Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 9:39

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

39. And Jesus said ] There is no need to make a break in the narrative and refer these words to a subsequent occasion. This is not natural. Rather it is the sight of the man prostrate at His feet, endowed now with sight both in body and soul, that moves Christ to say what follows. His words are addressed to the bystanders generally, among whom are some of the Pharisees.

For judgment I am come ] Better, For judgment I came. The precise form of word for ‘judgment’ occurs nowhere else in this Gospel. It signifies not the act of judging (Joh 5:22; Joh 5:24; Joh 5:27; Joh 5:30) but its result, a ‘sentence’ or ‘decision’ (Mat 7:2, Mar 12:40, Rom 2:2-3, &c.), Christ came not to judge, but to save (Joh 3:17, Joh 8:15); but judgment was the inevitable result of His coming, for those who rejected Him passed sentence on themselves (Joh 3:19). See on Joh 1:9 and Joh 18:37. The pronoun is emphatic.

they which see not ] They who are conscious of their own blindness, who know their deficiencies; like ‘they that are sick’ and ‘sinners’ in Mat 9:12-13, and ‘babes’ in Mat 11:25. This man was aware of his spiritual blindness when he asked, ‘Who is He then, that I may believe on Him!’

might see ] Better, may see, may really see, may pass from the darkness of which they are conscious, to light and truth.

they which see ] They who fancy they see, who pride themselves on their superior insight and knowledge, and wish to dictate to others; like ‘they that be whole,’ and ‘righteous’ in Mat 9:12-13, and ‘the wise and prudent’ in Mat 11:25. These Pharisees shewed this proud self-confidence when they declared, ‘ we know that this man is a sinner,’ and asked ‘Dost thou teach us? ’

might be made blind ] Or, may become blind, really blind (Isa 6:10), may pass from their fancied light into real darkness.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

39 41. “The concluding verses contain a saying which is thoroughly in the manner of the Synoptists (cf. Mat 15:14; Mat 23:16-17; Mat 23:24; Mat 23:26). It also supplies a warranty for ascribing a typical significance to miracles.

That the Synoptists do not relate this miracle does not affect its historical character, as the whole of these events in Judaea are equally omitted by them. The vague and shifting outlines of the Synoptic narrative allow ample room for all the insertions that are made in them with so much precision by S. John.” S. pp. 165, 166.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For judgment – The word judgment, here, has been by some understood in the sense of condemnation – The effect of my coming is to condemn the world. But this meaning does not agree with those places where Jesus says that he came not to condemn the world, Joh 3:17; Joh 12:47; Joh 5:45. To judge is to express an opinion in a judicial manner, and also to express any sentiment about any person or thing, Joh 7:24; Joh 5:30; Luk 8:43. The meaning here may be thus expressed: I came to declare the condition of men; to show them their duty and danger. My coming will have this effect, that some will be reformed and saved, and some more deeply condemned.

That they … – The Saviour does not affirm that this was the design of his coming, but that such would be the effect or result. He came to declare the truth, and the effect would be, etc. Similar instances of expression frequently occur. Compare Mat 11:25; Mat 10:34; I came not to send peace, but a sword – that is, such will be the effect of my coming.

That they which see not – Jesus took this illustration, as he commonly did, from the case before him; but it is evident that he meant it to be taken in a spiritual sense. He refers to those who are blind and ignorant by sin; whose minds have been darkened, but who are desirous of seeing.

Might see – Might discern the path of truth, of duty, and of salvation, Joh 10:9.

They which see – They who suppose they see; who are proud, self-confident, and despisers of the truth. Such were evidently the Pharisees.

Might be made blind – Such would be the effect of his preaching. It would exasperate them, and their pride and opposition to him would confirm them more and more in their erroneous views. This is always the effect of truth. Where it does not soften it hardens the heart; where it does not convert, it sinks into deeper blindness and condemnation.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Joh 9:39-41

For judgment I have come into the world

Christs mission to the world

I.

HAS TWO APPARENTLY OPPOSITE RESULTS.

1. Of these

(1) One is the greatest blessing: That they which see not might see. All unregenerate men are blind spiritually. God and the moral universe are as much concealed from them as the beauties of this mundane scene are from those born blind. They grope their way through life and stumble on the great future. A greater blessing is not conceivable than the opening of the spiritual eye. It involves the souls translation into the real paradise of being.

(2) The other is the greatest curse: That they which see, etc., i.e., that those who are unconscious of their blindness and conceitedly fancy they see would be incalculably injured. By rejecting the remedial agency of Christ they would augment their guilt and gloom. These two results are taking place every day.

2. Of these

(1) One is intentional. The grand and definite purpose of Christ is to give recovery of sight to the blind.

(2) The other is incidental and directly opposed to His supreme aim. It comes because Christ does not coerce men, but treats them as free agents, and also because of the perversity of the unregenerate heart. As men may get food out of the earth or poison, fire out of the sun that shall burn them to ashes, or genial light that shall cheer and invigorate them, so men get salvation or damnation out of Christ mission.

II. IS MISINTERPRETED AND ABUSED.

1. Misinterpreted (Joh 9:40). Dost thou mean that we, educated men, trained in the laws and religion of our forefathers, and devoted to the work of teaching the nation, are blind? They would not understand that our Lord meant blindness of heart. So the great purpose of Christs mission has ever been misinterpreted. Some treat the gospel as if its object were to give a speculative creed, an ecclesiastical polity, a civil government, a social order, while they practically ignore that its grand object is to open the spiritual eyes of men, so that they may see, not mens forms and phenomena, but spiritual realities.

2. Abused (Joh 9:41). Notwithstanding My mission, Ye say, We see. With Me you have the opportunity of illumination; without that your blindness would be a calamity, but now it is a crime. Therefore your sin remaineth. If, like this man, you were without the power of seeing, and had no opportunity of cure, you would have no sin; for no man is required to use a power he has not. What should we think of a man living in the midst of beautiful scenery but refusing to open his eyes? But the case of the spiritually blind, with the faculties of reason and conscience and the sun of the gospel streaming on them, is worse than this. Men love darkness rather than light, etc. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The opening of the eyes

The man had been blind all his life; he was blind that morning; now, at night, he saw. The wonderful beauty of the world had burst upon him. The greatest luxury of sense that man enjoys was his, and he was revelling in its new-found enjoyment. He was intensely grateful to the Friend who had given it to him. He loved Him and thanked Him with his whole heart. And just then Jesus steps in and questions him; not, Are you glad and grateful? but, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? It is a new thought, a new view altogether. We can almost see the surprise and bewilderment creep over his glad face. He had it on his lips to thank his Friend, and lo! suddenly he was dealing with God, and with the infinite relations between God and man.

I. THE LORDS QUESTION. What does it mean? This: Are you glad and grateful for these things as little separate sensations of pleasure? That amounts to nothing. Or are you thankful for them as manifestations of the Divine life to yours, as tokens of that fatherhood of God which found its great utterance, including all others, in the Incarnation of His Son? That is everything. No wonder that such a question brings surprise. It is so much more than you expected. It is like the poor Neapolitan peasant, who struck his spade into the soil to dig a well, and the spade went through into free space, and he had discovered all the hidden wealth of Herculaneum. No wonder there is surprise at first; but afterward you see that in the belief in a manifested Son of God, if you could gain it, you would have just the principle of spiritual unity in which your life is wanting, and the lack of which makes so much of its very best so valueless. If you could believe in one great utterance of God, one incarnate word, the manifested pity of God, and the illustrated possibility of man at once–then, with such a central point, there could be no more fragmentariness anywhere. All must fall into its relation to it, to Him, and so the unity of life show forth.

II. THE MANS ANSWER. I do not know, he seems to say, I did not mean anything like that; I did not seem to believe, but yet I have not evidently exhausted or fathomed my own thought. There is something below that I have not realized. Perhaps I do believe. At any rate I should like to. The vague notion attracts me. I will believe if I can. Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? The simplicity and frankness, the guilelessness and openness of the man makes us like him more than ever. There is evidently for him a chance, nay, a certainty, that he will be greater, fuller, better than he is. Some natures are inclusive; some are exclusive. Some men seem to be always asking, How much can I take in? and some are always asking, How much can I shut out? One man wants to believe; he welcomes evidence. He asks, Who is He, that I may believe on Him? Another man seems to dread to believe; he has ingenuity in discovering the flaws of proof. If he asks for more information, it is because he is sure that some objection or discrepancy will appear which will release him from the unwelcome duty of believing. We see the two tendencies, all of us, in people that we know. Carried to their extremes, they develop on one side the superstitious, on the other the sceptical spirit. More than we think, far more, depends upon this first attitude of the whole nature–upon whether we want to believe or to disbelieve. To one who finds the forces of this life sufficient, an incarnation, a supernatural salvation, is incredible. To one who, looking deeper, knows there must be some infinite force which it has not found yet–some loving, living force of Emmanuel, of God with man–the Son of God is waiting OH the threshold and will immediately come.

III. How will He come? Read THE LORDS REPLY. Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee. The teaching that seems to me to be here for us is this–that when Christ comes, as we say, to a human soul, it is only to the consciousness of the soul that He is introduced, not to the soul itself; He has been at the doors of that from its very beginning. We live in a redeemed world–a world full of the Holy Ghost forever doing Christs work, forever taking of the things of Christ and showing them to us. That Christ so shown is the most real, most present power in this new Christian world. Men see Him, talk with Him continually. They do not recognize Him; they do not know what lofty converse they are holding; but some day when a man has become really earnest and wants to believe in the Son of God, and is asking, Who is He that I may believe on Him? then that Son of God comes to him–not as a new guest from the lofty heaven, but as the familiar and slighted Friend, who has waited and watched at the doorstep, who has already from the very first filled the souls house with such measure of His influence as the souls obstinacy of indifference would allow, and who now, as He steps in at the souls eager call to take complete and final possession of its life, does not proclaim His coming in awful, new, unfamiliar words, but says in tones which the soul recognizes and wonders that it has not known long before, Thou hast seen Me, I have talked with thee. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)

Sight for those who see not

Jesus has come into the world for judgment, but not for the last and unchangeable judgment. His fan is in His hand. He sits as a refiner. His cross has revealed the thoughts of many hearts, and everywhere His gospel acts as a discoverer, a separator, a test by which men may judge themselves if they will. Light no sooner comes than it begins to judge the darkness. When the gospel comes, some hearts receive it at once, and are judged to be honest and good ground, and come to the light, that their deeds may be made manifest, etc. Other hearts at once hate the truth, because their deeds are evil. Observe

1. Wherever Christ comes the most decided effects will follow. Whoever you are, the gospel must be to you a savour of life or of death, antidote or poison, curing or killing. It will make you see, or else, because you fancy you see, its very brightness will make you blind. If you live without it, you will die; if you feel that you are dead without it, it will make you live.

