THE HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND (JOHN 9). It is no accident that this incident follows Jesus' claim to be ‘the light of the world' (John 8:12) who enables those who ‘walk in darkness' to see. And as He had a habit of doing Jesus now took the opportunity of performing a miracle in such a way as to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as he passed by he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him saying, “Rabbi, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”.' As Jesus was going on His way, He and His disciples saw a man who had been blind from birth. The fact that the disciples knew this suggest... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God might be revealed clearly in him.” Jesus replied, ‘It was not this man or his parents who sinned. It happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.' The answer negated any suggestion of linking his bl... [ Continue Reading ]
“It is necessary for us to work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night will come when no one can work. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.” Jesus recognised in the blind man something which necessitated His use of His ability to heal, ‘to do the will of Him Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘When he had thus spoken he spat on the ground, made clay with the spittle and anointed the his eyes with clay.' The fact that Jesus was able to put the clay on the man's eyes demonstrates that there was already some faith in the man's heart. The man was willing for Him to do it. He would have been... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he said to him ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam', which is by interpretation ‘sent'.' The author draws attention to Siloam as meaning ‘sent'. We are thus almost certainly intended to see it as meaning that, just as the pool which was ‘sent' caused the blind man to see, so the One Who was sent f... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The neighbours therefore, and those who saw him in the past, and knew that he was a beggar, said, “Is this not the one who sat and begged?” Others said, “It is he”. Others said, “No, but he is like him”. ' The man was clearly well known. He had been begging since he was a child. So those who had kn... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They bring to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.' The Pharisees were looked on by the people as their spiritual guides, so it was quite a natural act for them to bring the matter to their attention. They probably thought that they would get some good spiritual lessons from it, and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now it was the Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.' The day of the healing was the Sabbath, and according to the teaching of the Rabbis all healing, apart from emergency work, was forbidden. And healing blindness was not seen as an emergency work. It could be done any... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes and I washed and do see”.' They asked the man the details of how he had received his sight, not in order to praise God and fairly assess Jesus, but in order to be able to convict Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath'. But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?' And there was division among them.' The result of their questioning was that many of them concluded that Jesus was not ‘of God'. They s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They say therefore to the blind man again, “What do you say about him in view of the fact that he opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet”.' They asked the man what he thought about this person who had opened his eyes. His reply was simple, ‘He is a prophet', a God sent and God empowered... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The Judaisers therefore did not believe about him that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.' But they were not prepared to believe his words. Note the change from ‘the Pharisees' to ‘the Judaisers'. Not all Pharisees were ant... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they asked them saying, “Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now see we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. Ask him. He is of age. He will spea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So they called the man who was blind a second time and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” They clearly felt that it was their duty to set the man right. So they called the blind man who now saw and said to him, ‘Give glory to God, we know that this man is a sinner... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He therefore answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that whereas I was blind, now I see”.' Without actually criticising them he brought home the important point that they must recognise that what he had said happened, did actually happen. He insisted that he was in n... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They said therefore to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ' They decided to hear the story again so that they could pick holes in it, and even find cause against Jesus. They were getting exasperated. Surely the once blind man must see that Jesus was a Sabbath-breaker. But the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He answered them, “I told you even now and you did not accept it. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ' He could see quite clearly that they were not trying to find out the truth but were seeking to minimise Jesus. So his question was sarcastic, for he knew... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they reviled him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he has come from”.' His reply angered the Judaisers. They had totally lost their patience and reviled him. ‘You are his disciple,' th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvel. You do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes? We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, he listens to him. Not since the world began has it been heard that any... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They answered and said to him, “You were totally born in sins, and will you try to teach us?” And they threw him out.' They had no answer to his logic, and so, as such men will when they will not admit that they are wrong, they attacked the man and took action against him. They threw him out. This... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus heard that they had excluded him, and finding him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Jesus, having heard that the man had been excluded from the synagogue, now sought him out. They had thought that they were excluding him from the worship of God, not realising that they were rather... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He answered and said, ‘Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?' The man was willing to learn anything that Jesus wanted to teach him. He recognised that Jesus was a God sent teacher and was willing to accept whatever He told him. Who, then, he asked was this Son of Man? At Jesus' recommendation... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him and He is the one who speaks with you”.' Jesus wanted him to know that He was not talking of some far off figure in Heaven, but someone seeable. Indeed the man himself had seen him and talked with him, for it was He Himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said, “Lord, I believe”', and he worshipped him.' The man's eyes had now been opened again, this time spiritually, and he confessed Jesus as ‘Lord'. How far he yet saw the full truth we do not know, but we are undoubtedly to see this as the beginning of a genuine discipleship. (He previousl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that they who see not may see, and that they who see might become blind”.' The scene now changes. We now have a general statement made by Jesus in the presence of others, including some Pharisees who were standing by, which the author tacks on... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and said to him, “Are we also blind?”. Some Pharisees who were there with Him rather uneasily recognised some of the implications of His statement. So they said to Him, ‘Are we also blind?' Of all men they thought that they could see. The... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus said to them, “If you were blind you would have no sin, but now you say ‘We see'. So your sin remains”.' Jesus' reply was uncompromising. Those who have the most privilege are those who are most accountable. If they were physically blind they would bear no blame. It would not be their fault.... [ Continue Reading ]