JOHN CHAPTER NINE
CONTROVERSIAL SURROUNDS JESUS
Introduction to chapter Nine
This blog contains links to crosswire.org on line study Bible. Click on the link to go to book chapter and verse
In chapter nine we see another miracle (healing the blind man). We will see the controversy this miracle brought about. The chapter ends with Jesus confirming His deity.
THE MIRACLE CONTROVERSY JOHN 9: 1 - 11
John 9:1 - "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth."
What significance does this verse have?
The fact, this man was blind from birth should have left no doubt about his disability in any ones mind. Where did Jesus see the blind man? Scripture is not clear on this accept to say the blind man was told to "wash his eyes at the pool of Siloam" The crowed wanted to stone Jesus and He hid Himself (X John 8:59 )John 9:2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
Because he was born blind, they believed his blindness was a punishment from God for sinWhy did they assume that sin was passed down to succeeding generations?
They may have gotten the idea from Exodus 20:5 “..visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children,…”The end of this verse has a qualifier “…of those who hate Me..” for those who worship other gods show their hatred for the only true God
John 9:3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Jesus establishes that they or we should not assume that afflictions are a punishment for sin.Many parents of children with disabled children see the blessing in that child, while onlookers might see only the affliction
The lesson we should take from this verse is; look for the blessing in every circumstance and not the ugly
John 9:4 “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.Is Jesus saying that work should only be done during the day?
I believe Jesus is saying the time for Gods work is now for soon it will be to late (X John 7:33 , John 12:35 )Jesus was only going to be with them only a little while longer
They should make good use of the light (illumination) while they and we can
JOHN 9:5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
John 9:6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”(which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
Rubbing clay/mud into the eye must have been painful and frightening to the blind man; why didn’t the man try to stop Jesus?
Even though it was painful the Spirit of God quieted him and made him obedientWhy did Jesus heal this man at this time?
The miracle served as a demonstration of how Jesus removes darkness and brings light into the worldIt was He, Jesus, who was to bring the light of knowledge (illumination, or an understanding) of Gods will to the world
In Mark 8:23 Jesus healed a blind man by using His own spittle
Isaiah 35:5 wrote; Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
Isaiah was talking about a future time when Jesus would come into the world to give sight to those blind to the truth, and those that would hear He would make plain the meaning of His words
John 9:8 Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.”
Even though the blind man persisted in telling them he was the man they were speaking about, they would not believe. We see the people were still divided and would not see Jesus for who He was. Verses 10 - 15 deal with the controversyJn 9:13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
Controversy over the Man - John 9:16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.
Some people were saying Jesus was a prophet (X John 9:17 ; Matthew 21:11 )
The Pharisees rejected this because Jesus healed on the Sabbath (X Luke 13:14)
We have seen previous examples of the legalistic views of the Pharisees (X John 5:10 )
There was much division among the Jews
This was not the first time (X John 7:12 )
John 9:18 The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight,
We see an example here where the blind mans testimony required two witnessesIn this case the witnesses were the parents of the blind man
John 9:19 and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?”
The Pharisees were looking for anything that would validate their positionThey were looking for a hoax which would place Jesus in a position of a false prophet
Their answer is found in John 9:20
They did not get the answer they were looking for and persisted with the questioning in verse 21
John 9:21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.”
They dared not speculate for fear of reprisal from the ruling body (X JN 9:22)The theocratic form of government gave enormous power to the Pharisees
Power they guarded zealously
John 9:22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews;
Why were they afraid?
for the Pharisees had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.This would be the same as the Catholic church x-communication
This would (in their eyes) cut them off from worship
The Jew did not have direct access to God, and relied on their high priest to offer sacrifice for their sin (X John 9:30 , John 16:2 )
Christians today have Jesus as their high priest, and through Him have direct communication with God
John 9:23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
Interesting to note hear that they did not jump to the defense of their own son.The fear of expulsion from the Synagogue overrode their desire to validate their son’s account
The age at which a Jewish boy was considered to be a man at his Bar Mitzvah
At age 13 a male child is responsible for their own actions they become a Bar Mitzvah
Bar Mitzvah (Hebrew: בר מצוה) and Bat Mitzvah (Hebrew: בת מצוה) are Jewish coming of age rituals. Bar "בר" is a Jewish Babylonian Aramaic word meaning son, in Hebrew it's Ben "בן". Bat "בת" is Hebrew for girl, and Mitzvah "מצוה" is a commandment and a law.
