notes

Main point summary

The Pharisees questioned the born-blind man and his parents on how he received sight. They cast the man out of the religious community because they refused to believe him and felt disrespected by him.

Bracket

editing

NT

John 9:13-34

nkjv

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.

He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

questionanswer

Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?”

And there was a division among them.

actionresult

They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

progression

But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.

And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.”

His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.

Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

inference

ideaexplanation

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”

He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know.

One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

concessive

Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”

The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from;

yet He has opened my eyes!

Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.

If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.

discourse

Notes

9:13-18 The formerly blind man questioned by the Jews People who knew the formerly blind man could not comprehend the miracle and brought the man to the authorities for examination. The formerly blind man testified factual as he had done before to his unbelieving neighbours. Yet, the Pharisees spotted a deficiency according to their man-made traditions and disqualified the man who performed the miracle as "not from God". Any "work" was prohibited and as a miracle was seen as work, they declared him evil and it did not matter how great the miracle was because his actions did not fit in the definition of their righteousness. The only one who fulfilled all righteousness by God's standards was here accused of unrighteousness. The creation attempted to put the Creator on trial. The leaders were divided as some acknowledged that a sinner could not perform such a miracle. The Pharisees further inquired of the formerly blind man about his opinion of Jesus. The Jews questioned that the man was actually blind when the formerly blind man believed Jesus to be a prophet. But the testimony of the formerly blind man's parents left no doubt that he actually was blind from birth. 9:19-23 Parents questioned After summoning the parents of the formerly blind man, they inquired of them if the man was their son who was born blind and how they'd explain that he was able to see now. The parents were likely aged and sought the easiest way out, understandably. Yet, the cowardice testimony of the parents should be noted. The prize for the truth would've cost them their social, religious, and economical life as they knew it. They stated the facts about their son yet deflected the question of how he came to sight. They knew exactly how he received sight yet they feared to be cast out of the community because the jews had already predetermined to cast out those who confessed Jesus as Christ. Righteous or godly parents would stand by their son and with the truth at such a clear case. 9:24-25 Man questioned again The Jews now quoted from Joshua's command to Achan after the defeat at Ai: "Give God the glory!" in other words, the Jews were saying: "Stop lying, we know that Jesus is a sinner". The formerly blind man answers on the spot without premeditation by stating what he did and did not know. He knew not at that point whether Jesus was a sinner but he knew that he received eyesight. 9:26-34 Man ridicules the Jewish leaders The Jews refused to believe the account of the formerly blind man but struggled to find faults to discredit him. So they decided to start questioning from the beginning to perhaps somehow find a way to fit his testimony to their narrative: "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" The answer of the formerly blind man is surprising and exciting. It says a lot about his personality and character which must have been shaped instantly by the event he had with Jesus previously. He was an outcast when he was blind and seen by the Jews as a sinner who was punished and cursed with blindness. When Jesus gave him sight, everything changed for him. Once an outcast, rejected, and despised, then received, accepted, and loved. This change emboldened him to answer in the way he did. He found the One true who had ultimate authority even to give him a sign. So he did not fear the authorities that tried to twist and demonize the one he knew for sure to be true. With that confidence, he was ready to be cast out by the leader for the sake of Jesus who meant everything to him. So he said directly to them that he had told them all but they didn't listen. Then he got sarcastic by suggesting that the Jews were inquiring in order to become Jesus' disciples as well. The Jews were infuriated and reviled him by pointing out that they were followers of Moses and didn't even know the origin of Jesus. The formerly blind man now gave the Jews a hard time by teaching them clear and simple truth. He argued that Jesus could not have done anything miraculous if he were not from God and that the fact that he received sight was undeniable evidence that Jesus was not a sinner because God does not hear sinners but those who worship and do God's will. The formerly blind man was also correct that in all old testament scripture was not a single record of a born-blind man that received sight. Now that was more than the Jewish leaders were willing to bear. They accused him of being born blind completely in sin yet having the audacity to teach them. They were the elite that possessed great knowledge of the scriptures and appeared exemplary in many ways, yet without divine insight from God. They cast out the formerly blind man on those grounds. Completely unjustifiable, yet they had the power and could not bear listening to the truth, so he had to be put away and silenced. Application This sounds familiar! Big tech (under the direction of government organizations and agencies, as evidence that is surfacing indicates) has begun putting people away by blocking their social media accounts and silencing them under the cover of "stopping misinformation". No question that there is lots of misinformation but the fact that anything that does not fit their narrative is silenced appears to be a position of weakness. Some powerful people seem to be frightened to be found out and lose power and probably a prospect of a lot of money. Note also here that knowledge alone is not protecting from falsehood. There must be insight from God to discern the truth. How could the majority of the highly intellectual population of Germany in 1930-1945 be so deceived? And professing Christians fell for it as well for far too long. I'm concerned that that "poisonous spell" that hypnotized Germany is now active on a global scale in a different way yet equally demonic. There is only one lasting hope and promise of a secure, harmonious, and glorious future. This future is in heaven and can be found in Jesus Christ the saviour of sinners! Trust Him for everything. Make no mistake, everything else will eventually fade!