Joh 9 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for John 9:1-41: 9:1-41 At the Festival of Shelters (chs 7–8 ), Jesus claimed to be the light of the world (8:12 ). Now John tells about Jesus giving light, both physically and spiritually, to a blind man who lived in darkness (see 9:5 ). The story ends with a splendid reversal of roles: The blind man who was assumed to be in spiritual darkness could see God’s light, whereas the Pharisees, who could see physically and were thought to be enlightened, were shown to be spiritually blind.

Summary for John 9:1-41: 9:1-41 ^a At the Festival of Shelters (chs 7–8 ^b), Jesus claimed to be the light of the world (8:12 ^c). Now John tells about Jesus giving light, both physically and spiritually, to a blind man who lived in darkness (see 9:5 ^d). The story ends with a splendid reversal of roles: The blind man who was assumed to be in spiritual darkness could see God’s light, whereas the Pharisees, who could see physically and were thought to be enlightened, were shown to be spiritually blind.
9:2 ^e The disciples assumed that someone’s sin—the man’s or his parents’—had caused him to be born blind. Jesus corrected this common belief (9:3 ^f).
9:5 ^g I am the light of the world: See study note on 8:12.
9:6 ^h During the New Testament era, saliva was used for medical purposes (see Mark 7:32-35 ⁱ; 8:22-25 ^j).
9:7 ^k Siloam, a pool at the south end of the city of Jerusalem, was the source of water for the ceremonies at the Festival of Shelters.

• Siloam means “sent”: This phrase contained a double meaning: Jesus, who has been sent by God (4:34 ^l; 5:23 ^m, 37 ⁿ; 7:28 ^o; 8:26 ^p; 12:44 ^q; 14:24 ^r), told the blind man to wash in the pool called “sent.”
9:11 ^s The blind man identified Jesus and testified strongly about him. The man was healed of his physical infirmity, gained increasing spiritual insight (9:17 ^t, 33 ^u), and became Jesus’ disciple (9:38 ^v; cp. 5:11-15 ^w).
9:13 ^x The Pharisees (see 1:24 ^y) were arbiters of legal interpretation, so the community looked to them to explain this miracle. Rather than celebrate the healing, these religious leaders interrogated the man because Jesus had performed the miracle on the Sabbath (see 5:16-18 ^z).
9:17 ^aa The man had already identified his healer (9:11 ^ab, 16 ^ac). Now he made his own spiritual judgment, calling Jesus a prophet.
9:18 ^ad The Pharisees wanted to discount the miracle and hoped the man’s parents would deny the healing.
Summary for John 9:20-22: 9:20-22 ^ae His parents confirmed that their son had been born blind, but they hesitated to judge how he could see because they were afraid of the social consequences.
9:24 ^af God should get the glory for this: Greek reads Give glory to God. Cp. Josh 7:19 ^ag.
Summary for John 9:28-29: 9:28-29 ^ah The Pharisees could not defeat the logic of the miraculous sign (9:24-25 ^ai, 30-33 ^aj), so they turned from reason and cursed him (see 9:34 ^ak).

• The harsh division between Jesus and the religious leaders was clear. They considered those who followed Jesus to have rejected Moses and Judaism.
9:30 ^al The Jewish leaders did not know where Jesus came from. The man’s astonishment was understandable—a healing like this was unprecedented. Jesus’ works confirmed his origin as from God. Once his true identity was known, belief and discipleship should have followed, but the Jewish leaders were willfully blind.
Summary for John 9:32-33: 9:32-33 ^am 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 ^an; Isa 35:5 ^ao; 42:7 ^ap).
9:34 ^aq Discipline such as being thrown out of the synagogue was not uncommon. It brought social isolation that might require the man’s departure from the village. Such serious persecution was precisely what Jesus predicted for his followers (15:18-27 ^ar; 16:2 ^as).
Summary for John 9:35-38: 9:35-38 ^at Jesus pressed the man who had been blind to understand the miracle and the identity of his healer. Immediately, the man expressed faith and gave Jesus reverence due only to God (9:38 ^au; cp. 20:28 ^av). 9:35 ^aw Son of Man: See 1:51 ^ax; 3:13 ^ay, 14 ^az; 5:27 ^ba; 6:27 ^bb, 53 ^bc, 62 ^bd; 8:28 ^be. The Greek translates a Hebrew and Aramaic phrase meaning “human being.” People were not completely sure what Jesus meant by it (see 12:34 ^bf). However, it signifies Jesus’ identity both as human and as the Messiah (cp. Dan 7:13-14 ^bg).
Summary for John 9:40-41: 9:40-41 ^bh Are you saying we’re blind? Jesus answered that those who claim to hold all religious truth will discover that they are blind, while those who recognize their spiritual poverty will find true sight. In the story, the blind man and his family frequently confessed that they did not know, while the Pharisees repeatedly stated their confidence and remained guilty because of their religious pride. If they had confessed their ignorance and admitted their spiritual blindness, they would be guiltless. Instead, their conscious and willful rejection of Jesus established their guilt.