00:00 Introduction and Weekend Plans

00:25 School Football Game and Senate Bill 10

01:52 Religious Observances and Excused Absences

03:37 Discussion on Christian Practices in Texas

05:42 Daily Bible Reading: John 9 and 10

05:53 Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind

12:12 The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

16:33 Closing Remarks and Prayer

17:38 Podcast Outro and Church Information

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Hey everybody.

2

Welcome back to another edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

3

Hello and welcome back to Friday.

4

You made it through a week.

5

We are almost through our week and

we're excited about this weekend.

6

We've got Fall Fest.

7

We got a lot of exciting things coming up.

8

There's supposed to be a big storm

coming through though, so they

9

say, so we'll see what happens.

10

It's Texas, so maybe it'll rain.

11

Maybe it won't rain.

12

Maybe it's already raining

as you're listening to this.

13

That's also possible.

14

But Pastor Rod, I'd love to

get your thoughts on this one.

15

My kid's school.

16

They had a football game planned for

Friday night and they canceled the game,

17

or, well, they didn't cancel the game.

18

They moved the game up to one and they

are actually canceling school in Allen

19

because his school is playing Allen.

20

They're canceling school in Allen so that

the whole school district can be there.

21

Now, Allen's only got one school.

22

Prosper is multiple.

23

So Prosper is not canceling school for

everybody, but they are telling those

24

that attend Prosper High School, you get

an excused absence if you want to cut.

25

The rest of school to be able

to attend this football game at

26

1:00 PM Texas recently passed.

27

I don't know if it was a bill

or I think it was Senate bill,

28

actually, I'm looking at it now.

29

Senate Bill 10 to require the

10 Commandments to be displayed

30

in all public school classrooms.

31

Did you hear about this?

32

I did.

33

This was recent.

34

This was just year.

35

And some people feel

certain ways about that.

36

Some people are thinking

this is a good thing.

37

We need morality in our classrooms.

38

We need people to see what the law says,

what God's law says, and I think fine.

39

That's fantastic.

40

Hey Ali.

41

Allie just rolled up in

the place like she owns it.

42

Did you see that?

43

Just swung the door open, swung both doors

open and just stepped on in like she owns

44

this place, plain music on her phone.

45

Her theme song.

46

As I was saying, Texas has

a streak of Bible in her.

47

She wants the Bible in the classrooms.

48

She's very religious.

49

There's a church on every corner.

50

You could throw a rock at any

direction and hit four churches

51

before that rock hits the ground.

52

And then even the water that the rock

falls into is probably a baptismal font.

53

People are baptizing in there as we speak.

54

We are very religious here, and yet one

thing that we have not been able to do

55

except for our private charter schools.

56

Is get an excuse absence

for a church retreat.

57

And so then I see our school saying,

you know, let's just shut the whole

58

thing down because football, guys,

because football, football, right?

59

Don't we all love football?

60

I'm thinking for as religious

as she presents herself, Texas,

61

this is so, I, I wanna say I'm

apoplectic at what they're doing.

62

I'm okay that they do this.

63

I'm not mad about it.

64

Like, Hey, great, do that.

65

But man, give the kids.

66

A free pass from school if

they're leaving school early to

67

go to their local youth retreat.

68

What a better way to show good

faith efforts to say we care

69

about your kids' education.

70

Not only academically, but spiritually.

71

We care about their conduct,

we care about their character.

72

So I think Texas, if she really wanted

to go the extra mile, if she wanted to

73

score a true touchdown with her parents.

74

I think you should let your

kids have an excused absence

75

to go to their summer camps.

76

Well, that one's less a problem.

77

Their winter camps, there are youth

events where ideally Christian

78

education is taking place and it

should take place as a front and

79

center feature of Texas education.

80

I think we at least say as

much, we pay deference to it.

81

We talk about, Jesus or God

being first we pray, we have

82

prayer vigils at our schools.

83

No one seems to have an issue with that.

84

We have prayer vigils

in our public squares.

85

We did that after the Charlie Kirk event.

86

No one seems to have a problem with that.

87

Again, we're very religious, and yet

when it comes to actually supporting

88

the religious institution, the church,

the primary religious institution

89

that got himself instituted, it seems

like we, we waffle a bit on that.

90

So, hey, God bless Alan.

91

God bless, prosper.

92

But please let your kids go to their

winter camp with an excuse absence.

