John 9:1-2. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind
Christ's disciples were often inquisitive even when their Master was bent upon giving proofs of his practical benevolence. Fools may sometimes ask questions which wise men may not think it proper to answer; but on this occasion, our Saviour gave an answer to the enquiry which his disciples had put to him.
John 9:3-4. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents : but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Think of our Lord being under the necessity of working: «I must work.» Men say that «Must is for the king;» but here is the King of kings declaring that work is, by the most urgent necessity, laid upon him; so will not you, beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, come under this divine necessity? Will not you feel that you also must be doing all you can for your Divine Lord and Master?
John 9:5. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
While Christ was here on earth, he was the great Light-Giver, and he is still the great Light-Giver; and now that his visible presence has been withdrawn from the world, his people are to be «the light of the world» by reflecting the light they have received from him. In such works as you will be unable to perform after death, you are now to give light to the sons of men.
John 9:6-9. 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, 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. The neighbours therefore. and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged ? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
«There is no mistake about this; I know that I am that man.»
John 9:10-11. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said,
In his own quick, clear, intelligent way, for he was a man who evidently had twice as many eyes in his brain as other people had, even while he had none with which he could see: «He answered and said,»
John 9:11-14. 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. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
You may be sure that the Pharisees would be in high dudgeon because Christ did that; for, according to their stupid superstition, to make clay with spittle was a kind of brick-making which must not be done on the Sabbath-day, and they would, for that reason, condemn Christ as a breaker of the Sabbath.
John 9:15. 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.
Now that he has to deal with Pharisees, he will not waste a word upon them. The more often he tells the story, the shorter it becomes. That is not the usual rule with stories; they generally grow like snowballs as they roll along until, at last, you would hardly recognize the original story. So much has been added to it as it has been told again and again. But this honest, straightforward man cuts the story down to the barest details, and yet tells it well.
John 9:16-17. 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. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
He felt that he could safely go as far as that, for Jesus could not have wrought such a. miracle as that if he had not been a prophet sent by God.
John 9:18-21. 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. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: 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.
These parents, though in humble life, were evidently, like their son, sharp and shrewd; so they referred the question to the one who knew how to answer it.
John 9:22-24. 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. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him. Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him,
They wanted to see if they could catch him in his talk; so they said to him, in a very pious fashion:
John 9:24. Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
Dear me what wonderful «knowledge» those Pharisees had!
John 9:25. 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.
There was no driving him out of that stronghold. That which is a matter of our own personal experience is a thing about which we may well feel positively certain. I wish we had more Christian people firmly established in their faith because it is a matter of deep, heartfelt, personal experience with them. I like to meet a man who can say, «I am willing to yield to opponents upon certain points concerning which I am not quite sure; but the fact of the efficacy of the gospel of God's grace, the power of the precious blood of Jesus to cleanse the heart and conscience, the divine operation of the Holy Spirit within the soul, all these are truths which I cannot and will not yield. Like this man, I can say, ‘One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.'»
John 9:26-27. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? 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?
He carried the war into the enemy's camp, as well he might.
John 9:28. Then they reviled him,
That is an unprincipled lawyer's rule, When you cannot answer the plaintiff's argument, abuse him. This was the last resort of those who knew that they had a bad case, or no case at all: «Then they reviled him,»
John 9:28-31. And said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. 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. Now we know that God heareth not sinners:
The man meant, God does not open blind eyes by the hands of sinners. He does not work miracles to bear witness to the agency of ungodly men.
John 9:31-33. But if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.
Bravo, you who used to be blind! What an irresistible thing truth is, whoever handles it! These Pharisees, keen of intellect, well instructed in the letter of the law, yet crafty, up to their eyes in self-conceit, are like chaff driven before the wind when a plain-speaking man does but handle the truth of the living God. Never be afraid or ashamed to spread the gospel of Christ, my brethren and sisters; nay,
«Speak his Word, though kings should hear,
Nor yield to sinful shame.»
A beggar with the truth is mightier than priests and princes with a lie.
John 9:34. They answered and said unto him,
What could they say to him ? Nothing but more reviling and abuse.
John 9:34. Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
That is the last argument of all. «We cannot answer him, so let us turn him out!»
John 9:35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, Oh, how he
rejoices in finding those that are cast out by the world, or by the self-righteous: «When he had found him,»
John 9:35-36. He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said,
Note the humility of the man's tone, how changed it is from that sharpness, that acerbity to which he had been driven by his enemies: «He answered and said,»
John 9:36. Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
He is a lamb before Christ though he was a lion before the Pharisees. That is the true Christian character, gentle, tender, humble, meek, in the presence of the God of mercy, but with no trembling, no giving way in the presence of the adversaries of Christ and his truth.
John 9:37-38. And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
He was no Unitarian: «he worshipped him.» And you, beloved, cannot help worshipping him who has opened your eyes spiritually. It is those who are still blind who will not worship him; but once let us feel the touch of his light-giving finger, once let us know that he has shed his eternal light into the darkness of our souls, and we shall not be satisfied with the mere verbal avowal of our faith, we shall add to it our reverent adoration, as this man did when he first said, «Lord, I believe;» and then «worshipped him.»