_THE MAN THAT WAS BORN BLIND RESTORED TO SIGHT: HE IS BROUGHT TO THE PHARISEES: THEY ARE OFFENDED AT IT, AND EXCOMMUNICATE HIM, BUT HE IS RECEIVED OF JESUS, AND CONFESSETH HIM. WHO THEY ARE WHOM CHRIST ENLIGHTENETH._ _Anno Domini 32._... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS JESUS PASSED BY, HE SAW, &C.— Some would refer this to the last words of the foregoing chapter, and hence infer the unspeakable benignity of Jesus, which no affronts or indignities of the Jews could weary out, or prevent from dispensing blessings. Others, however, seem with better reason to s... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS DISCIPLES ASKED HIM, SAYING, &C.— Some have thought that the Jews, having derived from the Egyptians the doctrines of the pre-existence and transmigration of souls, (see Wis 8:19-20.) supposed that men were punished in this world for the sins that they had committed in their pre-existent state.... [ Continue Reading ]
I MUST WORK THE WORKS, &C.— called in the preceding verse _the works of God,—while it is day;_ that is, "while I have an opportunity;" _the night cometh,_ &c. "death is approaching, which as it puts a period in general to human labours, so will it close the scene of such miracles as these, and remov... [ Continue Reading ]
AS LONG AS I AM IN THE WORLD, &C.— Because our Lord was going to confer sight on a man who was _born blind,_ he thence took occasion to speak of himself, as one appointed to give light likewise to the darkened minds of men. Hence we learn that our Lord's miracles were designed, not only as proofs of... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SPAT ON THE GROUND, &C.— We are not to imagine that he did this, because it any way contributed towards the cure. Like the other external actions which accompanied his miracles, it was designed to signify to the blind man, that his sight was coming to him, not by accident, but by the gift of the... [ Continue Reading ]
GO, WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM,— Concerning these waters, the evangelist observes, that their name _Siloam,_ or according to the Hebrew orthography, _Shiloah,_ signifies a _thing that is sent._ This remark, Grotius, Dr. Clarke, and others, think was designed to insinuate that Christ's command to the... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH BEFORE HAD SEEN HIM, &C.— _Who had seen him before, when he was blind._... [ Continue Reading ]
OTHERS SAID, HE IS LIKE HIM:— The circumstance of having received his sight, would give him an air of spirit and cheerfulness, which would render him something _unlike_ what he was before, and might occasion a little doubt to those who were not well acquainted with him. But see the _Inferences_ at t... [ Continue Reading ]
A MAN THAT IS CALLED JESUS, &C.— It appears from this verse, that the beggar knew that it was Jesus who spake to him. Probably he distinguished him by his voice, having formerly heard him preach; or he might know him by the information of the disciples. Hence he cheerfully submitted to the operation... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OPENED HIS EYES.— This phrase shews that the man's blindness proceeded not from any fault or defect in the organs of vision, but from his entire want of those organs: his eyelids were grown together, or contracted, as is the case of those who are born without eyes. Hence Jesus is said to have _o... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE SAID SOME OF THE PHARISEES,— On hearing the man's account of the miracle, the Pharisees declared that the author of it must certainly be an impostor, because he had violated the sabbath in performing it. Nevertheless, others of them, more just and candid in their way of thinking, gave it a... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SAY UNTO THE BLIND MAN— He is so named after having received his sight, agreeable to the scripture phraseology. Thus Matthew 10:3. _Matthew_ is called _the publican,_ after he had left off that employment; and Matthew 26:6. Simon is called _the leper,_ after he was cured. The next clause should... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE JEWS DID NOT BELIEVE, &C.— Nothing is more remarkable than the power and goodness of Providence, throughout this transaction, which turned the malice of the Jews to the praise of HIM, whom they wanted to prove an impostor, and whom they longed to destroy. The _neighbours_ of the man who had... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE WORDS SPAKE HIS PARENTS BECAUSE, &C.— As the man who had been born blind, knew who had opened his eyes; without doubt he had given his parents an account both of the name of his benefactor, and of the manner in which he had conferred the great blessing upon him. Besides, having repeated these... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVE GOD THE PRAISE:— _"Give glory to God,_ in whose presence you now are, by making a full confession of your fraud and collusion with _this man;_ for _we know that he is an impostor,_ and have all the reason in the world to believe that you are his accomplice." There could not be a greater insult... [ Continue Reading ]
WHETHER HE BE A SINNER OR NO, I KNOW NOT:— In this answer of the beggar there is a strong and beautiful irony, founded on good sense; and therefore it must have been felt by the doctors, through they dissembled their resentment for a little while, hoping that by gentle means they might prevail with... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ANSWERED THEM, I HAVE TOLD YOU ALREADY,— The resistance of the rulers to the truth, appeared so criminal to the man, that, laying aside all fear, he spoke to them with great freedom: _"I have told you already, and you did not hear,_ that is, _believe;_ or, as others would read it, _did you not he... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WE ARE MOSES' DISCIPLES, &C.— Hereby they craftily but most maliciously and falsely insinuated, that there was such an opposition between Moses and Jesus, that it was impossible for the same person to be the disciple of both. _We know that God spake unto Moses,_ say they; but how did they know t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAN ANSWERED— Utterly illiterate as he was!—and with what strength and clearness of reason! Thus God had opened the eyes of his understanding, as well as his bodily eyes. _"Why, herein is a marvellous thing, that ye,_—the teachers and guides of the people, should not know that a man, who hath wr... [ Continue Reading ]
SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN WAS IT NOT HEARD— Philosophers are unanimouslyagreed, that it is impossible to give sight by any natural means to one who is born blind. And indeed the Jewish rabbies themselves reckon it among the characteristics of the Messiah, that he _should open the eyes of the blind._ The... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS HEARD THAT THEY HAD CAST HIM OUT;— Many harmonists suppose, that our Lord conferred the faculty of sight on the blind man at the feast of Tabernacles, when he left Jerusalem; and that, returning thither at the feast of Dedication, he was then told that the council had excommunicated the man; a... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS SAID, &C.— This passage of the gospel well deserves serious attention, as it is of great force to prove theDivinity of our Saviour, who here declares himself in express terms τον υιον του Θεου, _the_ true, eternal, only-begotten _Son of God,_ so of necessity equal with God, even upon the conce... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS SAID, FOR JUDGMENT, &C.— In these words directed to the people who happened to be present, or to come up while Jesus was talking with the blind man, our Lord alluded to the cure lately performed; but his meaning was spiritual, representing not the design of his coming, but the effect which... [ Continue Reading ]
SOME OF THE PHARISEES—HEARD THESE WORDS,— The Pharisees present, hearing him speak thus, knew that he meant them in particular, especially from the word _see,_ in the former verse, _seers_ being a common appellation by which the wise and learned among them were distinguished. As their sect was held... [ Continue Reading ]