Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 9:38
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him.
38. Lord, I believe ] Or, I believe, Lord: the order is worth keeping. Comp. the centurion’s confession (Mat 27:54). There is no need to suppose that in either case the man making the confession knew anything like the full meaning of belief in the Son of God: even Apostles were slow at learning that. The blind man had had his own uninformed idea of the Messiah, and he believed that the realisation of that idea stood before him. His faith was necessarily imperfect, a poor ‘two mites;’ but it was ‘all that he had,’ and he gave it readily, while the learned Rabbis of their abundance gave nothing. It is quite gratuitous to suppose that a special revelation was granted to him. There is no hint of this in the narrative, nor can one see why so great an exception to God’s usual dealings with man should have been made.
he worshipped him ] This shews that his idea of the Son of God includes attributes of Divinity. The word for ‘worship’ occurs elsewhere in this Gospel only in Joh 4:20-24 and Joh 12:20, always of the worship of God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I believe – This was the overflowing expression of gratitude and faith.
And he worshipped him – He did homage to him as the Messiah and as his gracious benefactor. See the notes at Mat 2:2. This shows:
- That it is right and natural to express thanks and praise for mercies.
- All blessings should lead us to pour out our gratitude to Jesus, for it is from him that we receive them.
- Especially is this true when the mind has been enlightened, when our spiritual eyes have been opened, and we are permitted to see the glories of the heavenly world.
- It is right to pay homage or worship to Jesus. He forbade it not. He received it on earth, and for all mercies of providence and redemption we should pay to him the tribute of humble and grateful hearts. The Syriac renders the phrase, he worshipped him, thus: and, casting himself down, he adored him. The Persian, and he bowed down and adored Christ. The Arabic, and he adored him. The Latin Vulgate, and, falling down, he adored him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 38. And he said, Lord, I believe.] That is, I believe thou art the Messiah; and, to give the fullest proof of the sincerity of his faith, he fell down before and adored him. Never having seen Jesus before, but simply knowing that a person of that name had opened his eyes, he had only considered him as a holy man and a prophet; but now that he sees and hears him he is convinced of his divinity, and glorifies him as his Saviour. We may hear much of Jesus, but can never know his glories and excellencies till he has discovered himself to our hearts by his own Spirit; then we believe on him, trust him with our souls, and trust in him for our salvation. The word has two meanings: it signifies Lord, or Sovereign Ruler, and Sir, a title of civil respect. In the latter sense it seems evidently used in the 36th verse, Joh 9:36 because the poor man did not then know that Jesus was the Messiah; in the former sense it is used in this verse – now the healed man knew the quality of his benefactor.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Now is the work of faith with power wrought in his soul: he saith, Lord, I do acknowledge and receive thee as the Son of God; I am fully persuaded that thou art more than what thou art in thy external form and appearance, more than a mere man, and I give up myself to thee, to be ruled and guided by thee. And as a testimony of this, he performed some act of external adoration to him. The word signifies prostration; he kneeled down to him, or he fell upon his face before him: we are not able to determine what particular act or posture of adoration he used; but there is nothing plainer, than that it is to be understood of such a Divine adoration and homage as is due unto God alone, for it was such as testified his faith in him as the Son of God, whom he had professed that he believed him to be, in the words immediately preceding: although therefore the word in the Greek be a word used sometimes to signify that civil respect which men show to their superiors, yet it cannot be so interpreted in this place, considering what went before.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38. he said, Lord, I believe: and heworshipped hima faith and a worship, beyonddoubt, meant to express far more than he would think proper to anyhuman “prophet” (Joh9:17) the unstudied, resistless expression, probably ofSUPREME faith andadoration, though without the full understanding of what thatimplied.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he said, Lord, I believe,…. He immediately found faith in his soul, and that in exercise, moving towards, and acting upon Christ, as the Son of God, and true Messiah, for everlasting life and salvation; and as soon as he did perceive it, he made an open and hearty profession of it:
and he worshipped him: as God, with religious worship and adoration, not only trusting in him, but ascribing honour, glory, and blessing to him, which are due to God only, and not a creature.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Lord, I believe (, ). here = Lord (reverence, no longer respect as in 36). A short creed, but to the point.
