This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

John 8-10 includes some of the
most intense dialogue in the Gospels.

Jesus calls the Pharisees “sons of
Satan” who “kill, steal and destroy.”

In return, they accuse Jesus twice of being
possessed by a demon, bring up his mother’s

questionable pregnancy, wonder if he
will commit suicide, and try to arrest him.

What sparks these fiery accusations?

Jesus’ claims about himself.

Jesus claimed to be the “light of the world”
and promises that those who follow
him will have true life.

Jesus said he was “from above” and
that his listeners were from “this world.”

And unless his hearers believed
that, they would die in their sins.

Jesus also said that those who hold onto his words
are his disciples who will be set free by the truth.

Jesus also said that those who keep his
word will never see death.

Jesus claimed to exist
even before Abraham.

Jesus claimed to be the
shepherd God promised Israel.

Jesus’ claims are met with confusion,
argument, and eventually stones.

Jesus says that so few people hear
him because they are “not of God”.

And like Nicodemus, this
crowd needs to be reborn.

God needs to draw them.

God needs to open the eyes of the
spiritually blind if they are going to
see Jesus as the light of the world.

To drive this point home, Jesus
heals a man who is physically blind.

Ironically, the blind man who has never seen Jesus
is the only one who sees him as the light of the world.

And the Pharisees who claim to
see the truth so clearly are blind to it.

This sign is a living picture of how we are
saved—not by our wisdom but by God’s power.

Like the disciples, we often don’t
know we are blind or enslaved.

We assume we see better than we
can and are more free than we are.

But here’s the verdict of Jesus—the more
we claim to see, the more we are blind.

Religious figures and traditions
throughout history have claimed

to see the light, but all
of them died in darkness.

Even Abraham and the prophets
of the Old Testament died.

But Jesus, the light of the world,
died only to rise like the sun.

When Jesus closed his eyes in
death, our eyes finally opened.

Our ears finally hear the voice of the Shepherd
who defeats the valley of the shadow of death.

And in the arms of such a Shepherd, we can
know that none can snatch us out of his hand.

May the Holy Spirit open your blind eyes to the
God who sent his Son to bear witness about the light.

And may you see Jesus, the good Shepherd,
whose voice and light leads us to eternal life.