John 9:13-41 (NIRV)

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 The day Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath day. 15 So the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied. “Then I washed. And now I can see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “Jesus has not come from God. He does not keep the Sabbath day.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner do such signs?” So the Pharisees did not agree with one another.

17 Then they turned again to the blind man. “What do you have to say about him?” they asked. “It was your eyes he opened.”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

18 They still did not believe that the man had been blind and now could see. So they sent for his parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered. “And we know he was born blind. 21 But we don’t know how he can now see. And we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is an adult. He can speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The leaders had already made this decision about Jesus. Anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why the man’s parents said, “He is an adult. Ask him.”

24 Again the Pharisees called the man who had been blind to come to them. “Give glory to God by telling the truth!” they said. “We know that the man who healed you is a sinner.”

25 He replied, “I don’t know if he is a sinner or not. I do know one thing. I was blind, but now I can see!”

26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered, “I have already told you. But you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

28 Then they began to attack him with their words. “You are this fellow’s disciple!” they said. “We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses. But we don’t even know where this fellow comes from.”

30 The man answered, “That is really surprising! You don’t know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does what he wants them to do. 32 Nobody has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man had not come from God, he could do nothing.”

34 Then the Pharisees replied, “When you were born, you were already deep in sin. How dare you talk like that to us!” And they threw him out of the synagogue.

35 Jesus heard that the Pharisees had thrown the man out of the synagogue. When Jesus found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me, so I can believe in him.”

37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge it. I have come so that people who are blind will see. I have come so that people who can see will become blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this. They asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, you remain guilty.

 


Background:

John 9 is in the larger context of John 7 to 9, the narative of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The healing of the blind man happened on a Sabbath. There are 3 mentions of Sabbaths from Ch 5 to 9:

      (John 5:9-10) The man was healed right away. He picked up his mat and walked. This happened on a Sabbath day. So the       Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath day. The law does not allow you to carry your       mat.”      

      (John 7:22-23) Moses gave you circumcision, and so you circumcise a child on the Sabbath day. But circumcision did not       really come from Moses. It came from Abraham. 23 You circumcise a boy on the Sabbath day. You think that if you do, you       won’t break the law of Moses. Then why are you angry with me? I healed a man’s entire body on the Sabbath day!

      (John 9:14) The day Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath day.

 


Discussion:

2. What is the accusation of the Pharisees against Jesus?
3. Jesus could have avoided this conflict by choosing another day to heal. Why did Jesus choose to heal on Sabbaths? Why did he choose to knead mud?. “One of the categories of work specifically forbidden on the Sabbath in the tradition interpretation of the law was kneading, and the making of mud or clay with such simple ingredients as earth and saliva was construed as a form of kneading.” (Bruce)
4. What is the meaning and significance of healing on Sabbaths?
5. What are the differences between the blind man and the Pharisees towards Jesus?
6. How were the Pharisees “blind” towards the Truth?
7. Why did Jesus find the man after he was thrown out of the synagogue (excommunicated)?


Reflection and Application:

8. The blind man has the courage again and again to say what he knows about Jesus in the face of oppositions. What can you learn from him?