18 Now the Jews had no belief in the statement that he had been blind and was now able to see, till they sent for the father and mother of the man whose eyes had been made open,
And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his sons-in-law did not take him seriously.
Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see: let them see ... yes, your haters will be burned up in the fire.
And he said to him, If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not be moved even if someone comes back from the dead.
And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
They said this because of their fear of the Jews: for the Jews had come to an agreement that if any man said that Jesus was the Christ he would be put out of the Synagogue.
But though he had done such a number of signs before them, they still had no belief in him: So that the words of the prophet Isaiah might come true, when he said, Lord, who has any belief in our preaching? and the arm of the Lord, to whom has it been unveiled? For this reason they were unable to have belief, because Isaiah said again, He has made their eyes blind, and their hearts hard; for fear that they might see with their eyes and get knowledge with their hearts, and be changed, and I might make them well.
As it is said, Today if you will let his voice come to your ears, be not hard of heart, as when you made him angry. Who made him angry when his voice came to them? was it not all those who came out of Egypt with Moses? And with whom was he angry for forty years? was it not with those who did evil, who came to their deaths in the waste land? And to whom did he make an oath that they might not come into his rest? was it not to those who went against his orders? So we see that they were not able to go in because they had no belief.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on John 9
Commentary on John 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
After Christ's departure out of the temple, in the close of the foregoing chapter, and before this happened which is recorded in this chapter, he had been for some time abroad in the country, it is supposed about two or three months; in which interval of time Dr. Lightfoot and other harmonists place all the passages that occur from Lu. 10:17 to 13:17. What is recorded in ch. 7 and 8 was at the feast of tabernacles, in September; what is recorded in this and the following chapter was at the feast of dedication in December, ch. 10:22. Mr. Clark and others place this immediately after the foregoing chapter. In this chapter we have,
Jhn 9:1-7
We have here sight given to a poor beggar that had been blind from his birth. Observe,
Now,
Jhn 9:8-12
Such a wonderful event as the giving of sight to a man born blind could not but be the talk of the town, and many heeded it no more than they do other town-talk, that is but nine days' wonder; but here we are told what the neighbours said of it, for the confirmation of the matter of fact. That which at first was not believed without scrutiny may afterwards be admitted without scruple. Two things are debated in this conference about it:-
Jhn 9:13-34
One would have expected that such a miracle as Christ wrought upon the blind man would have settled his reputation, and silenced and shamed all opposition, but it had the contrary effect; instead of being embraced as a prophet for it, he is prosecuted as a criminal.
Jhn 9:35-38
In these verses we may observe,
Jhn 9:39-41
Christ, having spoken comfort to the poor man that was persecuted, here speaks conviction to his persecutors, a specimen of the distributions of trouble and rest at the great day, 2 Th. 1:6, 7. Probably this was not immediately after his discourse with the man, but he took the next opportunity that offered itself to address the Pharisees. Here is,