Introduction:

Last week we looked at the healing of the blind man in (v.1-7).  The blind man had been delievered from darkness and given sight by the Lord Jesus Christ.  In this passage I want to look at the reaction of the people.  We are going to see many different reactions and why they reacted the way they did.  Let me give you the outline:

A.                 The Reaction of the People (v.8-13).

1.                  The man's neighbors (v.8-10).

a)                  The confusion of the people (v.8-9).

(1)                 What caused the confusion?  The transformation in the mans conduct.  The change was so radical in this man who had met Jesus Christ caused confusion as to who he was!

Peter even mentions this in his epistle about our surprising transformation, he says that "You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties…Of course, your former friends are very surprised when you no longer join them in the wicked things they do, and they say evil things about you." (1 Peter 4:3-4, NLT)

Paul was thankful that God even considered him to put him into the ministry, he said he "was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”  (1 Timothy 1:13-16, NKJV)

(2)                 See, when Jesus does a work in a person, it will be very transforming.  Faith in Jesus Christ transforms a man more than anything else.

Arthur Pink says "When a genuine work of grace has been wrought in a soul it is impossible to conceal it from our neighbors and acquaintances". 

(3)                 I agree, many professing Christians have an unchanged life.  They still look, smell, and act like the world.  And if transformation is lacking, salvation is possibly lacking, too.

(4)                 The confusion confirmed the miracle.  If no miracle had occurred, there would have been no confusion.  And those who were confused were those who knew the blind man the best. 

(5)                 The confession confirmed the miracle.  The confusion ended when the blind man said, "I am he" (v. 9).  We need to live and speak as to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that we are a Christian.  Not as Peter who denied even knowing Christ.

b)                  The curiosity of the people (v.10).

(1)                 The people showed their curiosity by asking two questions of the blind man. 

(a)                 Their first question concerned the manner of the healing (v.10): this question gave the man the opportunity to testify regarding his faith. 

(i)                   Think about this: this testimony by the healed man would never have been possible had there been no transformation in his walk. 

(ii)                 The application is obvious:  If you want opportunity to testify of your faith, live it!  Show a changed life and the world will inquire.  

(b)                Their second question concerned the man who did the healing (v.12): why did they want to know where he was?  To honor Him or to harm Him?  

(i)                   I believe it was to harm Jesus because those who inquired about where Jesus was brought the blind man to the Pharisees who wanted to harm Him (v.13).

!!! 2.                  The man's testimony (v.11-12).

a)                  “…A man called Jesus gave me sight…”  (v.11-12).

(1)                 All the healed man knew was that "a man that is called Jesus" had commanded him to do certain things, and he did them and received his sight.

(2)                 The blind man was blessed by Jesus despite an inadequate understanding of Christ. 
But note the crucial point: his heart was right toward Jesus.  It was tender and willing to do what Jesus said.

(3)                 The blind man could have stopped at any stage and failed in his spiritual journey.  But he didn’t… as we will see later, this man learned about whom Jesus was (v.35-37) then he believed and worshiped Him (v.38).

Listen to the way Jesus put it, He said "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  (Matthew 11:28-29, NASB95)

(4)                 There are many people like the blind man.  They know about Jesus, but they do not know Jesus, not personally.

b)                  The growing of faith and unbelief.

(1)                 In the reaction of the various groups to the miracle and the response of the healed man, we see the growth of faith and unbelief side by side.

(2)                 Faith grew in the blind man but unbelief grew in the others.  It goes from curiosity to cruelty.

B.                The Reaction of the Pharisees (v.14-17).

1.                  The issue with the Phariesses (v.14).

a)                  The Sabbath law was broken (v.14).

(1)                 Jesus had violated the rabbinical rules of the Sabbath; however, He had not violated any Divine rules about the Sabbath rest.

(2)                 In fact, healing the blind man fulfilled the spirit of the Divine laws of the Sabbath; why… because He had given rest from the weariness of blindness.

2.                  The inquiries by the Pharisees (v.15a, 17a).

a)                  The questions that were asked.

(1)                 They questioned the blind man “how he had received his sight” (v.15a), and “what the blind mans thinks about Jesus” (v.17).

(2)                 The one thing I want to note here in the questions that were asked is the “again” factor.

