John

Chapter 9
{Note: There is a big contrast between Chapter 8 - inside the temple - and Chapter 9 outside the temple. 1) Ch 8 Jesus is the Light of the world, Ch 9 Jesus communicates the Light 2) Ch 8 Jesus is rejected and heckled in the Temple, Ch 9 Jesus is received and worshiped 3) Ch 8 Jesus hides Himself from the religious crowd, Ch 9 Jesus reveals Himself to a blind man 4) Ch 8 Jesus is called demon possessed, Ch 9 Jesus is called Lord.}

{Verses 1-12: Healing a Man Born Blind}
1~~And as He {Jesus} was in the process of passing by,
He saw a man who had been blind from birth.

{Note: Jesus saw a human soul with positive volition. We will see next that his disciples saw only the physical body - one that was dirty, ugly, defective, 'helpless and hopeless' - and did not consider that he might actually have a soul and have feelings!}

2~~His disciples interrogated Him at this point in time {aorist tense}
and kept on saying over and over,
"Master/Rabbi
  {not 'Lord' so implies they are out of bounds right now},
who committed the sin with the result that
caused him to be born blind,
this man or his parents?"

{Note: Love it when the disciples give the old 'of these two choices' to the Lord. The answer is - neither! Same with in Acts the 'election of the 12th disciple' 'of these two who should we choose! Answer, neither - Paul was God's choice.}

3~~Jesus 'had an answer'/'gave a discerning answer
from the ultimate source of Himself' {apokrinomai},
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned,
but he was born blind so
that the productions {ergon -divine good} of God
may be revealed/'made manifest'
through {what happens to} him."

{Note: The word answered is 'apokrinomai'. It is a compound
verb . . . a preposition from the ultimate source . . . giving a discerning answer based on knowledge. Krino means: 'to judge'. Krinomai means: 'to be discerning in an answer'. Thus, the full meaning of 'apokrinomai' is: "to give a discerning answer from the ultimate source of ones self."}

{Note: Ergon means works or production. When it is accomplished under the filling of the Holy Spirit it means 'divine good production'. When it is done under the 'energy of the flesh' it is translated 'human works' or just 'works'. All human works/righteousnesses are 'wood, hay and stubble' and thereby - worthlessnesses/evil/'menstrual rags' in the sight of the Lord.}

4~~"We must accomplish the production {ergon - divine good}
of the One Who sent Me
as long as it is daytime {period of His incarnation}.
Night is coming {blackout during the cross} when no one
has the power to accomplish
  {3 hours when He 'worked' on the cross - no one else could work in the total darkness}."

5~~"As long as I am in the world {the day - incarnation},
I keep on being the Light of the World {the revelation of God}."

{Here's Mud in Your Eye Passage}
6~~ Having spoken these this
  {doctrine, then miracle, then more doctrine},
He {Jesus} spat on the ground
and made some mud/clay with the saliva.
He smeared the mud/clay
on the blind man's eyes {double blindness now}.

{Note: The temple was made of marble. The dirt on the stone was really dirty from the travelers walking by. This would have really upset the religious crowd to see this nasty act!}

7~~And said to him, "Go - under My authority {hupago} -
wash {your eyes - nipto} in the pool of Siloam"
(which is translated "sent'
  {apostello - to send on a mission under authority}").
So the blind man went away and washed,
and came back and kept on seeing/blinking {blepo}.

{Note: Ago means to go. Hup means 'under my authority'. So 'hupago' means 'go under My authority' and wash your eyes.}

{Note: Nipto and louo are two Greek words for washing. Nipto means to wash only a part of the body. Louo means to wash the whole body. Peter uses this later in John 13:10 when the Lord tells him to wash His feet to learn humility. Peter wants to 'louo' His entire body for 'double humility'!}

{Note: Blepo is the Greek word for a blip on a radar screen. Like blinking instead of a long stare.}

{Note: Important distinction here! The beggar is now HEALED, but is NOT SAVED. It is not until the end of the Chapter when He accepts Christ as his savior.}

8~~Then the neighbors {those who knew the beggar well}
and they who had previously constantly seen/'perceived
and experienced' {theoreo} him who was before a beggar
  {begs for alms through personal contact}
began saying, "Is this not the man
who used to constantly sit and constantly beg?"

