The conflict of Jesus with the Jews begins to draw to a close. At the last verse of the preceding chapter Jesus had hidden Himself and gone out of the temple, leaving it in possession of those who had wilfully blinded themselves against His claims, who must now therefore be left to the darkness whic... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:1. AND AS HE PASSED BY, HE SAW A MAN WHICH WAS BLIND FROM HIS BIRTH. There is nothing to connect this chapter with the last, in regard to time or place. The closing words of the eighth chapter as they stand in the ordinary text, ‘and so passed by,' would indeed suggest a very intimate connect... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:2. AND HIS DISCIPLES ASKED HIM, SAYING, RABBI, WHO DID SIN, THIS MAN, OR HIS PARENTS, THAT HE SHOULD BE BORN BLIND? It is not said that the disciples were moved to pity, but it is not right to assume the contrary. That Jesus had looked on the blind man would be enough to raise their expectati... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:3. JESUS ANSWERED, NEITHER DID THIS MAN SIN, NOR HIS PARENTS: BUT THAT THE WORKS OF GOD SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST IN HIM. It is obvious at once that Jesus does not deny the presence of sin in the man himself or in his parents: His words must be read in close connection with the question to whic... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:4. WE MUST WORK THE WORKS OF HIM THAT SENT ME, WHILE IT IS DAY: THE NIGHT COMETH, WHEN NO ONE CAN WORK. The substitution of ‘we' for ‘I' (a change supported by the best evidence) lends peculiar force and beauty to the verse. Jesus associates His disciples with Himself: like Himself they have... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:5. WHENSOEVER I AM IN THE WORLD, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. The work of Jesus in the world is to be the world's light. This thought, expressed in words in the last chapter (chap. John 8:12), and in this by deeds, binds together the different portions in this section of the Gospel. ‘I am the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:6-7. WHEN HE HAD THUS SPOKEN, HE SPAT ON THE GROUND, AND MADE CLAY OF THE SPITTLE, AND WITH HIS DAY ANOINTED HIS EYES, AND SAID UNTO HIM, GO, WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM (WHICH IS, BY INTERPRETATION, SENT). HE WENT AWAY THEREFORE, AND WASHED, AND CAME SEEING. In the case of no miracle which Je... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:8. THE NEIGHBOURS THEREFORE, AND THEY WHICH BEHELD HIM AFORETIME, THAT HE WAS A BEGGAR, SAID, IS NOT THIS HE THAT SAT AND BEGGED? The fact that he was a beggar has not been mentioned before. Stress is laid on it here rather than on his blindness, because it was from his frequenting the spot f... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:9. OTHERS SAID, IT IS HE: OTHERS SAID, NO, BUT HE IS LIKE HIM. HE SAID, I AM HE. The object of this verse and the last is to show how notorious the cure became, and how firmly the fact had been established.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:10. THEY SAID THEREFORE UNTO HIM, HOW THEN WERE THINE EYES OPENED! It does not appear that this was more than a simple inquiry. As yet no element of malice against Jesus is introduced.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:11. HE ANSWERED, THE MAN THAT IS CALLED JESUS MADE CLAY, AND ANOINTED MINE EYES, AND SAID UNTO ME, GO TO SILOAM, AND WASH. I WENT AWAY THEREFORE AND WASHED, AND I RECEIVED SIGHT. This man, then, knew his Deliverer, though not His true nature (John 9:36). The wording of the phrase would seem t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:12. AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM, WHERE IS HE? HE SAITH, I KNOW NOT. Comp. chap. John 5:12-13.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:13. THEY BRING TO THE PHARISEES HIM THAT ONCE WAS BLIND. They bring him to the Pharisees as the especial guardians of the religious institutions of Israel. It is not at all likely that the man was brought before any formal court or assembly, but only before leading men amongst the Pharisees,... [ Continue Reading ]
