#1493 John 9 Part 2 An Early Reformer

 

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 So 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.” 16 So then 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 sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 Therefore, they *said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.”

18 Then, the Jews did not believe it of him that he was blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19 and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 So his parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 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.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 Therefore, 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.” 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.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to listen again? Do you want to become His disciples too?” 28 And they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out. John 9: 13-34 LSB

John 9: 13-34

V. 14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes - Jesus healing and doing good on the Sabbath again. When your enemies can't get you for an actual crime then they do what they did to Shadrach and his buddies, make a law that you bow down to the things that they created. For Daniel they made it illegal to pray to His God, for Jesus they take Rabbinical traditions about the Sabbath, extrabiblical, bad doctrine and use it as a basis to accuse and try Him. He is not a criminal according to God's teachings, but to the teachings of those who swallow camels He is. Remember, according to their tradition you couldn't kneed dough or clay on the Sabbath, so I think it pretty safe, knowing that God is sovereign, that Jesus purposely chose this method, this technique when healing the man. Biblically, acts of mercy were not prevented, but arrogantly, these men think the Rabbinical writings take precedence. 

…3Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.” 4And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent. 5Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.… Mark 3: 3-5

V. 15 He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed them, and I see - This is definitely an investigation for these Barnies, but the premise is ungodly. It is a very concise answer as to what occurred and as much as the man who was once blind knows.

…36Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one. Matthew 5: 36-37

V. 16 This Man is not from God because He does not keep the Sabbath - Because he healed on the Sabbath, and they even considered saliva to have healing properties, so applying it would be in their warped minds, a forbidden work because someone had called it as much in their writings. Interestingly, Jesus chose to use both the saliva and the dirt. Now they really can't be too mad at the no longer blind man for washing because he had dirt in his eyes, and even they would pull their donkey out of a ditch on the Sabbath, but they hate the Landowner's Son.  

…4But they remained silent. Then Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him on his way. 5And He asked them, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?” 6And they were unable to answer these questions.… Luke 14: 4-6

…14But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.” 15“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied, “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water? 16Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?”… Luke 13: 14-16

V. 17 What do you say about Him - The blind man is being challenged by those who have put themselves in the seat of spiritual experts and teachers, not understanding that theirs is the harsher judgement. He is taking it all in, doing his own investigation one might say, and comes to this conclusion, "He is a prophet." This man knows what he was and knows what he now is after meeting Jesus and doing what Jesus told him to do. At the very least, knowing what he knows, knowing the Scripture, which we will see is quite dear to him, this Jesus must be a prophet. 

27Then Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say I am?” 28They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”… Luke 13: 27-29

V. 18 Then the Jews did not believe it of him that he was blind - There is a theological problem from the OT that they would rather avoid addressing, a very precarious path along the cliff face they are now walking. It would be much easier to deal with Jesus wiping clay on someone's eyes for no reason, dumb as that seems, or if they could just prove that it was all staged. So they now they call in more testimony, further witnesses, the man's own parents. 

V. 20 We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind - So much for that.

V. 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews - The old, "never met Him, never heard of Him, don't know what you are talking about, I didn't see anything.", and that's all okay if it's true, but they are lying because they are afraid. God still requires us to tell the truth, to do the right thing, He is not the God of situational ethics. Why are his parents afraid? Because the same verse finishes with the knowledge that anyone who called Jesus, the Christ, which is to say, the foretold Messiah, that person would be kicked out of synagogue. It is like the Roman Catholic Church excommunicating people for reading the Bible in their own language, or burning people at the stake for not believing, upholding Roman Catholic dogma where it differs from Scripture. I have been to so called evangelical and Pentecostal churches where they did and said things that differed from Holy Scripture, and when asked about it, they would answer, "touch not God's anointed, respect the cloth." In other words, they were special, had revelation from God that disagreed with what God said in His Word, and everyone just needs to be quiet and go along with it because they are "anointed". This guys parents didn't want to be cut off from the synagogue, didn't want to be social outcasts. 

