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| Chapter 9 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from his birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." 6 When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground and made clay with the spittle; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay 7 and said unto him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which interpreted means, "Sent"). He went his way therefore and washed, and came back seeing. 8 ¶ The neighbors therefore, and those who before had seen that he was blind, said, "Is not this he that sat and begged?" 9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." But he said, "I am he!" 10 Therefore they said unto him, "How were thine eyes opened?" 11 He answered and said, "A man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ And I went and washed, and I received sight." 12 Then they said unto him, "Where is he?" He said, "I know not." 13 ¶ They brought to the Pharisees him that beforehand was blind. 14 And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, "He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed and do see." 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such miracles?" And there was a division among them. 17 They said unto the blind man again, "What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." 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. 19 And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? How then doth he now see?" 20 His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now seeth we know not, or who hath opened his eyes we know not. He is of age; ask him. He shall speak for himself." 22 These words spoke his parents, because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed already that if any man confessed that He was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore said his parents, "He is of age; ask him." 24 Then they again called the man who was blind and said unto him, "Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner." 25 He answered and said, "Whether he be a sinner or not, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see." 26 Then said they to him again, "What did he do to thee? How opened he thine eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I have told you already, and ye did not hear. Why would ye hear it again? Will ye also be his disciples?" 28 Then they reviled him and said, "Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke unto Moses. As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is." 30 The man answered and said unto them, "Why, herein is a marvelous thing: that ye know not from whence he is from, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. 31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshiper of God and doeth His will, him He heareth. 32 Since the world began it was not heard that any man opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34 They answered and said unto him, "Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?" And they cast him out. 35 ¶ Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when He had found him, He said unto him, "Dost thou believe in the Son of God?" 36 He answered and said, "Who is he, Lord, that I might believe in him?" 37 And Jesus said unto him, "Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee." 38 And he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. 39 ¶ And Jesus said, "For judgment I am come into this world, that they that see not might see, and that they that see might be made blind." 40 And some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said unto Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said unto them, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remaineth. |
v1-12 The man blind from birth. Jesus performed miracles to help others but He usually used the event to show that He was the Messiah and gave a message of spiritual nature. Jesus uses this miracle as the basis on spiritual blindness. This event links with the previous chapter where Jesus said "I am the light of the world." v1-3 The question by the disciples was based upon the belief that all illness and bodily suffering was as a result of sin. Whether by the parents, based upon (Ex 20:5) or the man himself, some Jews believed in a pre-existence of the soul. They wanted to discuss why and how this man was blind, they had no feeling for his suffering. All physical problems are as a result of our fall in Adam, his disobedience brought death and pain into the world. Jesus dismissed any special wrong on the part of the parents or man. Neither are we told that God deliberately made the man blind. Only God knows why babies are born with handicaps and only God can turn these into good and bring glory to His name. v4,5 Jesus calls the disciple to action, idle speculation, guessing the reason for and event was to end as time for His work was limited. He was linking His work with them. v6-7 Jesus method of healing the man was unusual, it was not necessary for the cure as He healed blindness just by touching the eyes, there must be another reason. The scripture does not record that the man actually asked to be healed, was Jesus asking him to prove he trusted Jesus by having to do something in faith to be healed? The use of the Pool of Siloam for washing has an interesting connection, the name ‘Siloam’ means the ‘one sent’ which makes a connection that Jesus was the ‘sent one.’ v8-12 This man and parents appeared to have been well know by the people, they noticed that he was able to see. Was this really the blind beggar? How was he made able to see? Who did it? v13-16 The Pharisees now became involved. Jesus had done this healing on the Sabbath so now the Pharisees are asking an additional question, if this man was of God how can he break the Sabbath laws? If He is not from God how did he heal the man? First the neighbour's then the Pharisees were asking the man, it looks as if they were all interested but actually it gave them a problem and they were all trying to get rid of the evidence, they were afraid to admit the truth. v17-23 They continue their questioning of the ‘blind’ man. "What do you know about this man who opened your eyes?" "He is a prophet" was the answer. Still they did not accept that this man was blind, "Fetch the parents." "Is this your son?" "Yes, he was blind but we do not know how he was healed, he’s old enough, you ask him." The parents were frightened of the leaders because the leaders had told everyone that if anyone said "it was the Messiah" they would be thrown out of the synagogue, and so would be considered a ‘sinner’ and unable to worship. The Pharisees were responsible for the Jewish faith, they had every right to check that this was a miracle, blindness due to illness or injury can self heal, if he had been born blind then it was a miracle. There was an even more serious problem, it all happened on the Sabbath. A Jew was not allowed to do any work on a Sabbath, mixing the clay and putting the clay on the eyes of the man and healing him would be considered ‘work’ and meant that the law had been broken three times. Their basis for judgement was that no one who breaks the Sabbath laws could be from God. Instead of praising God they were hunting Jesus. v24-33 The man is called back, "This time he is put under an oath." "Give God the praise!" is kind of oath in a Jewish court. But the ‘judges’ by saying "We know that this man is a sinner." were biasing any witnesses. The beggar was not prepared to be put off, he had experienced the miracle. For the fourth time he gets the same questions. He was very brave to ask them if they wanted to become the disciples of Jesus v27. Unable to destroy the evidence they turn to revile(call him names) the beggar. "We are disciples of Moses, God’s man, you are a disciple of this unknown ‘sinner.’" The leaders knew all about Moses but Jesus worried them, "where did he come from?" The beggar gave the religious ‘experts’ a lesson. "You called him a sinner, yet he opened my eyes. If this man was not from God how could he heal me?" v34 The leaders did not like to be told they are wrong, so after calling the man more names he is thrown out of the synagogue, he became an "outcast, ‘a sinner’." v35-41 Jesus The Son of God. The man appears to have gained his sight but lost his place of worship. Jesus comes looking for him. He had never seen Jesus only heard His voice. Jesus identifies himself as the Son of God, the man knew that it was through God he had been healed, the man believes in Him and worships Jesus. The beggar heard, saw, believed and was saved. Some Pharisees were obviously following Jesus, watching what He did and listening to His words, trying to catch Him out. Verse 39 must have hit something in their conscious because they asked "Are we blind also?" Jesus replied "You think you know everything, your pride, your self-righteousness, you think you know all truth. But your understanding is wrong, your interpretation of the scriptures is false, you think you understand and see everything, but in fact you are blind." "If you had been blind, you would have been better off, you would have an excuse for not knowing, but you claim that you ‘see’ and so you are guilty." Jesus had performed many miracles before them, they had seen the beggar healed, but the choose to ignore the evidence. The only people who cannot see Jesus as the ‘Light of the World’ are those who are blind to the evidence. |
Easy English Translation
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