2. Christ has come that those who see not may see.

(1) The gospel is meant for people who think themselves most unsuited for it and undeserving of it; it is a sight for those who see not.

(2) Since Christ has come to open mens eyes, I know He did not come to open those bright eyes that seem to say, No oculist is needed here. When there is a charity breakfast the invited guests are not the royal family. So Christ comes to the needy.

3. Let us take the blind man for a model.

I. HE KNEW THAT HE WAS BLIND, and took up his proper position as a beggar. Many of you are too high, and must come down. You fancy that you have kept the law from your youth, are and all that you ought to be. As long as you think thus the blessing is delayed. But some of you say: I scarcely know my condition. I am not right, I know; I feel so blind. You are on your way to a cure.

II. HE HAD A SINCERE DESIRE TO BE ENLIGHTENED. Christ heals no one who evinces no desire to be healed.

III. HE WAS VERY OBEDIENT. As soon as the Lord said, Go, wash, he went; he had no Abana and Pharpar which he preferred to the pool. That is a good word in the prophet, O Lord, Thou art the Potter and we are the clay. What can the clay do to help the potter? Be pliable.

IV. WHEN HE SAW, HE OWNED IT. The least that you can do for your Healer is to confess Him.

V. HE BEGAN TO DEFEND THE MAN WHO OPENED HIS EYES. When the Lord opened the eyes of a great blind sinner, that man will not have Him spoken against. Some of your genteel Christians do not speak for Christ above once in six months.

VI. WHEN HIS EYES WERE OPENED, HE WISHED TO KNOW MORE. Who is He? And when he found that He was the Son of God, he worshipped Him. If you have not seen Jesus of Nazareth to be very God of very God, you have seen nothing. VII. HOW IS IT THAT SUCH BLIND MEN COME TO SEE?

1. They have no conceit to hinder Christ. It is easier to save us from our sins than from our righteousness.

2. They refuse to speculate; they want certainties. When a man feels his blindness, if you discuss before him the five nothings of modern theology, he says: I do not want them: there is no comfort in them to a lost soul.

3. They are glad to lean on God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Are we blind also?–All quarrelling is about the application of general granted rules to personal private cases. (Epictetus.)

There is no such hindrance to proficiency as too timely a conceit of knowledge (Rev 3:17; Luk 8:13; Luk 8:15). (Dr. Hammond.)

I suppose that many might have attained to wisdom had they not thought they had already attained to it (Jer 8:8-9; Isa 42:18-20). (Seneca.)

It is a woeful condition of a Church when no man will allow himself to be ignorant (Psa 12:4). (Bp. Hall.)

If ye were blind, ye should have no sin

The sense of sin leads to holiness and the conceit of holiness to sin

Some of the most significant of Christs teachings are put in the form of a verbal contradiction: He that findeth his life shaft lose it, etc.; Whosoever hath not from him shall be taken, etc. But the impressiveness of the truth taught is all the greater from being couched in terms that would nonplus a mere verbal critic. It is so with regard to Joh 9:39 and the text.

I. THE SENSE OF SIN CONDUCTS TO HOLINESS upon the general principle of supply and demand. This law holds good

1. In our earthly affairs. If one nation requires grain from abroad, another will sow and reap to meet the requisition. If our country requires fabrics it cannot well produce, another will toil to furnish them. From year to year the wants of mankind are thus met.

2. In the operations of Providence. Gods goodness is over all His works. He opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. Famines are the exception and not the rule. Seedtime and harvest fail not from century to century, and there is no surplus to be wanted.

3. In the kingdom of grace. If God is ready to feed the ravens, He is more ready to supply the spiritual wants of His sinful creatures. He takes more pleasure in filling the hungry soul than the hungry mouth. If ye, being evil, etc. If there were only a demand for heavenly food as importunate as there is for earthly, the supply would be at once forthcoming in infinite abundance. For no sinful creature can know his religious necessities without crying out for a supply. Can a man hunger without begging food? No more can a conscious sinner without crying, Create in me a clean heart, etc. And the promises are more explicit in respect to heavenly blessings. You may beg God to restore you to health, to give you a competence, and He may not see fit to grant your prayer. But if you say, God be merciful to me, a sinner, you will certainly obtain an answer, for this will not injure you as the other may; and God has expressly said that it is always His will that man should seek mercy, and always His delight to grant it. Come, then, for all things are now ready (1Jn 5:14-15).

II. THE CONCEIT OF HOLINESS LEADS TO SIN. We are met at the very outset with the fact that a conceit is in its own nature sin. It is self-deception. The disposition of the Pharisee to say, We see, is an insuperable obstacle to every gracious affection. Christianity is a religion for the poor in spirit. Conceit opposes this, and puffs up a man with pride and fills him with sin.

1. Religion is a matter of the understanding, and consists in a true knowledge of Divine things. Self-flattery is fatal to all spiritual discernment

(1) It prevents a true knowledge of ones own heart. The Pharisee who said, God, I thank Thee, etc., was utterly ignorant of his own heart, and impervious to any light that might fall upon it.

(2) It precluded all true knowledge of God. Humility is necessary to spiritual discernment. God repulses a proud intellect, and shuts Himself up from all haughty scrutiny. To this man will I look, etc.

2. Religion is a matter of the affections, and the injurious influence of a conceit of holiness in these is even more apparent. Nothing is more deadening to emotion than pride. If you would extinguish all religious sensibility within yourself, become a Pharisee.

Conclusion:

1. The practical lesson is the necessity of obtaining a sense of sin. So long as we think or say that we see we are out of all saving relations to the gospel. The foundation of true science is willingness to be ignorant, and so it is in religion. The instant a vacuum is produced the air will rush into it, and the instant any soul becomes emptied of its conceit of holiness, and becomes an aching void, and reaches out after something purer and better, it is filled with what it wants.

2. As an encouragement to this we may depend on the aid of the Holy Spirit. (Prof. Shedd.)

Blind yet seeing

A blind boy, that had suffered imprisonment at Gloucester not long before, was brought to Bishop Hooper the day before his death. Mr. Hooper, after he had examined of his faith and the cause of his imprisonment, beheld him steadfastly, and the water appearing in his eyes, said unto him, Ah! poor boy, God hath taken from thee thy outward sight, but hath given thee another sight much more precious; for He hath endued thy soul with the eye of knowledge and faith. (J. Trapp.)

Help for the needy

I have felt a wonderful satisfaction in feeding a poor half-starved dog that had no master and nothing to eat. How he has looked up with pleasure in my face when he has been fed to the full! Depend upon it the Lord Jesus Christ will take delight in feeding a poor hungry sinner. You feel like a poor dog, do you not? Then Jesus cares for you. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

The emptiness of self-righteous boasting

The governor of a besieged city threw loaves of bread over the wall to the besiegers, to make them believe that the citizens had such large supplies that they could afford to throw them away; yet they were starving all the while. There are some men of like manners; they have nothing that they can offer unto God, but yet they exhibit a glittering self-righteousness. Oh! they have been so good, such superior people, so praiseworthy from their youth up; they never did anything much amiss; there may be a little speck here and there upon their garments, but that will brush off when it is dry. They make a fair show in the flesh with morality and formality, and a smattering of generosity. Besides, they profess to be religious: they attend Divine service, and pay their quota of the expenses. Who could find any fault with such good people? Just so; this profession is the fine horse and trap with which they too are cutting a dash just before going through the court. There is nothing at all in you, and there never was. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Misery of unconscious blindness

In this unconsciousness lies the heart of the mischief. Helpless man is unconscious of his own helplessness. Because they say, We see, therefore their sin remaineth. If they were blind and knew it, it were another matter, and signs of hope would be visible; but to be blind and yet to boast of having superior sight, and to ridicule those who see, is the lamentable condition of not a few. They will not thank us for our pity, but much they need it. Eyes have they, but they see not, and yet they glory in their far-sightedness. Multitudes around us are in this plight. When the prophet says, Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, we can only wonder where we should put them all if they were willing to assemble in one place. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

.

Introduction

The occasion of Christs teaching

The special form which the discourse here takes is probably and almost certainly due to the actual presence of a sheepfold with the shepherds and their flocks. We know that Bethesda was near the sheepgate, which is possibly to be identified with a covered portion of the pool of Siloam. We have, in any case, to think of an open fold surrounded by a wall or railing, into which, at eventide, the shepherds lead their flocks, committing them, during the night, to the care of an under-shepherd, who guards the door. In the morning they knock and the porter opens the door, which has been securely fastened, and each shepherd calls his own sheep, who know his voice and follow him. But we must remember that our Lords mind and theirs was full of thoughts ready to pass into a train like this. Thy servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers (Gen 47:3), was the statement of the first sons of Israel, and it was true of their descendants. Their greatest heroes–Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Daniel–had all been shepherds, and no imagery is more frequent in psalm or prophecy than that drawn from the shepherds work. We must fill our minds with these Old Testament thoughts if we would understand the chapter. Let anyone before commencing it read thoughtfully Psa 23:1-6; Isa 40:11; Jer 33:1-4; Eze 34:1-31; and especially Zec 11:4-17, and he will have the key which unlocks most of its difficulties. We have, then, the scene passing before their eyes, and the Old Testament thoughts of the shepherd connected as they were, on the one hand with Jehovah and the Messiah, and on the other with the careless shepherds of Israel, dwelling in their minds; and we have in the events which have just taken place, that which furnishes the starting point and gives to what follows its fulness of meaning. The Pharisees claimed to be shepherds of Israel. They decreed who should be admitted to and cast out from the fold. They professed to be interpreters of Gods truth, and with it to feed His flock. Pharisees, shepherds! What did they, with their curses and excommunications, know of the tenderness of the Shepherd, who shall gather the lambs with His arm, etc.? Pharisees, feed the flock of God! What had they, with their pride and self-righteousness, ever known of the infinite love and mercy of God; or what had their hearts ever felt of the wants and woes of the masses of mankind? This blind beggar was an example of their treatment of the weaker ones of the flock. The true Shepherd had sought and found this lost sheep, who is now standing near, in His presence and that of the false shepherds. He teaches who the shepherd is and what the flock of God really are. (Archdeacon Watkins.)

