M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The man born blind
9 As Jesus was going along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.
2 “Teacher,” his disciples asked him, “whose sin was it that caused this man to be born blind? Did he sin, or did his parents?”
3 “He didn’t sin,” replied Jesus, “nor did his parents. It happened so that God’s works could be seen in him. 4 We must work the works of the one who sent me as long as it’s still daytime. The night is coming, and nobody can work then! 5 As long as I’m in the world, I’m the light of the world.”
6 With these words, he spat on the ground, and made some mud out of his spittle. He spread the mud on the man’s eyes.
7 “Off you go,” he said to him, “and wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “sent”). So he went off and washed. When he came back, he could see.
8 His neighbors, and the people who used to see him begging, remarked on this.
“Isn’t this the man,” they said, “who used to sit here and beg?”
9 “Yes, it’s him!” said some of them.
“No, it isn’t!” said some others. “It’s somebody like him.”
But the man himself spoke.
“Yes, it’s me,” he said.
10 “Well, then,” they said to him, “how did your eyes get opened?”
11 “It was the man called Jesus!” he replied. “He made some mud, then he spread it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went, and washed, and I could see!”
12 “Where is he?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
The blind man’s parents
13 They took the man who had been blind and brought him to the Pharisees. 14 (The day Jesus had made the mud, and opened his eyes, was a sabbath.) 15 So the Pharisees began to ask him again how he had come to see.
“He put some mud on my eyes,” he said, “and I washed, and now I can see!”
16 “The man can’t be from God,” some of the Pharisees began to say. “He doesn’t keep the sabbath!”
“Well, but,” replied some of the others, “how can a man who is a sinner do signs like these?”
And they were divided.
17 So they spoke to the blind man again.
“What have you got to say about him?” they asked. “He opened your eyes, after all.”
“He’s a prophet,” he replied.
18 The Judaeans didn’t believe that he really had been blind and now could see. So they called the parents of the newly sighted man, 19 and put the question to them.
“Is this man really your son,” they asked, “the one you say was born blind? How is it that he can now see?”
20 “Well,” replied his parents, “we know that he is indeed our son, and that he was born blind. 21 But we don’t know how it is that he can now see, and we don’t know who it was that opened his eyes. Ask him! He’s grown up. He can speak for himself.”
22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Judaeans. The Judaeans, you see, had already decided that if anyone declared that Jesus was the Messiah, they should be put out of the synagogue. 23 That’s why his parents said, “He’s grown up, so you should ask him.”
Is Jesus from God?
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind.
“Give God the glory!” they said. “We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 “I don’t know whether he’s a sinner or not,” replied the man. “All I know is this: I used to be blind, and now I can see.”
26 “What did he do to you?” they asked. “How did he open your eyes?”
27 “I told you already,” replied the man, “and you didn’t listen. Why d’you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
28 “You’re his disciple,” they scoffed, “but we are Moses’s disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t know where this man comes from.”
30 “Well, here’s a fine thing!” replied the man. “You don’t know where he’s from, and he opened my eyes! 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners; but if anyone is devout, and does his will, he listens to them. 32 It’s never, ever been heard of before that someone should open the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.”
34 “You were born in sin from top to toe,” they replied, “and are you going to start teaching us?” And they threw him out.
Seeing and not seeing
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out. He found him and spoke to him.
“Do you believe in the son of man?” he asked.
36 “Who is he, sir,” asked the man, “so that I can believe in him?”
37 “You have seen him,” replied Jesus. “In fact, it’s the person who’s talking to you.”
38 “Yes, sir,” said the man; “I do believe.” And he worshiped him.
39 “I came into the world for judgment,” said Jesus, “so that those who can’t see would see, and so that those who can see would become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees were nearby, and they heard this.
“So!” they said. “We’re blind too, are we?”
41 “If you were blind,” replied Jesus, “you wouldn’t be guilty of sin. But now, because you say, ‘We can see,’ your sin remains.”
Freedom in Christ
5 The Messiah set us free so that we could enjoy freedom! So stand firm, and don’t get yourselves tied down by the chains of slavery.
2 Look here: I, Paul, am telling you that if you get circumcised, the Messiah will be of no use to you. 3 I testify once more, against every person who gets circumcised, that he is thereby under obligation to perform the entire law. 4 You are split off from the Messiah, you people who want to be justified by the law! You have dropped out of grace. 5 For we are waiting eagerly, by the spirit and by faith, for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in the Messiah, Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any power. What matters is faith, working through love.
Warnings against compromise
7 You were running well. Who got in your way and stopped you being persuaded by the truth? 8 This persuasion didn’t come from the one who called you! 9 A little leaven works its way through the whole lump. 10 I am persuaded in the Lord that you won’t differ from me on this. But the one who is troubling you will bear the blame, whoever he may be. 11 As for me, my dear family, if I am still announcing circumcision, why are people still persecuting me? If I were, the scandal of the cross would have been neutralized. 12 If only those who are making trouble for you would cut the whole lot off!
The law and the spirit
13 When God called you, my dear family, he called you to make you free. But you mustn’t use that freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, you must become each other’s servants, through love. 14 For the whole law is summed up in one word, namely this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite each other and devour each other, watch out! You may end up being destroyed by each other.
16 Let me say this to you: live by the spirit, and you won’t do what the flesh wants you to. 17 For the flesh wants to go against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you can’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious. They are such things as fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, bursts of rage, selfish ambition, factiousness, divisions, 21 moods of envy, drunkenness, wild partying, and similar things. I told you before, and I tell you again: people who do such things will not inherit God’s kingdom.
Fruit of the spirit
22 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, great-heartedness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. There is no law that opposes things like that! 24 And those who belong to the Messiah, Jesus, crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the spirit, let’s line up with the spirit. 26 We shouldn’t be conceited, vying with one another and jealous of each other.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.