…10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.… Matthew 5: 10-12

…17But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” 18Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.… Acts 4: 17-19

V. 24 Give glory to God, we know this man is a sinner - Everyone is looking at the same Guy, has the same facts now, and the religious gurus somehow draw this conclusion, that Jesus is a sinner. Based upon their faulty interpretations and additions to that dealing with the Sabbath, and that the Man Who can make the blind see also calls Himself, I Am. 

V. 25 Whether He is a sinner, I do not know - He hasn't made that leap with the information, and he even had to have his parents testify because the Pharisees didn't want to believe him when he told the truth. I think he is starting to notice some inconsistencies with them. He is unwilling to perjure himself here and slander the person Who just healed him.

9Even if we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has given about His Son. 10Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. 11And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.… 1 John 5: 9-11

V. 25b Though I was blind now I see - This is a grand testimony, "I once was lost, and now I am found, was blind, but now I see." This is the sad part for superficial believers, they give the Bible a nod, saying, "yeah, that's God's word, or I believe it to be", but they don't treat it as though they believe that. There is life in there, hope, the very words and instruction of the Creator of the universe, so why so much dust? When someone experiences regeneration the Word of God becomes dear to them, this is where they hear their adoptive Father's voice. This is where they learn how to speak with Him, and their idea of prayer changes, it is more like oxygen now, and they no longer pray so much for the trivial, but for that which has eternal weight and glory. Then they see answers to these prayers, and their eyes are now too far open to recant, their hearts too blessed to stop. 

Spurgeon - There was no driving him out of that stronghold. That which is a matter of our own personal experience is a thing about which we may well feel positively certain. I wish we had more Christian people firmly established in their faith because it is a matter of deep, heartfelt, personal experience with them. I like to meet a man who can say, “I am willing to yield to opponents upon certain points concerning which I am not quite sure; but the fact of the efficacy of the gospel of God’s grace, the power of the precious blood of Jesus to cleanse the heart and conscience, the divine operation of the Holy Spirit within the soul,—all these are truths which I cannot and will not yield. Like this man, I can say, ‘One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.’”....He could not be beaten out of that. You cannot argue a man out of an experience of this kind; and if the Lord Jesus Christ has ever opened your eyes, dear friend, nobody can make you doubt that blessed fact. - Precept Austin

…2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.… James 4: 2-4

V. 27 I told you already and you did not listen - If he shared his parents fear of these men it is now quickly dissipating. He is becoming firm in his stance.

V. 27c Do you want to become His disciples too - Now he has gone full on Reformer, before Luther and Calvin, and this is some beautiful sarcasm here. "Too", I like that, there is an unbridled confession here, and even if unintentional that's how they will treat it. Come on now then, let's follow Him together. 

V. 28 You are His disciple but we are disciples of Moses - Moses won't be of much help to them here. He actually predicted Christ coming as a prophet like him, and they can't make the connection. 

They reviled (loidoreo) him and said, "You are His disciple (mathetes), but we are disciples (mathetes) of Moses - When confronted with logic and reason, what do many people do? They attack! Where are your credentials? Who ordained you? You didn't even attend "seminary!" (I've been accused of that one by some spiritual elites). Their response to him was meant to be loud and abusive, but proved (unbeknownst to them) to be, in a sense, a prophetic blessing! Why? Because as the story unfolds the man healed from physical blindness, was also healed of spiritual blindness in Jn 9:38, thus fulfilling their "prophetic" words by becoming a true disciple of Jesus! Note that the text You are His disciple more literally says "that man's disciple," (or "you are that one's disciple") which emphasizes the leaders' contempt for Jesus! - PA

…45Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46 If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. 47But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”… John 5: 45-47

V. 30 Well here is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes - It's funny, He has garnered all sorts of speculation and accusations from these spiritual giants. When He says He comes from God, they insist they know that He is from Galilee, that He is the carpenter's Son. When He cast out demons they say it's because He comes from Satan, people go to great lengths in order to remain in their sin and unbelief. They call Him a sinner here, that they are certain of, but they don't know where He is really from, and they have this other problem that they keep blowing off, this mans eyes are open.

…17Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. 18Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law. 19I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.… Psalm 119: 17-19

V. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners - We know? This means he is taking them back to the OT, he is appealing to God's Word, and they brought up Moses, so He is going to take them back to basics. 

