John 9:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man."

NIV: Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man."

NASB: Others were saying, 'This is he,' still others were saying, 'No, but he is like him.' The man himself kept saying, 'I am the one.'

CSB: Some said, "He’s the one." Others were saying, "No, but he looks like him." He kept saying, "I’m the one."

NLT: Some said he was, and others said, 'No, he just looks like him!' But the beggar kept saying, 'Yes, I am the same one!'

KJV: Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.

NKJV: Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.”

Confused responses by the people of Jerusalem are understandable. We recognize others by more than faces and voices. We also notice clothes, attitudes, movements, and surroundings. Seeing the same person in very different circumstances can be jarring; we may even wonder if it is the same person. In prior verses, Jesus created such a situation by healing a man who had been blind from birth (John 9:1–7). The people who regularly saw this man begging, and now witnessed him able to see, are understandably surprised (John 9:8). Most seem to recognize that this is the same man—their follow-up question in the next verse strongly supports this.

Others prefer to believe this is a close look-alike. They reject the man's own claims, and they reject the witness of others, choosing instead to believe this a scam. This is a common human response: our beliefs are most influenced by what we want, as is our response to what we see (John 7:17). When something challenges our preferences, our first instinct is to find excuses. Scripture reminds us that those who refuse to believe unless they see a miracle are fooling themselves. Such people won't believe, no matter what (Luke 16:19–31).

Controversy over the healing is made worse because the formerly blind man doesn't know where—or even who—Jesus is. The last time he spoke with Jesus, he was still blind and had his eyes covered in mud. The combination of arguments over this man's identity, and the mention of Jesus, is probably what leads the crowd to take him to the Pharisees (John 9:13). The Pharisees will demonstrate extreme skepticism about the man's healing, refusing to believe any part of it until speaking with the healed man's parents.

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.