According to Jewish law, when Jewish boys become 13, they become responsible for their actions and must go through the Bar Mitzvah to become a member of the Synagogue. Once the Boy goes through the ceremony he is allowed to worship, and to comment on the Torah.
John 9:24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”
What did they mean by “Give glory to God”?
Scripture tells us to give God glory in all thingsIn this context I believe this man was being told to give God the glory by telling the truth they wanted to hear and to separat himself from Jesus(X Joshua 7:19 ; Ezra 10:11 )
They called Jesus a sinner because in their eyes Jesus violated the Sabbath
The Pharisees wanted to use this blind man’s testimony to condemn Jesus
What was the blind mans reply to the Pharisees?
John 9:25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
The Pharisees persisted in questioning the blind man who answered again in verse 27 He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?”What was the response from the Pharisees?
They were indignant we read their response in the following verseThey reviled him by exhausting their discipleship
John 9:29 “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”
They knew the story of Moses leading Israel out of EgyptThey knew God spoke to Moses from a burning bush and on Mount Sinai (X Exodus 3:1 ; Acts 7:30 )
They knew Jesus performed signs, that he was the child of Joseph and Mary, and that He was a Nazarene, beyond that they could not see.
Even though the Pharisees persisted in their interrogation the blind man refused to stray from the facts
John 9:30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
The blind man believed that Jesus came from GodThe Pharisees would not accept either the miracle nor the testimony of the blind man.
The blind man uses logic
John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
The Pharisees would not accept the fact that Jesus was righteous and was doing the will of GodThe Pharisees became indignant
John 9:34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
They obviously believed that it was sin that caused this man to be born blind. A punishment from God.Does God punish us for sin NOT confessed?
If we do not seek forgiveness from Jesus, Scripture tell us we will die in our sin (X JN 8:21 & 24; EZ 3:20)Does God punish us for sin NOT confessed?
If we do not seek forgiveness from Jesus, Scripture tell us we will die in our sin (X JN 8:21 & 24; EZ 3:20)God will also allow you to suffer the immediate consequences of that sin.
For example: Bearing false witness on the witness stand will result in imprisonment. God will allow you to serve your time in jail suffering the loss of freedom.
Defiling the temple of God (your body) Consuming substances which harm our bodies; defile our bodies
God will allow you to suffer the resulting organ damage
SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS JOHN 9:35-40
What is spiritual blindness?
Not being able to see the kingdom of GodRelying totally on the physical senses
The Pharisees were so steeped in the law that fanaticism ruled their mind and body
The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds so we may see Gods kingdom
John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
Why didn’t the blind man recognize Jesus as the Son of Man?Scripture tells us the blind man returned after washing his eyes in the pool of Siloam
At that time the blind man thought Jesus to be a prophet sent from God
The blind man did not consider Him to be the Son of God
John 9:36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
How was the blind mans response different from that of the Pharisees?The blind man worshiped Jesus V 38
Because of who is
Because of what He did
Jesus reveals why this healing was significant in verse 39 “…I have come into this world, so that the blind will see
What is Jesus revealing?
He came to the world to divide those who would believe to be given sight. Those that refused to see would be blinded from the truth. The truth being that Jesus was the Christ come to this world that those who are willing to believe will receive sightJohn 9:40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 9:41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
By their own proclamation they were judged as guiltyBlinded to the truth standing before them
References: CrossWire.org- On line Study Bible book of John