…8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? 9Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him? 10Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?… Job 27: 8-10

12There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. 13Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it.… Job 35: 12-13

7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has. 8So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s request.… Job 42: 7-9

…18If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer. 20Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld from me His loving devotion!… Psalm 66: 18-20

…28The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil. 29The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. 30The light of the eyes cheers the heart, and good news nourishes the bones.… Proverbs 15: 28-30 

V. 31b But if anyone is God fearing and does His will - Preach brother, he is going into full on teach mode here. This has to be humiliating and the steam must be doing damage to their eyes. The blind man, who they would look down on in their works based system, can now see, and apparently he was a good listener too, because what he is saying to them expounds upon the Scriptures they would know from the daily reading, and he can't even read, but he heard.

…21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, 22and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. 23And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.… 1 John 3: 21-23

…15And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.… James 5: 15-17

…22wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. 23So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them. 24They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise.… Psalm 106: 22-24

V. 32 Since the beginning of time - This man was an awesome listener. There is now an actual theologian on the scene and they must be truly thrilled about that.

Warren Wiersbe - He added another telling argument: Jesus healed a man born blind. Never, to their knowledge, had this occurred before. So, God not only heard Jesus, but He enabled Him to give the man sight. How, then, could Jesus be a sinner? Religious bigots do not want to face either evidence or logic. Their minds are made up. Had the Pharisees honestly considered the facts, they would have seen that Jesus is the Son of God, and they could have trusted Him and been saved. (BORROW Be Alive) - Precept Austin

V. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing - Fellas, based upon Scripture, I think this Man has to be from God, because let's face it, even in the end times when the false prophet and antichrist perform "miracles" the Bible calls them false signs and wonders. Jesus is pulling off no trick here, there is no great technology that He had, and as I have written about before, even His enemies acknowledge the miracles. This was a man blind from birth. God hears Jesus as He heard Elijah call to bring down fire, or Abraham when God spared Lot, or Moses when God spared Israel, or Elisha when God healed Naaman or raised the young boy. These would be beyond difficult things to fake back then, and so they will attribute it to Satan, though Satan is not the Creator. 

…38So in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone. Let them go! For if their purpose or endeavor is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.” 40At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.… Acts 5: 38-40

V. 34 You were born entirely in sins and you are teaching us - Wow, ain't that the truth, but it also applies to you, still borns in sin. They don't ever apply those things to themselves though. He was a worse sinner in their mind because he was born blind, ah, but now he isn't blind. Their logic is so twisted. Now they have the facts, have a man take them back to Scripture, but their pride makes them unteachable. So now they send him away, they kick him out, he is not a part of the prevailing thought market. We can't always fit in, if they hated Jesus they will hate His followers too. We need to come to accept that, sometimes they will kick us out, refuse service or not give us justice, but their time is only for a little while.

They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins (hamartia), and are you teaching (didasko) us?" - They in effect disregard the logic of his argument. Here the Pharisees are seeking to invalidate the healed man's testimony, even though the "sign" of his restored vision should have opened their eyes and validated the fact that the Messiah was present! Their first statement they made was theologically correct but of course they meant it pejoratively, for they saw it as the cause of his blindness! These hypocrites failed to realize/acknowledge the truth their great ancestor David taught that they too were "brought forth in iniquity!" (Ps 51:5+) And then they in effect say something like "and you have the audacity to try to teach us. How dare you!"

Spurgeon - Their dignity was touched; their superlative wisdom lifted them so much above this poor man that they said, with the utmost disdain, “Dost thou teach us?” What could they say to him ? Nothing but more reviling and abuse. That is the last argument of all. “We cannot answer him, so let us turn him out!”

…4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. 5Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 6Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.… Psalm 51: 4-6

…2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath. 4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,… Ephesians 2: 2-4

…8Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” 9“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door. 10But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.… Genesis 19: 8-10

8Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers for the truth. 9I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction. 10So if I come, I will call attention to his malicious slander against us. And unsatisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and forbids those who want to do so, even putting them out of the church.… 3 John 1: 8-10

…4So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.” 5You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.” 6Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve!… Isaiah 66: 4-6

16And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark— the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666.… Revelation 13: 16-18