John 20:19-23: Breath of God

Presented to The Salvation Army Corps 614 Regent Park, Toronto; 03 April 2016 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 12 April 2026 by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay 

 

This is the 2026 version. To view the 2026 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/03/john-20-breath-of-god.html   

  

Today we will continue from last week, looking at John Chapter 20. Today will be speaking about the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. First today, I have a little quiz for us. Let’s see how we do. [Answers below, before footnotes] 

  

1)      When is the first time the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God shows up in Scripture? 

a.       Genesis 1:2 

b.      Revelation 2:4 

c.       John 1:1 

d.      Acts 2:4 

  

2)      When is the first time the Holy Spirit is specifically mentioned contending with a multitude of people for their salvation? 

a.       Genesis 6:3 

b.      Isaiah 9:6 

c.       Matthew 1:23 

d.      Acts 2:4 

  

3)      When is the first time the Bible openly talks about specific people having an indwelling of the Holy Spirit or a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit? 

a.       Genesis 41:38 

b.      Judges 2:7 

c.       Matthew 1:18 

d.      Acts 2:4 

  

4)      What book in the Bible is an anthology of separate incidents of the Holy Spirit personally empowering people for salvation of themselves and others? 

a.       Exodus 

b.      Judges 

c.       John 

d.      Revelation 

  

5)      When is the first time the Holy Spirit shows up chronologically in the New Testament? 

a.       Matthew 1:18 

b.      Mark 1:8-10 

c.       Luke 1:15 

d.      John 1:32 

  

6)      When is the first time the Holy Spirit is recorded as being poured out to people after the resurrection of Christ in the New Testament? 

a.       Matthew 1:18 

b.      Mark 4:35 

c.       John 20:22 

d.      Acts 2:4 

  

John 20:19-23: This is a really interesting passage. It is mentioned in the liturgy for many Christian churches. It is in the same chapter as the Resurrection, which every Christian church celebrates at Easter, and yet for some reason people in the 21st Century Church often skip over this part of the chapter and thus may think that the Holy Spirit first shows up in Scripture in Acts 2 or that He first enters people's lives personally in Acts 2 or that He first shows up to empower people for salvation in Acts 2 or that He first shows up in the Christian Church in Acts 2.[1] None of this is technically true[2] (unless, of course, Acts 2 is simply Luke account of John 20 here, which it could be).[3] God, the Holy Spirit is part of our life and our world at the creation of the world and God, the Holy Spirit is still a part of our life at the creation of the church and beyond.[4] 

  

Today we are looking at chapter 20 of the book of John, There is only one more chapter left in the book so I thought we should review a little bit about what happened in the rest of the book – specifically relating to the Holy Spirit – so that we have some context for our text today. To recap the book of John... 

  

First, John Chapter 1: John 1 is known as one of the great trinitarian pericopes in the Bible. What does trinitarian/trinity mean? (3-in-1). Right off the top in John’s Gospel, John tells us that Jesus is God and God is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is Jesus. John then goes on in this very same chapter, Chapter 1, to mention the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus as a dove at His baptism (1:33) and from that point on it is really interesting to look at what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit. 

  

I have handed out a few verses for people to read aloud, which I will ask you to do shortly but first I have another question for us. John uses the Greek word ‘Paraclete’ to refer to the Holy Spirit. Does anyone know what ‘Paraclete’ means? (One who is a comforter, an advocate, and/or who comes alongside). Jesus throughout this Gospel – and especially during his farewell discourse –repeatedly promises that the same Spirit of God that descended upon Him, that is within Him, and that has been with God since before the creation of the world, that same Spirit of God that is in everything and that God has poured out at pivotal times in salvation history, will be our Paraclete, our comforter, our advocate. 

  

Today we have given a number of people verses in John about our Paraclete, our comforter, our advocate, the Holy Spirit. If you have one, please read it aloud now for all of us to hear: 

  

·         John 3:5, 'Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the [Holy] Spirit.' 

  

·         John 3:34, 'For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the [Holy] Spirit without limit.' 

  

·         John 7:38-39a: Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this He meant the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. 

  

·         John 14:17: the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and in you. 

  

·         John 14:26: But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

  

·         John 15:26: When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of Truth who goes out from the Father—He will testify about me. 

