Exodus 30; John 9
Daily Catechism
QUESTION 52: WHAT IS REQUIRED IN THE FIRST COMMANDMENT?
Answer: The first commandment requires us to know and acknowl- edge God to be the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly.
Scripture: Joshua 24:15; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Deuteronomy 26:17; Psalm 29:2; Matthew 4:10.
John 9
Ready:
The previous chapter was a big one. This was where Jesus claimed to be the light of the world and without believing in him one would die in his sin. He offered freedom from enslavement to sin and he claimed to be not only greater than Abraham but to have existed before Abraham. No doubt that these were huge claims of deity by Jesus and the Jews tried to stone him for blasphemy in response.
Seeing what’s there:
Now in this chapter John picks up after Jesus slipped away from them and left the temple. It is unclear if it happened in close proximity or in short order or if this was later, but either way it is a fresh unit of scripture, though by John’s placement should still be considered in context with the previous account.
Key Verses:
John 9:2-3, 5-6, 16, 18, 24, 29-30, 31-33, 35-36, 37-38, 39, 41
Theme:
The light gives sight to those who become aware of their blindness and blindness to those who continue in the deception that they already have sight.
Thinking about the message:
v1-7. Here Jesus comes against an assumption that blindness or illness in general, perhaps, come from personal or family sin. While other teaching (John 5:14) indeed acknowledges that this can be the case, this teaching warns that it is not always the case. Here the man was born blind for the purposes of God (Exod 4:11) demonstrating his glory in the healing he would receive from Jesus. Like Pharaoh who was raised up for the purposes of God, this man was born and lived a life of blindness for the very purpose of this revelation of God in Jesus (Rom 9:17). This speaks volumes as to the sovereignty of God and the purposes of God being accomplished in sickness and tragedy and even sin (Acts 4:27-28). Jesus also declares again to be the light of the world and I take it to be that this means he gives sight in the darkness (2 Cor 4:6; John 1:5) and he intends to demonstrate this in this man both physically (John 9:7) and also spiritually (John 9:38).
v8-23. In this extended passage the Jews are seeking to confirm the miracle and then to confirm who performed it. They challenge the fact that he did this on the Sabbath and therefore is a law breaker, a sinner. The man who was healed has the insight to ask how a sinner could offer up such powerful signs and they seem to have no answer, but a division arises between them. The parents give account and all signs point to a righteous healing.
v24-34. They question the man further and want him to give a better answer for his healing because they do not want to ascribe it to Jesus but to give glory to God alone. He gives a simple account of the facts and then draws an observation that infuriates the council because he notes that they claim to not know where Jesus comes from yet he performs signs that a sinner could not perform and he gives indication that he is from God since he has done something never before seen. The previously blind man makes a very seeing statement that if Jesus were not from God he could do no such thing and the Jews, in their blind arrogance, kick him out for attempting to teach them.
v35-41. Jesus finds the man after he is kicked out and brings the man the rest of the way home to a trust in Jesus. Previously the man had a simple understanding that the man who healed him is from God and that he is true, but no understanding that the man was the Son of Man, the Messiah. Now Jesus questions the man to see if he knows of the Son of Man (Dan 7:13-14) and believes in his coming. The man acknowledges and inquires if Jesus knows and will tell him who is the Son of Man. This question is like the one John creates in our own minds when he describes the Word becoming flesh and leaving the reader with the question something like “I get it. The Word is God and the Word became flesh…but who is it?” Jesus tells the man plainly that it is him and the man instantly accepts the truth and worshiped Jesus as God. Jesus then announces that he came for judgement, which sounds contradictory to John 12:47 and John 3:17. But he speaks of judging truth from lies and judgement in a sense of discernment and truth, not in a sense of condemnation and penalty declaring. The Word is our measure of truth and judges our experiences and our understanding and we must submit to the judgement of the Word of God rather than to the opinions of man or our own experiences. Here the Pharisees heard him and take offense. They figure he is calling them blind, but it is the opposite. Jesus was speaking of the assumed state of the individual, not the actual. I agree with Calvin and Henry in this assumption that Jesus speaks mainly toward the fact that those who know their blindness have hope for salvation and justification by grace (1 John 1:9) but those who think they see just fine are yet under guilt because they do not recognize their true blindness and they remain under the wrath of God (2 Cor 4:4).
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
In the previous chapter Jesus claimed to be God and now he claims to give sight to the blind and blindness to the seeing. Isaiah 66:1-2 explains where the Spirit of God will dwell and it is within the humble and contrite who tremble at his Word. This sight to the blind and blindness to the seeing accords with his coming to save sinners and not the righteous (Luke 5:32)…his coming to heal the sick and not the well (Mark 2:17). Jesus comes not for those who are proud before God (James 4:6) and claim to know a righteousness of their own (Rom 10:3-4; Phil 3:9), but those who are broken and contrite (Psalm 51:17) and who recognize their need for the promised offspring…the promise to Abraham was not a promise that a law would come to give them merit (Rom 4:13-16)! I take that the Spirit of God must give illumination to the eyes of our heart (Eph 1:17-18) in order for us to truly hear the message of Jesus (Deut 29:4; Rom 10:17) and then respond with a cry for mercy and sight. This meaning is timeless and the significance to me is that a right attitude is one of humility and contrition and trembling at his Word. I can only do this by the grace of God granting me sight and so I need to fight the fight for joy in the Lord and I need to feast on Jesus in the Word and I need to cry out for understanding (Psalm 2:1-5).
Soli Deo Gloria!
