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The Man Sees Jesus (John 9:35-41)

 Jesus heard that they threw the man out, so he went to meet with him. Jesus must have known how open he was to receiving him, because he asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" Jesus meets us the same way, even if we don't see him with our physical eyes. After all, this man couldn't see Jesus with his eyes, either. Even so, the man's spiritual vision was perfect. Once he knew that he was talking to Jesus, he worshiped him.

The Pharisees find out about this, and they ask Jesus if he thinks they are blind. Jesus answers in an interesting way. He says that if they claimed to be blind, they would be innocent, but because they claim to see, they are guilty. God does not judge us for what we do not know, but rather for what we do know, or what we ought to have known. Jesus has a lot of mercy for sinners, but he knows who is honest, and who is not. When we have a relationship of loving trust with God, we can be totally honest with Him about who we really are. Those who think that religion is something they must jealously guard, because someone will take it from them, cannot live in the true freedom of the children of God.

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