1._Jesus saw a man blind. _In this chapter, the Evangelist describes the restoration of sight to the blind man, at the same time mingling doctrine, to point out the fruit of the miracle. _From his birth. _This circumstance gives an additional display of the power of Christ; for _blindness_, which he... [ Continue Reading ]
2._Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man, or his parents? _In the first place, as Scripture testifies that all the sufferings to which the human race is liable proceed from sin, whenever we see any person wretched, we cannot prevent the thought from immediately presenting itself to our minds, that the di... [ Continue Reading ]
3.Neither did this man sin, nor his parents. Christ does not absolutely say that the blind man, and his parents, were free from all blame; but he declares that we ought not to seek the cause of the blindness in sin. And this is what I have already said, that God has sometimes another object in view... [ Continue Reading ]
4._I must work the works of him who hath sent me. _He now testifies that he has been sent for the purpose of manifesting the kindness of God in giving sight to the blind man. He borrows also a comparison from the ordinary custom of life; for, when the sun is risen, man rises to labor, but the night... [ Continue Reading ]
5._While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. _I consider this to have been added, by way of anticipation; for it might have been thought strange that Christ should speak of his time of working as limited, as if there were danger that the night should come upon him by surprise, as it does... [ Continue Reading ]
6._He spat on the ground. _The intention of Christ was, to restore sight to _the blind man_, but he commences the operation in a way which appears to be highly absurd; for, by _anointing his eyes with clay_, he in some respects doubles the _blindness _Who would not have thought either that he was mo... [ Continue Reading ]
7._Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. _Unquestionably, there was not, either in _the clay_, or in _the water of Siloam_, any power or fitness for curing the eyes; but Christ freely made use of those outward symbols, on various occasions, for adorning his miracles, either to accustom believers to the us... [ Continue Reading ]
8._Then the neighbors, and those who had formerly seen him. The blind man _was known not only to _the neighbors_, but to all the inhabitants of the town, having been wont to sit and beg at the gate of the temple; and the common people look more readily at such persons than at others. This circumstan... [ Continue Reading ]
11._And after I had gone and washed. _So happy a result of obedience warns us to surmount every obstacle, and to proceed courageously wherever the Lord calls us, and not even to entertain a doubt that every thing which we undertake by his authority, and under his guidance, will have a prosperous iss... [ Continue Reading ]
13._They bring to the Pharisees. _The following narrative shows that wicked men are so far from profiting by the works of God, that, the more they are urged by their power, so much the more are they constrained to pour out the venom which dwells within their breasts. The restoration of sight to the... [ Continue Reading ]
14._Now it was the Sabbath. _Christ purposely selected _the Sabbath-day_, which must have given ground of offense to the Jews. He had already found, in the case of the paralytic, that this work was liable to slander. Why then does he not avoid the offense — which he could easily have done — but beca... [ Continue Reading ]
15._The Pharisees also asked him. _The people had already heard this confession from the mouth of the blind man; and now the Pharisees also are made witnesses of it, who might have objected that a report had been groundlessly circulated by the common people, and had been as groundlessly believed. An... [ Continue Reading ]
16._How can a man who is a sinner do these things? _The word _sinner _is employed here, as in many other passages, to denote a person of immoral conduct and a despiser of God. Why doth your Master eat with publicans and sinners? (Mark 2:16.) That is, “Why doth your Master eat with men of ungodly a... [ Continue Reading ]
17._They say to him who had been blind. _The more diligently they inquire, the more impressively does the truth of God appear; for they act as if one were endeavoring to extinguish a strong flame (262) by his breath. Thus, when we see wicked men contrive all that they can to crush the truth of God,... [ Continue Reading ]
18._But the Jews did not believe. _There are two things here which ought to be observed; that _they do not believe _that a miracle has been performed, and that, being wilfully blinded through a perverse hatred of Christ, they do not perceive what is manifest. The Evangelist tells us that_they did no... [ Continue Reading ]
19._Is this your son? _Not having succeeded in the former way, they now attempt another; but the Lord not only defeats their attempts in a wonderful manner, but turns them even to an opposite purpose. They do not merely put a single question, but cunningly put a multitude of questions involved in ea... [ Continue Reading ]
