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The Pharisees Call a Second Time (John 9:24-34)

 By some combination of bad will, and confusion, the Pharisees thought that giving Jesus credit for this miracle would be detracting from God's glory. They accused Jesus of being a sinner, and the man who was healed doesn't know anything about that. But he isn't going to take a good thing, and try to turn it into a bad thing.

The leaders couldn't believe the simple nature of the story of what happened, so they asked again. The man said he'd already told them. Why did they want to hear it again? Perhaps the man had figured out that they hated Jesus, so he asked them if they wanted to become his disciples. That didn't go over too well. They return his insults, and he points out generally that God does not listen to sinners, so if Jesus did this miracle, he is someone that God listens to. This enraged the Pharisees, so they call him a sinner, and throw him out.

Sometimes, the simple story of God's goodness is the truth of the matter. Perhaps we don't need to know all the details of a thing, but we can thank God for the obvious good that we can see in our lives.

And Jesus comes to us, simply offering forgiveness, and a place in the Father's family. It's as simple as that. You can go as deep as you want to go, but it is also the simple story of God's love for you. May God give us the eyes to see His love for us, and the courage to share it with others.

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