John 9:35

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 the wisdom which the man had shown in the presence of the Jews. But He knows also that the man had by implication avowed himself His disciple, and for this had been thrust out from the presence of the rulers. For this very reason Jesus would draw the bond of discipleship closer, and receive amongst His own him whom the Jews rejected. He seeks for the man, and, having found him, asks, Dost thou believe in the. Son of man? the word ‘thou' is emphatic, and brings into relief the contrast with those in whose presence he has lately been, who declared Jesus a sinner, and who had agreed that whoever confessed that Jesus was Christ should be excommunicated. The name ‘Son of man' is equivalent to ‘the Christ,' but gives prominence to the human nature of the Deliverer. This name therefore is altogether in harmony with the man's own words (John 9:31-33), in which he had spoken of Jesus as a worshipper of God and one who did God's will, one to whom God would hearken: to him Jesus, though ‘from God' (John 9:33), was still ‘a prophet' (John 9:17) and ‘the man called Jesus' (John 9:11). Has he then true faith in the Messiah in whose cause he has been suffering? Does he give himself to Him with that faith which involves complete union with Himself and His cause, undeterred by the fact that He appears as a man amongst men, yea and as one despised and rejected by men? The ordinary reading ‘Son of God' is in all probability incorrect. It is easy to see how it might accidentally find its way into the text, being suggested partly by the usual practice of John (who frequently joins ‘believe in' either with the Son of God or with a name of similar import), and partly by the act of worship related in John 9:38.