  

John has a lot to say about the Holy Spirit that is really important for us to understand today. To recap, John says: 

  

·         The world can’t accept the Holy Spirit (John 14:17), and 

·         Without the Holy Spirit no one can enter God’s Kingdom (John 3:5), but 

·         Those who serve Jesus will receive the Holy Spirit (John 7:38), for 

·         God gives the Holy Spirit without limit (John 3:34), and 

·         The Holy Spirit will empower you to tell people about Jesus (John 15:26); so that they can be saved unto eternal life and be a part of His Kingdom forever. 

  

The word for ‘spirit’ is a homonym in both in Hebrew and in Greek. Do we know what the English word for ‘spirit’ can also be translated as in both Hebrew and Greek the Bible? Wind. The word for ‘wind’ and the word for ‘spirit’ in each Greek and Hebrew, in each the OT and the NT, are homonyms. The Hebrew is ‘Ruach’; The Greek word is ‘pneuma’; we can, and probably should, think of God, the Holy Spirit as the Holy Wind or the very Breath of God.)[5] 

  

This is exciting because in Acts 2 we have the Spirit coming like a wind to empower us to share the gospel;[6] In Genesis 2 (cf. Ezekiel 37) and John 20 we have God breathing His Spirit into, onto or over people. Genesis 2:7, at the creation of mankind, records, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” The psalms (104:29) even tell us that if that Spirit of God is removed from us then we will all die. And John here in our passage today draws on that same imagery as he tells us about the coming of the Paraclete.[7] John 20:21-23, Jesus says to his disciples, probably many more than ten, eleven or even twelve of them; reading Luke into this, possibly even the people who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus are present with this crowd:[8] 

  

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 

  

The Holy Spirit is given here so that we can share the Good News with the World, just as Jesus did. And what is that Good News? That Good News is that, John 3:16-17, ”for God so loved the whole world that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life [in His Kingdom to come]; For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” 

  

I have a short story for us today and then we will conclude our time here. This story is from 10 years ago, when we served in Toronto. My appointment before Toronto was Swift Current, Sk. There, like here, I met many people in the larger community and thus often had the opportunity to share my faith. My Toronto appointments were mostly just in churches so there weren’t as many opportunities to ‘lead people to Christ’. I was starting to wonder how long if it might be before I celebrate with someone as they accept the forgiveness of sins and the eternal life that comes with receiving the Spirit. I even brought up this at one of our staff meetings, asking people when the last time any of us have had the joy to be there when people accepted God’s gift of forgiveness of sins. I was starting to be sad because I know there are people suffering through the struggles of this life alone when they don’t need to; we all can rest in the Spirit and enjoy the comfort of the Paraclete; we can each ask Jesus to come into our life and be saved. This all was in the back of my mind as I was serving in Toronto. People were suffering. I knew God could help them – and I couldn’t find the opportunity to point people to that salvation, that comfort, that help.  

  

In the front of my mind then was the book of John and the Holy Spirit and the fact that the word ‘spirit’ also means ‘wind’ or ‘air’ or ‘breath’ and that as we receive the Holy Breath, we can be saved in everything both now and forever. 

  

And then the phone rang. I was told there was a man in the Toronto General Hospital who had a terminal respiratory illness. (This was before Covid) He was going to die from not being able to breathe the air, the wind. I was told he might not live until tomorrow. I was told he needed a minister; I was told his family wanted a Salvation Army Officer. I was told he might be ready to accept forgiveness for his sins, peace, comfort, and eternal life. I ran downstairs, I told my staff, asked for prayer and one of them drove me to the hospital, he prayed and I headed upstairs to see the man and his family. And to make a long story short, this man who was dying of a lack of breath, accepted the Breath of God, the Holy Spirit and received eternal life; so that even as he dies, yet shall He live. This man accepted eternal life, God’s Holy Spirit, even on his death bed. Praise the Lord! 

  

What about us here? Salvation is important for eternity. It is also important for now. God can help us in the here and now as well as forever. He can get us through anything. He can. So I ask, is there any in this room who have never asked Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit to breathe salvation into our lives? Are there any of us here who, in our post-Covid world, are dying of an eternal respiratory disease? Are there any of us here who are going through all the struggles of life without taping into the comfort God offers? Is there anyone here who hasn’t prayed to receive the Holy Spirit yet? If so, you don’t need to wait until your death bed; you don’t need to wait until your dying breath; you don’t need to live another moment without the very breath of God in your life and lungs; you can accept the real comfort of God, and forgiveness for sins today – and experience it for ever more. 

