John 9 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: John 9:1-5: Questions about a blind man

A. Find Out:

1. Who did Jesus see? v.1
   • As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2. What did his disciples ask? v.2
   • His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’
3. Who did Jesus say had sinned? v.3a
   • ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus
4. What reason did he give therefore for this blindness? v.3b
   • ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
5. When did he say they must work? v.4
   • As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
6. What did he say he was? v.5
   • While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’

B. Think:

1. What assumption is at the heart of the disciples’ question?
2. As what did Jesus see this?
3. What do you think Jesus meant by day and night?

C. Comment:

First, observe a common wrong assumption: that all sickness is caused by sin. Now the truth is that some sickness is caused by sin but we shouldn’t always assume that it is. Sickness comes because we live in a fallen world and in that sense it is sin that has brought all sickness, but that is different from assuming that every sickness is because of our sin. Every cold is not a judgement of God!

Second, note Jesus’ response to the disciples. Basically he is saying, let’s not got bogged down in the ‘why’ of this problem, let’s just see it as an opportunity to release the love of God and bring glory to God. If more of us were thinking in this manner we would see far more wonderful things happening in the church – and outside it!

Third, observe Jesus’ positive approach to service: let’s get on with it while we can. While I’m here I’m the light of the world and it is therefore day. A day will come when I’m not here, the light will have gone and it will then be dark, so let’s get on and make the most of the “day”; we are here to glorify God so let’s do it!

D. Application:

1. We so often want to apportion blame whereas Jesus wants to redeem    and bring healing and restoration.
2. While Jesus is here (by His Spirit) it is day and we should make the most of it, being available to Him so that he may work and bring glory to the Father through us.

Passage: John 9:6-12: The blind man healed

A. Find Out:

1. What did Jesus do to the man? v.6
   • After saying this, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.
2. What did he tell him to do? v.7
   • ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
3. What was the response of the man’s neighbours? v.8,9
   • His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, ‘Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?’ 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ But he himself insisted, ‘I am the man.’
4. What did they want to know & what was his reply? v.10,11
   • ‘How then were your eyes opened?’ they asked. 11 He replied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.’
5. What did they then ask and what was his answer? v.12
   • ‘Where is this man?’ they asked him. ‘I don’t know,’ he said.

B. Think:

1. Why do you think Jesus healed this man in this way?
2. What significance do you think there is in this healing in the light of what Jesus has said beforehand?

C. Comment:

 Jesus has just said (v.5 and previously 8:12) that he is the light of the world and so now we have a graphic healing whereby he brings literal light to a man who has been in darkness all his life. There is surely in John’s mind, as he records these things, a connection. The picture is so graphic. The man had been blind all his life and now Jesus enables him to see so that he can live a normal life.

It is with this in mind that we can go on to consider why Jesus healed this man in the way that he did. He could have spoken a word and the man would have been able to see; he could have touched the man and enabled him to see but instead he makes the man so uncomfortable (dirt in your eyes, even if you are blind, is unpleasant) that he has to go away and wash, and is then healed. Why? Perhaps it is part of the whole picture that John is painting about salvation and Jesus being the light of the world. We are in darkness from birth, and we need Jesus to come and help us “see”. But we need to acknowledge our state and recognise that we are in a state and need washing clean of that which blinds us (our sin). It is as we are obedient and respond to the prompting and directing of the Son that he is able to move upon us and bring us that new sight (new life). Such is the change that even the neighbours will have trouble coping with it!

D. Application:

1. We are born spiritually blind and need to be given sight by Jesus.
2. New sight comes with response to the Gospel from Jesus.

Passage: John 9:13-23: Questions about the healing

A. Find Out:

1. What was the concern of the Pharisees? v.13-16a
   • They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, ‘and I washed, and now I see.’ 16 Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’
2. Yet what did some feel? v.16b
   • But others asked, ‘How can a sinner perform such signs?’ So they were divided.
3. What was the man’s verdict about Jesus? v.17
   • Then they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’
4. Yet what did the Jews feel about this & what did they do? v.18,19
   • They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s 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?’
5. What was the reply of the parents? v.20,21
   • ‘We know he is our son,’ the parents answered, ‘and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.’
6. Why did they reply like that? v.22,23
   • His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’

B. Think:

1. What do you think SHOULD have been the response of everyone to this miracle?
2. Yet why do you think it was far from that?
3. How do you think we can be the same sometimes?

C. Comment:

Somebody was looking for trouble, otherwise why did they take this man to the Pharisees! Instead of great rejoicing over this wonderful thing that had happened, these miserable creatures start getting picky over the fact that it was done on the Sabbath! The Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest and a day of giving glory to God but these pathetic individuals ignore the wonderful work that God has just done and, instead, criticize and judge.

