9:40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains. 10:19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?" 21 Others were saying, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" 22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand (John 9:40, 10:19-29).
A student of the Book of John might argue now and then
concerning the arrangement of the parts of chapter 10.
Some commentators think verses 19 through 29
would follow much more logically after chapter 9,
continuing the conversation with the Pharisees,
whom Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath surely did displease.
That means verse 1 through 18 would come after 29.
As far as I’m concerned that new arrangement would be fine.
Though rearranging chapter 10 like that makes sense to me,
I know with Bible texts we cannot take such liberty!
We have to follow the approved New Testament Greek text,
and that determines for our English Bibles “what comes next.”
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