  

Is there anyone here who has not asked God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus into their lives yet? Would you like us to pray for you? God can get you through anything. 

  

Let us pray. 

www.sheepspeak.com 

  

Answers to Quiz: 

1)  (a) Genesis 1:1-2: Right in the beginning of the Bible: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” 

2)  (a) Genesis 6:3: Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 

3)  (a) Genesis 41:38 mentions the Moses as having the Holy Spirit in him and Exodus 35:30-32 speaks about the Holy Spirit being with Bezalel son of Uri, many more example follow throughout the OT. 

4)  (b) Judges 

5)  (a) Matthew 1:18. Matthew 1:18 records: ‘This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” Mark 1:8-10 first mentions the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus at his baptism. Luke 1:15 speaks about the Spirit in terms of John the Baptist "for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born." John 1:32: John 1:1-18 implies the presence of the Holy Spirit at creation but – like Mark – first mentions Him specifically descending on Jesus at His baptism like a dove in 1:32. 

6) (c) John 20:22 

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[1] Cf. Gary M. Burge, ‘John’ in NIVAC Bundle 6: Gospels, Acts. NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Mi, Zondervan: 2000), 70911-70934 

[2] Cf. Rodney A. Whitacre, John (IVP NT Series: IVP Academic: Downers Grove, Illinois: 1999), 482 

[3] Gary M. Burge, ‘John’ in NIVAC Bundle 6: Gospels, Acts. NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Mi, Zondervan: 2000), 70952 

[4] Cf. John Kistendahl, ‘2nd Sunday of Easter: John 20:19-31: Exegetical View’ in Feasting on the Word Year C Vol 2:Lent through Eastertide, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown, ed. (Louisville, Kentucky,  Westminister John Knox Press: 2000), 14135 

[5] Gregory Robbins, ‘2nd Sunday of Easter: John 20:19-31: Exegetical View’ in Feasting on the Word Year C Vol 2:Lent through Eastertide, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown, ed. (Louisville, Kentucky,  Westminster John Knox Press: 2000), 14176 

[6] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Acts 2: Scene 1. Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 August 2007, Swift Current Corps 23 May 2010 and 17 May 2015, and Corps 614 Regent Park Toronto 04 October 2015. On-line:http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2015/05/acts-2-scene-1.html 

[7] Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching,  (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 225 

[8]Cf. William Hendricksen, John (New Testament Commentary: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan: 2007), 460 

John 20: So that You May Believe

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, Resurrection (Easter) Sunday, 17 April 2022 and 01 April 2026 by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay 

This is the 2026 version; to view the 2022 version click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2022/04/john-20-so-that-you-may-believe.html

 

Many things happened in our Resurrection Day text. Here we have the first preacher of the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus rose from the grave. This woman, Mary Magdalen is the first Christian teacher / preacher / proclaimer of the resurrection. She doesn’t quite get it all yet. But she proclaims what she sees to Peter and another person, presumably John. 

 

Next in our Resurrection Day text, after they hear the Good News John and Peter run to the tomb as fast as they can, I assume, to see for themselves! John gets there first and stops at the door, examining the scene and taking the whole thing in. Peter – like a child or younger sibling – comes running up behind him, roars past John, who is stopped at the tomb then seems to call out: “I win! I was here first. I won!” 

 

They take it all in. They see Jesus’ burial clothes lying there – but Jesus is gone. It says John saw all of this and believed but he did not understand. Then the disciples just went home. I can only imagine. What else could they do? …if they don’t understand? They know Jesus is gone and maybe they will know he has raised from the dead but they don’t quite understand, why? How? What next? Where is He? What is happening? They don’t understand 

 

Now it seems that Mary had gone back out to show them the tomb and, of course, the boys went running off ahead. When she gets there Mary stays outside the tomb even after the boys leave. She’s crying, and crying, and crying. So much is going on. She loves Jesus every bit as much as the boys do. I imagine she is completely overwhelmed by the immensity of it all. She bends over to look in the tomb herself again and she sees two angels where Jesus’ would have been laying. 