The pastoral similitudes

I. FOUR ARE ON THE SIDE OF GOOD; and in all these may be various manifestations of Christ.

1. The door, as affording the sole admission to the Father.

2. The porter as bearing the keys of David, the keys of death and of hell.

3. The shepherd as the guide and guardian of the sheep.

4. And Himself the sheep also, as being made one with them, in order that He might be a sacrifice for them.

II. FOUR ARE ON THE SIDE OF EVIL.

1. The thieves.

2. The robbers; both such as enter not by the door, but prey upon the flock, whether Pharisees, infidels, or heretics.

3. The mercenary, who, though he may enter by the door, is of those who seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christs.

4. The wolf, which is the enemy of the sheep, under whatsoever form he may assume. (I. Williams, B. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 39. For judgment I am come] I am come to manifest and execute the just judgment of God:

1. By giving sight to the blind, and light to the Gentiles who sit in darkness.

2. By removing the true light from those who, pretending to make a proper use of it, only abuse the mercy of God.

In a word, salvation shall be taken away from the Jews, because they reject it; and the kingdom of God shall be given to the Gentiles.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

There is a great variety in interpreters notions about the judgment here mentioned. Some think that by it is meant the Divine counsel and decree: I am come into the world, to execute the just will, and counsel, and pleasure of my Father: and the event of it is this, that some who saw not, see; and some who see, in a sense are made blind. Others understand it of condemnation; I am come to execute the judgment of condemnation: but thus it is hardly reconcilable to Joh 3:17, where it is said, that God sent not his Son to condemn the world. The best notion of it is theirs who interpret it of the spiritual government of the world, committed to Christ, and managed by him with perfect rectitude and equity. One eminent part of this was his publishing the gospel, the law of faith. The event of which is, that many spiritually blind, and utterly unable to see the way that leads to eternal life, might (as this person that was born blind is now clear sighted) be enlightened with the saving knowledge of the truth; and many that think they see, should by their obstinate infidelity be more blind than they were from their birth. Not that I cast any such ill influence upon them; but this happeneth through their own sore eyes. I am the light of the world; and as it is of the nature of light to make other things visible to men; and it hath its effect, and doth so, where mens eyes are not ill affected with humours and the like; so the light of my gospel, by which I shine in the world, makes the way of salvation by me, ordained by my Father, Act 3:18, evident and clear to many souls who are in darkness and the shadow of death: but it so happeneth, through the prejudices that others are prepossessed with against me, and the doctrine of my gospel by which I shine in the world, so full of ignorance, malice, and hatred against me and the doctrine which I bring; that through their own perverseness, and the righteous judgment of God, at last giving men over to their own delusions, they are made more blind. In this sense this scripture agreeth with what was prophesied by Isa 8:14, And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and the words of Simeon in Luk 2:34, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; as also with that of Paul, Rom 9:33.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

39-41. Jesus saidperhaps atthe same time, but after a crowd, including some of the skeptical andscornful rulers, had, on seeing Jesus talking with the healed youth,hastened to the spot.

that they which see not mightsee, &c.rising to that sight of which the naturalvision communicated to the youth was but the symbol. (See on Joh9:5, and compare Lu 4:18).

that they which see might bemade blindjudicially incapable of apprehending and receivingthe truth, to which they have wilfully shut their eyes.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Jesus said, for judgment I am come into this world,…. The Syriac version reads, “for the judgment of this world I am come”; and with which agrees the Ethiopic version, “for the judgment of the world I am come into the world”; and the Arabic and Persic versions still more expressly, “to judge this world”, or “the world, am I come”; which seems contrary to what Christ elsewhere says, Joh 3:17. Nor is the sense of the words that Christ came by the judgment of God, or the order of divine providence, or to administer justice in the government of the world, in a providential way, or to distinguish his own people from others, though all these are true; but either to fulfil the purpose and decree of God in revealing truth to some, and hiding it from others; or in a way of judgment to inflict judicial blindness on some, whilst in a way of mercy he illuminated others. So Nonnus interprets it of , a twofold “judgment”, which is different the one from the other.

That they which see not, might see; meaning, not so much corporeally as spiritually, since in the opposite clause corporeal blindness can have no place; for though Christ restored bodily sight to many, he never took it away from any person. The sense is, that Christ came as a light into the world, that those who are in the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief, and who are sensible of the same, and desire spiritual illuminations, as this man did, might see what they are by nature, what need they stand in of him, and what fulness of grace, life, righteousness, and salvation, there is in him for them.

And that they which see might be made blind; that such who are wise and knowing in their own conceit, who fancy themselves to have great light and knowledge, to have the key of knowledge, and to have the true understanding of divine things, and to be guides of the blind, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, might be given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart, so as to shut their eyes, and harden their hearts against the Gospel, and the truths of it, and which was in judgment to them: such different effects Christ and his Gospel have, as to illuminate and soften some, and blind and harden others; just as some creatures, as bats and owls, are blinded by the sun, whilst others see clearly by the light of it; and as that also has these different effects to soften the wax, and harden the clay; see Isa 6:9.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Christ’s Address to the Pharisees.

      39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.   40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?   41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

      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, 2Th 1:6; 2Th 1:7. 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,

      I. The account Christ gives of his design in coming into the world (v. 39): “For judgment I am come to order and administer the great affairs of the kingdom of God among men, and am invested with a judicial power in order thereunto, to be executed in conformity to the wise counsels of God, and in pursuance of them.” What Christ spoke, he spoke not as a preacher in the pulpit, but as a king upon the throne, and a judge upon the bench.

      1. His business into the world was great; he came to keep the assizes and general goal-delivery. He came for judgment, that is, (1.) To preach a doctrine and a law which would try men, and effectually discover and distinguish them, and would be completely fitted, in all respects, to be the rule of government now and of judgment shortly. (2.) To put a difference between men, by revealing the thoughts of many hearts, and laying open men’s true characters, by this one test, whether they were well or ill affected to him. (3.) To change the face of government in his church, to abolish the Jewish economy, to take down that fabric, which, though erected for the time by the hand of God himself, yet by lapse of time was antiquated, and by the incurable corruptions of the managers of it was become rotten and dangerous, and to erect a new building by another model, to institute new ordinances and offices, to abrogate Judaism and enact Christianity; for this judgment he came into the world, and it was a great revolution.

      2. This great truth he explains by a metaphor borrowed from the miracle which he had lately wrought. That those who see not might see, and that those who see might be made blind. Such a difference of Christ’s coming is often spoken of; to some his gospel is a savour of life unto life, to others of death unto death. (1.) This is applicable to nations and people, that the Gentiles, who had long been destitute of the light of divine revelation, might see it; and the Jews, who had long enjoyed it, might have the things of their peace hid from their eyes, Hos 1:10; Hos 2:23. The Gentiles see a great light, while blindness is happened unto Israel, and their eyes are darkened. (2.) To particular sons. Christ came into the world, [1.] Intentionally and designedly to give sight to those that were spiritually blind; by his word to reveal the object, and by his Spirit to heal the organ, that many precious souls might be turned from darkness to light. He came for judgment, that is, to set those at liberty from their dark prison that were willing to be released, Isa. lxi. 1. [2.] Eventually, and in the issue, that those who see might be made blind; that those who have a high conceit of their own wisdom, and set up that in contradiction to divine revelation, might be sealed up in ignorance and infidelity. The preaching of the cross was foolishness, and an infatuating think, to those who by wisdom knew not God. Christ came into the world for this judgment, to administer the affairs of a spiritual kingdom, seated in men’s minds. Whereas, in the Jewish church, the blessings and judgments of God’s government were mostly temporal, now the method of administration should be changed; and as the good subjects of his kingdom should be blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly things, such as arise from a due illumination of the mind, so the rebels should be punished with spiritual plagues, not war, famine, and pestilence, as formerly, but such as arise from a judicial infatuation, hardness of heart, terror of conscience, strong delusions, vile affections. In this way Christ will judge between cattle and cattle,Eze 34:17; Eze 34:22.

      II. The Pharisees’ cavil at this. They were with him, not desirous to learn any good from him, but to form evil against him; and they said, Are we blind also? When Christ said that those who saw should by his coming be made blind, they apprehended that he meant them, who were the seers of the people, and valued themselves on their insight and foresight. “Now,” say they, “we know that the common people are blind; but are we blind also? What we? The rabbin, the doctors, the learned in the laws, the graduates in the schools, are we blind too?” This is scandalum magnatum–a libel on the great. Note, Frequently those that need reproof most, and deserve it best, though they have wit enough to discern a tacit one, have not grace enough to bear a just one. These Pharisees took this reproof for a reproach, as those lawyers (Luke xi. 45): “Are we blind also? Darest thou say that we are blind, whose judgment every one has such a veneration for, values, and yields to?” Note, Nothing fortifies men’s corrupt hearts more against the convictions of the word, nor more effectually repels them, than the good opinion, especially if it be a high opinion, which others have of them; as if all that had gained applause with men must needs obtain acceptance with God, than which nothing is more false and deceitful, for God sees not as man sees.

      III. Christ’s answer to this cavil, which, if it did not convince them, yet silenced them: If you were blind you should have no sin; but now you say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth. They gloried that they were not blind, as the common people, were not so credulous and manageable as they, but would see with their own eyes, having abilities, as they thought, sufficient for their own guidance, so that they needed not any body to lead them. This very thing which they gloried in, Christ here tells them, was their shame and ruin. For,

      1. If you were blind, you would have no sin. (1.) “If you had been really ignorant, your sin had not been so deeply aggravated, nor would you have had so much sin to answer for as now you have. If you were blind, as the poor Gentiles are, and many of your own poor subjects, from whom you have taken the key of knowledge, you would have had comparatively no sin.” The times of ignorance God winked at; invincible ignorance, though it does not justify sin, excuses it, and lessens the guilt. It will be more tolerable with those that perish for lack of vision than with those that rebel against the light. (2.) “If you had been sensible of your own blindness, if when you would see nothing else you could have seen the need of one to lead you, you would soon have accepted Christ as your guide, and then you would have had no sin, you would have submitted to an evangelical righteousness, and have been put into a justified state.” Note, Those that are convinced of their disease are in a fair way to be cured, for there is not a greater hindrance to the salvation of souls than self-sufficiency.