(a)                 In both the first and second question the word "again" (John 9:15, 17) is found which says the man healed of blindness was subjected to repeated interrogation. 
I believe this reflected cruelty. 

(b)                And as we will see later, this man was interrogated "again" (v. 26), and he will tell them, "I have told you already" (v. 27) which shows some of the exasperation the man experienced by the continuous interrogation.

(3)                 The repeated harassing of the healed man is not only seen in the word "again", but it is also seen in the Greek words in the following verses:

(a)                 In (v.9) the Greek word "said" indicates that he continued to tell the people again and again that he was the man healed.

(b)                In (v.10) the Greek word “said” also indicates that the people said to the the man over and over “How were your eyes opened.” 

(c)                 In (v.15) the Greek word “asked” also that they asked him again and again how his eyes were opened.

!!!! b)                  The questions that were answered (v.15b, v.17b).

(1)                 The healed mans first answer was brief; he said “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed and I see…”  (v.15b). He still saw Jesus only as a man, but as a man who had done a great thing by helping him and healing him.

(2)                 The healed mans second answer was bold; speaking of Jesus he said “He is a prophet” (v.17b).  The people saw a prophet as the highest office a man could hold, and a prophet was considered "even more authoritative than learned rabbis". 

Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”  So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  (Matthew 16:13-14, NKJV)

But when the Pharisees "Sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.”  (Matthew 21:46, NKJV)

(3)                 Yes, Jesus is a prophet; however the healed man did not know Jesus personally.  He had not reached the stage of belief, of true salvation and worship (v.35-38).

(4)                 The healed man is more than a match for the Pharisees and the more they examined him, the worse he made the Pharisees look.

3.                  The division among the Pharisees (v.16).

a)                  A cost for discipleship.

(1)                 The word translated "division" comes from a Greek word from which we get our English word "schism."  So there was some heated disagreements among the Pharisees over Christ.

(a)                 One group starts from the Sabbath breach.  [And it argues that]  Since the Pharisaic rule has been broken Jesus cannot be from God.

(b)                The other [group] starts from the miracle.  [And it argues that]  Since He has performed such signs He must be from God".

This last group would include men like Nicodemus who "Came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him" (John 3:2, NKJV)

b)                  The sword Jesus came to bring (Matt.10:34-36).

(1)                 A sword divides and severs. 

(a)                 As far as many human relationships are concerned, He did not come to bring peace on the earth... but a sword. 

(b)                As a result of His coming to earth, some children would be set against parents and a man’s enemies might be those within his own household:

Jesus put it this way in Luke’s gospel…  Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division.  For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.  Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”  (Luke 12:49-53)

(c)                 This Is Because: Some Who Follow Christ Are Hated By Their Family Members.

(i)                   8 year girl called Pastor Chuck - 2) Dad liked daughter better when on drugs.

(ii)                 This may be part of the cost of discipleship, for love of family should not be greater than love for the Lord.  

!! C.                The Reaction of the Parents (v.18-23).

1.                  The calling of the parents (v.18-19).

a)                  The Jews did not believe.

(1)                 Think about this: the term "the Jews" in this text does not mean Jews in contrast to Gentiles but the religious leaders of Israel.  Now it switches from the Pharisees to "the Jews" which means there is now more than just Pharisees.

(2)                 The Jews did not believe the blind mans testimony.  They did not believe his testimony because they did not want to believe it!

(3)                 If they believed, that would have been the first step to accrediting Jesus with a miracle!  THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE WHAT THEY WANT TO BELIEVE AS WELL AS THOSE WHO DISBELIEVE WHAT THEY WANT TO DISBELIEVE.

(4)                 Since they didn’t have any luck with the healed man to hear what they wanted to hear, they resort to the healed mans parents hoping they would discredit the miracle (v.19).

2.                  The comments of the parents (v.20-21).

a)                  The deception in their comments (v.20-21a).

(1)                 They identified their son, at least the said that much.  Twice we see the words “we do not know”  (v.21), that’s a lie.    

(2)                 They said “By what means he now see’s we do not know” they did to know.  When their son came home seeing, wouldn’t he tell them the whole story?

(3)                 They also said “who opened his eyes we do not know” that is also a lie.  Wouldn’t their son thell them that it was a man called Jesus Who healed him (v.11)?

b)                  The selfishness & ungratfulness in their comments (v.21b).

