22 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.
They will put you out of the Synagogues: yes, the time is coming when whoever puts you to death will have the belief that he is doing God's pleasure.
But no man said anything about him openly for fear of the Jews.
Their answer was: You came to birth through sin; do you make yourself our teacher? And they put him out of the Synagogue.
At evening on that day, the first day of the week, when, for fear of the Jews, the doors were shut where the disciples were, Jesus came among them and said to them, May peace be with you!
But those who are full of fear and without faith, the unclean and takers of life, those who do the sins of the flesh, and those who make use of evil powers or who give worship to images, and all those who are false, will have their part in the sea of ever-burning fire which is the second death.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I made a protest against him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. For before certain men came from James, he did take food with the Gentiles: but when they came, he went back and made himself separate, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews went after him, so that even Barnabas was overcome by their false ways.
And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go.
And they sent for them, and gave them orders not to make statements or give teaching in the name of Jesus.
<Of David.> The Lord is my light and my salvation; who is then a cause of fear to me? the Lord is the strength of my life; who is a danger to me? When evil-doers, even my haters, came on me to put an end to me, they were broken and put to shame.
However, a number even of the rulers had belief in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not say so openly for fear that they might be shut out from the Synagogue: For the praise of men was dearer to them than the approval of God.
Then the servants went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, Why have you not got him with you? The servants made answer, No man ever said things like this man. Then the Pharisees said to them, Have you, like the others, been given false ideas? Have any of the rulers belief in him, or any one of the Pharisees? But these people who have no knowledge of the law are cursed. Nicodemus--he who had come to Jesus before, being himself one of them--said to them, Is a man judged by our law before it has given him a hearing and has knowledge of what he has done? This was their answer: And do you come from Galilee? Make search and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee.
And a certain woman-servant, seeing him in the light of the fire, and looking at him with attention, said, This man was with him. But he said, Woman, it is not true; I have no knowledge of him. And after a little time, another saw him and said, You are one of them; and he said, Man, I am not. And after about an hour, another man said, with decision, Certainly this man was with him, for he is a Galilaean. And Peter said, Man, I have no knowledge of these things of which you are talking. And straight away, while he was saying these words, there came the cry of a cock. And the Lord, turning, gave Peter a look. And the words of the Lord came to Peter's mind, how he had said, This night, before the hour of the cock's cry, you will be false to me three times.
And I say to you, my friends, Have no fear of those who may put the body to death, and are able to do no more than that. But I will make clear to you of whom you are to be in fear: of him who after death has power to send you to hell; yes, truly I say, Have fear of him. Are not five sparrows given in exchange for two farthings? and God has every one of them in mind. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Have no fear: you are of more value than a flock of sparrows. And I say to you that to everyone who gives witness to me before men, the Son of man will give witness before the angels of God. But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before the angels of God.
And of whom were you in fear, so that you were false, and did not keep me in mind, or give thought to it? Have I not been quiet, keeping myself secret, and so you were not in fear of me?
Give ear to me, you who have knowledge of righteousness, in whose heart is my law; have no fear of the evil words of men, and give no thought to their curses.
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,