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 just that, granting sight to a man who has been blind his entire life (John 9:1–7). Many in the crowd are shocked, even doubting whether or not 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).

In Jesus' day, the Pharisees actually 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. Not only did this result in a cold legalism, it led to the arrogance of an "us-versus-them" version of spirituality.

As a result, even when faced with a miracle, these men define right and wrong, and good and evil, according to whether or not the messenger agrees with their interpretations. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon problem even today. Many groups choose a particular "pet doctrine," such as a particular day of worship, or a translation of the Bible, and use that as the first test of truth. Those who disagree with that stance are immediately dismissed as sinners, heretics, or false prophets. In effect, this makes that tradition, or doctrine, 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. Seeking 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 highlight 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. 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.