Perhaps the key to all this lies in verse 22 where we are told that the Jewish leadership had decided to censure anyone who sided with Jesus. They were already antagonistic towards him and therefore their antagonism blinded them to the wonder of what had happened to this man. All they wanted to do was prove that it couldn’t have happened and if it did happen, it shouldn’t have happened on the Sabbath! (Because healing someone might be considered work!!!) Perhaps this is one of the clearest examples of the stupidity and miserliness of self-centred sin in religious people in the Bible. Yet perhaps also, we are all prone to criticize those that we don’t understand or those we disagree with. Beware!

D. Application:

1. Self-concern blinds eyes to the truth. Beware!
2. A closed mind cannot see miracles in front of it. Beware!

Passage: John 9:24-34: Further challenges

A. Find Out:

1. What did they tell the man and why? v.24
   • A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. ‘Give glory to God by telling the truth,’ they said. ‘We know this man is a sinner.’
2. What was his simple testimony? v.25
   • He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’
3. How did he reply to their question? v.26,27
   • Then they asked him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ 27 He answered, ‘I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?’
4. What was their response to this? v.28,29
   • Then they hurled insults at him and said, ‘You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.’
5. How did he respond to that? v.30-32
   •  The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’
6. What was their final reaction? v.34
   • To this they replied, ‘You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!’ And they threw him out.

B. Think:

1. What was the Jews’ set opinion of Jesus?
2. How does that lead them to make wrong conclusions?
3. How does the man’s logic show them up?

C. Comment:

This is an excellent passage! For a second time they interrogate the man who had been healed but the more they provoke him the more he speaks up for the truth. Originally it seemed like he was still happy to be led like he had been when he was blind, but gradually it seems as if he is realising that because he no longer is at the mercy of others, he can stand up for himself.

They demand that he tells the truth and convict Jesus of being a sinner, but he refuses. His testimony is perfect: “All I know is that once I was blind, but now I can see”. For each of us that is really all we need to be able to say, and that is powerful! When they push him to repeat his story it is almost as if he is becoming exasperated by their refusal to believe and his reply manages to get even more religious! Eventually it is as if the underdog becomes top dog as he turns on them and gives them a simple lesson in doctrine: “God only listens to the godly and this was clearly an act of God. Hence this man must be godly. Simple isn’t it!” His blunt truth however is falling on deaf and determined ears, so they refuse to listen. He is thrown out.

D. Application:

1. Having a closed mind in a terrifying thing. When God moves, the closed  mind refuses to believe – whatever happens!
2. Jesus still does the impossible, still heals, still performs miracles, but are our minds open to him?

Passage: John 9:35-41: Belief and Unbelief

A. Find Out:

1. What did Jesus ask the man and what was his response? v.35,36
   •  Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ 36 ‘Who is he, sir?’ the man asked. ‘Tell me so that I may believe in him.’
2. What did Jesus reply to the man and what was his response? v.37,38
   • 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 worshipped him.
3. Why did Jesus say he had come into the world? v.39
   • Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’
4. What did the Pharisees ask? v.40
   • Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’
5. Why did Jesus say they were guilty? v.41 
   • Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

B. Think:

1. What is shown here about the heart of the man who had been blind?
2. What by comparison is shown about the Pharisees?
3. How does Jesus’ life judge people?

C. Comment:

There seems to have come a liberty to this man that is more than just having his natural sight restored. There seems an openness about him that is clearly revealed when questioned by Jesus. Why did Jesus leave him to the neighbours and the Pharisees before coming back to talk to him?

Perhaps because he knew the man needed to come to an awareness of himself, come to a place where he didn’t just have to accept the bullying of all those around him, but could make his own decisions and arrive at his own conclusions. It is almost like a chrysalis breaking open to reveal a beautiful butterfly inside, this awakening of this man who can now “see”.     

As Jesus questions him he reveals his hunger and his quick acceptance of the truth. How wonderful, but then there are the Pharisees who stand in stark contrast. Jesus comments that he has come into the world to judge or make clear the truth of every person’s situation and heart and the Pharisees overhear and question. How we each respond to Jesus shows the state of our heart, and in that way we judge ourselves. Those who simply turn away from him show that they are blind. Well, say the Pharisees, are you saying that we are blind too? That’s interesting, replies Jesus, you claim to be able to see and yet you refuse me and all I say, which means you do condemn yourselves. 

D. Application:

1. Acceptance of Jesus is proof of spiritual sight.
2. Rejection of Jesus is proof of spiritual blindness.