      2. “But now you say, We see; now that you have knowledge, and are instructed out of the law, your sin is highly aggravated; and now that you have a conceit of that knowledge, and think you see your way better than any body can show it you, therefore your sin remains, your case is desperate, and your disease incurable.” And as those are most blind who will not see, so their blindness is most dangerous who fancy they do see. No patients are so hardly managed as those in a frenzy who say that they are well, and nothing ails them. The sin of those who are self-conceited and self-confident remains, for they reject the gospel of grace, and therefore the guilt of their sin remains unpardoned; and they forfeit the Spirit of grace, and therefore the power of their sin remains unbroken. Seest thou a wise man in his own conceit? Hearest thou the Pharisees say, We see? There is more hope of a fool, of a publican and a harlot, than of such.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

For judgement ( ). The Father had sent the Son for this purpose (3:17). This world () is not the home of Jesus. The (judgement), a word nowhere else in John, is the result of the (sifting) from , to separate. The Father has turned over this process of sifting () to the Son (5:22). He is engaged in that very work by this miracle.

They which see not ( ). The spiritually blind as well as the physically blind (Luke 4:18; Isa 42:18). Purpose clause with and present active subjunctive (may keep on seeing). This man now sees physically and spiritually.

And that they which see may become blind ( ). Another part of God’s purpose, seen in Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21, is the curse on those who blaspheme and reject the Son. Note ingressive aorist middle subjunctive of and predicate nominative. H are those who profess to see like these Pharisees, but are really blind. Blind guides they were (Mt 23:16). Complacent satisfaction with their dim light.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Judgment [] . Not the act of judgment, but its result. His very presence in the world constitutes a separation, which is the primitive idea of judgment, between those who believe on Him and those who reject Him. See on 3 17.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And Jesus said,” (kai eipen ho lesous) “And Jesus (then) said,” as a summary or conclusion to this healing and saving encounter and conflict revolving around a man born blind.

2) “For judgement I am come into this world,” (eis krima ego eis ton kosmon touton) “For the purpose of judgement I came into this world,” indicating the justness of the sentence He was about to pronounce upon the Pharisees who had hounded the former blind man, rather than rejoicing that a citizen once blind and begging had been relieved of both by Jesus, Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27; Joh 12:47-48.

3) “That they which see not might see,” (hina hoi me blepontes bleposin) “In order that those who see not may see,” 1Pe 2:9, that the blind might come to see, the physically blind, through His miracles that men might believe His Deity, and that those spiritually blind, both Jew and Gentile might see, Luk 4:18-21; Mat 13:13-17; Joh 20:30-31. Unbelievers who are blinded spiritually, by the god of this world, may receive twenty-twenty vision by faith in Jesus Christ, 2Co 4:3-4.

4) ”And that they which see might be made blind.” (kai hoi blepontes tuphloi genontai) “And in order that those who see may become blind,” Joh 3:19; Act 7:51; Act 7:53. Those Jews with good physical vision (twenty-twenty vision) physically, become stone blind spiritually through hard-hearted rejection of God’s Son, who was sent in definitive fulfilled prophesies before their eyes, which they refused to believe, and miracles He performed, with incontestable evidence that He was from God, Joh 3:2; Joh 5:43; Joh 20:30-31.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

39. For judgment am I come into this world. The word judgment cannot be understood, in this passage, to denote simply the punishment which is inflicted on unbelievers, (276) and on those who despise God; for it is made to include the grace of illumination. Christ, therefore, calls it judgment, because he restores to proper order what was disordered and confused; but he means that this is done by a wonderful purpose of God, and contrary to the ordinary opinion of men. And, indeed, human reason considers nothing to be more unreasonable than to say, that they who see are made blind by the light of the world. This then is one of the secret judgments of God, by which he casts down the pride of men. It ought to be observed, that the blindness which is here mentioned, does not proceed so much from Christ as from the fault of men. For by its own nature, it does not strictly blind any man, but as there is nothing which the reprobate desire more earnestly than to extinguish its light, the eyes of their mind, which are diseased through malice and depravity, must be dazzled by the light which is exhibited to them. In short, since Christ is, by his own nature, the light of the world, (Joh 8:12,) it is an accidental result, that some are made blind by his coming.

But again it may be asked, Since all are universally accused of blindness, who are they that see ? I reply, this is spoken ironically by way of concession, because unbelievers, though they are blind, think that their sight is uncommonly acute and powerful; and elated by this confidence, they do not deign to listen to God. Besides, out of Christ the wisdom of the flesh has a very fair appearance, because the world does not understand what it is to be truly wise. So then, they see, says our Lord Jesus Christ, (277) who, deceiving themselves and others under a foolish confidence in their wisdom, are guided by their own opinion, and reckon their vain imaginations to be great wisdom. (278) Such persons, as soon as Christ appears in the brightness of his Gospel, are made blind; not only because their folly, which was formerly concealed amidst the darkness of unbelief, is now discovered, but because, being plunged in deeper darkness by the righteous vengeance of God, they lose that small remnant of I know not what light which they formerly possessed.

It is true that we are all born blind, but still, amidst the darkness of corrupted and depraved nature, some sparks continue to shine, so that men differ from brute beasts. Now, if any man, elated by proud confidence in his own opinion, refuses to submit to God, he will seem — apart from Christ — to be wise, but the brightness of Christ will strike him with dismay; for never does the vanity of the human mind begin to be discovered, until heavenly wisdom is brought into view. But Christ intended, as I have already suggested, to express something more by these words. For hypocrites do not so obstinately resist God before Christ shines; but as soon as the light is brought near them, then do they, in open war, and — as it were, with unfurled banner, (279) — rise up against God. It is in consequence of this depravity and ingratitude, therefore, that they become doubly blind, and that God, in righteous vengeance, entirely puts out their eyes, which were formerly destitute of the true light.

We now perceive the amount of what is stated in this passage, that Christ came into the world to give sight to the blind, and to drive to madness those who think that they are wise. In the first part of it, he mentions illumination, that they who see not may see; because this is strictly the cause of his coming, for he did not come to judge the world, but rather to save that which was lost, (Mat 18:11.) In like manner Paul, when he declares that he has vengeance prepared against all rebels, at the same time adds, that this punishment will take place

after that believers shall have fulfilled their obedience, (2Co 10:6.)

And this vengeance ought not to be limited to the person of Christ, as if he did not perform the same thing daily by the ministers of his Gospel.

We ought to be the more careful that none of us, through a foolish and extravagant opinion of his wisdom, draw down upon himself this dreadful punishment. But experience shows us the truth of this statement which Christ uttered; for we see many persons struck with giddiness and rage, for no other reason but because they cannot endure the rising of the Sun of righteousness. Adam lived, and was endued with the true light of understanding, while he lost that divine blessing by desiring to see more than was allowed him. Now if, while we are plunged in blindness and thus humbled by the Lord, we still flatter ourselves in our darkness, and oppose our mad views to heavenly wisdom, we need not wonder if the vengeance of God fall heavily upon us, so that we are rendered doubly blind This very punishment was formerly inflicted on the wicked and unbelievers (280) under the Law; for Isaiah is sent to blind the ancient people, that

seeing they may not see: blind the heart of this people, and shut their ears, (Isa 6:9.)

But in proportion as the brightness of the divine light is more fully displayed in Christ than in the Prophets, so much the more remarkably must this example of blindness have been manifested and perceived; as even now the noon-day light of the Gospel drives hypocrites to extreme rage.

(276) “ Aux infideles.”

(277) “ Ceux voyent, dit nostre Seigneur Jesus Christ.”

(278) “ Pour une grande sagesse.”

(279) “ Et comme a enseigne desployee.”

(280) “ Les mechans et infideles.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(39) For judgment I am come into this world.These words arise immediately out of what has preceded. The beggar has passed from a state of physical blindness, and has received the faculty of sight. He has passed from a state of spiritual blindness, and has received the power to recognise and believe on Jesus Christ as the Son of God. He did not see, but the result of the manifestation of the Messiah is for him that he now does see. Conscious of his own spiritual blindness, he asked, Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? and to him, as to every earnest and humble seeker after truth, because in all his seeming need he really hath, there is given that he may have more abundance. In marked contrast to this spirit of humility and desire to come to the light, was that of the Pharisees. They claimed to have the key of knowledge (Mat. 11:25), and were, as a Pharisee represents him who is called a Jew, confident that they were guides of the blind, lights of them which are in darkness (Rom. 2:17 et seq.; comp. 1Co. 1:21; 1Co. 3:18). Conscious of their own spiritual light, they felt no need of a truer Light, and therefore could not see it; and from them, as from every careless and self-trusting possessor of truth, because, in all his seeming abundance, he really hath not, there is taken away even that he hath. (Comp. Note on Joh. 1:16.)

This passing from darkness to light, and from light to darkness, suggests thoughts which our Lord has already uttered in Joh. 3:17-19, and which will meet us again more fully in Joh. 12:37-50. (See Notes on these passages.) Judgment is not the ultimate end of His coming, for He came to save the world; but it is an end, and therefore a result. The special form of the word rendered judgment in this place is used nowhere else by St. John, and indicates that what is here thought of is not the act of judging, but the concrete resultthe sentence pronounced after judgment. His coming was a bringing light into the darkness of mens hearts, a testing of the false and the true, and as men accepted or rejected Him they pronounced a judicial sentence upon themselves. That light judged no man, and yet by it every man was judged.

That they which see not might see.The force of these words lies in the fact that the phrases, they which see not and they which see, are to be interpreted as from their own point of viewThat they which think they see not might really see; and that they which think they see might really be made blind.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

39. For judgment For a judicial dealing by which those who close their eyes may have them sealed; and

vice versa. Which see not As this man saw not physically, but was made to see, so those who see not spiritually are made to see.

They which see Which wilfully refuse right seeing in order to see falsely.

Made blind Made to lose the power and chance of seeing truth, and left to the real blindness of their false seeing.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that they who see not may see, and that they who see might become blind”.’

The scene now changes. We now have a general statement made by Jesus in the presence of others, including some Pharisees who were standing by, which the author tacks on here as summing up the incident. ‘I came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see might see, and that those who see might become blind’.

