John 9:13 ¶ They brought to the Pharisees him that
aforetime 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 said
some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the
sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And
there was a division among them. 17 They
say 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 spake his
parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if
any man did confess 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 again called they
the man that 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 no, 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 to thee? how opened he thine eyes? 27 He answered them, I have told you already,
and ye did not hear: wherefore 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 spake 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 marvellous thing,
that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. 31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but
if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 32 Since the world began was it not heard that
any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 33 If this man were not of 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.
The man who was healed of his blindness was brought to the
Pharisees to be examined. He explained again what happened. The Pharisees
condemned Jesus for, once again, healing someone on the Sabbath although some
took a less hostile tone. The man himself confessed that Jesus was a prophet.
The Jews did not believe that the man was born blind until they brought in his
parents and questioned them. However, they would not risk being thrown out of
the synagogue by affirming how the miracle happened or by whom so they put it
back on their son.
The Pharisees interrogated the man again, this time telling
him to give God credit for the miracle because they viewed Jesus as they would
a publican or a prostitute. He was just a sinner in their eyes performing
tricks of healing on the Sabbath. The man replied that he didn’t know whether
or not Jesus was a sinner but he did know that he could see for the first time.
They pushed him again to tell them what exactly had happened
but he refused to give in and reminded them that he had already told them that.
There is a sharp exchange where the man insists that Jesus must be of God. At
the end he is cast out of the synagogue.
Why did Jesus insist on performing miracles on the Sabbath
that offended the Jews? Matthew Henry wrote that Jesus was deliberately
attacking the authority of the religious elite as, “Their government was illegal, their impositions were
arbitrary, and their zeal for the rituals consumed the substantials of
religion; and therefore Christ would not give
place to them, by subjection, no not for an hour. Christ was made under the law of God,
but not under their law.” (12)
(12) Matthew
Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible,
originally written in 1706, Bible
Study Tools, http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/john/9.html
John 9:35 ¶
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he
said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I
might believe on 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
worshipped him.
Jesus, hearing that the man had been cast out of the
presence of the Jewish rulers, searched him out and asked a question that is
fundamental to salvation.
When Philip was talking to the Ethiopian eunuch, this
exchange took place;
Acts 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto
a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me
to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If
thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
The belief that Jesus was God in the flesh walking on earth
is a primary belief of Christianity. A
Roman Centurion, at the crucifixion, believed.
Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over
against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly
this man was the Son of God.
The Common English
Bible (CEB) changes, “the Son of God,” to, “the Human One,” so we can get
an idea of what doctrinal stance those translators were trying to push. It
appears to be something akin to the ancient Arian and the modern Jehovah’s
Witness but I could be mischaracterizing their intentions as I have not studied
that Bible. Most of the modern versions change the Son of God to the Son of
Man which was one of the titles of Jesus linking Him to a Prophet (it was applied to Ezekiel
on many occasions) and to the Messiah and still considering Him as God in human
flesh, but is incorrect in this verse.
The man believed when Jesus declared that He was indeed the
very Son of God and, worshipped him.
The old American Standard Version (ASV) published within a decade and a
half of the English Revised Version (RV) had
a curious footnote to 38. It said, “The Greek word
denotes an act of reverence, whether paid to a creature (as here) or to the
Creator.” (Thanks to Dr. Ken Matto for his research.) Again, perhaps this was an indication of the
doctrinal stance of the translators. Strange things happen in modern Bible
translation, made possible by The Enlightenment and German theology and
rationalism.
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