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 tend to recognize people not just by their faces and voices, but also by their clothes or their surroundings. When we see the same person in very different circumstances, we might find it jarring, and 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. Most seem to recognize that this is the same man—their follow-up question in the next verse strongly supports this.

Others, it seems, prefer to believe that this is a close look-alike. In other words, they reject the man's own claims, and the witness of others, choosing instead to believe that this is some kind of scam. This is a common human response: what we believe is first determined by what we want, and only after that by what we see (John 7:17). When something challenges our preferences, our first instinct is to find excuses. This is exactly why 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).

The controversy over the healing is made worse by the fact that 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). They 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 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.