Jesus now declared that His coming into the world could only result in judgment, discerning between the true and the false. As a result of it those who seemed to be blind would have their eyes opened and they would see the truth, whilst those who claimed to be able to see would be revealed to be blind. We can compare Joh 3:19-21. ‘Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil’ When the light of Christ shines men are faced with a choice. Some, whose eyes are opened, will gladly respond to the light, but there are also some who will avoid the light and choose to remain in darkness, and so, although they physically have sight, they do not see spiritually or have their eyes opened. And that was why He had come. He had not come to judge, but His presence necessarily judged.

Alas, when that light shines there are many who would claim to have spiritual sight, who turn away, because they do not want the searchlight of God revealing the truth about them, ‘because their deeds are evil’ (evil if only in motive or self-satisfaction). So by His coming Jesus was causing judgment to be passed on men, and the result was to be seen in their response to His light.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The judgment upon willful blindness:

v. 39. And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

v. 40. And some of the Pharisees which were with Him heard these words, and said unto Him, Are we blind also?

v. 41. Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Jesus here makes the application, draws the moral of the events connected with the healing of the blind man. He announces that one function of His office is to carry out judgment, to put a certain separation into execution. Those that were spiritually blind and realized their pitiful condition should receive sight, while those that believed themselves endowed with spiritual and moral sight, while in reality they were hopelessly blind in spiritual matters, should become hopelessly darkened in their own conceit. See Luk 2:34. Some of the Pharisees, who were, as usual, dogging His footsteps and watching His every word, felt the sting of the last word of the Lord. Sneeringly they ask: Very likely you consider us also blind! And Jesus lost no time in giving them their reply. If their blindness, their natural inability toward all that is good before God, were known to them, then there would be some chance of. healing them of their blindness. But so long as they do not realize their pitiful condition, so long as they do not know and will not acknowledge their own perversity and darkness in spiritual matters, their sin remains, they are left in the condemnation of their blindness, with the future damnation which it involves. The Pharisees rejected the Word of Christ, which alone is able to give light to the blind. And therefore they, and all that follow their foolish example, are struck by the judgment of God, according to which His gracious search for them is finally abandoned, and they are left to the fate which they have deliberately preferred to the mercy of the Savior. So the unbelievers are left to their self-chosen fate, the grace of God is withdrawn from them, and the Word of mercy is still preached in their presence, in order that they may take still greater offense and become hardened to their own destruction.

Summary. Christ heals a man that was born blind, and teaches the Jewish rulers, who try their best to spoil the effect of the miracle, that He, the Light of the blind, both internally and externally, has come to give sight to the blind and to take away the sight of those that boast their spiritual knowledge.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Joh 9:39. And Jesus said, For judgment, &c. In these words directed to the people who happened to be present, or to come up while Jesus was talking with the blind man, our Lord alluded to the cure lately performed; but his meaning was spiritual, representing not the design of his coming, but the effect which it would have on the minds of men. It would shew what character and disposition every man was of. The teachable and honest, though they were as much in the dark with respect to religion, and the knowledge of the scriptures, as the blind man had been with respect to the light of the sun, should be spiritually enlightened by his coming: whereas those who in their own opinion were wise, and learned, and clear-sighted, should appear to be, what they really were, blind, that is, quite ignorant and foolish.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 9:39 . An Oxymoron , to which Jesus (comp. 1Co 1:18 ff.), seeing at His feet the man born blind, and now endued not only with bodily, but also with spiritual sight, gives utterance with profound emotion, addressing Himself, moreover, not to any one particular person (hence without the addition of a person, comp. Joh 1:29 ; Joh 1:36 ), but to those around Him in general. From among these the Pharisees then (Joh 9:40 ) come forward to reply. The compact, pregnant sentence is uttered irrespectively of the man who had been blind, who also in a higher sense appears in Joh 9:36 as still , and in ver 38 as .

] telically, i.e . to this end, as is clear from the more exact explanation , etc., that follows. This [53] is an end , though not the ultimate end , of the appearance of Jesus. He came to bring about, as a matter of fact, a judicial decision ; He came, namely, in order that, by means of His activity, those who see not might see , i.e . in order that those who are conscious of the lack of divine truth (comp. the poor in spirit in Mat 5:3 ) might be illumined thereby, and they who see might become blind (not merely: appareant caeci, as Grotius and several others explain), i.e . those who fancy themselves to be in possession of divine truth (comp. Luk 11:52 ; Mat 11:25 ; Rom 2:19 ; 1Co 1:21 ; 1Co 3:18 ), might not become participators therein; but (comp. Isa 6:9 f.) be closed, blinded, and hardened against it (like the self-conceited Pharisees). The point of the saying lies in this: that is subjective , and objective ; whereas is subjective , and objective . [54]

is neither merely separation (Castalio, Corn. a Lapide, Kuinoel, De Wette, and several others), nor equivalent to (Ammonius, Euth. Zigabenus, Olshausen); but what Christ here says regarding Himself is a matter of fact , a retributive judicial arrangement, affecting both sides according to the position they take up relatively to Him. Hence there is no contradiction with Joh 3:17 , Joh 8:15 , Joh 12:47 . Comp. also Weiss, Lehrbegr . p. 186 f. If, with Godet, we understand and of those who have not and those who have the knowledge of the Jewish law, we must refer and to the divine truth which Christ reveals. A twofold relation is thus introduced, to which the words , Joh 9:41 , are also opposed.

[53] On this accentuation of , see Lobeck, Paral , p. 418; comp., however, Lipsius, grammat. Unters. I. p. 40. The word itself is used by John only in this place. It denotes, not the trial which is held , the judicial procedure ( ), but its result, the judicial sentence which is pronounced, the decision of the court, what is judicially measured out, etc. Hence , , etc.

[54] It is true, indeed, that the are susceptible , and the unsusceptible ; but this was not determined by the consideration that the former believed without seeing, whilst the latter refused to believe, notwithstanding all they had seen of Jesus (see Baur, p. 179); on the contrary, the susceptibility of the one and the unsusceptibility of the other were rooted in their inner relation to Christ, which is necessarily moral, and the result of free self-determination. Indeed, against the view now controverted, ver. 41 alone is decisive, apart even from the mysterious designation of the matter by a circumstance occurring in connection with it. Comp. Delitzsch, Psych. p. 162. On , to be blind , comp. Soph. O. C. 73; O. R. 302; see also Xen. Mem. i. 3. 4. On in the figurative sense, see Soph. O. R. 371.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1661
DISCRIMINATING EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL

Joh 9:39. Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they who see might be made blind.

THE miracles of our blessed Lord were, as is well known, testimonies from God to his divine mission. But they were also intended as emblems of that spiritual work which he was sent to accomplish. In the former view, he appealed to them for the conviction of John the Baptist, and of those who had been sent by John to inquire respecting his Messiahship: Go, and shew John those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up: and blessed is he who shall not be offended in me [Note: Mat 11:4-6.]. In the latter view, he refers to them in the passage before us. He had healed a man who was born blind. This having been done on the Sabbath-day, his obstinate and unbelieving enemies imputed it to him as a crime, rather than as any proof of his Messiahship: but the man who was healed, knowing that no man could do such miracles unless God were with him, believed in Jesus, and confessed him openly as the Saviour of the world. From the division thus caused, our Lord took occasion to declare, in reference to the souls of men, the intent, and certain effect, of his advent: For judgment am I come into this world; that they who see not, might see; and that they who see, might be made blind.

The true import of this passage will not be seen by a superficial observer. It needs much consideration: but it will amply repay all the labour which we can bestow in the investigation of it.
To assist you in apprehending it aright, I will shew,

I.

The need there was of Christ for the developing and disclosing the characters of men

The judgment which was universally formed of mens characters was extremely erroneous
[Men had no other test, whereby to try the human character, than that of moral virtue. If a person had such a respect for the Supreme Being as to be observant of external duties towards him, and such a disposition towards his fellow-creatures as prompted him to acts of benevolence towards them, he was approved, and regarded as a pattern of all that was good. Hence it was that the Scribes and Pharisees were held in such high esteem. Humility, as a grace, was not inquired after; nor indeed was it at all necessary to the discharge of those offices which alone were deemed obligatory in the service of God. On the contrary, the fulfilment of religious duties was considered as a just ground for self-admiration and self-applause. Such men, indeed, as David, who were inspired of God, had the same ideas of it as we have: but, as among the Greeks and Romans, so also amongst the Jews themselves, it was rather reckoned as a mean and base feeling, than as the summit of human excellence. Nor, if it had entered into the composition of virtue in their minds, were there any means of discovering its existence. The submission of human wisdom to that which is divine was not called for to any great extent: nor was a renunciation of a mans own righteousness demanded, in order to his acceptance through a righteousness provided for him by God. General obedience to acknowledged laws constituted the chief excellence of every man; and beyond that nothing was looked for, in order to secure the approbation of God. But all this was erroneous: yea, in relation to it all, it may be said, that that which was highly esteemed amongst men was an abomination in the sight of God [Note: Luk 16:15.].]

Hence arose a necessity for our blessed Lord to come into the world
[Doubtless, the first ground of his advent was to make reconciliation for the sins of men, and to work out a righteousness for them by his own obedience unto death. But subordinate to this was the purpose specified in our text: For judgment came I into this world. To understand this expression aright, we must call to mind the office of a Judge. He inquires into the particular facts which are brought before him, and determines the characters of men according to those facts. Now, what an earthly judge does in reference to overt acts, that the Lord Jesus Christ does in reference to secret dispositions. He brings with him a revelation calculated to elicit the dispositions of the heart, and to shew what men really are in the sight of God. Hence, at the time when his parents brought him to the temple, to do for him after the custom of the law, it was said concerning him, This child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed [Note: Luk 2:34-35.].]

But I will proceed to mark more distinctly,

II.

The suitableness of his appearance to produce that discovery

The whole of his appearance, from the first to the latest hour of his existence upon earth, was calculated to offend the pride of man

[See him at his birth. Behold him born in the family of a poor carpenter; and laid in a manger, because there was no better accommodation for his mother, under circumstances which, it might have been supposed, would have called forth sympathy and liberality from ten thousand bosoms. Is this the Son of God? Impossible: it can never be, that Almighty God should suffer him to come into the world under circumstances of such unparalleled degradation.

See him, too, in his life. Behold him still so poor, as not to have a place where to lay his head: a few poor fishermen for his followers; and an object of scorn and derision to all the higher parts of the community. Were I to give a just description of him, I could not do it in more appropriate terms than in those of prophecy itself: He shall be as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him: he was despised, and we esteemed him not [Note: Isa 53:2-3.]. Yet this is the person who offers himself to me as the Saviour of the world!

