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John Segment 11
All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Before beginning this study, I suggest you pray and ask God to guide you through this study. I also suggest that you do you own study of this material in order to ensure its accuracy. Hebrew Characters are in the "BSTHebrew" font. Greek Characters are in the "Symbol" font. Symbol is a standard font on most computers. "BSTHebrew" can be downloaded from the Internet. This page has embedded fonts that may not work on all browsers.
John 9:1 "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth."
Jesus had just left the Temple in Jerusalem where He was talking to the Jews who had attempted to stone Him. In fact, the Greek says "and passing by, he saw..." This sentence is connected with the last paragraph in the last chapter. It would literally read like this: "Because of this, they took up stones that they might throw them on Him. But Jesus was hidden, and went forth out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. And passing by, He saw a man blind from birth." (Green's Literal Translation-a translation based on the Textus Receptus)
This man was blind from birth and that would have been well-known by those of the general public who were aware of him, especially his family, friends, and acquaintances.
John 9:2 "And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"
This question was based upon the assumption that all maladies were the result of sin. There is also the element of a belief in reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul. So the question may also have been asked thus, "Did this man sin in a previous incarnation and thus his soul was placed into this blind body?" For how else could he have been born blind because of his own sin? If he was blind at birth, when did he sin? It would have to have been in a previous lifetime. So we can well see that the (incorrect) belief in reincarnation was extant among the Jews, or at least among the sect of Pharisees. Of course this belief was widely held by the Greeks and other Eastern peoples.
The mistaken belief that children were punished for the sins of their ancestors comes from the Second Commandment, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: {5} Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" (Exodus 20:4-5). What this really means is that if the children follow in the sins of their fathers, then they will suffer as well. Ezekiel tells us in chapter Eighteen that each person will suffer for his own sins and for no one else's. In fact the parable goes, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." Ezekiel denounced that thinking in verse 20. But Ezekiel's prophecy was not completely accepted if the disciples thought this man might be blind because of his parents' sins.
John 9:3 "Jesus answered,
Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."God allowed this blindness to happen so that He could receive Glory. Did you get that? This man was born blind and it was the will of God, Who would show Himself through this man. He was born blind for this very moment so that Jesus could heal him. This man would know that God healed him as would everyone who saw him with his sight. Being born blind from birth would convince them that God healed him because no other healing was possible. People born blind did not just get well. This blindness allowed by God would be the vehicle of the blind man's salvation and would point others to Christ.
John 9:4
"I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."Jesus had a limited time on Earth and while He was here, He would continue to do God's works. Among those works were: preaching good tidings unto the meek, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, opening the prison to them that are bound, proclaiming the acceptable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God, comforting all that mourn, appointing unto them that mourn in Zion, giving unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified. Also included were opening the eyes of the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf, opening the mouths of the mute, and causing the lame to leap like a deer. (See Isaiah 35:5-6, and 62:1-3)
In our verse, the day refers to the time when Jesus the man walked upon the earth; the night refers to His death. While He was here on Earth, His works would be manifest. When He died, those works of His would cease. But the Apostles and all Christians would carry them on.
John 9:5 "
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."He is the light of the world always. But this is a part of the sentence we discussed in the last verse. He was talking about doing the works His Father sent Him to do while He was here present on Earth in the flesh. Like Isaiah said in 9:2, "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Jesus is that Great Light, we are those who walked in darkness until He saved us.
To be fair here, this verse is taken out of context. In context, the prophecy refers to the people of Galilee. We know that the Jews understood it to be Galilee because the LXX refers to it as Galilaia. The Hebrew word is galyl, which is the name of the district of Galilee. But the word also means "circle" or "circuit". Where the scripture reads "Galilee of the nations" (in Isaiah 9:1), it could also be rendered "the circle of nations". Therefore, as a circle of nations, the light was shown to all nations. All nations, peoples, and tongues have been given that light. This is not a private interpretation. We know from the Scripture above (and several other passages) that Jesus is the light of the world, so this is just a confirmation of what the Bible says. I believe that both meanings are acceptable, just like being born again also means being born from above. It has a dual meaning.
