Daily Scripture Reading John 9:13-41
Many people deny that God exists and that Jesus is God. They might acknowledge there was a man in the 1st century AD named Jesus who was a good teacher, but they do not believe He performed miracles and rose from the dead. They insist there is not sufficient evidence to substantiate the claims of Christianity.
Christians often give credence to their assertion that there is not sufficient evidence to back up the account of Jesus recorded in the Bible. However, John 9 records the reaction of the Jews to the healing of a blind man. This story illustrates that the problem is not just people rejecting the truth about Jesus, the problem is people rejecting the evidence itself.
Jesus saw a man who had been blind since birth. Jesus put clay on the man’s eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam, after which the man was able to see. The neighbors were astounded and debated if this was the blind man or someone who looked like him.
John 9:13 ¶ They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind.
John 9:14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
John 9:15 So 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.”
John 9:16 So then 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 sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
Notice the word “division”. The Pharisees were certain Jesus was not from God because He healed on a Sabbath. Meanwhile, other people were convinced only a man from God could give sight to a blind man.
John 9:17 Therefore, 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.”
The man who had been blind knew there had to be something special about the man who gave him sight.
John 9:18 ¶ Then, the Jews did not believe it of him that he was blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight,
John 9:19 and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?”
The skepticism of the Jews is somewhat understandable. Even today we would be skeptical of anyone who claimed he had been blind but now is able to see.
John 9:20 So his parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
John 9:21 but 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.”
At this point the Jews had undeniable proof that the man had been blind, but was now able to see.
John 9:22 His 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.
Note the word “afraid”. The parents of the blind man were afraid because the Jews were abusing the discipline process to suppress truth they did not like.
This has happened throughout church history. During the Reformation, the Roman Catholic church abused church discipline to silence those who were trying to expose the heresy and abuses of the church. Today, many evangelical mega-churches are abusing church discipline in order to cover up the misconduct and false teachings of mega-church leaders.
John 9:23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
John 9:24 ¶ Therefore, 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.”
The Jews called Jesus a sinner because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.
John 9:25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
The man who had been blind used his common sense and focused on a fundamental fact of his case. He had been blind since birth, but now he was able to see.
John 9:26 So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
John 9:27 He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to listen again? Do you want to become His disciples too?”
John 9:28 And they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
Here we see the word “reviled”. The Jewish leaders were arrogant.
John 9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”
John 9:30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes.
The man who had been blind pointed out that the religious leaders, who supposedly were religious experts, knew nothing about a man who had the ability to give sight to the blind.
John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him.
John 9:32 Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
Once again the man who had been blind zeroed in on a fundamental reality of life. There was no other case of a blind man gaining sight. Therefore, anyone who could give sight to a blind man, had to be more than just a normal man.
John 9:33 If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
The reason Jesus performed healings and miracles was to prove He is God. The man who had been blind understood that his healing had to lead to the conclusion that Jesus was from God.
The Jews had sufficient evidence in front of them that Jesus had given sight to a blind man. They should have accepted that Jesus was not just an ordinary man. Instead, they rejected the evidence.
Many people today claim there is not sufficient evidence to substantiate the truth claims of Christianity. However, just as the Jews rejected the proof that was in front of them, so too today many people reject the proof that Jesus is God and Master. The problem is not that there is insufficient evidence. The problem is many people reject the evidence.
John 9:34 They answered and said to him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.
Notice the phrase, “You were born entirely in sins”. The Jews believed the man had been born blind because of sin; therefore, they thought he was beneath them. They refused to listen to his common sense arguments.
John 9:35 ¶ Jesus heard that they had put him out, and after finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
Observe the words in Jesus’ question. He used the word “believe”. He also used the word “in”. Jesus did not ask if the man believed the Son of Man. He asked if the man believed in the Son of Man.
Jesus used the term “Son of Man” to refer to Himself. We know Jesus was referring to Himself. The man who had been blind did not understand that.
John 9:36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
The man who had been blind used the words “believe in”.
John 9:37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”
John 9:38 And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
This story reinforces the importance of believing in Jesus. In order to be saved, a person has to believe in Jesus. Believing in Jesus means believing what the Bible tells us about Jesus.
John 9:39 And 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.”
Observe the contrast. Those who see will not see and those who do not see will see. The physical manifestation of this was a blind man gaining the ability to see. The spiritual manifestation of this was non-religious people believing and gaining salvation while religious leaders such as the Pharisees refused to believe; thus, not gaining salvation.
John 9:40 Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “Are we blind too?”
John 9:41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
Throughout this story we see that the Jews rejected the proof that Jesus is God.
In what ways are people doing that today?
What are some examples you have seen of people rejecting the proof that Jesus is God and then claiming there is no proof that Jesus is God?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”