See him, finally, in his death. This completes the scene. He is sentenced to death, both by the men of his own nation and by the Roman governor; and, by universal consent, is executed as a malefactor; a murderer being preferred before him, as a fitter object of mercy than he. And is He to save me, when he did not save himself? Is He to deliver me from the wrath of God, who himself fell under the wrath of man? I wonder not that such an idea was a ground of offence; for throughout the whole there was an apparent inconsistency with all his own professions, and an absolute contrariety to all the expectations that were formed concerning him. Is this the person that came from God, and made himself equal with God, and through whom alone any child of man can come to God, or find acceptance with him? Unenlightened reason discards at once such pretensions as these, and rejects them utterly as irrational and absurd. And this is exactly what the prophet has foretold: He, the Lord Jesus, shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken [Note: Isa 8:14-15.].]

On the other hand, he gave sufficient evidence of his Messiahship to convince any humble inquirer
[The testimony borne to him by angels at his birth, the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him at his baptism, the numberless miracles wrought by him in his life, the wonders attendant on his death, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension to heaven, his sending of the Holy Ghost on his Disciples, and all the miracles wrought by them in his name, these were evidences which an humble mind could not withstand. Besides, to those who felt their need of a Saviour, there was every thing which was suited to their necessities. A mere man would not have sufficed for them: they needed a Saviour who was God as well as man: they needed an atonement of infinite value; a righteousness fully adequate to all the demands of Gods holy law, and capable of being imputed to them for their acceptance before God. They needed not only the sacrifice of Christ on earth, but also his intercession in heaven; yea, and his all-powerful agency, too, as the Head of vital influence to his Church and people: in a word, they needed precisely such a Saviour as he had represented himself to be: and, though the whole relating to him was involved in mystery which they could not comprehend, they saw in it nothing but what was honourable to the character of God, and nothing but what was conducive to the happiness of man. Hence they were content to receive the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, and to found all their hopes of happiness on him alone.

Thus in him was found precisely such a test as the world needed: and]
The use of this test was seen in,

III.

The actual effect of his advent

Mark the effect of his advent:

1.

Whilst he himself was on earth

[This discrimination of character was seen from the first moment that he entered on his ministry. Never did more gracious words proceed from the lips of man, than those which were uttered by him in his first public discourse at Nazareth; insomuch, that all who heard them bare him witness, and wondered [Note: Luk 4:18-22.]: yet, upon his reminding them of two events in their history, the sending of the Prophet Elijah to be supported by a Sidonian (a heathen), and not an Israelitish widow; and the healing of a leprosy, by the Prophet Elisha, in the person of Naaman, a Syrian, and not of any of the lepers that were in Israel; they were instantly fired with such indignation and wrath, that they thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong, and destroy him [Note: Luk 4:25-29.]. Now, what was there in his discourse to produce so instantaneous a change? The Jews considered themselves as exclusively the objects of Gods regard; and they could not endure the thought that he should have mercy in reserve for the Gentiles: and the suggestion of this was in their minds an evil worthy of death. Again: when our blessed Lord wrought miracles in confirmation of his word, many, instead of yielding to conviction, took occasion, from the very works which they could not but acknowledge to be miraculous, to accuse him of a confederacy with the devil: and, in the very passage before us, they made his restoring a man to sight on the Sabbath-day a ground rather of accusation against him, as a sinner, than of acknowledging him to be, what he really was, the true Messiah. And to his latest hour they evinced the same spirit, calling out for a sentence of death against him; when his very Judge declared him innocent, and not a person upon earth could be found to convict him of the slightest sin. Nor was it the mere populace who thus persecuted him: they were only instruments in the hands of their superiors: it was the act of the Scribes and Pharisees, and of all who presided in their nation, whether in the Ecclesiastical or Civil department: and this shewed how, by his ministry, their hypocrisy was detected: and that, in the midst of all their pretended piety, they were decided enemies to God in their hearts.]

2.

In the whole of the apostolic age

[The preaching of his name was productive of the very same effect as his personal ministry had produced. It was universally to the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness [Note: 1Co 1:23.]. If we except the instance of the Saviour himself, there never existed, from the foundation of the world, such a contest as that which was maintained by the Apostle Paul; he doing every thing that man could do, and suffering every thing that man could suffer, for the salvation of a perishing world; and they, whether Jews or Gentiles, uniformly and universally seeking his destruction. The same treatment was shewn to all the Apostles, and to all the followers of Christ, in proportion as they, by their activity and zeal, drew the attention of those to whom they ministered; insomuch that, with the exception of John, not one of the Apostles was suffered to die a natural death.

On the other hand, there were many to whom the mystery of the Gospel was the wisdom of God and the power of God [Note: 1Co 1:24.]. In all its provisions they beheld an excellency and glory: and they found, by experience, that it was the power of God to the salvation of their souls [Note: Rom 1:16.]. And who were they that thus displayed its energy? Were they the great, the wise, the moral? No: ye see your calling, says St. Paul, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence [Note: 1Co 1:26-29.]: so fully did the Gospel answer the end predicted by the prophet; Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed [Note: Isa 6:9-10.].]

3.

At the present hour

[No where is Christ faithfully preached, but a division is made among the people: and in all the families where his truth prevails, a sword is introduced, even amongst the nearest and dearest relatives [Note: Mat 10:34-36 and Luk 12:51-53.]. No caution in the preacher will suffice to abate the enmity of the heart against God. Only let Christ be exalted, and some will call the preacher an enthusiast and deceiver, whilst others will regard him as an angel of God, or even as Christ Jesus himself [Note: Gal 4:14-15.]. The very same word is still, as in the days of old, a savour of life to the salvation of some, and a savour of death to the condemnation of others [Note: 2Co 2:16.]. And so far are the admired characters of the world from being most favourable to the truth, that even publicans and harlots enter into heaven before them: so true is it still, as in the days of old, that the last are first, and the first last.]

And now let me address myself,
1.

To those who are unconscious of their own blindness

[This was the state of the Pharisees, to whom our Lord addressed the words of my text. Perceiving that he had in his mind a reference to them, they confidently and indignantly asked, Are we blind also? But our blessed Lord told them that their conceit only tended to enhance and aggravate their guilt. If they had, indeed, never been favoured with means of instruction, they would have had the less to answer for: but, in proportion as they supposed themselves already informed, they shewed their impiety in rejecting him [Note: ver. 40, 41.]. Now this is the very caution which I would give to you: The more confident you are that you are already in possession of the truth, the more you make it manifest that Satan hath blinded your eyes: for to make you reject Christ, is the work in which that subtle adversary is incessantly engaged [Note: 2Co 4:4; 2Co 4:6.]. O! learn this humiliating truth, that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; and you will then have no difficulty in discovering the excellency of Christ, who offers to you gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and eye-salve, that you may see; and raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness may not appear [Note: Rev 3:18.]. Only resemble the man who was willing and desirous to believe, and Christ will soon make himself known to you, in all his excellency, and in all his glory [Note: ver. 3538.].]

To those who are willing to be taught of God
[The docility of a little child is one of the choicest gifts that can possibly be bestowed upon you. It is a certain prelude to divine instruction, and the best preparative for all the blessings of the Gospel. You need not be discouraged at the thought of your own weakness: for what God has hid from the wise and prudent, it is his delight to reveal to babes [Note: Mat 11:25-26.]. The wise he will leave to be taken in their own craftiness [Note: Isa 29:14. with 1 Cor. 19, 20.]: but the more you are a fool in your own estimation, the more certainly and effectually shall you be made truly wise [Note: 1Co 3:18-20.]. The Holy Spirit is promised to you, as a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ [Note: Eph 1:17-18.]: and though the Gospel must ever remain to you an unfathomable mystery, you shall have such an insight into it as no unenlightened man can have [Note: Mat 13:11.], and by means of it be guided safely into the way of peace.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

Ver. 39. For judgment I am come ] To judge, much otherwise than those unjust judges have done, that have cast out this poor servant of mine for a blasphemer. Bishop Bonner having a blind harper before him, said, that such blind abjects, that follow a sort of heretical preachers, when they come to the feeling of the fire, will be the first that will flee from it. To whom the blind man said, that if every joint of him were burnt, yet he trusted in the Lord not to flee. A blind boy, that had suffered imprisonment at Gloucester not long before, was brought to Bishop Hooper the day before his death. Mr Hooper, after he had examined him on his faith, and the cause of his imprisonment, beheld him stedfastly, and the water appearing in his eyes, said unto him: “A poor boy, God hath taken from thee thy outward sight, for what consideration he best knoweth, but hath given thee another sight much more precious: for he hath endued thy soul with the eye of knowledge, and faith,” &c. It is a worthy speech of Mr Beza upon this text, Prodeant omnes Pharisaeorum nostri temporis Academia. Let all our University Pharisees come forth together: that blind and heretical Church (as they call it) hath, by the blessing of God, children of seven years old that can before all the world confute and confound their erroneous doctrines, Habet ecclesia illa caeca et heretica septennes pueros, qui teste universo mundo, &c.: witness the children of Merindal and Chabriers, John Ferry’s child of eight years old, that told Bonner’s chaplain (who said Fetty was a heretic,) My father is no heretic, but you are a heretic, for you have Balaam’s mark. This child they whipped to death. Alice Driver, martyr, nonplussed all the doctors that examined her: and then said, God be honoured; you be not able to resist the Spirit of God in me a poor woman. I was never brought up in the University as ye have been: but I have driven the plough many a time before my father, and yet I will set my foot against the feet of any of you all, &c.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

39. ] There seems to be an interval between the last verse and this, and the narrative appears to be taken up again at some subsequent time when this miracle became again the subject of discourse.

The blind man had recovered sight in two senses, bodily and spiritual. And as our Lord always treats of the spiritual as paramount, including the bodily, so here He proceeds to speak of spiritual sight.

, the effect of , not merely distinction , but judgment; the following out of the divine , Mat 11:25-26 .