20._We hnow that this is our son, and that he was born blind. _Hence it follows that he does not see naturally, but that his eyes have been miraculously opened; but this latter point — that his sight had been miraculously restored — they pass by, because it would give offense. By their silence they... [ Continue Reading ]
22._The Jews had determined. _This passage shows that the custom of excommunication is ancient, and has been observed in all ages; for excommunication was not then for the first time invented, but it was a custom which had been anciently used against apostates and despisers of the Law, and was turne... [ Continue Reading ]
24._A second time, therefore, they called the man who had been blind. _There can be no doubt that they were constrained by shame to call the blind man, whom they had previously found to be too firm and steady. In this way, the more fiercely they struggle against God, the more numerous are the cords... [ Continue Reading ]
25._Whether he be a sinner, I know not. _The blind man appears not to have been at all prevented by fear from giving a sincere testimony. For there is no reason to believe that he had any doubts about Christ, as his words seem to imply; but I rather think that he spoke ironically, in order to wound... [ Continue Reading ]
26._Again, therefore, they said to him. _When we see wicked men so delighted in performing their own base actions, we ought to be ashamed of our slothfulness, in acting with such coolness about the affairs of Christ. Though they search on all sides to obtain grounds of slander, the Lord defeats thei... [ Continue Reading ]
28._Then they upbraided him. _It is probable that all the reproaches which were prompted by the violence of their rage and indignation were eagerly cast upon him; but there was this one reproach among men, that they called him an apostate from the Law. For, in their opinion, he could not be a discip... [ Continue Reading ]
29._As for this man, we know not whence he is. _When they say so, they refer not to his country or the place of his birth, but to the prophetical office. For they allege that they have no knowledge of his calling, so as to receive him as having proceeded from God.... [ Continue Reading ]
30._Certainly this is wonderful. _He indirectly reproves them for remaining unmoved by a miracle so illustrious, and for pretending that they did not know Christ’s calling; as if he had said, that it was highly improper that such a testimony of Divine power should be held in no estimation, and that... [ Continue Reading ]
31._Now we know that God heareth not sinners. _Those who think that the man spoke this, in accordance with the opinion of the people, are mistaken; for the word _sinner_, in this passage, as in another which lately occurred, means an ungodly and immoral person. It is the uniform doctrine of Scriptur... [ Continue Reading ]
34._Thou wast altogether born in sins _They alluded, I doubt not, to his blindness; as proud men are wont to teaze those who have any distress or calamity; and, therefore, they continually insult him, as if he had come out of his mother’s womb, bearing the mark of his _sins _For all the scribes were... [ Continue Reading ]
35._Jesus heard that they had cast him out. _From this circumstance I conjecture that they proceeded to it in a solemn manner, as an affair of great importance, By this example, we are taught how trivial and how little to be dreaded are the excommunications of the enemies of Christ. If we are _cast... [ Continue Reading ]
36._Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? _From this reply of the blind man it is evident that, though he had not yet attained any clear or certain knowledge of Christ, still he was obedient and ready to receive instruction; for these words mean, “As soon as he is pointed out to me, I am ready... [ Continue Reading ]
37._Thou hast both seen him. _By these words of Christ the blind man could not be carried higher than to a very small and cold portion of faith. For Christ does not mention his power, or the reason why he was sent by the Father, or what he has brought to men. But what principally belongs to faith is... [ Continue Reading ]
38._And he worshipped him. _It may be asked, Did the blind man honor or worship Christ as God? (275) The word which the Evangelist employs ( προσέκυνησει) means nothing more than to express respect and homage by bending the knee, or by other signs. For my own part, certainly, I think that it denotes... [ Continue Reading ]
39._For judgment am I come into this world. _The word _judgment _cannot be understood, in this passage, to denote simply the punishment which is inflicted on unbelievers, (276) and on those who despise God; for it is made to include the grace of illumination. Christ, therefore, calls it _judgment_,... [ Continue Reading ]
40._Some of the Pharisees heard. _They instantly perceived that they were smitten by this saying of Christ, and yet they appear not to have belonged to the worst class; for the open enemies had so strong an abhorrence of Christ that they did not at all associate with him. But those men submitted to... [ Continue Reading ]
41._If you were blind. _These words may be explained in two ways; either, that ignorance would, in some degree, alleviate their guilt, if they were not fully convinced, and did not deliberately fight against the truth; or, that there was reason to hope that their disease of ignorance might be cured,... [ Continue Reading ]