From Old Testament times, the Jewish people knew that only God and his Messiah could open the eyes of the blind. However, over their long history, it had never happened. Therefore, when Jesus healed the eyes of a man born blind in John 9:1-41, he caused quite a stir. Some rejected the miracle as spurious, but the healed man held firm to what he knew to be true: "I was blind, and now I see." This is the same testimony of the simplest Christian whose spiritual eyes Jesus has opened to the truth. (sermon notes)
The Thessalonian Christians show us what it looks like to live out God’s grace under persecution.
Two parables directed against the religious leaders indicated why they would lose their management of the kingdom, and why others would take their place.
Jesus combined a warning of judgment with a demonstration of the liberating power of the kingdom of God.
