11.02.24 Jn. 9:24-34
PHARISEES QUESTION MAN AGAIN
24 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner!”
25 He answered, “Whether or not He’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
27 “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become His disciples too, do you?”
28 They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man — we don’t know where He’s from!”
30 “This is an amazing thing,” the man told them. “You don’t know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, He wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
34 “You were born entirely in sin,” they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.
It is interesting to observe how rapidly the man’s faith, insight, and courage grew during this brief examination. Previously he stated that he did not know who Jesus was, but then stated that Jesus must be a prophet. Like the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well, her insight grew exponentially during the brief discussion.
“Give glory to God.” The people who witnessed the miracle realized their purpose of life; to give glory to God.[1] But the religious leaders who were anointed for a ministry to praise and glorify God, not only failed to do so, but also brutally condemned the Healer as well as the one who was healed.
“I was blind, and now I can see!” This man had more vision than he could ever imagine. He not only was able to see the world around him, but he also had his spiritual eyes opened and he “saw” that Jesus was the Son of God. Amazingly, this is the condition of all humanity – people are blind to the desires of God until they respond to Him and the Holy Spirit opens their eyes.
“You don’t want to become His disciples too, do you?” This statement was not by one of the leading Pharisees, but by the blind man who was healed. It was an amazing confrontation to the religious leaders, who were insulted by his bold statement. In essence, if the religious leaders were so close to God, how could Jesus heal him and they not know about it? The question “You don’t want to become His disciples too, do you?” was nothing other than a comment of sarcasm. All this occurred even though he had not met Jesus, and did not even know of Him until verse 35.
“Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.” This is a key statement to identify this miracle as a “messianic miracle.” The Greeks believed that their gods healed the blind and Roman emperors claimed they had divine healing powers as well. This phrase demonstrated that no one else, including the Greeks and Romans, had performed such an incredible miracle. Nonetheless, the Pharisees threw him out.
Finally, it is noteworthy to review the progression of revelation of how the healed blind man recognized Jesus. The Samaritan woman also had a progressive revelation written of her (see 06.01.03).
- He called Jesus a man in verse 11.
- In verse 17 he said Jesus was a prophet.
- He concluded by saying that Jesus was the Son of Man/God (verse 35). It was a good revelation for him but an undesirable conclusion for the leading Pharisees and other critics.
[1]. See Josh. 7:19; 1 Sam. 6:5; Jer. 13:16; Lk. 17:18.