The blind man, restored to sight, is brought before the Pharisees with the view of instituting proceedings against Jesus, who, by the healing on the Sabbath, had violated the sanctity of the day of rest. But the process proves a signal failure, issuing as it does in the rescuing of the man from the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:14. NOW IT WAS THE SABBATH ON THE DAY WHEN JESUS MADE THE CLAY, AND OPENED HIS EYES. It is very interesting to compare this verse with the similar words in chap. John 5:9-10. The only offence expressly mentioned there was the carrying of the bed, though there is no doubt that the charge again... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:15. AGAIN THEREFORE THE PHARISEES ALSO ASKED HIM HOW HE HAD RECEIVED HIS SIGHT; AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, HE PUT CLAY UPON MINE EYES, AND I WASHED, AND DO SEE. To his neighbours and acquaintances his answer had been fuller and more circumstantial: to the Pharisees, whom He knew to be the enemies... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:16. THEREFORE SAID SOME OF THE PHARISEES, THIS MAN IS NOT FROM GOD, BECAUSE HE KEEPETH NOT THE SABBATH DAY. OTHERS SAID, HOW CAN A MAN THAT IS A SINNER DO SUCH SIGNS? AND THERE WAS A DIVISION AMONG THEM. The man's answer had been short and simple, but it had substantiated the two charges (see... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:17. THEY SAY THEREFORE UNTO THE BLIND MAN AGAIN, WHAT SAYEST THOU OF HIM, BECAUSE HE OPENED THINE EYES? AND HE SAID, HE IS A PROPHET. The fact is admitted, perhaps honestly, for it will be observed that, when we come to the next verse, we have a new set of questioners, and not simply persons... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:18. THE JEWS THEREFORE DID NOT BELIEVE CONCERNING HIM THAT HE HAD BEEN BLIND, AND RECEIVED HIS SIGHT, UNTIL THEY CALLED THE PARENTS OF HIM THAT HAD RECEIVED HIS SIGHT. The change from ‘the Pharisees' to ‘the Jews' is very striking, and must have special significance. Nor is it difficult to fi... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:19. AND ASKED THEM SAYING, IS THIS YOUR SON, WHO YE SAY WAS BORN BLIND? HOW THEN DOTH HE NOW SEE? In the hope that they may discover some flaw in the man's words, through which they may accuse him of complicity with Jesus, and, by thus destroying the idea of a miracle, may become free to deal... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:20. HIS PARENTS THEREFORE ANSWERED AND SAID, WE KNOW THAT THIS IS OUR SON, AND THAT HE WAS BORN BLIND. To two of the questions asked by the Jews the answer of the parents is perfectly clear and decided. In seeking for that which might invalidate the ‘sign,' the enemies of Jesus have but obtai... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:21. BUT HOW HE NOW SEETH, WE KNOW NOT; OR WHO OPENED HIS EYES, WE KNOW NOT: ASK HIMSELF; HE IS OF AGE: HE SHALL SPEAK FOR HIMSELF. The anxious care of the parents to keep clear of all testimony to Jesus is strikingly shown by the emphasis thrown on ‘himself' as they refer the questioners to t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:22-23. THESE THINGS SAID HIS PARENTS, BECAUSE THEY FEARED THE JEWS: FOR THE JEWS HAD ALREADY COVENANTED THAT, IF ANY MAN SHOULD CONFESS THAT HE WAS CHRIST, HE SHOULD BE PUT AWAY FROM THE SYNAGOGUE. THEREFORE SAID HIS PARENTS, HE IS OF AGE; ASK HIMSELF. There were (at all events at a later per... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:24. THEY CALLED THEREFORE A SECOND TIME THE MAN THAT WAS BLIND, AND SAID UNTO HIM, GIVE GLORY TO GOD: WE KNOW THAT THIS MAN IS A SINNER. In this second hearing the aim of the Jews is to overawe the man, and then force from him a confession that there had been some deception or mistake. This a... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:25. He THEREFORE ANSWERED, WHETHER HE BE A SINNER, I KNOW NOT: ONE THING I KNOW, THAT, WHEREAS I WAS BLIND, NOW I SEE. His simplicity leaves them no real excuse for condemning: by his steel fast adherence to the one testimony which he alone was competent to render, he most effectually brings... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:26. THEY SAID THEREFORE TO HIM, WHAT DID HE TO THEE? HOW OPENED HE THINE EYES? Every attempt to overthrow the _fact_ has failed: possibly renewed inquiry as to the _mode_ of cure may disclose something that may be used against Jesus. But the man has now perceived their design: they are not se... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:27. HE ANSWERED THEM, I HAVE TOLD YOU ALREADY, AND YE DID NOT HEAR: WHEREFORE WOULD YE HEAR IT AGAIN? WOULD YE ALSO BECOME HIS DISCIPLES? The words ‘ye did not hear' manifestly mean that they had not received and believed what they heard. The last clause is a little ambiguous in English. The... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:28. AND THEY REVILED HIM, AND SAID, THOU ART HIS DISCIPLE, BUT WE ARE MOSES' DISCIPLES. Whether the man distinctly intended such reference to himself or not, it is thus that they understood his words; and this moves them contemptuously to contrast ‘that man' with their greatest prophet, Moses... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:29. WE KNOW THAT GOD HATH SPOKEN UNTO MOSES; BUT AS FOR THIS MAN WE KNOW NOT FROM whence he is. In holding by the law of Moses, then, they are safe and are assured that they are doing the will of God. If _they_ do not know the origin of ‘this man,' he can be worthy of no regard, certainly he... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:30-33. THE MAN ANSWERED, AND SAID UNTO THEM, WHY, HEREIN IS THE MARVELLOUS THING, THAT YE KNOW NOT FROM WHENCE HE IS, AND YET HE OPENED MINE EYES. WE KNOW THAT GOD HEARETH NOT SINNERS; BUT IF ANY MAN BE A WORSHIPPER OF GOD, AND DO HIS WILL, HIM HE HEARETH. SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN WAS IT NOT HEA... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:34. THEY ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM, THOU WAST ALTOGETHER BORN IN SINS, AND DOST THOU TEACH US? AND THEY PUT HIM OUT. The original is very graphic: In sins wast _thou_ born, all of thee, and _thou_ _,_ dost thou teach us? There is probably a distinct reference to the belief which is expressed... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:35. JESUS HEARD THAT THEY HAD put HIM OUT: AND WHEN HE HAD FOUND HIM, HE SAID, DOST THOU BELIEVE IN THE SON OF MAN? The man has lost this world: in that loss he shall gain the next. This seems to be the connecting link between this verse and the preceding. Jesus knows well the firmness and th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:36. HE ANSWERED AND SAID, AND WHO IS HE, LORD, THAT I MAY BELIEVE IN HIM? These are not words of a doubter, but of one who seeks to be led to a complete faith. In Jesus he has fullest confidence, and he waits only to hear His declaration respecting the ‘Son of man:' as such Jesus has not yet... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:37. JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, THOU HAST BOTH SEEN HIM, AND HE THAT SPEAKETH WITH THEE IS HE. This manifestation is now given; both in word (‘he that speaketh'..) and in the half-veiled, yet clear, reference to the work that had been wrought on him (‘thou hast _seen_ Him') in the gift of physical ... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:38. AND HE SAID, I BELIEVE, LORD; AND HE WORSHIPPED HIM. The simple and immediate answer shows how little remained to be done to make his faith complete. Not with bodily senses only, but in his heart, he has seen Jesus; he has heard His word: he believes and worships the Son of man, the Messi... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:39. AND JESUS SAID, FOR A JUDGMENT CAME I INTO THIS WORLD, THAT THEY WHICH SEE NOT MAY SEE, AND THAT THEY WHICH SEE MAY BECOME BLIND. The rendering ‘a judgment' may serve to remind us of the fact that our Lord (here using a word which is not found elsewhere in the Gospel) does not speak of th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:40. THOSE OF THE PHARISEES WHICH WERE WITH HIM HEARD THESE THINGS. The whole cast of the language here used shows that those who speak are not representatives of the Pharisees as a body, or of the Pharisaic spirit in its worst cha racteristics. But lately there has been a division of feeling... [ Continue Reading ]
John 9:41. JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, IF YE WERE BLIND, YE WOULD NOT HAVE SIN: BUT NOW YE SAY, WE SEE; YOUR SIN ABIDETH. If, Jesus says, ye were really blind, unable to open your eyes to, and indeed unconscious of, the existence of the light now shining round you, you would not have sin, the sin of rejec... [ Continue Reading ]