And he worshipped him ( ). Ingressive first aorist active indicative of , old verb to fall down in reverence, to worship. Sometimes of men (Mt 18:26). In John (see 4:20) this verb “is always used to express divine worship” (Bernard). It is tragic to hear men today deny that Jesus should be worshipped. He accepted worship from this new convert as he later did from Thomas who called him “God” (Joh 20:28). Peter (Ac 10:25f.) refused worship from Cornelius as Paul and Barnabas did at Lystra (Ac 14:18), but Jesus made no protest here.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Worshipped [] . See on Act 10:25.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he said, Lord, I believe.” (ho de ephe pisteuo kurie) “Then he said, Lord, I trust or believe,” and it is that final condition on the part of lost sinners, after hearing, conviction, and repentance, by which a sinner becomes saved, Act 16:31; Rom 1:16; Gal 3:26; 1Jn 5:1.
2) “And he worshipped him.” (kai prosekunesen auto) “And he worshipped to or toward him,” as His Savior, Joh 14:9; Joh 20:28, bowed to His holy will, to His honor and praise, who wills not that any should perish. Only the redeemed, those born or quickened of the spirit, by faith in Christ Jesus can truly worship Him, 2Pe 3:9; Joh 6:63; 1Pe 1:23; Joh 4:24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
38. And he worshipped him. It may be asked, Did the blind man honor or worship Christ as God? (275) The word which the Evangelist employs ( προσέκυνησει) means nothing more than to express respect and homage by bending the knee, or by other signs. For my own part, certainly, I think that it denotes something rare and uncommon; namely, that the blind man gave far more honor to Christ than to an ordinary man, or even to a prophet. And yet I do not think that at that time he had made such progress as to know that Christ was God manifested in the flesh. What then is meant by worship ? The blind man, convinced that Jesus was the Son of God, nearly lost the command of himself, and, in rapturous admiration, bowed down before him.
(275) “ Si l’aveugle a honore ou adore Christ comme Dieu.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(38) And he said, Lord, I believe.The title is repeated, but now with the deeper meaning. His half-faith has passed into full conviction. The spiritual education has led him step by step from the Man that is called Jesus (Joh. 9:11) to the confession that He is a prophet (Joh. 9:17), and that He is of God (Joh. 9:33), to the belief that He is the Messiah. It is. the course of a plain man in the honesty of his heart daring to think for himself, and to act upon his convictions. He declines to be silenced by authority, or ensnared in the mazes of argument. The ultimate facts of his own consciousness supply him with a definite foundation of truth, and this is immoveable. The steps by which he advances in knowledge are a striking comment on the promise (Joh. 7:17).
And he worshipped him.The act of adoration is the necessary expression of his faith in the Son of God. We may not think that he has yet learnt all that this term includes; but he has at least learnt that the Son of God has the attribute of the divine glory, and is the object of human worship. It should be noted that St. John uses the word here rendered worshipped only when speaking of the worship of God. (Comp. also Joh. 4:20-24; Joh. 12:20.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
38. Lord, I believe So faith is the consent of the will, the accord of the heart, and the assent of the understanding.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he said, “Lord, I believe”’, and he worshipped him.’
The man’s eyes had now been opened again, this time spiritually, and he confessed Jesus as ‘Lord’. How far he yet saw the full truth we do not know, but we are undoubtedly to see this as the beginning of a genuine discipleship. (He previously called Jesus ‘sir’ using the same word ‘kurios’, but the change in his viewpoint demands the change in translation).
‘He worshipped him.’ We are probably to see here that he fell on his face before Him. He realised now that he was in contact with Someone far beyond what he had previously imagined. When men who are spiritually blind have their eyes opened they too will worship Jesus. We note here that while in Revelation the angel told John not to worship him (Rev 22:9), Jesus made no such restriction about homage to Himself. He accepted the worship as His right. The use elsewhere in John’s Gospel of the word used here is restricted to the worship of God (see especially Joh 4:20-24).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
Ver. 38. And he worshipped him ] sc. as the Son of God, with divine adoration. This our Saviour would not have suffered had he not been of God. And being so, and to us so good a God, we must not only adorare Christum, sed et adulari, as Tertullian hath it, do him all the honour we can devise.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 9:38 . . He promptly uttered his belief and “worshipped” Jesus. In this Gospel is used of the worship of God: the word is, however, susceptible of a somewhat lower degree of adoration (Mat 18:26 ); but it includes the acknowledgment of supremacy and a complete submission.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
believe. App-150.
worshipped. App-137.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 9:38. , Lord) He now uses this term in a more strict sense than he had used it at verse 36.[264]-, he worshipped) The worship follows spontaneously the recognition of His Divinity. [Jesus nowhere required this worship of any one; it was the spirit of faith that instructed believers to render it.-V. g.]