93

Yeah, I can't disagree with

anything that you just said.

94

I'm ever.

95

Anything that you just said?

96

I think it's a helpful reminder to

us that we are far from Christian

97

in practice in our state and

even just in our nation, right?

98

I think we are still

riding the coattails of.

99

America is a Christian culture that I

think is quickly transforming before

100

our eyes and that's there in, in the

social media world, if you're paying

101

attention to what's going on, there's,

in fact, you just sent a tweet to us

102

as pastors the other day about the

largest Hindu temple in the world

103

that's being built in New Jersey.

104

Yeah.

105

Not Texas.

106

Not Texas, not yet.

107

New Jersey, Texas is gonna see that

though and be like, well, hold on.

108

Yeah, you wait.

109

And even down in Houston though,

there's the, one of the largest statues

110

of a false God in the world is down

in Houston and it's of one of these

111

Indian gods and there's mosque going

up everywhere to, and then Hindu.

112

Hindu Gods.

113

Hindu Gods.

114

Thank you.

115

What did I say?

116

Indian.

117

Indian.

118

Thank you.

119

Large.

120

I mean, I get it.

121

They're related often,

but it's Hindu Fair.

122

Yeah.

123

And that's just in the religious culture.

124

Then you add to that the secular

culture of just atheism that exists

125

out there and it's just, we do a lot

of Christian things, but we are not

126

necessarily Christian in practice.

127

It's true to, to what it actually is.

128

And so in that sense, as a

parent I'm almost thankful for it

129

because it, it helps me point out

those distinctions to my kids.

130

And remind them of that reality that,

hey, just because you're growing up in

131

Texas or in the Bible Belt, or whatever

that looks like with 10 commandments on

132

the wall in your classroom, that doesn't

mean that this is a Christian nation.

133

And there are differences there.

134

And what it actually looks like

to be Christian is different

135

than what you're experiencing.

136

So I'm with you.

137

I wish it were different, but I'm

also, part of me is thankful that we

138

can point out the distinctions there

and show that this is there, there's

139

a long, there's a big gap between what

it looks like to truly be a Christian

140

people, a Christian nation, a Christian

state, and to claim Christianity the

141

way that so much of our state does.

142

Yeah, and I'm sure there's challenges.

143

I'm.

144

Aware enough to know that I'm

ignorant about what needs to

145

happen at the administrative

level to do something like that.

146

I'm sure there's complications.

147

I know it.

148

I know there's things I don't know.

149

I'm just saying if you can do

that for a football game, man, you

150

could do it for other things That

I think make a lot more sense.

151

You would think.

152

You would think.

153

Yeah.

154

Well, let's jump into

our daily Bible reading.

155

We are in John chapter nine and 10.

156

John chapter nine is I

think one of my favorite.

157

Encounters of Jesus, at

least in the Gospel of John.

158

And this is the healing

of the man born blind.

159

And it starts out with a question

that is perceptive from the disciples.

160

They want to know, Hey,

why is this guy blind?

161

What happened?

162

Did he sin or were his parents sinners?

163

And is that why he's blind?

164

And Jesus says, no, it was actually.

165

Part of God's divine appointment,

that this man should be born

166

blind in order that the works of

God might be displayed in him.

167

And then Jesus removes his

blindness and heals him, and the

168

man responds the way that he should.

169

The man I think, has had a genuine

encounter with Christ and is

170

thankful for what Jesus has done.

171

And goes about broadcasting

that well the people begin to.

172

Create quite a stir because

of what has happened.

173

And there's disbelief.

174

In fact, so much so the religious

leaders call this man's parents

175

before them in order to ask

them, is this really your son?

176

And was he born blind?

177

Because this is what's being purported

and we need you to verify this.

178

And the parents say Yes, but then they

quickly distance themselves from their

179

son because of fear of the Pharisees.

180

They say, but you're gonna have to talk to

him if you want more information on this.

181

He's his own man.

182

You can talk to him.

183

Which is just a tragedy too, because

you would think mom and dad would

184

be ecstatic that this son of theirs

was healed, that was born blind.

185

That's amazing.

186

And you would think if anyone

can appreciate that, be beyond

187

the man that was himself healed.

188

His parents should be able to appreciate

that too, and what Jesus has done.

189

But they're not gonna say

anything because they're afraid

190

of being put out of the synagogue.