“We are all, according to the spirit of nature, no better than persons born blind; and to know and confess this our blindness, is our first and only true sight , out of which the grace of the Lord can afterwards bring about a complete receiving of sight . The ‘ becoming blind ,’ on the other hand, is partly an ironical expression for remaining blind, but partly also has a real meaning in the increasing darkening and hardening which takes place through unbelief.” (Stier, iv. 568; 475, edn. 2.) The here answer to the and of Mat 9:12-13 ; see note there.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 9:39 . Summing up the spiritual significance of the miracle Jesus said: . “For judgment,” for bringing to light and exhibiting in its consequences the actual inward state of men; “that those who see not may see,” that is, that those who are conscious of their blindness and grieved on account of it may be relieved; while those who are content with the light they have lose even that. With a kind of sad humour He points out how easily felt blindness is removed, but how obstinately blind is presumed knowledge. The blind man now saw, because he knew he was blind and used the means Jesus told him to use: the Pharisees were stone-blind to the world Jesus opened to them, because they thought that already they knew much more than He did.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

For judgment I am come. Referring to the effect of His coming: Joh 12:47 refers to the object of His coming.

For. Greek. eis. App-104.

judgment. App-177.

into. Greek. eis.

be made = become.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

39.] There seems to be an interval between the last verse and this, and the narrative appears to be taken up again at some subsequent time when this miracle became again the subject of discourse.

The blind man had recovered sight in two senses,-bodily and spiritual. And as our Lord always treats of the spiritual as paramount, including the bodily, so here He proceeds to speak of spiritual sight.

, the effect of , not merely distinction, but judgment; the following out of the divine , Mat 11:25-26.

We are all, according to the spirit of nature, no better than persons born blind; and to know and confess this our blindness, is our first and only true sight, out of which the grace of the Lord can afterwards bring about a complete receiving of sight. The becoming blind, on the other hand, is partly an ironical expression for remaining blind, but partly also has a real meaning in the increasing darkening and hardening which takes place through unbelief. (Stier, iv. 568; 475, edn. 2.) The here answer to the and of Mat 9:12-13; see note there.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 9:39. , judgment) just and true, better than that of the Pharisees.-, may see) in body and mind- , who see) who suppose that they are possessed of sight, and are not conscious that they are blind: Joh 9:41, Now ye say, We see.-, blind) in mind.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 9:39

Joh 9:39

And Jesus said, For judgment came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see may become blind.-Those who are thought by others to be fools and claim no wisdom of their own may be made wise with the wisdom of God, and those who think they are wise after the worlds wisdom may be made to realize that they are fools before God. [Jesus came into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it; but the effect of his coming is to reveal every mans true condition. The light reveals the stains of sin on the heart that would otherwise be unseen. Jesus is the touchstone. He not only gave sight to the blind, but opened the eyes of those who were in the darkness of ignorance. Publicans and sinners were enabled to see, while Jews and Pharisees, who claimed to be enlightened, were left in darkness, because they closed their eyes and would not hear.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

world

kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield “Mat 4:8”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

For: Joh 3:17, Joh 5:22-27, Joh 8:15, Jer 1:9, Jer 1:10, Luk 2:34, Luk 13:30, 2Co 2:16

that they: Joh 9:25, Joh 9:36-38, Joh 8:12, Joh 12:46, Mat 11:5, Luk 1:79, Luk 4:18, Luk 7:21, Act 26:18, 2Co 4:4-6, Eph 5:14, 1Pe 2:9

might be: Joh 3:19, Joh 12:40, Joh 12:41, Isa 6:9, Isa 29:10, Isa 42:18-20, Isa 44:18, Mat 6:23, Mat 13:13-15, Luk 11:34, Luk 11:35, Rom 11:7-10, 2Th 2:10, 1Jo 2:11

Reciprocal: 2Ki 6:18 – Smite this people Job 24:13 – rebel Psa 119:18 – Open Isa 29:14 – for the wisdom Isa 35:5 – the eyes Isa 42:7 – open Isa 42:19 – Who is blind Isa 50:11 – This shall Eze 12:2 – which Hos 14:9 – but Zec 11:17 – the sword Mal 3:2 – who may abide Mat 11:25 – because Mat 23:16 – ye blind Mar 10:52 – he received Luk 14:21 – Go Luk 18:43 – he Luk 20:7 – that Joh 8:26 – to judge Joh 9:7 – and came Act 13:11 – thou 1Co 2:8 – for 2Co 3:14 – their 1Ti 1:13 – because

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

FOR JUDGMENT

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

Joh 9:39

That is the comment which presents itself to Jesus, as He thinks over this episode of the healing of the blind man. While the blind man had reached belief, the Pharisees had become hardened in unbelief. Christs words still remain true, and have a meaning for us now.

I. It still remains true that in respect of our reception or rejection of His message our Lord came into this world for judgment.He tells us, indeed, that God sent not His Son to judge the world. Christs object in coming was not to judge, but to save. But though judgment was not a motive, it was a necessary result of His coming. He that believeth not hath been judged already (ipso facto). Ever since Christs first coming on earth, the appeal which He has made to men, generation after generation, has thrown a responsibility on all whom it has reached. It is an appeal to which we are compelled to give an answer of one kind or another, and according to the answer which we give judgment inevitably results. That judgment is not published to the world: often, perhaps, it is not known to our fellow-men; sometimes, perhaps, it is not known to ourselves; constantly, no doubt, it is held in suspense because we have not yet given a final answer. Nevertheless, at any moment in our lives there is something true of ussome judgment which any one who knew the facts perfectly could pronounce about usas regards our attitude towards the appeal of Christianity. Either we see, or we do not see; either we are getting to see more and more clearly, or we are becoming more and more blind.

II. We think perhaps nowadays that we can evade this issue.We say that we cannot make up our minds about the truth of Christianity. We say that the question of its truth or falsehood is too complex or too obscure for us to decide. We call it hard that we should be judged to be blind because we cannot accept unintelligible dogmas, or because the scientific spirit of our age makes it difficult for us to believe in miracles. Our Lords language to the Pharisees often seems hard. It is based on the hard fact that if men cannot train their eyes to see, they must be content to be called blind. Do not let us suppose that we can altogether escape responsibility for our beliefs on the ground of the difficulty which we feel about the evidence. The judgment for which Christ came into the world is not primarily connected with questions of evidence, or with the intellectual basis of Christianity. No doubt we are bound to do our best to make our convictions such that our reason can justify them. We must lay aside prejudice, we must try to be absolutely honest with ourselves, we must strive to reach the truth. Christ says, If thou canst believe. He does not wish us to force ourselves to believe against the protests of our reason. But, on the other hand, there is something immeasurably more important than reason. It is with the heart that man believeth unto righteousness.

III. It is not difficult nowadays to find examples of both these classes of people.

(a) There are still people who in some respects resemble the Pharisees. They do not possess the Pharisaical self-righteousness or hypocrisy, it may be. But they are leaders of thought and regard themselves as such, and like the Pharisees they feel a pride in their intellectual superiority to the average man. If their views are criticised, their reply is apt to be: Dost thou teach us? It is a mark of philosophical insight, in their opinion, to condemn Christianity as an exploded superstition, and to question its claim as a moral influence in life. About all this they have no doubt whatever, and they feel a good-humoured pity for those who think otherwise. Like the Pharisees, they say, We see. But is it uncharitable to suggest that in some respects they are all the while really blind?

(b) What a contrast it is to turn to the opposite type of character, which begins by not seeing and eventually comes to see! Still there are in the world simple, humble-minded natures, the little children whom our Saviour bids us resemble, the babes to whom the Father reveals those things which He has hidden from the wise and prudent. It does not follow that they are unintellectual, though they are modest about their attainments, and recognise the limitations of all human knowledge. It does not follow, on the other hand, that they are always able to grapple with the intellectual difficulties which beset Christianity. But they possess a higher wisdom which justifies them in refusing to be separated from the love of Christ. And then Christ, if they will let Him, finds them in their loneliness and distress, as He found that poor man. And the dialogue between Christ and their soul, like the dialogue between Christ and the newly-seeing blind man, ends with the words, Lord, I believe, as they fall down and worship their Saviour.

Rev. Dr. Woods.

Illustration

There is a sense, it has been said, in which this man was the first Christian. He was the first follower of Christ who had wholly severed his connection with Judaism; his religious life was now centred on Christ alone; his faith was grounded on a direct revelation by the witness of Christ Himself to his soul. The casting out of this man by the Pharisees, says Bishop Westcott, furnished the occasion for the beginning of a new society distinct from the dominant Judaism. For the first time the Lord offers Himself as the object of faith. He had before called men to follow Him; He had revealed Himself and accepted the spontaneous homage of believers; but now He proposes a test of fellowship. The universal society is based on the confession of a new truth. The blind who acknowledge their blindness are enlightened; the seeing who are satisfied with their sight are proved to be blind.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

9

A man who has been blind physically all his life and then been given sight, would certainly be a good subject to address concerning spiritual light. In this verse Jesus speaks of both kinds. After the man had been enabled to see physically, he gladly accepted the opportunity to see spiritually, which he manifested when he professed his faith in Christ. The last sentence of the verse refers to the Jews who had normal sight physically, but their stubbornness against the spiritual light made them as blind spiritually as the man had been physically.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Joh 9:39. And Jesus said, For a judgment came I into this world, that they which see not may see, and that they which see may become blind. The rendering a judgment may serve to remind us of the fact that our Lord (here using a word which is not found elsewhere in the Gospel) does not speak of the act of judging, but of the result. He does not say that He came in order to judge, but that the necessary effect of His coming into this world, a world alienated from God, will be a judgment. Those that see not (the babes of Mat 11:25) come to Him for sight: those that see (the wise and prudent), who know the law and are satisfied with that knowledge, and who having all the guidance which should have led them to Christ do not come, become blind,lose all light through losing Him. Knowledge which has priceless value for pointing the way to Christ becomes accursed if put in His place as an object of trust. It is possible that, as the word judge seems elsewhere in this Gospel always to have the force of a condemning judgment, this sense should be preserved here also: in the one case the judgment is passed on acknowledged blindness, for they themselves who come to the light pass a condemnation on the blindness of their past state; in the other, judgment is passed upon supposed (or rather upon misused) sight. Thus both classes have a part in the judgment: the one by appropriating as just the judgment of Jesus on their blindness apart from Him; the other by deliberately shutting their eyes to the true light. The result of this wilful action is utter blindness,not merely a disuse of sight, but a destruction of the power of sight.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

In these words our Saviour declares not the intentional design, but the accidental event, of his coming into the world, namely,

1. That those who were blind might receive sight.

2. That those who presume they see, and know more that others, for despising the gospel, and shutting their eyes against the light of it, should be left in darkness, and by the just judgment of God be more be more and more blinded.

