John 9:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

NIV: Then they hurled insults at him and said, 'You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses!

NASB: They spoke abusively to him and said, 'You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

CSB: They ridiculed him: "You're that man's disciple, but we're Moses's disciples.

NLT: Then they cursed him and said, 'You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses!

KJV: Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.

NKJV: Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples.

In an earlier argument, Jesus pointed out that His religious critics claimed to be followers of Moses, yet failed to act accordingly (John 5:39–47). When Jesus healed a man who had been born blind (John 9:1–7), these same scribes and Pharisees insisted that the miracle was a fraud. They rejected Jesus as a sinner (John 9:24), questioned the healed man (John 9:13), and his parents (John 9:18), before bringing the beggar back for a second round of interrogation. There, the man pointed out that he'd already answered their questions, and sarcastically asked if they'd changed their minds and decided to follow Jesus (John 9:27).

As they did in conversations with Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees respond to challenges with anger and insults (John 8:41, 48). This verse uses the Greek term loidorēo, which means to "rail at or heap abuses on." In this context, it's an act of verbal abuse. For pointing out their prejudice, the once-blind beggar has earned hatred and anger from these educated men.

Once again, the religious leaders stake their claim to religious knowledge. This is the same issue about which they debated Jesus after He healed a crippled man near the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1–8; 5:37–38). They refuse to accept any claim contradicting their own traditions and knowledge. In their own minds, there is no possible way in which they could be wrong. Their arrogance will continue in the next verse.

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.