John 9:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"

NIV: "How then were your eyes opened?" they asked.

NASB: So they were saying to him, 'How then were your eyes opened?'

CSB: So they asked him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"

NLT: They asked, 'Who healed you? What happened?'

KJV: Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?

NKJV: Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”

Jesus' choice of this man for His sixth miraculous "sign" is no accident. Earlier, Jesus chose to heal a man who had been crippled for nearly forty years (John 5:1–9). This left no doubt about the miraculous nature of the healing. The man would have been known for his condition, and that this disability was permanent. Here, the man Jesus healed with muddy clay (John 9:6) had been born blind (John 9:1–2). He was easily recognized by the people of Jerusalem as a beggar (John 9:8). It's because the man is so well-known for being blind that some in the crowd resist believing that he's been cured (John 9:9).

Despite some doubters, most people accept the obvious: this is the same man once known as a blind beggar. Their response makes perfect sense: "if you're the one who used to be blind, what happened to make you see?" On the other hand, this same question will be repeated no less than four times (John 9:10, 15, 19, 26). These questions assume a natural, mechanical answer. The people are so concerned with those details that they're missing the message of the miracle!

This presents an important perspective on Christian testimony. The formerly blind man will be challenged to explain and re-explain his story (John 9:15, 26). Each time, his response is sincere, simple, and honest. What attracts others to his message is not his own charisma or deep philosophy. People are drawn because they see something powerful and want to know what caused it. The man's consistent answer is that Jesus changed his life. Fancy speech and complex ideas are fine, in the right context. Neither are required to spread the "good news" to other people.

John 9:1–12 contains the sixth of this gospel's seven miraculous ''signs'' of Jesus' divinity. This miracle is the healing of a man who has been blind since birth. Jesus corrects His disciples' misconceptions about sin and suffering, then grants this man an ability he has never had before. This will lead to more angry confrontations with local religious leaders. Critics continue to purposefully ignore the spiritual message being proven by Jesus' works.

Jesus encounters a man who has been blind his entire life. Consistent with notions of that era, the disciples assume the disability is due to some specific sin: either the man's or his parents'. Jesus challenges this idea and heals the man. His restoration leads to interrogation. The Pharisees try to discredit Jesus' miraculous work. The healed man's simple, straightforward perspective embarrasses the religious leaders, who excommunicate him in frustration. Jesus meets with the healed man, explaining more about His identity and the purpose of His ministry. Jesus also reminds the Pharisees that those who ought to know better, spiritually, will be held more accountable as a result.

Jesus has begun to actively confront the false teachings of local religious leaders. His most recent debate included a heated exchange with the Pharisees. There, Jesus claimed to have existed before Abraham. This resulted in an attempted stoning for blasphemy (John 8). Here, Jesus continues to antagonize religious hypocrites by healing a man who was born blind. The ensuing ruckus further exposes Jerusalem's religious leaders as shallow, prejudiced, and false. This event launches Jesus into another lengthy discussion of His ministry. That, recorded in chapter 10, includes several crucial teachings on His role as Shepherd.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.