 

They turn to her -I don’t imagine she recognizes them as angels yet but maybe she does – and they ask her, ‘why are you crying?’ She answers them and then she turns around and when she does, she sees Jesus. But she doesn’t recognize Him at first – understandably: she is crying – she is probably trying to avoid eye contact. And anyway, when is the last time you went to visit someone’s grave and they tapped you on the shoulder and started speaking with you? No wonder she doesn’t recognize Him immediately. 

 

Jesus also asks her ‘why are you crying’? Why is everybody asking her this? You’d think everyone would know why someone would be crying at a graveside, really! Especially if the tombstone and everything was in place but person you went to see wasn’t there anymore. But Jesus does ask her, ‘why are you crying?’ 

 

She thinks He is the gardener; so, He asks, ‘who are you looking for?’ I imagine He is just waiting for her to look up and see who He is or even stop crying a bit, take a breath, and listen to His voice. I imagine that is why He keeps speaking to her like this: ‘why are you crying?’ ‘Who are you looking for?’ So she will stop and pay attention. She talks to Him like He is the gardener, probably looking away and the He eventually just says, ‘Mary!’ and then she recognizes Him. 

 

She cries out to Him and I imagine she tries to hug him but Jesus says, “remember to social distance”, “No touchie”. No, that’s not what this means. He says, don’t detain me, I still have to go see My Father, Our Father, My God, Our God. 

 

Mary then begins to understand a little bit about what the boys didn’t’ understand and she runs off to tell them that she saw Jesus. Mary for the second time in our text is playing the part of the first evangelist: sharing the Good News of Jesus being raised from the dead and telling of her interaction and relationship with the resurrected Christ! 

 

That evening many of the disciples are gathered together. They are concerned. They lock all of the doors – in light of everything that has been happening and what they know and do not yet understand, they are afraid of the Jewish leaders. 

 

Picture this with me then. They are trying not to be noticed. They are afraid. They are hiding. The doors are locked. And then in the middle of the room, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “peace be with you”. I picture a similar scene as when He was speaking with Mary earlier. I wonder how long He was standing in their midst before they actually heard, listened to, and recognized Him. After however long, He then shows His hands and His side, with the wounds from His crucifixion. Everyone there is excited! No Kidding! When is the last time you went to someone’s funeral and they showed up at the lunch afterwards?! …showing you the scars from how they died. 

 

He says again to them ‘peace be with you’ – I imagine this is after the commotion has died down a bit and everyone has had their turn touching Him and greeting Him.  ‘Peace be with you’ He says, Verses 21-23, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And then he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.” 

 

Now this is very important: On that first day of the week, right at the resurrection, Verse 22, we have the Advent of the Holy Spirit infilling people in the New Testament! Not forty days later in Acts Chapter 2. Acts Chapter 2 is about something entirely different. But also this, of course, isn’t the first time the Holy Spirt shows up in the Bible – He was present at creation – and before. He is there at Jesus’ baptism. He is there in John Chapter One. Here, in John Chapter Twenty, on this the resurrection day, Jesus breathes and His Holy Spirit fills the disciples. They are filled with the Holy Ghost. 

 

Now then Thomas, for some reason, wasn’t with them. They tell him the whole story but he doesn’t buy it. He thinks they are pranking him or something! So he says unless I see and touch Him too, I don’t believe you! 

 

Now Jesus is nice enough to accommodate him. Later they are all in the same house, with the doors locked again – and this time Thomas is with them when Jesus shows up and says, “Peace be with you”. Jesus asks him to touch His wounds, His scars. Immediately Thomas worships Jesus. Jesus then goes on to perform many more miracles and signs and He does this again and again for his disciples. So why does Jesus do all this? Why does John or whomever, and the other Gospel writers, record all this? Verse 31: …These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name. 

 

And that is my hope for each of us here. May we know so that we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and as we really are all sent, may we be evangelists like Mary and the other disciples so that others who have not yet seen Jesus may yet believe and so that they and we may all have life in His Name. For now and evermore. Amen. 

Matthew 21:1-11: Hosanna! The Triumphal entry into Holy Week

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries on Palm Sunday, 29 March, 2026, by Major Michael Ramsay 

Today  is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is when we commemorate the Sunday before Jesus’ death. Jerusalem was occupied then, like it is now; now it is occupied by the Israelis, then it was occupied by the Romans. The Judeans in the first century didn’t like being occupied then any more than the Palestinians like it today. The Romans were harsh, not nearly as brutal as modern Israel, but harsh enough that the first century had their version of … (Remember the suicide bombers of the ‘70s and ‘80s?) …suicide bombers: the Sicarii (zealots), Judean terrorists / revolutionaries would walk into crowds with daggers looking for Romans to kill –. One of Jesus’ followers, Simon, was arguably a Sicarii or zealot.

