In the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Welcome to Coptic Orthodox Answers Deep Dive. We're studying together chapter 9 of the Gospel of John. We saw last time how Christ healed the man born blind and how people at the time thought that this sickness was due to sin, whether his own sin or his parents' sin. However, Christ refused to blame it on anyone and said that this was not the case, but used it as an opportunity to heal the man, because He was the light of the world, one of the seven I AM's in the Gospel of John: I am the light of the world.
Also, we saw how this was symbolic to the Christian baptism how God made clay and He anointed the eyes of the blind man. And the anointment here is reference to baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit in the holy sacrament of chrismation. And now, we will jump to the remainder of chapter 9.
Verse 13:
'' 13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, ''He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.'' 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, '''This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.'' Others said, ''How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?'' And there was a division among them. 17 They said to the blind man again, ''What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?'' He said, ''He is a prophet.'' (John 9:13-17)
In verse 8 which we saw in the last video, there were some neighbours of the blind man that were perplexed at what was happening and were asking him a bunch of questions. And because they knew Christ was a controversial figure, they brought the blind man or the one that was formerly blind to the Pharisees for them to question him. Obviously, they didn't bring him the day of, because it was the Sabbath. So, they brought him on the next day.
Now, make no mistake! This was not some sort of brainstorming or some exchange of opinions; this was an unofficial investigation. The Pharisees, in their own perception, thought that Christ has broken the Sabbath. So, He's a breaker of the law, and therefore, there's a big question mark on Him. And therefore, this cannot be a true miracle, because He broke the law.
So, they brought the blind man to question him. Hopefully, in their understanding, he would spill out some information that will lead them to pinpoint that this man is a sinner and that this
man is a breaker of the law and, in other words, He is not a doer of miracles, that this man is a cheat.
But what happened is that two factions started forming; two groups started forming between the Pharisees. The ones that would say: Well, this is obviously a miracle; the man was born blind; now he sees. You know, how can he be a sinner? God does not listen to sinners. The others would say: no, no, no, he is a sinner; it cannot be. So, the only option that they have to reconcile between them, to make sense of things is to say that Christ does these miracles through the power of the devil. And that's...that... that's what they wanted to hear from the man that was born blind. But his response to them was that He is a prophet.
Now, another option to resolve this tension between this unlawful breaking of the Sabbath and the miracle is if the miracle is fake. So, what do the Pharisees do? They bring the parents of the man who was formerly born blind to question him with the hopes to attain to that conclusion. So, in verse 18, it says:
'' 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, ''Is this your son, who you say was born blind? [So, we don't believe you; you say he was born blind?] How then does he now see?'' 20 His parents answered them and said, ''We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.'' 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, ''He is of age; ask him.'' (John 9:18-23)
Now, this putting out of the synagogue meant the utter exclusion from studying the law and the utter exclusion from a social and communal life between themselves and the other Jews. And that had extreme consequences, because that meant more poverty.
They were already poor, and therefore, the man was begging. And now, they couldn't buy, they couldn't sell, they couldn't ask for help, because they were about to be banned or put out of the synagogue. So, this ban would have had disastrous consequences on their already miserable life. So, they were very afraid of that ban, and therefore, they asked or they told the Jews: sorry, he's of age; ask him.
So, the Pharisees are not getting anywhere with their investigation. So, they try to bring the man who was formerly born blind once again to question him to try to force him to say the truth as they perceived it. So, in verse 24, it says:
'' 24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, ''Give God the glory! [This expression, Give God the glory, means Say the truth. You can see it in Joshua, chapter 7, verse 19: Give God the glory.] We know that this Man is a sinner.'' 25 He answered and said, ''Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see. [So, he did not cow before them. He admitted: I don't know if the man is a sinner or not, however, I was blind and now I see. He had courage.] 26 Then they said to him again, ''What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?'' 27 He answered them, ''I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?'' (John 9:24-27)
The Pharisees were in complete unbelief. Truly, when the heart is not willing to hear the truth, it continues seeking and grasping on its own lie. And Christ deals with them and with this subject specifically at the end of the chapter. But here, the man that was born blind, his emotions overtook him and he was very angry and he couldn't understand their lack of belief.
