John 9 - ESV Study Bible

9:2 The disciples’ question reflects the assumption, customary in ancient Judaism, that suffering could be traced to sin. The underlying concern—well-intentioned, but misguided—was not to charge God with perpetrating evil on innocent people (cf. Ex. 20:5; Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:9). Yet the NT makes clear that suffering is not always a direct result of a person’s sin (e.g., Luke 13:2–3a; 2 Cor. 12:7; Gal. 4:13; and Jesus’ crucifixion; see also John 12:28, 37–41; 17:1,5).

9:3 That the works of God might be displayed in him indicates that God in his mysterious and wise providence sometimes allows his children to go through hardship and suffering so that they can experience God’s mercy and power in delivering them.

9:4 While it is day refers to the time when Jesus is here in his earthly ministry, for he is “the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5) whose presence makes everything “day.” Night would then be the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and death. Jesus shows an intense awareness of the need to fulfill all that the Father sent him to accomplish during his earthly ministry; we indicates that he is involving his disciples in that work as well.

9:5 I am. See note on 6:35. the light of the world. See note on 1:4–5.

9:6 It is unclear why Jesus made mud and put it on the man’s eyes. There may be an echo of God’s creative activity in Gen. 2:7 (cf. John 20:22): the Creator is now re-creating.

9:7 pool of Siloam. This site had been associated in both scholarly and tourist literature with a pool connected with the remains of a Byzantine (4th–7th century A.D.) church toward the south of the Temple Mount at the terminus of Hezekiah’s tunnel, which brings water from the Gihon Spring. However, additional work just southeast of the traditional site has unearthed a much larger pool (225 feet [69 m] long on one side) with steps leading down into it. This larger pool contains Hasmonean-era (c. 165–63 B.C.) coins embedded in the plaster and remains of late Second Temple (pre-A.D. 70) artifacts resting in the pool itself, dating the large pool to the time before and during the NT. It seems most likely that this is the location of the pool of Siloam referred to here. This miracle is one of several events in John in which the events in the physical world are a “sign” that points to a deeper spiritual meaning. Here Jesus gives sight to a man born blind, but this is also an evident symbol that Jesus, “the light of the world” (v. 5), brings the light of the knowledge of God.

9:14 The belated mention of the Sabbath (cf. 5:9 and note on Matt. 12:8) recalls the earlier Sabbath controversy in John 5. Jesus had kneaded the clay with his saliva to make mud, and kneading dough (and by analogy, clay) was included among the 39 classes of work forbidden on the Sabbath (Mishnah, Shabbat 7.2). Jesus’ frequent conflicts with the Jews over the Sabbath suggest that by his coming he is changing the Sabbath requirements (see John 5:17).

9:18–23 The fear of the parents highlights one of the fundamental reasons in John why many do not believe. They fear people more than God (see 5:44; 12:42–43).

9:22 because they feared the Jews. This does not refer to all Jews, for the parents were Jews themselves. The expression, as often in John, refers here to the Jewish leaders who were opposed to Jesus, and to the ordinary people who followed their lead. synagogue. See note on Luke 4:16.

9:31–33 The man’s major premise, that God does not listen to sinners, reflects a theme in several OT passages (e.g., Ps. 34:15; 66:18; 109:7; 145:19). The man’s minor premise, that there was no precedent for the opening of the eyes of a person born blind, is also confirmed by the absence of similar instances in the OT or extrabiblical sources. The man’s conclusion (cf. John 3:2) concurs with the common Jewish view that miracles were performed in answer to prayer.

9:34 Cast him out refers to expulsion from the synagogue (see note on v. 22). The way this is done suggests an impulsive action rather than excommunication based on a formal procedure.

9:35–38 The man continues to be responsive to the revelation of who Jesus is. He confesses him as the Son of Man (see note on 1:51) and worships him.

9:41 If you were blind means if they had no knowledge at all about God’s words or his laws, and no knowledge about who Jesus is. You would have no guilt (or sin, see esv footnote) does not mean that they would be free of a sinful nature inherited from Adam, but that they would have no “guilt” for violating specific teachings or commands that they had received. Paul makes a similar argument in Rom. 1:18–3:20, namely, that all have received some knowledge of God (see Rom. 1:18–20,32; 2:14–15).