 

Passover is the commemoration of ancient Israel’s birth as a nation. The Angel of Death passed over Egypt and the nations of Isreal and Judah were created through the Exodus. Passover, in the Roman period, was a time when many people of Judean descent descended upon Jerusalem. I imagine it would be like Mecca during Ramadan, or if you remember Vancouver during the Olympics or Expo. The capital of Judea is Caesarea Maritima – but the historic capital is Jerusalem, so when all the people are coming to Jerusalem, the governor himself comes to town and brings all his extra security for crowd control. Jerusalem, a city of tens or even hundreds of thousands, swells to a population of more than a million potential hooligans or even revolutionaries during Passover. The Romans are there. They are ready. They are nervous.

 

Jesus is a celebrity preacher. He has been travelling the country speaking for the previous 1-3 years. Thousands of people regularly show up to hear him speak, just to catch a glimpse of him, or to see or experience some miracle that was part of his ministry. He had hundreds of disciples; 12 chief ones, that would be like his leadership team with different roles – Judas, for one example, was the treasurer.

 

So there are all these people in Jerusalem, many wanting independence from the Romans; the Roman and Jewish police are providing security. Jesus rides into the historic capital city and people run out to meet him. They line the streets as he rides in on the back of a donkey. People lay their coats before him, they wave palm branches, they shout, “hosanna”. The palm branches are a national symbol of Judah. It would be like if we in Canada would dare to speak about cancelling NAFTA, abandoning NORAD, leaving NATO, and then a celebrity rolled into Ottawa, and everyone started waving maple leaves. This is what Palm Sunday is…And more than that: “Hosanna” that they are shouting means “Save us”! The Romans (the Americans of their day) and their supporters are nervous.

 

A very popular celebrity is rolling into the historic capital of an occupied territory on a national holiday and the people are running out, waving national symbols and shouting, “save us!”, “save us!”, “hosanna”. “save us!” The Romans are nervous. They have extra security forces. The Jewish collaborators are nervous. They have a plan. They must stop this. This is Palm Sunday.

 

Where do you stand? Do you stand on the road, palm branch in hand, with Jesus saying. “set the captives free” (let the people out of jail); “you can’t serve God and money; so feed the hungry and clothe the naked” (end capitalism); “beat your swords into ploughshares” (disarmament), “give sight to the blind” (provide medical, dental and other care universally – to everyone!), “justice and mercy” (no more expensive lawyers) “love your neighbour as yourself”; “forgive your enemies” – no more war, no more hate, no more darkness. Or do you stand, without a branch, with those who want him killed and wanting retribution, revenge for wrongs, and money for fun for yourself instead of necessities for others. This is what Palm Sunday is! Jesus is riding into town. Are you with him or are you against him? Do you support the superpowers and elites of today or do you champion the downtrodden? Are you a child of the light or cowed by the hounds of hell? Where do you stand? Do you have a palm branch in hand?

 

I am going to take you through the next few days of Jesus’ life, his last before his execution. If today is Palm Sunday when he rides into town, he will go to the Temple (curse a fig tree enroute), look around, and come home to where he is staying.

 

Tomorrow he will ride back into town and go to the Temple that has just been rebuilt in or near his lifetime. He will see the people in the temple court taking people’s money and offerings and converting the different currencies into the temple shekel so that they can make the appropriate offerings. It would be very busy with everyone exchanging cash so they can make their offering, because it is Passover and so many people are in town. Jesus goes up to the booth where they provide this service, where they convert the money into the proper currency and he throws over the tables; he grabs the people working in the temple and he makes a whip and he starts to whip them right there, right in the temple of God. He calls them thieves and all kinds of stuff and then he leaves. He is not happy with the way they are making money in the temple of God.

 

Tuesday, the next day, he is back at the temple. He has a row with the people there; obviously after all that destruction and chaos he caused the day before. In his verbal exchange he says to the people working at the temple, the priests, the church people, he says, “’Blind guides!... For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness...Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?" (Matthew 23:24-33)” This is what he says in the Temple.

