John Chapter 9

John Chapter 9

JC passes by a man who had been blind since the day he was born (I doubt you can blame sin for that)!

Turns out the disciples are thinking just like me, and they ask Jesus if this man sinned or if it was his parents? (Or, the other option is neither, it could be biology…. Just a thought).

But Jesus is ready for them (and me, maybe) he says that neither has sinned. This man is blind so that God can be shown through him. (I might need just a tiny bit more proof than that, but I’m okay with where it’s heading. I like not blaming infants for sin, and I like not inheriting sin, that seems very unfair).

JC tells his bros that he has to work during the day, when the night comes no man can work (tell that to the third shift). As long as he is in the world, he is the light of the world (uh, so why can’t he work at night… no matter, he’s tired, he shouldn’t work 24 hours a day anyway).

After having spoken he spit on the ground and mixed his spit with dirt which he put on the eyes of the blind man (it formed a convenient clay). He told the guy to go wash in the of Siloam which the fellow happily did and when he came back… wait for it… he could SEE! Hurray Jesus!

A few of his neighbors were understandable astounded, wasn’t her, afterall, that guy who had been a blind beggar last we checked. Some didn’t believe that it was really the same fellow, but he told them that he was indeed the very man. He explained what JC had done for him and how awesome that was.

The neighbors asked where this character who could heal the blind was.

Jesus loves to piss of the Pharisees, so it turns out that he was healing on the Sabbath again. Well, the folks around brought the formerly blind guy to these Pharisees who we know have a less than excellent relationship with our friend JC. He has to tell them what JC did for him. They get all kinds of pissed. Jesus can’t be a man of god because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath, but the conundrum was how a sinner like him could perform such miracles. This caused some in-fighting amongst them.

They asked the blind man what he thought of this guy, and the healed man said they he thought JC was a prophet.

Turns out the Pharisees didn’t particularly care what the blind man had to say. Afterall, they couldn’t really confirm that he had been blind prior to the alleged miracle, so they called his parents. Well, they asked, was your son really blind from birth. If so, how is he now able to see?

The guys parents, who I’m sure were shocked to be called down to the elders for such a purpose. They told the Pharisees that they knew he was their son and that he had indeed been born blind, but they didn’t know who had healed him. They told the elders that their son was certainly old enough to speak for himself, so they should ask him not them. Turns out the parents had to be a bit cagey because they knew that the elders had already agreed that anyone who called JC “Christ” would be kicked out of the synagogue. So the parents, for emphasis, repeated that their son could speak for himself.

They told the man to give god the praise because they knew for sure that JC was a sinner.

This guy does care, and who would? He said he wasn’t in a position to judge whether or not he was a sinner, all he knew was that he was healed.

They again go over how exactly this miracle was performed, which the poor dude reiterates, spit and all. He gets a little snotty and asks why they keep pestering him, maybe it’s because they want to be JC’s disciples.

Well that about does it. They say that HE is a disciple of Jesus, they are disciples of Moses! They are certain that God spoke to Moses, but they have no idea who this dude is.

The formerly blind guy says it doesn’t matter where he’s from or anything else because he performed the miracle of restoring his sight. Since the world began no one has ever restored the sight of a blind man. Now everyone knows that god doesn’t listen to sinners but only of his own worshippers. If JC wasn’t one of god’s people there is no way he could do this.

They answered that the former blind man was born of sin and he shouldn’t presume to lecture them, so they cast him out of the synagogue.

Jesus heard about this and went to find his friend. JC inquired of the healed fellow believed in the son of god.

The guy asked who the son of god was so that he might be able to believe in him.

JC said the fellow had both met and spoken with him.

It became instantly clear to the guy and he was converted into a believer. Hurray.

JC says that he came into this work to judge (he seems to really go back and forth on that one) and to make those who are blind see and those who see he would make blind. (That’s not nice, let’s all be allowed to see).

Some of Pharisees heard this and asked if they were blind?

Jesus said if they were blind them they wouldn’t have sin, but since they do see their sin remains.

So, is the guy who used to be blind a sinner now? Is “seeing” a metaphor for inquisitiveness? If you tell the truth Jesus, it should stand up to questioning. FYI.

Well, overall, I thought this was a nice chapter compared to some of the others in John. He ends it on a nasty little note, but if you ignore that, JC’s pretty nice. Good job!