The Action Bible: God's Redemptive Story

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Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Little children, let us not love in word only, neither with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. ( AY) This blind man did that. He was obviously a changed man. In fact, some of his neighbors thought that he must be someone else who looked like the blind man (9:9). But he kept saying, “I am the one.” So then they wanted to know how it happened. He didn’t know much at this point. He refers to Jesus as “the man who is called Jesus.” Remember, he still hasn’t even seen Jesus and he doesn’t know where He’s at. He will argue with the Pharisees that Jesus is a prophet (9:17). Later, when he sees Jesus, he will believe in Him and worship Him as Lord (9:38). But his obviously changed life and his simple witness brought glory to God (9:24). So should our changed lives and our verbal witness. That leads to the last point: 4. The great urgency: We should labor to point people to Jesus for God’s glory while we still have time. As we’ll see, they got into an argument about whether Jesus was sent from God or a sinner because He broke their Sabbath rules (9:16, 24)! They should have instantly recognized that opening the eyes of the blind was a Messianic activity.

As we’ve seen in our studies in this Gospel, John was fond of symbolism. He often uses the imagery of light and darkness. In 1:4-5, he refers to Jesus as “the Light of men” that “shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” In 3:19, he said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” Then in 8:12, in connection with the Jewish ceremony of lighting bright torches at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus boldly proclaimed, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” Now faith is confidence in what we hope for ( A) and assurance about what we do not see. ( B) 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. ( C) By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ( AQ) 25 He chose to be mistreated ( AR) along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace ( AS) for the sake of Christ ( AT) as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. ( AU) 27 By faith he left Egypt, ( AV) not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer ( AW) of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. ( AX) Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc. We see four things here: the great need; the great Savior; the great purpose; and, the great urgency. 1. The great need: The world is spiritually blind from birth.

Since Jesus is the almighty Savior who can open blind eyes for God’s glory, we should labor to point people to Him. David had a craving and said, ``Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"They were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them. They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor, and were captains in the army. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.

So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the LORD, because of the word of the LORD which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, The unique way that Jesus performed this miracle also teaches us that each person is an individual and therefore requires an individual approach with regard to how we deal with them spiritually (J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 3:136-137). There’s nothing wrong with using means or methods in presenting the gospel. Jesus here used the clay and the pool as a means toward healing. But Jesus never used the same means or method twice. While it’s helpful to memorize a basic presentation of the gospel, be sensitive to tailor it to each person. These constitute the list of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time.Some argue that salvation is a joint effort: God does His part, but sinners must do their part (repent and believe). While there is some truth in this, there is also a fallacy. What is it? Why is it important? Discuss: All Christians are in the ministry, but only some get their living from the ministry. How would viewing yourself as being in the ministry change your weekly schedule? Of Zebulun, there were 50,000 who went out in the army, who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David with an undivided heart.