John 9:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

NIV: Where is this man?' they asked him. 'I don't know,' he said.

NASB: And they said to him, 'Where is He?' He *said, 'I do not know.'

CSB: "Where is he? " they asked."I don't know," he said.

NLT: Where is he now?' they asked. 'I don’t know,' he replied.

KJV: Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

NKJV: Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

This verse again highlights key lessons from this story. Jesus has given sight to a man who was born blind (John 9:1–7). To do so, Jesus put clay on the man's eyes (John 9:6), then told him to go and wash it off. This means the formerly blind man has not, yet, actually seen Jesus! He's not even in the same place he was when Jesus encountered him. Though others doubt what has happened (John 9:8–9), the evidence is clear. This man was once blind, but now he can see.

The man's ability to give this message to a crowd is not caused by his own abilities. He's not using eloquence or drama. He's not demonstrating deep thinking or skilled debate. He is—in literal terms—telling others the truth about what God has done for him. And it's the powerful impact of God in his life that makes people want to ask in the first place.

Defending our faith is not only useful, it's a command given to all believers (1 Peter 3:15–16). That being said, Christians do not have to be expert philosophers. We do not have to earn academic degrees, or become full-time ministers, in order to effectively tell others about Christ. And we don't have to have all of the answers. What we need is what we know, an idea this same man will summarize beautifully when interrogated later on: "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).

John 9:1–12 contains the sixth of the gospel of John'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, as they purposefully ignore the spiritual message being proven by Jesus' works.

Jesus encounters a man who has been blind his entire life. In typical fashion for that era, the disciples assume this condition is due to some specific sin--either the man's sin or his parents' sin. Jesus challenges this idea, and heals the man. His restoration leads to interrogation, as 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 is able to meet with the 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, where Jesus claimed to have existed before Abraham. This resulted in an attempted stoning for blasphemy. 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, recorded in chapter 10, including several crucial teachings on His role as Shepherd.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 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”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.