John 9:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner perform such signs?" So they were divided.

NASB: Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, 'This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.' But others were saying, 'How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?' And there was dissension among them.

CSB: Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath." But others were saying, "How can a sinful man perform such signs?" And there was a division among them.

NLT: Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.' Others said, 'But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?' So there was a deep division of opinion among them.

KJV: Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

NKJV: Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

Jesus' miracles are meant to prove that He is the Promised One: the Messiah. In the Old Testament, curing blindness is given as one such sign (Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; 42:7). Jesus has done that, granting sight to a man blind his entire life (John 9:1–7). Many in the crowd are shocked. Some doubt whether the now-seeing beggar is the same person (John 9:8–9). Since this event is sensational and occurred on a Sabbath day (John 9:14), the people bring the man to be interviewed by the Pharisees (John 9:15).

During Jesus' earthly ministry, Pharisees had a very positive reputation. They were extremely moral, living by a strict set of rules which had grown out of their traditions. Those traditions were aimed at "protecting" obedience to the law of Moses. In practice, however, the Pharisees treated those traditions as if they were equal to the actual Word of God. This resulted in a cold legalism and the arrogance of an "us-versus-them" version of spirituality.

Even when faced with a miracle, these men define right, wrong, good, and evil according to whether the messenger agrees with their interpretations. Unfortunately, this is a common problem even today. Many groups choose a "pet doctrine"—a day of worship, a translation of the Bible, and so forth—and use that as their first test of truth. Those who disagree with that stance are immediately dismissed as sinners, heretics, or false prophets. In effect, this makes their tradition the real "god" of that sect: blinding them even to miraculous evidence of the truth.

John 9:13–34 describes the Pharisees' reaction to Jesus' healing of a man born blind. Rather than being swayed by an obvious sign of divine power, they look for excuses and criticisms to discredit the miracle. They interrogate the man's parents, who timidly defer back to their son. The healed man knows nothing more than this: ''though I was blind, now I see.'' His matter-of-fact responses to the Pharisees highlights their obvious prejudice. As a result, they excommunicate the healed man from the synagogue. Jesus will meet with the man in the next passage to give more context for the miracle.

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.