Episode 65 - His "vision" is improving - John 9:13-17

John 9:13   They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

What has become apparent is that Jesus has, as we say, created a stir. People who recognized him are amazed that this man who has been blind and begged all his life is now walking around on his own able to see. 

When asked what happened that caused him to see, he has responded very factually with no additional commentary on the miracle or the miracle worker Jesus. So, people take him to the Pharisees. Uh oh. This can’t be good, right? Then, John mentions that it was the Sabbath (again) that Jesus healed this man. You can sense the conflict coming again can’t you. They’ve sought to kill him for healing the lame man on the Sabbath. Will this healing change their minds about Jesus? Let’s “see” what happens as they investigate this amazing event. They ask the man how he received his sight. The man gave them the same factual information that he’d given the crowd at the temple.

Initially, this creates a division among the Pharisees. Some dig their heals into the sand and insist that Jesus is “not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But, others ask “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” That’s a good question. What is your answer to that question? Have you thought about that?

With this conflict among the Pharisees, some of them finally have the sense to ask the man who had been healed his opinion about Jesus’ identity. I love the irony here. The religious expert are divided and cannot come to a conclusion, so they ask the man who had been healed. 

Remember how this story started? Jesus and his disciples see the blind man begging and his disciples make an assumption about the man and his condition. They assume that this blind is God’s judgment upon him for sin of his parents or even himself as an unborn child. These disciples are expressing what obviously would have been a cultural and common expectation. Certainly the Pharisees had no higher view of him. “He’s a sinner!” But, here they are asking his opinion on something they cannot agree. 

There is no evidence that the man had been asked this question before. Furthermore, we don’t know how much time this man might have had to consider his answer. But, it appears that his answer is quick and confident: “He is a prophet.” 

What we have here is that after the man’s physical eyes begin to see, now his spiritual vision is gaining clarity. No longer is Jesus just a man who put mud on his eyes and told him where to go wash. Things are coming together for him and he realizes that there is something spiritually special about Jesus and he recognizes that Jesus is a prophet. That is correct. The people who ate the loaves and fish in the wilderness area recognized Jesus and the Prophet like Moses who was to come, but soon abandoned him. How will this man respond? We’ll find out in future episodes.