191

Now that's gonna be something

that comes into play later in this

192

chapter, and that's significant

because the synagogue was.

193

The main source of Jewish life.

194

And it wasn't just the religious

epicenter, but it was also

195

oftentimes the economic epicenter

of a Jewish person's life.

196

Certainly the social epicenter

of a Jewish person's life.

197

So to be put out from, or

excommunicated from would've been

198

devastating for a Jewish family

and for his parents at least.

199

They're not willing to identify

with Christ to that extent.

200

But the man is different.

201

The man is then called before the

Pharisees and they begin to question him.

202

He has a great turn of.

203

A phrase with the Pharisees where

he says, Hey, do you, you're,

204

you guys seem pretty interested.

205

You want me to go get this guy?

206

You guys wanna become his followers too.

207

And the Pharisees hate that.

208

They're angry about that.

209

They are en enraged over the audacity,

so to speak, of this man having, having

210

such a question of over whether they

would wanna become his followers or not.

211

And so they are enraged and they end up

doing what the parents were afraid of.

212

They put him out of the synagogue,

but then Jesus finds him in a

213

sweet moment of compassion in

finding him and seeking him out.

214

Jesus is able to basically,

I think bring him into his.

215

His followership.

216

And this man I think from here is gonna

go on to become one of Jesus' followers.

217

And it's fascinating and it will be

fascinating when we get to heaven, to be

218

able to seek this man out and say what was

your life like from this point forward?

219

Were you involved in the

church, in the book of Acts?

220

Were you involved in what was going

on there in the Jerusalem church?

221

Or did you go somewhere else to find

out what happened with this man?

222

But such a cool account here of

boldness and courageousness for

223

this man to identify with Christ,

even in the face of opposition.

224

Okay, so let's play the game again.

225

Why did Jesus do it this way?

226

We know, and you've said before

in the pulpit that everything

227

that Jesus does, everything

scripture presents is purposeful.

228

There's a reason behind it, and maybe

we don't always know those reasons.

229

Sometimes though those are elusive

and we struggle to come up with a

230

conclusion as to what is happening,

but here, Jesus makes mud.

231

He spits on the ground,

which is gross, by the way.

232

Mm-hmm.

233

I thought about this and I thought,

if Jesus were to do this to me and he

234

were gonna spit on the ground, make

some mud with this alive and then

235

put it on some part of my body, I

probably would recoil a little bit.

236

Just saying, yeah, I love Jesus and I

want all that Jesus has to offer, but his

237

spit just feels a little too much for me.

238

Yeah.

239

In any case, yeah.

240

That's what happens here.

241

He spits on the ground, he

puts mud in the guy's eyes.

242

What on earth, what's happening there?

243

And I think it's, he then tells

him to go to this pool called

244

Salom and Wash in the pool.

245

John provides the commentary there,

and I think it, it's helpful for us.

246

The pool is called

Salom, which means scent.

247

And so I think there might be some

of Jesus beckoning this guy into

248

obedience to him, even in this

initial act of healing of the man.

249

Are you willing to obey me?

250

Are you willing to do

what I tell you to do?

251

And the man is.

252

Is obedient to him and is healed

and then later on is going to

253

be sent by Jesus as one of his

witnesses from this time forward.

254

So I think there's a foreshadowing of

what Jesus is gonna do in this man's life

255

through how he heals him in this miracle.

256

I would agree with that.

257

I think that's a really interesting take.

258

I wondered too, because this is a Sabbath.

259

If Jesus was.

260

Intentionally provoking the

Pharisees at the same time

261

that he was healing this man.

262

So maybe there's more than one thing

Jesus is accomplishing by doing it

263

in this particular way, but as we've

said before, he doesn't need to.

264

Jesus could speak the

word and things are done.

265

Yeah.

266

He's healed from a distance before.

267

This is not unusual.

268

So the fact that he does something

like this tells me that there's some

269

kind of symbolism being affected.

270

Jesus is trying to communicate

more than just, I've healed you.

271

And it seems like it is a ness.

272

There's an obedience factor to it.

273

So he required him to wash by

putting something in his eyes.

274

But also he's making mud on the Sabbath.

275

Yeah, and then he's having this guy

going to wash on the Sabbath, and I

276

wonder if this is Jesus creating the

context where the religious leaders

277

challenge him on what he's doing.

278

And so that's why it's mentioned

here in verse 13, verse 14, rather,

279

it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made

the mud and opened the guy's eyes.

