Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 9:16 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 s…
John 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles t…
Acts 5:38-39 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 9:13-34
One would have expected that such a miracle as Christ wrought upon the blind man would have settled his reputation, and silenced and shamed all opposition, but it had the contrary effect; instead of being embraced as a prophet for it, he is prosecuted as a criminal.
I. Here is the information that was given in to the Pharisees concerning this matter: They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind, Joh 9:13. They brought him to the great sanhedrim, which consisted chiefly of Pharisees, at least the Pharisees in the sanhedrim were most active against Christ. 1. Some think that those who brought this man to the Pharisees did it with a good design, to show them that this Jesus, whom…
they cast him out--judicially, no doubt, as well in fact. The allusion to his being "born in sins" seems a tacit admission of his being blind from birth--the very thing they had been so unwilling to own. But rage and enmity to truth are seldom consistent in their outbreaks. The friends of this excommunicated youth, crowding around him with their sympathy, would probably express surprise that One who could work such a cure should be unable to protect his patient from the persecution it had raised against him, or should possess the power without using it. Nor would it be strange if such thoughts should arise in the youth's own mind. But if they did, it is certain, from what follows, that they…
If this man were not of God, etc. - A very just conclusion: God is the fountain of all good: all good must proceed from him, and no good can be done but through him; if this person were not commissioned by the good God, he could not perform such beneficent miracles as these.
John Gill on John 9:33
If this man were not of God,.... If he had not his mission, commission, and credentials from God; if he had not been sent by him, and had not authority from him, and was not assisted by him, as man, or God was not with him,
he could do nothing; or "not do these things", as the Syriac version reads; that is, such miraculous works; or, as the Persic version, "he could not do this miracle": open the eyes of a man born blind. His doing this is a full proof that he is of God, and comes from him.
The Church Fathers
So Jesus must be admired, the blind man says, as one who is superior to human thought. While you do not know where he is from, the accomplished miracle openly proves his power to me. You do not know who he is and would need testimony from others if there had been no clue of his power. But if his miracles show that he is a great man—and you still do not know where he is from or who he is—it is evident, both from the greatness of his miracles and your foolishness, that he is beyond human comprehension. And from these facts it seems clear that he cannot be called a sinner. Certainly God does not fulfill the requests of sinners but listens instead to the voice of those who show honest behavior and faithfully do his will.… Indeed, he healed a man born blind, and we know that this has never been done before, not even by Moses, whom you admire.
He who had just received sight and been miraculously freed from his old blindness, was quicker to perceive truth than they who had been instructed by the law, for see, see how by very many and wise arguments he demonstrates the utter baseness of the Pharisees' opinion. For when they absurdly said of Christ: As for this Man we know not whence He is, he in reply severely rebukes them for their unfairness of thought, when they deny all knowledge of One Who worked such wonders; it being evident to all that one who was not from God would be unable to do any of those deeds which are only accomplished by Divine energy. For God works such deeds through the saints only, and would never bestow upon a stranger who had not yet entered on the way of godliness the ability to boast of such glories. Else let the dumbfoundered Pharisee come forward and say what is henceforth the distinction with God between the holy and the profane, the just and the sinner, the impious and the devout. For if He enables each equally to become glorious by the same means, there is no longer any distinction, but at once all things are brought into confusion, and we will say with good reason that which is written: How shall we fitly serve Him, and what will be the profit if we appear before Him? For if, as one of the Greek poets said: Ἴση μοῖρα μένοντι, καὶ εἰ μάλα τις πολεμίζοι, ["The same share is allotted to him who remains at home as to him who fights bravely." Homer, Iliad, ix. 318.] and the evil and the good are held in equal honour, will it not be useless to experience bitter hardships on account of virtue? But we will not consider that these things are so, and wherefore? Because: Them that honour Me, saith God, I will honour; and he that despiseth Me shall be despised. For my part, I would ask the self-conceited Pharisees, if God indifferently works such deeds even by the hands of sinners, why the magicians of Egypt did not achieve the same things as the great Moses? Wherefore could they not do equally wonderful works and carry off the same glory as he did? But thou wilt say that Moses' rod when it fell on the ground became a serpent, and those of the magicians became so in like manner. We answer that their rods were not transmuted into serpents, but a deceit was practised, and something which appeared to men like the form of serpents deluded them into error; a certain magical art made…
Dictionary and topics
Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Confessing Christ · Exemplified: Man born blind — Exemplified: Man born blind
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on John 9:24-33
John 9:24-33
24. A second time, therefore, they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner. 25. Therefore he answered and said, Whether he be a sinner, I know not; one thing I know, that though I was blind, I now see. 26. Again, therefore, they said to him, What did he to thee? How did he open thine eyes? 27. He answered them, I told you already, and you did not hear; why do you wish to hear it again? Do you wish also to become his disciples? 28. Then they upbraided him, and said, Be thou his disciple; as for us, [266] we are the disciples of Moses. 29. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know whence h…
Only God could do something such as open the eyes of someone born blind. By healing the man, Jesus offered the Jewish leaders an unquestionable sign that he was from God and was the Messiah (cp. Ps 146:8; Isa 35:5; 42:7).
