meaning "separated", that is, one who is separated for a life of purity[1]. The Pharisees were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 BCE–70 CE). After the destruction of the Second Temple, the Pharisaic sect was re-established as Rabbinic Judaism — which ultimately produced normative, traditional Judaism"

To characterize the the Pharisees across such a long period of time seems pretty complicated - like trying to sum up the Democratic party from Thomas Jefferson through the Civil War through today. Sometimes they were probably the good guys and sometimes the bad.

Maybe like all of us they were usually trying to do what was right but sometimes missed the mark.   

[Wayne]

The narrator of the gospel of John presents them as the bad guys.

As we will learn in the final chapter of this gospel, it is being narrated by the man whom Jesus loved.

So he is bound to have some pretty strong feelings about the situation.   

[Wayne]

Ah, here's a more succinct description:

a conservative Jewish sect that arose in Roman-occupied Palestine in the 2nd century BC in protest against all movements favouring compromise with Hellenistic culture. The Pharisees were devout adherents of the law, both as found in the Torah and in the oral tradition known as the Mishnah.

They were opposed by the Sadducees on several grounds: the Sadducees did not acknowledge the Mishnah; the Pharisees opposed Greek and Roman rule of their country; and the Pharisees held a number of beliefs – such as the existence of hell, angels, and demons, the resurrection of the dead, and the future coming of the Messiah – not found in the Torah.

The Pharisees rejected political action, and in the 1st century AD the left wing of their followers, the Zealots, broke away to pursue a revolutionary nationalist policy. After the fall of Jerusalem, Pharisee ideas became the basis of orthodox Judaism as the people were dispersed throughout the Western Roman Empire.

[Wayne]

By the way, Jesus comes down on the side of the Pharisees (against the Saducees) in the controversy over the after life. So he seems to share their view of the universe in some ways.

Wikipedia also says that the Pharisees were seen as the religious leaders of the poor, while the Saducees were the leaders of the rich.

Maybe the poor had a stronger motivation than the rich to believe in an afterlife.   

[Wayne]

Jesus opens chapter 10 with the story of the Good Shepherd...     

I need that image of Jack pulling the thorny scrub out of the lamb's hoof...     

[Wayne]

Jesus says when the shepherd comes to the fold he comes in by the door. Anybody tries to come in some other way must be a thief. The sheep won't follow anybody else because they recognize the shepherd's voice.

Intriguingly, when he explains this story, Jesus does not at first say he is the good shepherd - instead he says he is the door itself. Somethin' to think about ... 

But then yes, when they ask what he means he explains that he is the good shepherd. He will give his life to save the sheep.

[Wayne]

Now comes the Feast of Dedication ... Hanukkah!!