1As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as [until] it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” 6When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, 7and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. 8Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.” 10So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” 12They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
13They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. 14Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15Then 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.” 16Therefore 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 man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17So 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.” 18The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but 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.” 22His 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. 23For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24So 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.” 25He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” 28They 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.” 30The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. 31“We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears 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.” 34They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.
35Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” 38And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him. 39And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” 40Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
Interesting Words
works
(ἔργον Greek) – ergon- (noun) work, task, employment; a deed, action; that which is wrought or made, a work, a deed (action) that carries out (completes) an inner desire (intension, purpose) – John 5:19, 20;
work
(ἐργάζομαι Greek) – ergazomai – (verb) work, trade, perform, do, practice, commit, acquire by labor, middle or passive voice. – John 6:28;
Siloam
(Σιλωάμ Greek) – Silóam- Siloam, a spring within the walls, in the south-east corner of Jerusalem. – Luke 13:4; John 9:11;
(שִׁלֹחַ Hebrew) – ‘a sending out,’ ‘gushing forth’ (of water), from אָיַב; יִלּוד, ‘born’, from יָלַד, ‘to bring forth’ – Isa 8:6; Neh 3:15;
know
(οἶδα Greek) – eidó – be aware, behold, consider, perceive, know, remember, appreciate, properly, to see with physical eyes. – Matt 9:6-7; all 11 occurrences in John 9, translated “know”.
until
(ἕως Greek) – heós- till, until, as far as, up to, as much as – John 9:4, 18;
already
(ἤδη Greek) – édé- already; now at length, now after all this waiting, a temporal adverb, “a point of time preceding another point of time and implying completion, ‘already’ – John 3:18; John 4:35 KJV;
see
(βλέπω Greek) – blepó- (primarily physical), I look at, see, perceive, discern, “to see something physical, with spiritual results (perception) – Matt 12:22; Luke 8:10; Nine occurrences in John 9 translated “see”;
Cross References
▪︎ John 8:12 – Jesus is the light of the world.
▪︎ John 16:2, 3John 1:9,10 – Several warnings of being put out of the fellowship.
▪︎ John 12:42, 43, 19:38, 20:19 – Many afraid of being put out of the synagogue.
Discussion Questions
1. In John 9:3-4, Jesus uses the plural pronoun “we”. Who do you think He is refering to by the word “we”?
▪︎ The Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
▪︎ His disciples and those who will follow Him later (current dy Christians)
▪︎ Some restrictions apply. It is only those who are Spirit filled and who are walking close hwith God at the time – 2Cor 5:17; Gal 2:20;
2. The verb “work” in John 9:4 is in the middle or passive voice. What does this imply?
▪︎ Generally, this would imply that I am (at least in part) doing the work myself, on myself. Probably most secularists would agree….
▪︎ John 9:4 Greek
▪︎ However, a more accurate response theologically is that God thru the trinity works in us:
► to save us by the Son’s work on the cross
► to sanctify us by the Holy Spirit – Col 1:28
► to lead us into His works – John 3:21, 5:17, 19, 20
► to empower to be effective – Col 1:29
▪︎ all without violating our free will – Phil 2:12-13
3. What does Jesus mean in John 9:4 when He says “I am the light of the world”?
▪︎ Jesus is the source of all effort, all effectiveness, of all victory.
▪︎ He is the highest priority for man.
▪︎ John 3:21 is a fitting application of His light shining thru us.
► One who practices (labors at, to do work, continues in) the truth.
► Comes to the light, the source, to confirm that his work was done, sourced from God.
► Manifested, displayed openly in the light, and confirmed to be true… John 14:21.
▪︎ This is true while Jesus was in the world. After that, it is the work of His Church, brothers, the Sons of God to continue this task of accomplishing Gods works in the world.
▪︎ Here is the mystery, this manifestation shows that the work was God’s work, His doing.
4. What does the John 9:3-4 imply about the purposes of God and how does that apply to your life?
▪︎ God holds the master plan for the universe and all men.
▪︎ We need to commit our lives to His plan on a daily basis and not run amuck.
▪︎ Once committed, we need to carefully take steps that are confirmed and determined to be on His path.
▪︎ Bathe every move continually in prayer.
5. How would you describe the narative of Jesus healing the blind man?
▪︎ It appears to be very carefully planned out (e.g. the mud concealed Jesus’ appearance until He revealed it to the blind man).
▪︎ It put many obstacles in the way, exposing the commitment of the blind man.
▪︎ it exposes the total lack of faith for the Pharisees, and their prejudices.
▪︎ It also exposed their hardened hearts and stiff necks.
▪︎ It gave a stage for all time to demonstrate how a person with little or no training can effectively defend the gospel.
6. Why was there confusion about the identity of the blind man? How did the blind man convince the crowd of his identity?
▪︎ The blind, any times, have deformed or missing eyes, making it hard to recognize them after being healed.
▪︎ it would be an unexpected surprise to see him walking about without help. His voice would give him away.
▪︎ The Pharisees would be interested in generating confusion about his identity or questions about his original blindness.
▪︎ He simply testified plainly that he was the man.
▪︎ He certainly was not completely successful but must of had some success in that the Pharsees had to take the matter to his parents.
▪︎ His testimony was very convincing. It had to be; otherwise, the Pharisees would have had no comment. But the way it was, they had to throw him out of the synagogue.
7. How would you grade the blind man’s logic in John 9:30-31? What import do you see in John 9:32-33?
▪︎ A+… It is simple but very effective.
▪︎ To those who claim that they can see and yet fail to see, it is a severe contradiction… truly amazing.
▪︎ God does not hear sinners, Jesus healed in miraculous ways, Jesus must be God (by extrapolation).
▪︎ Jesus healing the man blind from birth, as it had never been done before, is a fitting example of His divinity.
▪︎ The fact that the Pharisees could not see (or refuse to see) is an eternal monument to man’s depravity and need for the grace of God.
8. From John 9:39, what was Jesus’ purpose?
▪︎ Jesus is preparing men for the final judgement warning them so that no one is surprised by the outcome.
▪︎ Judgement similar to the parable of the tares (Matt 13:24-43). Know the certainty of a final judgement… if you are born again, you are safe, but if you are hard-hearted and reject His call (all the way to the end) then you are of you father the devil and doomed.
▪︎ Jesus is possibly creating situations for the record (the books, Rev 20:12, 15), that if left unchanged, will sway even the most favorable juror to convict the sinner… Jer 17:13;
▪︎ Jesus doing a binary segmentation that forces individuals in the population to one side or the other.
9. What did the Pharisees perceive from the discussion in John 9:40-41?
▪︎ They perceived that Jesus was putting them in the camp with all the other sinners, thus condemning them to death.
▪︎ Jesus said He agreed with their assessment, confirming that they said they could see and so they remain in their sin (binary condemned).
▪︎ I think Jesus also shows them the way out, saying that if the confessed that they had some flaws, and didn’t know everything (saying they could see), then their confessed blindness could be transformed into sight, real sight.