 

Wednesday – not much. Thursday though. Thursday is the Last Supper! We will have an event here to commemorate Maudy Thursday; you don’t want to miss it! Thursday, Jesus had his last supper with his leadership team before he dies. A couple of important things happen at this dinner. He tells his followers to keep eating and drinking together in remembrance of him; he tells his followers to serve each other like by washing others’ feet, and he tells his disciples that one of them will betray him... Each of the disciples wonders about this. When they get a chance each borrows his ear, “Jesus, is it me? Will I betray you?” When Judas, the treasurer for the group, gets a chance to pull Jesus aside, he asks “is it me?” Jesus says “yes”; the devil enters him and he leaves to do what must be done. No one knows what is going on except Jesus, John, and maybe Judas.

 

After dinner Jesus and the rest of them – except for Judas who has gone off to do what has to be done – head to the garden of Gethsemane. Lots of stuff happens there and then Judas rejoins the disciples. When he does, he kisses Jesus, as is the custom, then soldiers or police, Romans or Jews, grab Jesus, attempt to arrest him. Peter grabs his sword. Swings it down at one of the soldier’s heads. The soldier moves or Peter misses or or or.. Peter chops off the soldier’s ear! Jesus stops him, stoops down, picks up the ear, and puts it back on the soldier’s head and the soldier is healed. Jesus goes peaceably with his arrestors.

 

They keep him in custody until 6am tomorrow, Friday morning, when they bring him to Governor Pontius Pilates’ place for trial and, they hope, execution. There is quite a scene there! We won’t go through it all today but Pilate’s wife had a vision and tells him to have nothing to do with this. Pilate can’t figure out what Roman law Jesus is supposed to have broken and wants to release him – but he is afraid. He is very afraid. Remember there are so many Jews everywhere, He is afraid they will overthrow the government, try to, or assassinate him, or revolt, or, or or… He still wants nothing to do with this but he compromises… and then he says it is Passover so I’ll tell you what, I will release one prisoner. You have a choice: there is this murderer, this terrorist here, Barabbas; I can release him or I can release Jesus. The people chose Barabbas. Pilate is annoyed probably even more than afraid now. He makes the Jews in his courtyard disavow God and then he hands Jesus over to them to be crucified. They go overboard with this. The young men guarding him get in on the act. They put a purple robe on him to mock him as a ‘king’. They put this crown on his head that they made of thorns. It hurts. Blood everywhere. The head bleeds. Then they start striking him and hitting him with rod. Who hit you, King of the Jews?.” Maybe Punching, hitting, kicking taunting.

 

They then take him out to be executed, along with others, on wooden frames in the shape of a cross and they make him carry his or part of his to the hill where they will assemble it and nail him to it. He stumbles and falls so they grab someone from the crowd and force them to carry Jesus’ cross the rest of the way. They then set it up beside other crosses and nail him to it. He isn’t the only one there. There are others nailed to crosses beside him for other reasons. They stab him in the side. Water comes pouring out. They go to break his legs to expediate his death but he is already dead. When he dies there is this massive eclipse, an earthquake and – by all accounts – the graves, the tombs open up and people who were dead come back to life just like Lazarus did a week or so ago. It is pretty scary, I am sure. This is Good Friday.

 

Sunday, Monday, He will raise from the grave. He will come back. ‘Vengeance is mine saith the Lord’ but the Lord is all about forgiveness. Jesus raises from the dead. Now we all can. And we all will. And when we do, if we serve Jesus instead of the leaders of this era we will spend eternity in His Kingdom of Love and forgiveness. If we don’t… if we choose capitalism, hate, vengeance instead, well then… that is what we choose isn’t it?

 

So today is Palm Sunday. Jesus is riding into town. Where do you stand? Do you stand, palm branch in hand, with Jesus saying. “set the captives free” (let the people out of jail); “you can’t serve God and money; so feed the hungry and clothe the naked” (end capitalism); “beat your swords into ploughshares” (disarm), “give sight to the blind” (provide medical, dental and other care to everyone), show “justice and mercy” (no more expensive lawyers) “love your neighbour as yourself”; “forgive your enemies” – no more war, no more hate, no more darkness. Or do you stand with those who kill Jesus, who want retribution, revenge for wrongs, money for fun for yourself instead of necessities for others.

