John 9:6-25, A Man Who Didn’t Know Any Better

Jesus performed the miracle, bringing sight to a man born blind.  Now John takes us through the steps by which the formerly blind man comes to believe in Jesus.  Remember, Jesus had not asked the man for any “commitment” before the miracle.  And yet, by the end of the chapter, the man had come to faith in Christ.  Let’s note the various steps he took to come to that conclusion.

·       9:6-12: Jesus was the man who told the blind man to wash in the Pool of Siloam.  The acquaintances of the man were a little confused, which is to be expected.  Some could not believe this was the man, even though his appearance was not significantly changed.  The man assured them he was, and when asked who had healed him his answer was simply, “a man called Jesus.”  He had not seen Jesus since he didn’t regain his sight until he washed the mud from his eyes.  Furthermore, he had not been part of the debate going on in the temple area over Jesus and His claims.  He didn’t take up sides.  He didn’t know any better than what he had experienced through his encounter with Jesus.

·       9:13-17: Jesus must be a prophet.  The man was brought before the Pharisees, apparently because what Jesus had done required the man to do work on the Sabbath, which it was.  By the way, it wasn’t necessarily Saturday.  The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles was a Sabbath, as was the day following.  Nevertheless, a debate ensued.  The Pharisees said that this “Man” was not from God because He violated Sabbath rules.  But others asked, if He is such a sinner how could He do the signs (miracles) that He did?  The debate continued.  But as for the man who had been blind, having heard the debate, he realized this “Man” must be a special sort of person.  “He is a prophet!” 

·       9:18-34: Jesus must be from God.  What followed was, essentially, a formal inquisition by the Jews, the leadership, on the matter.

o   9:18-23: First, the Jews took the position that the man had not really been blind.  So, they called in his parents, asking how he could now see if he had really been blind.  Their answer was true, although they were also trying to protect themselves from the authorities.  They knew he was their son and that he had been blind.  They had not been around when the healing took place.

o   9:24-34: Then they turned again to the man for questioning, and the man was anything but “protective” of himself.  The Pharisees even crafted a question, designed to bring some sort of explanation from the man that would give them a narrative by which they could spin the story to fit their position: “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”  The man’s answer was as clear a testimony as you can give, which we will consider in our next post.

Take a moment to consider your approach to Jesus.  Are you wanting to define Him in a way that fits your desired outcome?  Or are you allowing the Bible to define Jesus and bring you to God’s desired outcome?