So, he tells them: Do you also want to become His disciples?, using, probably, a sarcastic tone. And here, we learn from him that we should never cow before powerful men. We ought to stick to what is right. We ought to stick to what is truth. He did the opposite of this parents who were afraid. He did what was right and he received salvation. But the Pharisees didn't stop there. It says:
'' 28 Then they reviled him and said, ''You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.'' (John 9:28)
In other words, we believe in the Sabbath, like Moses said. Obviously, Christ has nothing against the Sabbath. Christ has something against their understanding of the Sabbath, which is very different.
'' 29 ''We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow...'' '' (John 9:29)
They couldn't get to say His name, right?, because the name of Jesus means the saviour or the rescuer and they did not want to believe in that, right? So, they said:
'' 29 ''We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.'' '' (John 9:29)
But the man doesn't stop there. He is perplexed and annoyed and he's questioning how is it that the leaders of the Jewish nation are not able to answer the simple question of where this man is from. So, he continues. It says, in verse 30:
'' 30 The man answered and said to them, ''Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!
31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.'' '' (John 9:30-31)
So, it's very simple. The man obviously did a miracle. He's... He must be a prophet, at least, right? He's definitely a righteous person. It's very simple.
'' 32 ''Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. [Moses didn't do it. Joshua didn't do it. Elijah didn't do it, right? It's unheard of.] 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.'' [It's that simple, but obviously, now they're enraged.] 34 They answered and said to him, ''You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?'' [And you can tell the pride, right?] And they cast him out.'' (John 9:32-34)
And cast him out here probably means that he was cast out of the synagogue, meaning from the social life altogether. Now, from the Jewish perspective or at least from the Pharisees' perspective, they think that this man is now cursed from God, because he was cast out from the Jewish nation. But from a Christian perspective or from Jesus' perspective, it's actually quite the opposite. So, it says, in verse 35:
'' 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him [so, when He went and found him], He said to him, ''Do you believe in the Son of God?'' [Obviously, the man was blind when he was healed, so he have... he has never seen Jesus.] 36 He answered and said, ''Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?'' 37 And Jesus said to him, ''You have both seen Him [emphasis here on seen Him] and it is He who is talking with you.'' 38 Then he said, ''Lord, I believe!'' [So] he worshiped Him.'' (John 9:35-38)
So the Jews thought that the man was now cursed, but in reality, he was face to face with the incarnate God Himself. He was in God's bosom. Christ made everything different. His incarnation made everything different. He fulfilled the law, killed death and resurrected us with Himself, and in the process, He recreated us. And he worshiped Him... So, now here, the man is worshipping the Messiah, the Son of God. He believes in Him.
'' 39 And Jesus said, ''For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see... (John 9:39)
Like, this man, he didn't see physically, but now he sees. And also, obviously, the spiritual sight is implied. He also did not know who the Messiah was. Now he knows, right? So...
'' 39 (...) ''For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.'' '' (John 9:39)
Those who think that they are righteous, that they have understanding, that they see... those are made blind.
'' 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, ''Are we blind also?'' 41 Jesus said to them, ''If you were blind, you would have no sin;...'' '' (John 9:30-41)
So, if you were repentant, if you understood that you're in need of salvation, in need of a change of heart, of recr... recreation, yeah, you would have no sin. I would heal you, in other words.
'' 41 ''(...) but now you say, 'We see.' [You say that you are independent of Me. You say that you're capable on your own. You have understanding on your own.] Therefore your sin remains.'' '' (John 9:41)
In other words, Christ, who is the truth, His mere presence on earth causes controversy, causes division, causes separation between two factions. One faction or one group that would come and say: listen, I know I'm in need. I'm blind. I'm spiritually blind. I am in need of repentance. And those people, God creates eyes for them. I'm talking about spiritual eyes. And they see Him with those spiritual eyes, that faith. And again, that faith is not a blind faith, as we have discussed on many occasions.
But the other group keeps on saying: no, no, no, I don't need anybody. I don't need God. Why do I need God? Why would I worship God? I'm good on my own. I am independent. I'm okay. Life is good. To those, sin remains.
And the question becomes, you know, which group we want to be part of. And it's not, here again, about theoretical living, but about practical living. I might be a Christian and think that I'm part of that one group that sees, but I live as a man that is blind. So, we all need to offer repentance with a sincere heart to God that He may come and recreate the spiritual eyes of our souls that we may be able to truly see Him and live with Him.
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