280

Yeah.

281

And you're right.

282

And that's really what Jesus is doing

now is really stepping directly into

283

the confrontation with the Pharisees.

284

We talked about that in one of

the previous episodes when he

285

went up on the Feast of Booths.

286

And yeah, this is right

on the heels of that.

287

And so Jesus is now setting the

stage for the conflict that's

288

gonna lead him to the cross.

289

And a lot of that is gonna come through

this conflict with the Pharisees.

290

So I think there's, yeah, behind

the scenes God is sovereignly

291

through Jesus working.

292

This conflict out.

293

'cause the conflict has

to come from somewhere.

294

They have to get mad at him for something.

295

Otherwise he's never

gonna be on the cross.

296

Right.

297

And so some of this is very

intentional that Jesus is bringing

298

to light the contrast between

the Pharisees in himself here.

299

He's poking them in the eyes.

300

Exactly.

301

Hey, tell me verse 41,

what does this mean here?

302

It says this, Jesus said

to them, if you were blind.

303

You would have no guilt.

304

But now that you say, we

see your guilt remains.

305

Yeah, it's, I think it's that statement

you say, we see your guilt remains.

306

He's pointing out the fact that your

self-righteousness is in fact what is

307

blinding you if you are aware of your

blindness, if you are aware of your need.

308

Kind of what he said earlier

that I came not for the healthy.

309

But for the sick, you don't

recognize you're sick.

310

And so the, I ironic part

of that is you are sick.

311

Mm-hmm.

312

Because you don't recognize you're sick.

313

But the ones that are sick and

recognize that they were the ones

314

that are gonna be healed, likewise,

the ones that know they're blind are

315

gonna be the ones that receive sight.

316

You think you see, and

yet you're still blind.

317

Oh, that's good.

318

Chapter 10 Jesus goes off on the

extended metaphor here of the

319

shepherd, and he mixes his metaphors.

320

Initially.

321

He is the door, and then he's gonna then

become the shepherd here and the contrast.

322

And again, he's going after the

Pharisees here because he's contrasting

323

himself as the one that is the

shepherd, which would've had spiritual

324

leadership connotations to it.

325

As we saw in the Old Testament, the

shepherds in Ezekiel were confronted

326

for being wicked and evil shepherds

that were fattening themselves at

327

the cost or the expense of the sheep

rather than caring for the sheep.

328

And here Jesus is gonna say

he's the good shepherd and.

329

By contrast, not only is he not

fattening himself at the expense of

330

the sheep he's even giving of himself.

331

He's gonna lay his life down

for the welfare of the sheep, to

332

protect the sheep from the wolves.

333

And the implication is there, that the

religious leaders of the Jewish people

334

were the ones that were the wolves.

335

They were there to

steal, kill, and destroy.

336

They were the ones that

were trying to creep in.

337

They were the ones that were

the corrupting influence

338

and the corrupting force.

339

And so Jesus, again, is going

after the Pharisees here.

340

And he's gonna make a statement here

about his sheep hearing his voice.

341

Over in verse 27, he's gonna

say, my sheep hear my voice and

342

I know them and they follow me.

343

This is something that was

indicative of a shepherd.

344

A shepherd would have a call or a.

345

Whistle or a sound that he would make

in a sheep in the pen, because there

346

would've been multiple flocks in the pen.

347

The sheep would hear the voice of

their shepherd recognize that voice and

348

then go out and follow their shepherd.

349

And so Jesus is saying he's

done that with his flock.

350

And he says, and I give them eternal

life and they will never perish.

351

No one will snatch them outta.

352

My hand.

353

And then he makes a statement.

354

He says, my father was, give them to me

as greater than all, and no one is able

355

to snatch 'em outta the father's hand.

356

And then this statement,

I and the father are one.

357

And that is everything comes to

a screeching halt again at this

358

point, because here again is another

instance of Jesus claiming deity when

359

he says, I and the father are one.

360

You'll note in verse 31

the Jews are angry at this.

361

They're gonna pick up stones because

they want to stone him to death.

362

And he says, which of my works

are you going to stone me for?

363

And they say, well, none of your works.

364

Because you being a man make

yourself God in verse 33.

365

Boom.

366

So if it wasn't as clear as it was before,

it should be super clear abundantly so,

367

and these are not his disciples saying,

you're saying you're God, these are

368

his enemies saying, we're gonna kill

you because you're saying you're God.

