Book of Common Prayer

Jesus Is Our Advocate With God. We Know That We Know Him If We Keep His Commands

2 My little-children, I am writing these things to you in order that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate^[a] with the Father: Jesus Christ the Righteous. ² And He Himself is the satisfaction^[b] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world’s. ³ And by this we know that we have come-to-know Him: if we are keeping His commandments. ⁴ The one claiming that “I have come-to-know Him” and not keeping His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this one. ⁵ But whoever is keeping His word, truly the love of God has been perfected^[c] in this one. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one claiming to be abiding in Him ought just as that One walked also himself thus to be walking.

If We Are Loving One Another, We Are Abiding In The Light

⁷ Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old^[d] commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard. ⁸ Yet-again I am writing a new^[e] commandment to you, which^[f] is true^[g] in Him and in you, because^[h] the darkness is passing-away and the true Light^[i] is already shining. ⁹ The one claiming to be in the light and hating his brother is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰ The one loving his brother is abiding in the light, and there is no cause-of-falling in him. ¹¹ But the one hating his brother is in the darkness, and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes.

The Pharisees Question Whether He Was Blind, And Call In The Parents

¹⁸ Then the Jews did not believe concerning him that he was blind and received-sight— until they called the parents of him having received-sight. ¹⁹ And they asked them, saying “Is this your son whom you are saying that he was born blind? How then does he see now?” ²⁰ So his parents responded and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind. ²¹ But how he now sees— we do not know. Or who opened his eyes— we do not know. Ask him. He has a mature-age. He will speak about himself ”. ²² His parents said these things because they were fearing the Jews. For the Jews already had agreed that if anyone confessed Him as the Christ, he should become put-out-of-the-synagogue. ²³ For this reason his parents said that “He has a mature-age, question him”.

They Don’t Want To Believe Jesus Did It, So They Question The Man Again

²⁴ Then they called for a second time the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner”. ²⁵ So that one responded, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know. I know one thing— that being a blind one, now I see”. ²⁶ So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You also do not want to become His disciples, do you?” ²⁸ And they reviled him and said, “You are a disciple of that One, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses. But we do not know where this One is from”. ³⁰ The man responded and said to them, “Why, in this is^[a] the marvel^[b]— that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes! ³¹ We know that God does not hear^[c] sinners. But if anyone is a God-fearing one, and is doing His will— He hears this one. ³² It was not ever heard that someone opened the eyes of one having been born blind. ³³ If this One were not from God, He would be able to do nothing”. ³⁴ They responded and said to him, “You were born entirely in sins, and you are teaching us?” And they threw him outside^[d].

Jesus Tells The Man, I Came So The Blind May See And The Seeing May Become Blind

³⁵ Jesus heard that they threw him outside, and having found him, said “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ That one responded and said, “Who indeed is He, Sir, in order that I may believe in Him?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and that One is the One speaking with you”. ³⁸ And the one said, “Master, I believe”, and prostrated-himself ^[e] before Him. ³⁹ And Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment— so that the ones not seeing^[f] may be seeing, and the ones seeing may become blind”.

You Pharisees Are Thieves, Not Shepherds, So God’s Sheep Do Not Follow You

⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees heard these things— the ones being with him— and said to Him, “We indeed are not blind ones, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind^[g] ones, you would not have^[h] sin. But you are saying now that ‘We see’— your sin remains.