BibleTools
verse

(e.g. john 8 32)
  or  

John 9:25  (King James Version)
version

A.F.V
A.S.V.
Amplified®
Darby
I.S.V.
K.J.V.
N.A.S.B.
NASB E-Prime
Young's


Compare all


Book Notes
   Barnes' Book Notes
   Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes
   Robertson's Book Notes (NT)
Commentaries
   Adam Clarke
   Barnes' Notes
   Forerunner Commentary
   Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
   John Wesley's Notes
   Matthew Henry
   People's Commentary (NT)
   Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
   Scofield
Definitions
Interlinear
Library
Topical Studies
X-References
Commentaries:
<< John 9:24   John 9:26 >>


John 9:18-30

The Pharisees, unable to extract damaging testimony from the parents, begin to interrogate the healed man more thoroughly. Apparently, he had been absent during the questioning of his parents, because the Pharisees attempt to finesse an admission out of him by pretending that they had learned the true story from them (John 9:24). In the ensuing exchange, they amplify their position (John 9:29).

The Pharisees also claim both to know and not to know something. They claim to know that Jesus is a sinner and that God had spoken through Moses. They claim not to know Christ's origin. Yet, what they claim and what they deny contradict (John 9:29; 7:27)—they are lying! Unlike the parents, who know the truth but will not admit it, these men think they know the truth but are actually ignorant of it.

Sadly, this also describes many people today, particularly those pseudo-scholars and pseudo-leaders who claim to know all about Christ and Christianity but have never really come to know Him personally.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Man Born Blind (Part Three)



John 9:12-31

Knowledge plays a part in the man's healing; this theme is suggested by the fact that each of the parties claim both to know and not to know something. Since the claims and the reasons for them differ, the contrasts highlight their various types of knowledge. By their questioning, the Pharisees try to discredit the man's testimony, attempting to find a cause to brand the healing a fraud and to attack Jesus (verse 19). They imply that the parents should stop lying and come clean (verses 20-21). Yet, the parents affirm two facts: that the healed man was indeed their son and that he was born blind. They knew this, and they were not afraid to affirm it.

Conversely, they denied knowing how he came to see and who did the miracle. Why do they not acknowledge what they know of Christ's role in the healing? “They feared the Jews.” They know that the leaders would excommunicate anyone who confessed Jesus as the Messiah. The parents simply did not want to get involved. They were afraid to acknowledge what had been revealed to them.

This is an accurate picture of many today. The truths of Christianity have been proclaimed to them—perhaps by parents, friends, or the church. Intellectually, they know and even believe these truths, but they will not admit them. They are afraid to acknowledge Christ for fear of the consequences.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Man Born Blind (Part Three)



John 9:25-29

The healed man readily acknowledges his ignorance but then adds, “One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). Despite not knowing of Jesus, he is certain that He had changed him. In this, he becomes a type of genuine Christians. They do not know everything, but what they know they truly know because they have met and accepted Jesus personally as Lord and Savior.

Unlike the others, the man humbly begins with his limitations in knowledge. Both the parents and Pharisees say “we know” first and only after they declare what they do not know (see verses 20-21, 24-29), revealing their cowardice or ignorance. The man first admits his ignorance but then affirms what he knows as the result of God's revelation.

In his humble state, he easily recognizes the lack of knowledge in others, in this case, the greater ignorance of the “educated” leaders of the people. Having eliminated false self-confidence as well as any unjustified confidence in the Pharisees, all that remains is what he truly knows: He could now see. Thus, he takes his stand on the certainties.

As Christians, beginning in ignorance and sin, we confess both our spiritual dependence and our failings. We realize that, unless God chooses to reveal Himself—which He does in His Word and in Christ—we can know nothing. No one can know God by means of human reasoning or by any other human instrument (Job 11:7; I Corinthians 2:14). Spiritual knowledge is not revealed even through religious tradition, but it comes through the intervention of God in history, in His written Word, and the opening of the mind by the Holy Spirit—and only to those whom God calls.

Jesus says to the once-blind man, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” Having been blind, do we now entrust our spiritual well-being to Jesus Christ?

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Man Born Blind (Part Three)



John 9:1-38

As his gospel begins, the apostle John writes that Jesus Christ "came to His own, and His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). That He "came to His own" describes the content of John 9, where we find Him healing a man born blind (John 9:1-38). Chapters 9-12 emphasize Jesus' calling out a people of His own in the midst of, and in spite of, growing hostility from Jewish authorities. As His own people are rejecting him, Christ begins to call out a new people, first exemplified by the story of His calling of the blind man.

This miracle, which John alone relates, occurs in a conspicuous setting. The sixth of eight miracles recorded in his gospel, it is an illustration of the previous day's significant affirmation of Jesus as "the Light of the world" (John 8:12). He is the Light of divine salvation that overcomes the darkness of man's moral and physical blindness. Thus, as the Light, He gave sight to a blind man.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Man Born Blind (Part One)



John 9:1-41

The miracle of healing displays Jesus Christ giving sight to the blind. Healing is a work of the God of the Old Testament, as seen in Psalm 146:8, "The LORD opens the eyes of the blind . . ." (see also Exodus 4:10-12). Giving sight to the blind is also a work of the Messiah, as prophesied in Isaiah 35:4-5, "He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. . . ." Jesus' healing of the man born blind, then, is another testimony of His Deity and of the fact that He is the Messiah.

In spite of this great testimony, most of the witnesses missed the miracle's message, and the religious leaders persecuted the newly healed man. Moreover, they condemned the Healer, Jesus Christ, calling Him a sinner. Greater blindness existed in their lives than in the man Christ healed; he was only physically blind but their blindness was spiritual, of the heart and mind.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Man Born Blind (Part Two)




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing John 9:25:

Matthew 9:29-30
John 9:1-38

 

<< John 9:24   John 9:26 >>



The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment

The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment

Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.

Email Address:

   
Leave this field empty

We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be sold, distributed, rented, or in any way given out to a third party. We have nothing to sell. You may easily unsubscribe at any time.
©Copyright 1992-2024 Church of the Great God.   Contact C.G.G. if you have questions or comments.
Share this on FacebookEmailPrinter version
Close
E-mail This Page