369

And this is another instance where

we as Christians, can point to

370

and say, look, even his enemies

understood what he was saying.

371

So if we're gonna argue that

Jesus never claimed to be

372

God, we've got problems here.

373

Because not only did his disciples

understand that he's God.

374

Also his enemies understood that he's God.

375

And so Jesus here is again, in

this confrontation with them.

376

I've heard Jehovah's witnesses argue that

when Jesus says, I and the Father are one,

377

he's really speaking to their unity of

purpose and not their unity of essence.

378

How would you respond to that?

379

I think there's the, again, the

response from the enemies here is one.

380

Indication of what he

actually meant there.

381

I think they would, if he's saying we

have the same purpose, I think they

382

would've said, oh yeah, we do too.

383

Right.

384

But I think they're understanding and

when you look at the holistically,

385

everything that he said before this

too, I think they're saying, okay, no

386

we get what you're trying to say here.

387

You're claiming the authority

and power of God to Absolutely.

388

And I think it's one of those situations

where you might initially stumble

389

over that and say, you know what?

390

That's a good point.

391

Maybe he is saying purpose,

but all you have to do is

392

just read three verses ahead.

393

Right?

394

And it's clarified for us, right?

395

John?

396

The gospel writer here is very

deliberate in what he's presenting

397

to us, and he's helping us to see

the things that he's trying to show

398

us, which is that Jesus is the son

of God and he's also deity himself.

399

You see that in the way that the

religious leaders at the day, during

400

the day responded to him so often.

401

Most of the challenges that we receive.

402

From critics of our understanding of

the Bible, all we do is just read the

403

context and we tell them what we see.

404

So, great answer that.

405

That's a really easy one I

think, because all you have to

406

do is look at the next verse.

407

Yeah, yeah.

408

And it's fascinating too because Jesus

calls them not only just to believe

409

his words, but also he goes on to say,

look, if I do these works that you see

410

me do, even if you don't believe me or

believe my words, believe the works.

411

So he's at least pointing back to

the fact that the things that I've

412

done should be enough for you guys

to say, wait a minute, there's

413

something different about this guy.

414

And that's.

415

Some of what led Nicodemus to him in

the first place again, and Nicodemus is

416

a great example of God drawing someone

to himself over a period of time.

417

But you wonder if Nicodemus is here

listening to him going, okay, yeah,

418

this is, again, I'm gonna go back

and there's something different about

419

this guy and I can't quite put my

finger on it yet, but at some point,

420

Nicodemus is gonna come to faith.

421

Well, let's do this.

422

Let's pray and then we'll be done with

this episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

423

Lord, we needed a good shepherd.

424

We needed a good shepherd

to lay his life down for us.

425

We needed a good shepherd who

would call us out and that we would

426

follow him by recognizing his voice.

427

And we needed you to be able to open our

ears to be able to hear his voice as well.

428

And so we thank you for

Christ that He is that.

429

And we thank you that

we get to follow him.

430

We thank you that he has been so

bold as to step into this conflict.

431

We think that he came willingly for

us and didn't shy away from the cross,

432

but embraced it, stepped straight into

it, and we even see how that is being.

433

Orchestrated by him walking perfectly in

obedience to your will as he encounters

434

the Pharisees, as he encounters the

opposition and as he takes it on while

435

remaining perfectly submissive to

you, so that ultimately he knows this

436

is going to lead him to the cross.

437

And yet he did it for us because

he is our good shepherd and

438

we're so grateful for that.

439

And we thank you for these passages

like this that we can point to, to say,

440

look, Jesus is God, and we can have

such great confidence in who he is.

441

And we thank you and praise you for this.

442

In Jesus' name, amen.

443

Amen.

444

Keep our new Bibles tuning again

tomorrow for another edition

445

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

446

See you then folks.

447

Bye.

448

Bernard: Well, thank you for

listening to another episode of

449

the Daily Bible Podcast, folks!

450

We're honored to have you join us.

451

This is a ministry of Compass

Bible Church in north Texas.

452

You can find out more information

about our Church at compassntx.org.

453

We would love for you to leave a

review, to rate, or to share this

454

podcast on whatever platform you're

listening on, and we hope to see

455

you again tomorrow for another

episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

456

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

457

PJ: Yeah.

458

I would agree with

everything that you said