 

This is what Palm Sunday is! Jesus is riding into town. Are you with him or are you against him? Do you support the superpowers and the elites of today or do you champion the downtrodden. Are you a child of the light or cowed by the hounds of hell?

 

Today is Palm Sunday. Where do you stand? The choice is yours. Are you against him or are you with him? If you are with him, I invite you to wave your palm branches and cry out with me ‘Hosanna’, ‘save us’ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. ‘Hosanna in the Highest’

 Let us pray

www.sheepspeak.com

John 9: OUC12

Presented to TSA Warehouse Mission, 19 March 2017 and AV Ministries, 16 March 2026, by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay 

 

This is the 2026 AV Version, to see the 2017 Toronto Version, click here: 

https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2017/03/john-9-ouc12.html 

 

John 9:1-3: As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 

            Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. 

 

In life – certainly in our work here - we have seen future generations suffer consequences related to previous generations' actions.[1] We have seen people who were born impoverished or otherwise disadvantaged – in part -because of choices of their parents - among other reasons (less and less choice related btw). Christian debates around war, the environment and immigration also relate to ‘the sins of the father’. I.e.: if we don’t have a large enough population, we can’t provide income for our retirees and disabled and if we don’t have an environment and the earth dies, nothing much else really matters because we’ll all be dead. Those talking to Jesus in our story today seem to stretch this idea to the point where they see a one-to-one correspondence.[2] If you do good, good will happen to you; if you do bad, bad will happen to you.[3] Jesus tells them this is wrong. A person is NOT blind because he (or his parents) are bad people and this particular person was born blind for a GOOD purpose. The wrong idea, the heresy that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people has a name …The prosperity gospel. Jesus quickly dispatches this error and chats about what he is going to chat about here. Jesus says, 

 

9:4-5 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 

 

Much of the Gospel of John is about light. Here we have a man born blind, who can only see dark and so Jesus speaks about light. He says we must all work when it is light out because, when Jesus goes away, it will be too dark for any of us to see. When we are with Jesus we can still see because He is the one who makes the light in the world and He is the Light of the world. Susan mentioned the words ‘I AM’ being God’s Name as well. Jesus intentionally speaks of Himself saying, ‘I AM the Light’. Then Jesus reinforces His message about light and darkness through a miracle: He lets light shine in this man’s life.[4] 

 

9:6-8: When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" 

 

Jesus replaces the darkness in his life with light and everyone who knows this man notices. Who wouldn’t notice? When we were in Toronto Randall, a member of our congregation who came to soldier classes, Bible study and prayer walk, and who played his instruments for the Lord at every opportunity. Randall, maybe like this man, was born blind. Do you think we’d notice a blind member of our congregation here showed up one say seeing? 

 

9:9: Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 

 

Again thinking of our friend Randall from Toronto: Can you imagine how frustrating this would be… some of us who know him would vouch for him but others who don't know him may not and still others unkindly may have fun at his expense. And some people who don't know Randall at all, who don't know us, and who don't know Jesus might even deny either that this is Randall or else that Randall was ever blind in the first place because., quite simply, the blind do not just open their eyes and see one day. 

 

9:10-13: But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 

            He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." 

            They said to him, "Where is he?" 

            He said, "I do not know." 

            They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 

 

So this is interesting...they keep asking him questions trying to figure out how a blind man can suddenly see. Someone spit on the ground and rubbed mud in his eyes. This doesn’t sound right. Is this supposedly once blind man mocking them?  

 

Who was the man who spit on dirt and rubbed it on your face to make you see? He tells them the name of the man and all the relevant information that he can recall. They aren't satisfied - I assume it isn't his friends here who aren't satisfied; I assume it is people who never really knew the gentleman in question. When he tells them Jesus healed him and he doesn't know where Jesus is, whether they believe him or not, they figure they should go to the Pharisees. 

 

So who are the Pharisees and why would they bring this man to them? They’re not doctors. Who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were a religious group of Judeans. The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee and so was Nicodemus in the book of John here. The Pharisees were known as a moral evangelistic holiness movement. At their best they were probably like a much earlier John Wesley or John Calvin and at their worst they were probably like a much earlier puritanical Oliver Cromwell or whoever you think of as someone who gives you a million rules to follow. At any rate, these people want a religious opinion on what has just happened. They run and ask the pastors, priests, the Majors, the Pharisees to see what they think.[5] 

 

9:14: Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 

 

This is important. Saturday is the Sabbath and even to this day, various  people, to varying degrees, in certain religions, aren’t supposed to do things on the Sabbath but this is certainly a miracle so they think they should get some more information as to whether it is okay or not: when and how this healing happened. 