[264] There simply, Sir; here, Lord.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 9:38
Joh 9:38
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.-The man at once accepted the truth of the statement and confessed his faith in Jesus by worshiping him as the divine Being. [The believer believes with his heart, confesses Christ with his mouth, and shows his faith by obedience.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Lord: Joh 20:28, Psa 2:12, Psa 45:11, Mat 14:33, Mat 28:9, Mat 28:17, Luk 24:52, Rev 5:9-14
Reciprocal: Mat 2:2 – worship Mat 8:2 – worshipped Luk 17:15 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
BELIEF AND WORSHIP
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him.
Joh 9:38
John supplements the other Gospels. The miracle recorded in this chapter is found nowhere else. But some people sayMiracles are impossible. If Christ has opened your eyes and made all things new for you, you will not say miracles are impossible, for you yourself are a miracle of mercy. What greater thing can God be asked to do than to raise a dead soul?
I. It is wonderful how quickly this man grew in grace.At first he speaks of Christ as a man that is called Jesus, then as a prophet, at last he worships Him as the Son of God.
II. The value of experience.The Pharisees did not want Christ to have the praise of healing. So they first said the man was never blind at all, but only shamming. When the miracle had to be admitted, then they asserted no man of God would do a work of that sort on the Sabbath. But the man who had been born blind held fast to one fact which could not be gainsaid: I was blind, now I see. Herein lies the value of experience.
III. He was willing to suffer for Christs sake.The Jews had agreed to cast out of the synagogue any who should confess that Jesus was the Messiah. There were three kinds of excommunication. The first two were chiefly disciplinary. If after the second admonition the offender was still unrepentant, the third excommunication was of indefinite duration, he was shut out from all the religious and civil privileges of the Jewish people, and was like one dead. But the man stood firm and would suffer all this rather than deny his Lord.
Rev. F. Harper.
Illustration
In the case of this blind man we have an example of the triumph of faith. You know Bunyans parable. Then I saw in my dream, that the Interpreter took Christian by the hand, and led him into a place where was a fire burning against a wall, and one standing by it, always casting much water upon it, to quench it; yet did the fire burn higher and hotter. Then, said Christian, What means this? The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts water upon it to extinguish and put it out, is the Devil: but in that thou seest the fire notwithstanding burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see the reason of that. So he had him about to the other side of the wall, where he saw a man with a vessel of oil in his hand, of the which he did also continually cast (but secretly) into the fire. Then said Christian, What means this? The Interpreter answered, This is Christ, Who continually, with the oil of His grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart; by the means of which, notwithstanding what the Devil can do, the souls of His people prove gracious still. And in that thou sawest, that the man stood behind the wall to maintain the fire; that is to teach thee, that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is maintained in the soul. It is even so. God takes care of the faith He has Himself implanted. Faith is a tender plant and must be preserved in frost and wind and storm. And God does this. Faith goes through the waters, and through the rivers, and through the fire (Isa 43:2).
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
8
The man who had been blind made the good confession. The miracle of opening his eyes convinced him that his benefactor was a man of God, and that would mean that any claim he would make would be true. Now that they have met personally and Jesus claims to be the Son of God, the man sincerely confessed his faith. We are not told in what manner he worshipped Jesus, and since that word has such a wide range of meaning, it, will be well to see the note in connection with Mat 2:2.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 9:38. And he said, I believe, Lord; and he worshipped him. The simple and immediate answer shows how little remained to be done to make his faith complete. Not with bodily senses only, but in his heart, he has seen Jesus; he has heard His word: he believes and worships the Son of man, the Messiah, his Lord. In this man, therefore, Jesus has manifested Himself as Light of the world (Joh 9:5). But of this manifestation there are two opposite results; the Light will attract some out of the darkness: the Light will repel others into yet deeper darkness. The newly found disciple is an example of the one work, the hardened Jews of the other. Of these contrasted results Jesus Himself here speaks.