Loou Llinclocl by the very light the.t shines Tho very iclea. WBB a.n a.beurdity, o.nrl so Jesus up11n them, Lut thoy a.ro in cloubt with e.dcled, But now ye BBY, "\Ire eee. You even re ferenco to their own ea.so. boa.et that you a.re " instructors of the Ver. 41.-The reply of our Lorcl is not ignorant, and lee.ders of the blind; a. light meant to be o. crushing nncl fino.l retort, con• to those who eit in darkness, having the form clemning them to hopeless night, but wa.e of knowledge a.ncl truth in the La.w '' (Rom. obviously intendecl to show them the.t they ii. 17-21). You a.re the very opp0site of a.re not yet free from sin, tha.t they a.re only the "not-seeing" (µ'I, /31'-brov-r,s); you are po.rtie.lly o.ppreoie.ting the light which shines self-satisfied; you will not come to the Light. upon thom. If ye were blind-incapable of Wha.t is the iesae? The Lord seems to sight; if ye he.d all o.long been deprived of pause before his a.nswer (the o/iv, "therefore," the faculty of perceiving the true Light tho.t is rejected by the best ma.nuecripts and shineth in the darkness (a condition of things critics): Your Bin a.bideth; or, re:rnaineth. It which woulcl have emancipated them from will rema.in anti! you fully admit the great responsibility,,aud which Christ would not principle a.nd ree.soa, the motive ancl chara.c· admit to be the ca.se); perhe.pe more, ir ye teristics, of my mission. The very facility ho.cl been utterly blind to the light which you profess, the intimacy you claim with tho ie shining upon you now, which, howevAr, is Law a.nd its founder,and yonr pa.rtia.l know• not true-ye would not ho.ve Bin. This is ledge of my cla.im, take e.wa.y your excuse. akin to the solemn le.nguo.ge of eh. xv. 22- 24. They did not themselves a.elm.it tha.t The discourse which follows shows how there was e.ny congenite.1 blindness about them. They did not pretend or expect to entire mW1t be the submission to Christ, how ride off on snob a 1rpo4>a,ns, euoh e.n excuse. complete the union wit.h him, of those who Could they be,judicio.lly or naturo.lly, blind? sa.y, "We see."
HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-12.-l"ure of the man born blind. This new miracle caused a fresh outburst of Jewish hatred against our Lord. Of the six miracles of blindness recorded in the Gospels, this only is a case of blindness from birth. I. THE CURIOUS QUESTION OF THE DISCIPLES. " Master, who sinned, this man or his pa.rents, tbat he should be born blind?" 1. Their C011victicm was that afflicticm U-"US in all cases the consequence of sin. (1) In the moral government of God there is a necessary connection between sin a.nd suffering (Rom. vi. 23). (2) Yet the suffering may be sent to prevent sin as well as to punish it. 2. Though they were disciples, they erred respecting the connection between sin and su.ffmng. There was an alternative question. (1) They seemed to think it possible that the ma.n born blind should have sinned before he was born, in some pre-existing state. The disciples were the victims of many traditional errors and delusions. (2) They had more ground for believing the.t the affliction of blindness was the effect of the sin of the beggar's parents. Some fact of this kind was familiar to their minds in the wording of the second commandment (Exod. xx. 5), and in the representative relationship of family life (Heh. vii. 10). (3) The disciples submitted the question to our Lord because of its extreme difficulty. The one supposition seemed ungrounded a.nd impossible, the other seemed not in conflict with the justice of God. II. OUR LORD'S ANSWER TO TREIB QUESTION. "Neither bath this ma.n sinned, nor hi~ parents : but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." 1. Our Lord does not assert the sinlessness of the beggar OT his parents. 2. But he denies any mOTal connection in tliis case between the individual and family sin and the blindness from birth. It is II warning that we should not be too ready to regard every affliction e.s a Divine judgment. 3. He deals with the case from the practical rather than from the speculative side, representing it e.s an occasion for the exercise and display of the Divine power and goodness. (1) Our Lord carries it back into the sphere of the Divine counsel, (2) He represents God as bringing good out of evil. 4. Our L<Yrd emphasizes the Divine necessity that mgages him in this blessed work. "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." (1) This miracle occurred on the sabbath, probably on the evening of the day which was marked by his long dialogue with the Jews in the temple. .l:le not only went o.bout every da.y doing good, but every hour was devoted to a holy activity. 16 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN, [ou. 1x, 1-41.