 

9:15-16: Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." 

            Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. 

 

It seems that their questioning gets them nowhere. There is a moral judgement to make here and the religious authorities are divided.[6] Some say that God commanded the Sabbath to be holy and so anyone who would profane the Sabbath by doing something on Saturday which could easily be done on Monday would be disobeying or even insulting God; so how could Jesus come from God if he did this? Others argued that he performed the will of God on the Sabbath by restoring or granting sight to a man. This is not disrespecting God; this is a miraculous sign from God. The religious leaders are divided. 

 

9:17: So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet." 

 

This really doesn’t settle anything. I imagine those that already came to this conclusion agreed and those that didn’t, didn’t. They must really be getting into this debate and they must think this is really important because they go to great effort to try to resolve this. 

 

9:18-23: The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 

            His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 

 

This is an interesting exchange with his parents for a few reasons: 

1) The parents do confirm that he is their son and that he was born blind  

2) they are intimidated by this whole thing – I know if I was called before a whole bunch of my bosses, who could throw me out of the church, my work, and my life; I would be nervous too and  

3) This man is an adult. He can speak for himself. The parents say – why are you asking us? We weren’t even there. Ask him yourself. Now, I don’t know if those Pharisees who decided earlier that this man was of God have left or not but those that remain seem more than a little antagonistic. They start provoking and arguing with the man. 

 

9:24-26: So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." 

            He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 

            They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 

 

They accuse and ask him AGAIN, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" This is a great comeback that the man has... 

 

9:27 He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" 

 

That would be the last thing they want! 

 

9:28-29: Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 

 

The man has undoubtedly had enough now; I guess he figures if they are going to throw him out of church they have already made up their minds to do so.[7] 

 

9:30-33: The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 

 

The Pharisees are totally backed into a philosophical corner here with nowhere to turn – and they know it - so they fall into the trap of the prosperity gospel; the heresy that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Instead of addressing this man by responding to the interpretation of events God performed in his own life, they insult him. They choose to be wrong rather than to admit that they were wrong.[8] If they had believed this heresy then none of this conversation would ever have taken place in the first place. They can’t actually believe it but still… 

 

9:34 They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out. 

 

How many times do we do that? How many times do we know what is right but defiantly lash out wrongly instead? 

 

Now Jesus enters the story again. It appears that news of this encounter had gotten out and so Jesus was seeking him out. 

 

9:35: Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 

 

Do we know what the ‘Son of Man’ is? He is the Messiah. He is the leader who is going to deliver God’s people from exile and oppression and establish his kingdom here. Jesus said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 

 

9:36-38: He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." 

            Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." 

            He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. 

 

This man has found his salvation and this is extremely important for this man and for everyone else but this story is about much more than his personal salvation. The gospel of John has a much larger story to tell about the whole world and light and darkness and seeing and not seeing. You see, salvation is not just offered to this man; salvation is offered to us all. 

 

9:39-41: Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." 

            Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" 

            Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains. 

 

There are some of who have never seen the light, like the man in this story and when he finally does, he basks in it. He lets the love and the light of Jesus fill his whole being. If that is you, Jesus wants you to see and feel what you have been missing – the access to joy in the midst of troubles. 

 

Sadly, however, even when we have felt or heard of the light, some have chosen the darkness of separation from God’s comfort and grace; we claim we can see quite well enough without him in our lives (cf. Mark 3:29).[9] We claim that we know, do, and can explain things well enough; we don’t need to be enlightened by Jesus. Some of us in our blindness claim we have gone to school or we have gone to the school of hard knocks so we know how the world really works;[10] some of us continue to walk in the darkness of self-reliance or something else rather than in the light of Jesus and this is sad because this does not need to be. 

 

Jesus has come into our life and our world to lead us all in his light; those who are in darkness; we who have so much going on that we can’t see any way out, we who can’t see any relief for our predicament; God is here to shine His light in our own life so that we might find relief in the midst of pain and so that we may experience the joy of His life eternally . If you haven't done so yet, if you are still walking in the dark, I invite you to step into the light of God's love and experience His Salvation today. 

www.sheepspeak.com 

https://salvogesis.blogspot.com/