(1)                 These parents were not willing to tell the truth but preferred to dump the responsibility off on someone else.

(2)                 Let their son hang, they did not want to hang.  Let their son be excommunicated by telling it was Jesus, they preferred to keep quiet about it.

(3)                 Their comments only encouraged evil.  It encouraged "the Jews" in their injustice in punishing people who esteemed Jesus as Christ.  It did not help anyone to stand true to Christ.

3.                  The cowardliness of the parents' (v.22-23).

a)                  They feared man rather than God.

(1)                 The parents definitely didn’t have the same character as their son.  Their reaction to the miracle was cowardly. 

(2)                 Being put out of the synagogue was very hard on the excommunicated because it involved more than just losing your membership to a religious organization.

(a)                 It involved being ostracized by the Jewish society.

(b)                You would be shunned by other Jews, you could lose your job, and you could lose your possessions.  Reality is, its was a very frightening thing to have happen to you.   

(3)                 I believe the fear of man had kept them from showing their gratefulness of their son receiving his sight.  For years they lived with the burden of a blind son who could only beg.  How heart-breaking it must have been to see their son helpless for work and instead forced to beg.  But Jesus changed all of that, yet they were not willing to give Him any recognition.

!! D.                The Reaction of the Persecutors (v.24-38).

We are going to see here that the healed man is more than a match for these persecutors, and he puts them in their place.  However, it is a costly encounter for this guy, for his defending of Christ resulted in his being cast out of the synagogue, which by the way, HIS PARENTS WERENT WILLING TO DO.

1.                  The contradiction by the persecutors – Pharisees (v.24-25).

a)                  An impossible statement.

(1)                 Praise God, but Jesus is a sinner.  Praising God and calling Jesus a sinner is a huge contradiction.  It is impossible to glorify God by calling Jesus a sinner.  

(2)                 But we still have descendents of these contradictors whose theology makes Christ nothing better than ordinary man, and yet they want to glorify God. 

(3)                 The healed man tells the persecutors that he is not aware that Christ is a sinner, but he is very much aware that once he was blind but now he can see.

(4)                 The healed man's statement reminds us that there are a lot of things we can know which the world says we cannot know:

(a)                 …we can know that our Redeemer lives (Job 19:25); we can know whom we have believed (2 Timothy 1:12); we can know that we are saved (1 John 5:13);

(b)                …we can know that all things work together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28); we can know that when Christ returns we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2).

2.                  The accusation against the persecutors (v.26-27).

a)                  He accuses them of not listening.

(1)                 In accusing them of not listening, the healed man points out the habit of unbelief—unbelief will not listen to truth and facts.  It has made up its mind and will not listen to anything contrary.

(2)                 In asking them if they wanted to be His disciples, he points out to them that they are showing interest in Christ; therefore, he says “do you want to follow Him to”?

(3)                 This is the most important question in life “Do you want to become His disciple?”

Jesus said "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”  (Luke 14:26, NKJV)

He goes on to say "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”  (Luke 14:33, NKJV)

3.                  The contempt from the persecutors (v.28-29).

a)                  “They reviled him” (v.28a).

(1)                 Since they can’t win the argument, they start to call him names and mistreat him.  And sometimes that’s the way people deal with arguments that they can’t win. 

(2)                 If they lack substance to make their argument strong and successful, then they simply growl at the opponent trying to intimidate with physical threats what they have failed to do with intellectual soundness.

b)                  “They professed to be Moses’ disciples” (v.28b).

(1)                 They were wrong about being Moses' disciples, because if they were his disciples, they would be honoring Christ:

Remember what Jesus said in John 5 to the Pharisees, He said "Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”  (John 5:45-47, NKJV)

c)                  They were caught in double talk (v.29).

(1)                 They say they don’t know Him or where He is from but look with me at (John 7:14-15, 25-27).

4.                  The case against the persecutors (v.30-33).

5.                  The casting out by the persecutors (v.34).

6.                  The consolation after the persecution (v.35-38).

I.  The Reaction to the Miracle (John 9:8-41)

A. The Reaction of the People (v.8-13).

B. The Reaction of the Pharisees (v.14-17).

C. The Reaction of the Parents (v.18-23).

D. The Reaction of the Persecutors (v.24-38).