And as long as He, the Light of the world, was in the world, He would perform good works, miracles, and wonders. He would heal the sick, free the captives, cause the blind to see, and all of those things He was sent to accomplish. The healing of this blind man was light from the Light of the world, given to a world of darkness. That was especially true with the blind man, who was truly in the dark and knew nothing else but darkness. But Jesus would change all that by giving light to the blind man. The man would receive his sight and thus perceive the light around him and see. But he would also receive spiritual light because he became saved and worshipped Jesus.
John 9:6 "When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,"
The Mishna tells us about spittle on Sabbaths and on feast days. It says that spittle is clean. The spittle of those with diseases and disorders is unclean. During the week, the sick were to walk in the middle of the street and others were to walk on the sides. But on Feast days and on the Sabbath the order was reversed.
It is also evident that the Jews believed in the medicinal use of spittle, especially for an eye treatment. Clay made of clean spittle was considered an eye balm. But this use of spittle clay was banned by the Mishna on the Sabbath, or so several commentators say. I have not been able to personally verify this use of spittle clay, but several knowledgeable commentators attest to it. From the context, it seems like this was true that they did believe in the medicinal use of spittle (see verses 14-16). History tells us that the Gentiles believed this.
Either way, it seems like Jesus was making a statement about the intricate and myriad religious rules. He was deliberately breaking a Sabbath rule by doing this. If the second statement is true, then He was making and using spittle clay on the Sabbath. He was also letting his clean spittle fall upon unclean ground (the ground trod by this blind man) and then touching unclean spittle. He was saying that their picayune Sabbath rules were nothing more than useless. He is the Lord of the Sabbath and He made the real Sabbath rules, not these man-made minutiae. They were just religion, and religion for its own sake is useless.
Jesus needed no props or magic potions or salves to heal this blind man. All He would have needed to do is speak and heal this man. But the man's faith had to be involved, and the placing of this clay on the man's eyes would give him some tactile involvement in the miracle. Additionally, it would entice others to observe. The Light of the world gave light unto the blind AND to those who saw the miracle.
John 9:7 "And said unto him,
Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."Siloam comes from the root word, xlv (shalach), meaning sent. Again, no washing was really necessary for this miracle to be done, yet, these actions made this a very public event. This was to prove the truth of this healing. Many would see this miracle. This man, blind from birth, had mud on his eyes and was sent to the pool of Siloam, where a crowd would naturally have gathered.
This reminds us of the story of the leper called Naaman who was told to wash in the muddy Jordan. Naaman went grudgingly to the Jordan. This man went freely to Siloam. This man once was lost but now was found, was blind but now he sees. What amazing grace he received from the Lord!
John 9:8 "The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?"
"The neighbours...and they..." means his friends, acquaintances, and those who knew of him. They had all seen him blind and most, if not all, knew he was blind from birth. They knew this to be a real miracle and the power of God. They would be unimpeachable witnesses who knew the man was blind from birth and would be unshakable in their testimony about this miracle.
John 9:9 "Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he."
There are always those who disbelieve or even wish not to believe, so they question the facts of an event. Some disputed that this was not the same man who was born blind. They disputed it even though the man himself said he was the blind man. Many will dispute an event even when faced with all the factual evidence in the world. Those who have an agenda will seldom allow the facts to sway their beliefs. It seems obvious that those who did not believe this to be the same man had some relations with the Pharisees. See Verse 13.
John 9:10-11 "Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? {11} He answered and said, A man that 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."
The facts are simple. He was healed by Jesus. He had never seen Jesus, but he knew Jesus because he had heard of Him. But he never saw Jesus-he only felt His touch. We do not see Jesus when He heals us of our sins. But we feel His touch.
John 9:12 "Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not."
They wanted to arrest Jesus for violating the Sabbath. Since the man was blind, he had not seen where Jesus went, nor was he predisposed to tell them anything for he probably detected their disdain.
John 9:13 "They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind."
Since he would not tell them where Jesus was, they took him to the authorities. The Pharisees were a sect of Jews who were respected men and who had much influence in the government. In fact, a good portion of men in authoritative government positions were Pharisees. So these people naturally took the blind man to the Pharisees to see if they pressure him into revealing the whereabouts of Jesus.
John 9:14 "And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes."
Healing this man on the Sabbath broke one of the rules in one of the thirty-nine categories of work that was prohibited on the Sabbath.
John 9:15-16 "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."
