John 9:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

NIV: As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

NASB: We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

CSB: We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.

NLT: We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.

KJV: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

NKJV: I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

Jesus has just clarified a common misconception held by those who hold to the idea of karma. This idea suggests that a person's suffering is always, somehow, brought about by their own actions, even those of a former life. In the disciples' case, their culture believed that all mishaps were divine punishment: either the man, or his parents, must have been guilty for the man to be born blind. Jesus refuted this in the prior verse, clearly indicating that this blindness was in no way caused by the man's own sin, or that of his parents.

Here, Jesus uses metaphors which relate to His earthly ministry. In an era without electricity, nighttime was, by necessity, a time where less work could be done on account of darkness. The day was the most effective time to work, but it is also a limited time. As used by Christ here, "day" refers to the time left for Jesus to serve God's will on earth. "Night" refers to the rapidly-approaching time when Jesus will die, ending His earthly work.

That parallel makes Jesus' use of the term "we" very important. Jesus knows He has a finite amount of time to "work" in His earthly ministry. Likewise, we as Christian believers have only the days of our earthly lives to accomplish the work God has assigned us in that time. Rather than simply saying, "I must work…" Jesus places an obligation to be responsible with our time by saying "we must" do so—meaning all who serve God.

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.