John 9:18

But the Jews 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. BUT - `Then,' or 'therefore.' Seeing, if they admitted the truth of the cure, they would likely be shut up to the acknowledgment of His divine commission, therefore they took the course of discrediting the fact. THE JEWS - that is, these ruling ecclesiastics (see the note at ), 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....

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 not believe. _If the reason be asked, there can be no doubt that their blindness was voluntary. For what prevents them from seeing an obvious work of God placed before their eyes; or, after having been fully convinced, what prevents them from believing what they already know, except that the inward malice of their heart keeps their eyes shut? Paul informs us that the same thing takes place in the doctrine of the Gospel; for he says that it is not _hidden _or obscure, except to the reprobate, whose understandings the god of this world hath blinded, ...

18-23 The Pharisees vainly hoped to disprove this notable miracle. They expected a Messiah, but could not bear to think that this Jesus should be he, because his precepts were all contrary to their traditions, and because they expected a Messiah in outward pomp and splendour. The fear of man brings a snare, Proverbs 29:25, and often makes people deny and disown Christ and his truths and ways, and act against their consciences. The unlearned and poor, who are simple-hearted, readily draw proper inferences from the evidences of the light of the gospel; but those whose desires are another way, though ever learning, never come to the knowledge of the truth....

Verse John 9:18. _BUT THE JEWS DID NOT BELIEVE_] All the subterfuge they could use was simply to sin against their conscience, by asserting that the man _had not been blind_; but out of this subterfuge they were soon driven by the testimony of the parents, who, if tried farther on this subject, might have produced as witness, not only the whole neighbourhood, but nearly the whole city: for it appears the man got his bread by _publicly begging_, John 9:8. _THAT HE HAD BEEN BLIND, AND RECEIVED HIS SIGHT_] This clause is omitted in some MSS., probably because similar words occur immediately after. There is, however, no evidence against it, sufficient to exclude it from the test....

IS THIS YOUR SON? ... - The Pharisees proposed three questions to the parents, by which they hoped to convict the man of falsehood: * Whether he was their son? * Whether they would affirm that he was born blind? and, * Whether they knew by what means he now saw? They evidently intended to intimidate the parents, so that they might give an answer to one of these questions that would convict the man of deception. We see here the art to which men will resort rather than admit the truth. Had they been half as much disposed to believe on Jesus as they were to disbelieve, there would have been no difficulty in the case. And so with all men: were they as much inclined to embrace the truth as they are to reject it, there would soon be an end of cavils....

EXPOSITION These chapters (9. and 10.) bring the conflict with the Jews to a climax before the commencement of the Peraean ministry. They are doubtless closely connected with what has preceded; but the note of time (John 10:22) implies an interval of some months of intense activity elsewhere—to have carried on the ministry of Christ from the Feast of Tabernacles to the winter. If John 10:22 points back, as Westcott argues by alteration of the Received Text and by special translation, to the preceding discourse, we are compelled to dissociate the cure of the blind man from the teaching of John 8:1., and to regard the opening verse of John 9:1. a

BUT THE JEWS DID NOT BELIEVE CONCERNING HIM,.... Not Jesus, but the blind man; THAT HE HAD BEEN BLIND, AND RECEIVED HIS SIGHT; they imagine there was a fraud in the case, that it was collusion between Jesus and this man; that he was a man who had never been blind, but only had given out that he was, and pretended he had now received his sight from Jesus, on purpose to spread his fame, and induce people to believe he was the Messiah; and in this imagination they endeavoured to strengthen themselves and others: UNTIL THEY CALLED THE PARENTS OF HIM THAT HAD RECEIVED HIS SIGHT; they sent messengers to them, and summoned them before them, that they might examine them about this matter, hoping, they might get something out of them, which might detect the supposed fraud, and bring Jesus under disgrace....

John 9:1. _And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind_ Christ's disciples were often inquisitive even when their Master was bent upon giving proofs of his practical benevolence. Fools may sometimes ask questions which wise men may not think it proper to answer; but on this occasion, our Saviour gave an answer to the enquiry which his disciples had put to him. John 9:3. _Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents : but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work._ Think of our Lord being under the necessity of working: «I mus

CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The Man Born Blind, Healed. (John 9:1 .)_ 2. The Healed Man Questioned. (John 9:8 .) 3. Reviled and Cast Out. (John 9:27 .) 4. Jesus Reveals Himself to Him. (John 9:35 .) The healing of the man born blind is a type and an illustration of how Christ, the Light, communicates light and how he who follows the Light walks no more in darkness, but has the light of life. (John 8:12 .) And before He healed the man He testified that His day of activity on earth as Man was rapidly drawing to its close. ...

THE INCOMPETENCE AND ANGER OF THE AUTHORITIES. In what follows the actors are described first as Pharisees, then as Jews, the larger party of whom the Pharisees are one section. In John 9:13 the attempt is made to get evidence out of the man to disprove the fact of the healing, which they refuse to believe, on the ground that a Sabbath-breaker could not do so great a work. They only elicit the man's view that Jesus is a prophet. Interest in the matter spreads. The Jews now question the man's parents, in the hopes of being able to deny his identity. They assert that it is undoubtedly their son, and for the rest they are cautious, knowing the hostility of the authorities to the claims of Jesus. So the man himself is called again, in the hope that his admissions may be made to point to demoniac agency, as the fact of the healing can no longer be denied. He is solemnly adjured to confess the...