Chapter 9 records the healing of the blind man, which
is the sixth of the seven special miracles recorded in
John’s Gospel as witnesses to the deity of Christ. The
first three show how a person is saved–through the
Word (water to wine); by faith (nobleman’s son); and
by grace (important man). The last three show the
results of salvation–peace (stilling the storm);
light (healing the blind man); and life (raising
Lazarus). The feeding of the 5,000 shows that the
Gospel is given to a world as men cooperate with
Christ.

The blind man is a picture of the lost sinner.
The sinner is blind, a poor beggar seeking for
something to satisfy. As Jesus came to the blind man,
He came to him in grace. He could have passed him by,
for it was the Sabbath and according to the Law, He
was supposed to rest. While the disciples argued about
the cause of the blindness, Jesus did something for
the man! What a picture of some Christians and
preachers today who major on the minors, while saying
very little about the saving grace of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. Satan has many Christians
quibbling over little things, while spending very
little time in real Bible study and prayer. Satan’s
work against Christians is to have them major on
insignificant matters, without the power of God upon
their lives.

In chapter 10 Jesus is presented as the
Shepherd. He is contrasted with the thieves and
robbers who would kill and destroy the sheep. We see
Him as the great Protector and Saviour of the sheep.
People who have been born-again are often referred to
as sheep by the Lord. In verse 14 Jesus said He was
the Good Shepherd and knew His sheep and was known of
His. What a tremendous verse! We who are born-again
and know Christ as our Saviour are known of Him. In
verse 15 we are told that Jesus lays down His life for
us who are His sheep. We see the power of our Good
Shepherd in verse 18, when Jesus says that no man can
take His life from Him, but He and He only has the
power to lay down His life or to take it up again.

Finally, let us notice the security of the
sheep who are in the fold of Jesus. He says that He
gives unto us eternal life, and we shall never perish.
What a wonderful assurance of God’s saving and keeping
power. He said no man could pluck them out of His hand
because the heavenly Father gave them to Him and He is
greater than all. This is a wonderful verse, the
security of the believer. I thank God that He not only
saves, but He keeps us saved. I Peter 1:5 says we are
kept by the power of God. God loved the world so much
that He gave His only Son to provide salvation and
then, through the power of His mighty hand, keeps us
secure from the fall.