34 They answered and said to him, Thou hast been wholly born in sins, and thou teachest us? And they cast him out.
His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one confessed him [to be the] Christ, he should be excommunicated from the synagogue.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this [man] or his parents, that he should be born blind?
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let Jehovah be glorified, and let us see your joy! but they shall be ashamed.
Behold, in iniquity was I brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Ye do the works of your father. They said [therefore] to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one father, God.
Has any one of the rulers believed on him, or of the Pharisees? But this crowd, which does not know the law, are accursed.
And [some] of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and they said to him, Are we blind also?
[to deliver,] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (ye and my spirit being gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ), him that has so wrought this: to deliver him, [I say,] [being] such, to Satan for destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
We, Jews by nature, and not sinners of [the] nations,
among whom *we* also all once had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the thoughts willed to do, and were children, by nature, of wrath, even as the rest:
I wrote something to the assembly; but Diotrephes, who loves to have the first place among them, receives us not.
and that no one should be able to buy or sell save he that had the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of its name.
All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will not at all cast out.
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus to himself: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax-gatherer. I fast twice in the week, I tithe everything I gain. And the tax-gatherer, standing afar off, would not lift up even his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, O God, have compassion on me, the sinner. I say unto you, This [man] went down to his house justified rather than that [other]. For every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
And one of the doctors of the law answering says to him, Teacher, in saying these things thou insultest us also.
Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from them], and shall reproach [you], and cast out your name as wicked, for the Son of man's sake:
But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the assembly; and if also he will not listen to the assembly, let him be to thee as one of the nations and a tax-gatherer. Verily I say to you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall be loosed in heaven.
who say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and without remedy.
Cast out the scorner, and contention will depart, and strife and ignominy shall cease.
He that instructeth a scorner getteth to himself shame; and he that reproveth a wicked [man] [getteth] to himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee; reprove a wise [man], and he will love thee.
What is man, that he should be pure? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight: How much less the abominable and corrupt, -- man, that drinketh unrighteousness like water!
And it came to pass as he talked with him, that [Amaziah] said to him, Hast thou been made the king's counsellor? Forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbore, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened to my counsel.
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,