{Note: Theoreo is the Greek word from which we get theory. It means to perceive and experience something. Means they not only 'saw' him, but they knew who he was over the last 30 years or so! He was ALWAYS blind! Never was not! So, they are amazed here.}

{Division of Opinion}
9~~Some people said, "This is the man!"
while others said, "No, but he looks like him."
The man himself kept on insisting, "I keep on being the one."

{Note: A man blind from birth would have his eyelids down. Now that they see him with his eyes open, he looks 'different'. The confusion is a normal thing.}

10~~So they interrogated him,
"How then 'did your eyes
receive opening'/'how were you made to see'?"

{Straight Answer Here - Sarcastic Answer to Legalistic Pharisees Later}
11~~ He 'had an answer'/'gave a discerning answer
from the ultimate source of Himself' {apokrinomai},
"The man called Jesus manufactured mud/clay,
smeared it on my eyes and kept on telling me,
'Go to Siloam and wash {your eyes - nipto}.'
So I went and washed, and at that point in time {aorist tense}
blinked again and again {anablepo}."

{Note: Anablepo means to blink over and over. Blepo is the little blink - like the blip on the radar screen - as opposed to a long stare. Ana means again and again.}

{Another Straight Question and Straight Answer}
12~~ They said to him, "Where is that man?"
He replied, "I don't know {oida - don't have the inherent knowledge}."

{Verses 13-34: The Blind Man takes on the Pharisees} 13~~They brought the 'once blind man' to the Pharisees.

{Parentheses to Demonstrate Religious Issue - Legalism of Pharisees - forget the Miracle Jesus 'Worked' on the Sabbath!}
14~~(Now it was the Sabbath day
on which Jesus made the mud/clay and opened his eyes.)

{Interrogation}
15~~So the Pharisees
kept on interrogating {erotao} him - again and again -
how he had opened his eyes/'blinked over and over' {anablepo}.
He replied, "He {Jesus} put mud on my eyes and I washed,
and now I do see/glance/blink {blepo}."

{Note: The Pharisees did not 'ask' him, they interrogated him - erotao - over and over trying to find the lie in his story! They could not do so!}

{Religiosity Rears Its Ugly Head}
16~~Then some of the Pharisees began to say,
"This man {Jesus} is not from the immediate source of God,
because He does not observe the Sabbath."
But others said, "How can a man
who is a sinner perform such miraculous signs?"
Thus there was a division/split/schism among them.

{Note: The Pharisees had huddled to the side to decide how to now discredit Jesus. The first group - the 'Super Legalists' use their taboo of working on the Sabbath'. The second group - the logical thinking group of unbelievers disagree. So they have to go look at the beggar again for more information.}

{Second Try - Interrogation and now Pressure to Denounce Jesus}
17~~So they said {lego} to the blind man again and again,
"What do you say about Him,
because he 'has opened your eyes/
'caused you to see' {'work on a Sabbath'}?"
"He keeps on being a prophet," the man said {lego}.

{Note: The Pharisees are pressuring the man to denounce Jesus. He realizes now that Jesus worked on the Sabbath and this was against their rules so they wanted him to denounce Jesus - so then they could say 'well, yes of course he must be correct'! But the blind man is not going to buy into their lie!}

18~~But the Jews {Jewish leaders} did not believe {pisteuo}
that he had really been blind
and had gained his sight {anablepo}
until at last they shouted out for {phoneo} the parents
of the man who had become able to see {anablepo}.

{Note: Remember this is now a beggar being confronted by the religious leaders of his country. When they summon or shout out for this man's parents to come forward, the parents will be frightened from the start. Phoneo means to summon or 'shout out for' - and yes, it is the word from which we get 'phone'.}

{Pharisees try to Discredit Miracle with Three Questions}
19~~ They kept on asking them {the parents},
"Is this your son? {did someone bring in a ringer?}
Who . . . you say he was born blind?
Then . . . how does he see now {arti} see {temporarily}?"

{Note: Arti meaning now has the implication in it of a temporary situation.}

20~~His parents 'had an answer'/'gave a discerning answer
from the ultimate source of themselves {apokrinomai} and said,
"We know/'have inherent knowledge {oida}
that this keeps on being our son
and that he was born blind."

Continued

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