Bible Study With The Bishops: The Nose On Your Face

I've been having connectivity problems with my computer, so I'm catching up by writing in Word and taking the file to the office to post from there. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon.

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Reading Plan Text for April 21: John 9:35-41

The NRSV translation titles this passage “Spiritual Blindness,” and Burridge’s calls his chapter “Jesus Brings both Sight & Blindness.” It could just as easily be described by that old expression, "It's as plain as the nose on your face."

I've always wondered about that expression. The nose on your face isn't exactly clearly visible to you. If you look down cross eyed you can see part of it, but not that well. You could look in a mirror, but how often do you look in the mirror and really see your nose? Unless, of course, there's something specific you're looking for. So even though it's right in front of you, it's not something you can examine easily.

So here we have the Pharisees examining everyone else's noses, so to speak, and not making the effort to look at their own. They have called the once blind man a sinner and shunned him because he would not give them the answers they wanted to hear. Jesus calls them on it, and they protest their innocence. "Surely, we are not blind, are we?" Burridge points out that the construction of this question in the original Greek is such that the Pharisees are expecting an answer of "no." Jesus does not let them off the hook.

What is as plain a the nose on my face today? What do I need to make the effort to examine and see in the light of what Jesus tells me?

Peace,
Jeffri