John 09

 

 

Healing a Man Born Blind

9:1 Now as Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 

 

Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would give sight to the blind. Jesus had just declared Himself “the Light of the world.” He was now going to prove it by healing the blind. Man is also born spiritually blind from birth. The Pharisees taught that the father’s sin caused blindness in their children. 

 

9:2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man or his parents?”

 

If sin causes all suffering, then why was this man born blind from the womb?

 

 9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the acts of God may be revealed through what happens to him. 

 

The man was born blind so that Jesus could heal him and bring glory to God.  

 

9:4 We must perform the deeds of the one who sent me as long as it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work.

 

Jesus was running out of time. Very soon, Jesus will allow satanic forces to put Him to death.

 

 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

 

When Jesus left the world, His disciples became the light of the world.

 

 9:6 Having said this, he spat on the ground and made some mud with the saliva. He smeared the mud on the blind man’s eyes 

 

Man was made from the dust of the ground. When Jesus made this clay, He broke the Oral Law against kneading clay on the Sabbath.

 

9:7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “sent”). So the blind man went away and washed, and came back seeing.

 

There were most likely many people following the blind man to the Pool of Siloam. This pool was located at the southeast corner of Jerusalem where Hezekiah’s tunnel channeled water inside the city walls from the Gihon Spring.

 

9:8 Then the neighbors and the people who had seen him previously as a beggar began saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 

 

This man had been begging at the gate for years. Everyone knew him. However, this miracle was so tremendous that they doubted the identity of the blind man.

 

9:9 Some people said, “This is the man!” while others said, “No, but he looks like him.” The man himself kept insisting, “I am the one!” 

 

The blind man identified himself.

 

9:10 So they asked him, “How then were you made to see?”

 

The people were curious as to how he gained his sight.

 

 9:11 He replied, “The man called Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and was able to see.” 

 

Testimony of Jesus was given to the crowd.

 

9:12 They said to him, “Where is that man?” He replied, “I don’t know.”

 

Since the man was blind at the time of the miracle, he had no idea where Jesus went. 

 

The Pharisees’ Reaction to the Healing

9:13 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. 

 

Healing on the Sabbath was a violation of the man-made Oral Law.

 

9:14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the mud and caused him to see was a Sabbath.) 

 

Jesus intentionally healed on the Sabbath to demonstrate to the people that the Oral Law was not God given but man-made.

 

9:15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight. He replied, “He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I am able to see.”

 

The beggar gave the details of his healing.

 

9:16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say, “This man is not from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division among them. 

 

The Pharisees would not accept any Messiah who did not keep their man-made Oral Law. However, many people defended Jesus. Whenever testimony of Jesus is delivered, there will always be division.

 

9:17 So again they asked the man who used to be blind, “What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?” “He is a prophet,” the man replied.

 

The beggar recognized Jesus as a prophet. Jesus was more than a prophet. He was God in human flesh.

 

9:18 Now the Jewish religious leaders refused to believe that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned the parents of the man who had become able to see. 

 

The Jewish religious leaders questioned the parents of the former blind man.

 

9:19 They asked the parents, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 

 

They wanted to know if their son had been born blind. If so, then the Pharisees should recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

 

9:20 So his parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 

 

The parents confirmed that their son was born blind.

 

9:21 But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see. Ask him, he is a mature adult. He will speak for himself.” 

 

The parents referred the Pharisees back to their son.

 

9:22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 

 

The Pharisees threatened excommunication to anyone who followed Jesus.

 

9:23 For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult, ask him.”)

 

The parents knew the answer, but they were intimidated by the excommunication threat.

 

9:24 Then they summoned the man who used to be blind a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.” 

 

It is interesting to note that the Pharisees never could point out one sin of Jesus.

 

9:25 He replied, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing – that although I was blind, now I can see.” 

 

The man who was healed by Jesus was not telling the Pharisees what they wanted to hear.

 

9:26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?”

 

They did not like the man’s answer. They asked him again, trying to find a flaw in his testimony.

 

 9:27 He answered, “I told you already and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You people don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”

 

The man was becoming impatient with these continuous questions. He answered sarcastically.

 

9:28 They heaped insults on him, saying, “You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 

 

The Pharisees were judges who were harassing their own witnesses. They were not interested in facts. They were interested in destroying this man’s testimony.

 

9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man comes from!” 

 

Moses wrote about Jesus. Jesus came from heaven.

 

9:30 The man replied, “This is a remarkable thing, that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see! 

 

The beggar was beginning to teach the Pharisees.

 

9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him. 

 

The beggar taught the Pharisees that God listens to those who are devout.

 

9:32 Never before has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see. 

 

This healing of a blind man was a first in history.

 

9:33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

 

Since Jesus healed his blindness, then Jesus must be from God.

 

 9:34 They replied, “You were born completely in sinfulness, and yet you presume to teach us?” So they threw him out.

 

The Pharisees would not accept teaching from a beggar. They insulted the beggar, telling him that his blindness was caused by his sin at birth. They were not interested in his testimony unless it condemned Jesus. They had in their midst a man healed of blindness by the Messiah. They threw him out of the synagogue.  Their total depraved and sinful nature caused them to become blind to the evidence. 

 

The Man’s Response to Jesus

9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man and said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 

 

The Son of Man was predicted by the prophet Daniel to become the Messiah who would overthrow the Gentile kingdoms and establish the Messianic Kingdom.

 

9:36 The man replied, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 

 

The beggar wanted to know who would rule over the Millennial Kingdom.

 

9:37 Jesus told him, “You have seen him; he is the one speaking with you.” 

 

Jesus identified Himself as the Son of Man.

 

9:38 [He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 

 

The blind man could no longer worship in the synagogue, but he could worship Jesus. Notice that Jesus accepted worship. Angels never receive worship. Jesus is not a created angel, as the Jehovah Witnesses claim.

 

9:39 Jesus said,] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, and the ones who see may become blind.”

 

Those who cannot see Jesus as the Messiah are blinded by the enemy.

 

9:40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and asked him, “We are not blind too, are we?” 

 

The Gentiles were so blind, that they did not even realize it.

 

9:41 Jesus replied, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains.”

 

The Pharisees saw the miracles of Jesus and heard the message of salvation but they rejected it. They had more light, but they were too blind to see it. Their guilt is greater than others who receive less light.