Free Methodist Church Weekly Newsletter

The healing of a man born blind should have brought great belief and support for Jesus as the "Light of the World." But the Pharisees were divided. One scholar writes this explanation:

"The former beggar is brought before what seems to be an official gathering of the Pharisees. I believe it is a meeting of the Sanhedrin, or at least a portion of it.141 The tone of this whole incident makes it look as though this man has been summoned to testify before a grand jury. It is interesting that the word rendered "brought" in verse 13 can often be used with a stronger sense. "Bringing" is not always voluntary. One can see this in the Synoptic Gospels (e.g. Matthew 10:18; Mark 13:11; Luke 4:29; 19:27), as well as in John (7:45; 8:3; 9:13; 18:13, 28; 19:4, 13). In my opinion, "bringing" here in our text comes close to taking one into custody. The acquaintances of the man once blind do not merely "send" the former beggar to the Pharisees; they "brought" him to them. Whether these people who "brought" the man once blind do so out of a personal concern and unbelief, or whether it is simply out of fear of the Pharisees, we are not told.

It must seem providential to the Pharisees that Jesus heals this blind man on the Sabbath. This appears to be the key to how they plan to handle the situation. Consequently, they question the once-blind man in great detail about "how" he was healed. The man responds with caution and reserve. So far as the text informs us, he does not tell them all that he could have disclosed. I conclude this on the basis of a comparison of his words to the Pharisees in verse 15 with his previous testimony to family and friends in verse 11:

He replied, "The man called Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and was able to see" (verse 11).

He replied, "He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I am able to see" (verse 15).
Here in verse 15 he does not name Jesus, nor does he indicate that Jesus instructs him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. He probably knows that they are trying to accuse Jesus of "working" on the Sabbath, and so he avoids any mention of that which might be called "work." I get the impression that the once-blind man is giving the Pharisees his "name, rank, and serial number," and no more. From years of experience, I fear, he knows these folks are not his friends, and he may also know that they are not the friends of Jesus, either.

For some of the Pharisees, who have already passed judgment on Jesus, this is all they need to hear. "This man is not from God," they conclude. He cannot be "from God" and break the Sabbath. Let me point out a very important omission that becomes more and more glaring as one reads and rereads this chapter. After the healed man names Jesus in verse 11, and John names Him parenthetically in verse 14, Jesus is never again mentioned by name in this chapter until verse 35.142 Throughout the entire interrogation process (as recorded by John, at least), the Pharisees never refer to Jesus by name, even though they know to whom they are referring.

Why is this? Why do they avoid the name Jesus? The chorus states: "There's Something About That Name." That's why! There is something about "that name":

20 When he had contemplated about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20-21).

At this verse (Matthew 1:21), the study notes in the NET Bible read, "The Greek form of the name Iesous (which was translated into Latin as Jesus) is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), which means "Yahweh saves." It was a fairly common name among Jews in first century Palestine, as references to a number of people by this name in the LXX and Josephus indicate."
They just can't bring themselves to say it. Can you imagine how they would choke if they had said, "'Yahweh saves' is not from God ..."? And so throughout this entire interrogation process, we see Jesus always referred to indirectly, rather than by name.

Why are these Pharisees so intense in their claim that Jesus ("this man") cannot be from God? They protest too loudly. In stressing their verdict that Jesus is not from God, these Pharisees are tipping their hand to the fact that they are painfully aware of what Jesus does claim about Himself. Up to this point in the Gospel of John, we find a repeated emphasis on the fact that Jesus has come from God (John 1:6; 3:2, 13; 6:32-33, 38, 41-42, 46, 50-51, 58; 7:17; 8:14, 23, 40, 42; see also 1:32; 3:31; 7:27-29, 40-42; 8:26). By stressing that Jesus is not "from God," the Pharisees reveal the damage that would be done to their system of belief if this claim were true, as in fact it is.

Notice that no actual charge of Sabbath-breaking has been proven, as yet, and none will be proven. At the end of this legal process (and the end of this chapter), no formal charges are made against Jesus. The man once-blind is excommunicated, but there are no charges against Jesus. It is my personal opinion that Jesus healed this man in such a way (spit, dust, anointing eyes, instructing him to wash) that even a technical Pharisaical interpretation of the law did not offer sufficient basis for charging Jesus with law-breaking.143 (How frustrating this must be for the Pharisees, who consider technicalities their specialty!)

The reasoning of these Pharisees is far from compelling. It is too much, even for some of their fellow-Pharisees. These other Pharisees counter, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such miraculous signs144?" The Pharisees cannot even agree among themselves. Until this deadlock is resolved, they cannot take decisive action against Jesus. And so, perhaps out of frustration and even desperation, they turn to the man who has been healed: "What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?" (verse 17). I believe the former beggar does not hesitate for a moment. His answer is confident and without reservation, "He is a prophet." This is not what they want to hear. They will have to take a different tack."

This Sunday as we gather may we be open to the person of Jesus!

Denny