We saw before that the making of spittle clay as an eye balm was prohibited by the Mishna on the Sabbath. So this description of the treatment that Jesus gave to the man incensed the Pharisees. After all, that was one of their rules. They insisted that because Jesus broke one of their precious rules, that He was not of God. Notice that I said their rules. These were not God's rules, but man's. They said he was a sinner because he broke man's rule. They said because he was a sinner He could not possibly have healed this man. They called the man a liar.
As usual, Jesus brought division among men, just like He still does. After all, Jesus did say: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34).
John 9:17 "They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet."
In Israeli history, it was normally prophets and priests that healed. Elijah and Elisha both healed. The law gives specific instructions about how to approach the priest for healing. Since Jesus had healed him, the formerly blind man considered Him to be a prophet. He had not heard of Jesus prior to that. See verse 35.
John 9:18 "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."
The consensus among those who queried the blind mad was that he was a liar. Some believed him (verse 16), but most did not.
Let us discuss the interrogation of the parents as one whole unit:
John 9:19-23 "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."
The parents confirmed that the man was born blind and that he was their son. But because they were afraid of excommunication, they were very wary in their answers. They basically confirmed their son's blindness and then told their questioners to go and ask their son any other questions. After all, he had reached the age of majority. He was grown and able to answer for himself.
John 9:24-25 "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."
The words of "Amazing Grace" were taken partly from this verse. The man was pragmatic. He didn't know Who Jesus was (verse 35), but he knew one thing--he was blind but now he saw!
John 9:26-29 "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."
He refused to repeat his story for they knew it. He snidely asked them if they wanted to be a disciple of Christ. They were not amused. Nor did they believe him. They accused him of being a disciple of Christ—a fact that could get him excommunicated. They claimed to be obedient to the law of Moses. But that was untrue. Moses did not give them the law prohibiting healing on the Sabbath.
John 9:30-34 "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."
Logic dictated to him that if any One that could heal him, a man blind from birth, that One must be of God. This really infuriated them. They were men of God, not this upstart radical Jesus. Anyone who would put Jesus above them must be a degenerate sinner incapable of being regenerated. So they excommunicated him. This was serious stuff. He was no longer considered a Jew or a son of Abraham. He was now a Gentile. He would never again be allowed to participate in Jewish ceremonies or religious rites. If they were not under Roman rule, they would probably have banished him. He lost his birthright. He gave up everything he was for Jesus, and he did not yet know Who Jesus was.
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?"Jesus found him and presented the Gospel to the man. He had lost his religion, but now he would be saved. (I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see.)
John 9:36-38 "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."The man was saved. Who knows what he then did? It is likely he was a very active Christian and evangelist. Perhaps he became a bishop, perhaps he was even one of the leaders of the early church, like Ignatius (who, according to legend, was the little child that Jesus held in Mark 9:36, see also Matthew 18:2) or Polycarp or Clement. Perhaps he was one of the seventy. Perhaps he was one of those that Paul mentioned in his letters. We do not know, but it is interesting to speculate. It is certain that he was very grateful and that he worshipped Jesus. In my opinion, he became, at the very least, a warrior for the faith.
John 9:39 "And Jesus said,
For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."Those who thought they knew much and thought they could see (like the Pharisees) were closed minded and spiritually blind. Those who were open and receptive (like the healed blind man) received the Truth.
John 9:40-41 "And some of the Pharisees which 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."I am going to quote Adam Clarke here. He got it right:
"If ye were blind-If ye had not had sufficient opportunities to have acquainted yourselves with my Divine nature, by the unparalleled miracles which I have wrought before you? and the holy doctrine which I have preached, then your rejecting me could not be imputed to you as sin; but because ye say, we see-we are perfectly capable of judging between a true and false prophet, and can from the Scriptures point out the Messiah by his works-on this account you are guilty, and your sin is of no common nature, it remaineth, i.e. it shall not be expiated: as ye have rejected the Lord from being your deliverer, so the Lord has rejected you from being his people. When the Scripture speaks of sin remaining, it is always put in opposition to pardon; for pardon is termed the taking away of sin, John 1:29; Psalm 32:5. And this is the proper import of the phrase, afesiV twn amartiwn, which occurs so frequently in the sacred writings."
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Amazing Grace |
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John Newton |
William Walker |
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Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, |
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T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear. |
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Through many dangers, toils and snares |
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The Lord has promised good to me |
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When we've been here a thousand years |
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