Choosing Unbelief
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John 9:13-34
John 9:13-34
13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
16 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.
17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”
20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”
25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”
27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”
30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”
34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.
Israel chooses to not believe.
Numbers 14:11 “And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?”
Unfortunately, succeeding generations failed to learn from their ancestors’ unbelief. Second Kings 17:14 explains that the northern kingdom (Israel) was destroyed by the Assyrians because “they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.” Later the southern kingdom (Judah) also turned away from the Lord in unbelief and was taken into captivity by Babylon. Using the metaphor of an olive tree to symbolize the richness of God’s covenant blessings, Paul wrote that the Israelites “were broken off for their unbelief” (Rom. 11:20).
John F. MacArthur Jr., John 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 2006), 399.
Miracles couldn’t be done.
Israel didn’t enter.
Disciples turned back b/c of their unbelief.
Blind man is the first person known to be kicked out of the synagogue b/c of his loyalty to Christ.
Four things about unbelief:
#1 Unbelief is inconsistent — not compatible with the truth (vv. 13-16)
People seeking an answer…probably didn’t happen on the Sabbath (investigation)
Gave authority to their man-made regulations over God’s divine statutes
Not the first time, Jesus had violated the Sabbath:
At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”
Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
Healed a man with a withered hand
Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)
And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!
Woman crippled by an evil spirit
One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
Man with swollen arms and legs
One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?” When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” Again they could not answer.
John 5 (Healing a man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath)
Jesus has divine authority (Luke 6:5)
And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”
The Lord is Lord of the Sabbath
And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”
#2 Unbelief is inflexible — it doesn’t bend to the truth (vv. 17-24)
Miracle is clear
Ask the opinion of a beggar…shows their blindness…beggar could see now (physically & spiritually)
They think it’s a case of mistaken identity.
Call the parents…but were afraid (false religion)
Wanted him to confess and stop lying
#3 Unbelief doesn’t make any sense (vv. 25-30)
Pharisees were holding on to their pride and nonsense.
#4 Unbelief is rude (vv. 31-34)
They cast him out…happens in false religion.
Blind Man SEES (Spiritually)
When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
“You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
“Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.
Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.
Spiritual Sight (Salvation)
It takes a work from God.
The Lord took the initiative
Abandoned by parents & his church…Jesus heard
As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”
For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.
Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.
2. There’s a need to respond
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.
Spiritually blindness receives judgement, refuses the truth & rejects spiritual sight. It results in eternal condemnation.