Those who shut their eyes willfully against the clearest light, and say they will not see: it is just with God to close their eyes judicially, and say they shall not see.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Joh 9:39-41. And Jesus said While he stood talking with the blind man who had received his sight, several people, it seems, being gathered about them; For judgment, as well as mercy, I am come into this world, that they which see not might see That the ignorant, who are willing and desirous to be instructed, might have divine knowledge and true wisdom imparted to them; and that they which see Who are confident that they see, who are conceited of, or trust in, their supposed knowledge and wisdom; might be made blind Might be confirmed in their ignorance and folly, and be abandoned to a greater degree thereof. In these words he alluded to the cure of the blind man, but his meaning was spiritual; representing the consequences of his coming, which, by the just judgment of God, would be, that while the blind, both in body and soul, should receive their sight, they who boasted that they saw would be given up to still greater blindness than before. He meant to show, also, that his coming would manifest the disposition and character of every man. The humble, teachable, and upright, though they were as much in the dark with respect to religion and the knowledge of divine things, as the blind man had been with respect to the light of the sun, should be greatly enlightened by his coming: whereas those, who in their own opinion were wise, and learned, and clear-sighted, should appear to be, what they really were, blind, that is, quite ignorant and foolish. And some of the Pharisees which were with him Which were present on this occasion; heard these words And apprehending that he glanced at them, and cast a reflection on their sect, which was held in great veneration among the common people, because of their supposed skill in the law; said unto him, Are we blind also? Dost thou imagine that we are like the rude, ignorant vulgar? We, who are their teachers, and have taken such pains to acquire the knowledge of the Scriptures? Darest thou say that we are blind, whose judgment every one has such a veneration for, and values, and bows to? Observe, nothing fortifies mens corrupt hearts more against the convictions of the truth, or more effectually repels those convictions, than the good opinion which others have of them; as if what had gained applause with men, must needs find acceptance with God; than which nothing can be more false and deceitful, for God sees not as man sees. Jesus said, If ye were blind Unavoidably ignorant, and not favoured with the means of divine and saving knowledge; ye should have no sin In comparison of what you now have. But now ye say, We see Are possessed of a high degree of discernment and knowledge, are more enlightened than the rest of mankind; therefore your sin remaineth Without excuse, without remedy. It abides upon you with greater aggravations; and the conceit which you have of your own knowledge hinders conviction, and prevents the first entrance of instruction and true wisdom into your minds. They gloried that they were not blind, as the common people were, nor so credulous as they, but had abilities sufficient to direct their own conduct, and needed no aid in that respect from any one. Now this very thing which they gloried in, Christ here tells them was their shame and ruin: for, 1st, If they had been really ignorant, their sin would not have been so deeply aggravated, nor would they have had so much to answer for as now they had; for invincible ignorance, though it does not justify sin, excuses it in some measure, and lessens its guilt. 2d, If they had been sensible of their blindness, and had seen their need of one to guide them, they would soon have accepted Christ as their guide, and then they would have had no sin unpardoned, unconquered. They would have submitted to the righteousness of faith, and have been brought into a justified state. Those who are convinced of their disease, are in a fair way to be cured: but self-sufficiency, self-confidence, and self-righteousness, are some of the greatest hinderances of salvation. As those are most blind who will not see, so their blindness is most dangerous who fancy they do see. No patients are managed with so much difficulty as those who are in a phrensy, who say they are well, and that nothing ails them. The sin of those that are self-confident remains; for they reject the gospel of grace, and therefore the guilt of their sin remains uncancelled; and they grieve and quench the Spirit of grace, and therefore the power of their sin remains unbroken. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? Hearest thou the Pharisee say, We see? There is more hope of a fool, of a publican, and a harlot, than of such.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 39-41. And Jesus said, I am come into this world to exercise this judgment, that those who see not may see, and that those who see may become blind. 40. And those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words and they said to him, And are we also blind? 41. Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would not have sin; but now you say, We see; therefore, your sin remains.

Here is a simple reflection to which Jesus gives utterance, and which is connected with the dignity of light of the world which He had attributed to Himself at the beginning of this scene (Joh 9:5).

So the verb , he said, is left without a limiting personal object such as: to them. The coming of Jesus has for its end, strictly, to enlighten the world; but as this end cannot be attained in all, because all are not willing to allow themselves to be enlightened, it has another secondary end: that those who reject the light should be blinded by it. It is not necessary to see in the term , judgment, the indication of a judicial act. Such a judgment had been denied in Joh 3:17. The question is of a moral result of the attitude taken by the men themselves with regard to Jesus, but a result which was necessary and willed from on high ( ). The term in this world recalls the expression: light of this world (Joh 9:5). The greater part of the interpreters (Calvin, Lucke, Meyer, etc.) give to the expression: Those who see not, a subjective meaning: Those who feel and acknowledge that they do not see. This interpretation arbitrarily weakens the sense of the expression employed by Jesus and it does not suit the context, since the man whose cure occasions these words, did not feel his blindness more than other blind persons, and since, speaking spiritually, he did not simply feel himself more ignorant than others, but he was so in reality. Those who do not see are therefore men who are really sunk in spiritual ignorance. They are those whom the rulers themselves call in Joh 7:49 : This multitude who know not the law, the ignorant in Israel, those whom Jesus designates, Mat 11:25, Luk 10:21, as the little children () contrasting them with the wise and intelligent. Those who see are, consequently, those who, throughout this whole chapter, have said, in speaking of themselves: We know, the experts in the law, those whom Jesus calls, in the passage cited, the wise and intelligent ( ).

The former, not having any knowledge of their own to keep, yield themselves without difficulty to the revelation of the truth, while the others, not wishing to sacrifice their own knowledge, turn away from the new revelation, and, as we have just seen in this chapter, presume even to annihilate the divine facts by their theological axioms. Hence it results that the former are immediately enlightened by the rays of the sun which rises upon the world, while the imperfect light which the latter possess is transformed into complete darkness. We must notice the delicate contrast between (those who see not) in the first clause, which denotes a sight not yet developed, and , blind, in the second, which denotes the absolute blindness resulting from the destruction of the organ. This passage expresses, therefore, the same thought as the words of Jesus in the Synoptics: I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and intelligent, and hast revealed them unto babes (Mat 11:25; Luk 10:21). Meyer objects that in this sense the seeing or not seeing would relate to the law and the becoming blind to the Gospel, that there would thus be a twofold relation which is not to be accepted. But in the view of Jesus (comp. Joh 5:45 ff.), the law, when thoroughly understood, and the Gospel are only one and the same increasing moral light. The knowledge of the law must lead, if it is earnestly applied, to the acknowledgment of the Gospel; if the latter had not come, the law itself would have covered the sight with an impenetrable veil (2Co 3:14-15).

The Pharisees who were at this moment in the company of Jesus, ask Him ironically if He ranks them also, the doctors of Israel, in the number of the blind. I do not think that they make a strict distinction between the non-seeing and the blind of Joh 9:39. They keep to the general idea of blindness and ask if He applies it to them also.

The answer of Jesus to this sarcasm (Joh 9:41) is one of crushing severity. Instead of treating them as blind, as they no doubt expected, Jesus says to them, on the contrary: It were a thing to be wished for, for your sakes, that you were so! The expression: Those who see not, in this answer, designates those who have not the religious knowledge furnished by the profound study of the law. If those who interrogate Him at this moment had belonged to the ignorant portion of the nation, their unbelief might have been only a matter of surprise or of seduction, something like that sin against the Son of man which can be forgiven in this age or even in the other. But such is not their position. They are possessed of the key of knowledge (Luk 11:52), they possess the knowledge of the law and the prophets.

It is, then, with full knowledge that they reject the Messiah: Behold the Son, this is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. Here is the exact rendering of their feeling. Their unbelief is the rejection of the truth discerned; this is what renders it unpardonable: , their sin remains. Weiss gives to this last word a slightly different sense: the sin of unbelief remains in them because the pride of their own knowledge prevents them from attaining to faith. But the expression sin which remains has certainly a more serious meaning (Joh 3:36); it has reference to the divine judgment. The meaning of this verse which we have just set forth (comp.Luthardt, Weiss, etc.) appears to me more natural than that given by Calvin, Meyer and most: If you felt your ignorance, I could heal you; but you boast presumptuously of your knowledge; for this reason your malady is incurable. The expression: You say (yourselves say), proves nothing in favor of this meaning and against that given by us, as Meyer asserts. These words contain, indeed, an allusion to the ironical question of the Pharisees (Joh 9:40), by which they had denied their blindness. Their own mouth had thus testified that it was not light which had been wanting to them. You yourselves acknowledge, by saying constantly, We know, that you are not of those who are ignorant of the preparatory revelations which God has granted to His people. You are therefore without excuse.

The relation here indicated between the ignorant and the learned in Israel is reproduced on a large scale in the relation between the heathen and the Jews, and with the same result. The sin of the heathen, who so long persecuted the Church, has been forgiven them, while the crime, consciously committed by Israel, of rejecting the Messiah, still rests upon that people. Jesus knew well that this judgment, in which His coming must issue, embraced the whole world; this is the reason why He said in Joh 9:39 : I am come into this world, in order that… We shall find the same sentiment at the basis of the following section. Comp. Joh 10:3-4; Joh 10:16.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

OPTICAL ENIGMAS

Joh 9:39-41. And Jesus said, For judgment I came into the world, in order that those not seeing may see, and those seeing may be made blind. Certain ones of the Pharisees being with Him heard, and said to Him, Whether are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If ye were blind, you had not sin; but now you say, That we see, your sin remaineth; i. e., abides forever, as conviction, which takes away all the false consolations of the hypocrite and fills him with darkness, must anticipate the salvation of every soul. These utterances of Jesus provoke the most scathing criticism from the infidels, as they sound so contradictory. Our Lord knows that we have intelligent minds, as well as immoral souls, and consequently gives us much to sharpen our wits, and bring into availability our thinking powers.

Really, the Bible is the grandest intellectual gymnasium in the world Proud, carnal people look with contempt on the Bible, and go after collegiate learning to develop their intellects, making the mistake of their lives. The finest intellectualists of the ages are found among the most assiduous Bible students. In the above Scripture, the enigmas are found in the diversified phases of vision, physical, mental, carnal, spiritual, counterfeit, and genuine. He came to confer sight on the physically blind, as illustrated in the case of the man who is born blind, this wonderful miracle gloriously symbolizing the normal office of the Savior to open the spiritual eyes, and confer the blessing of vision on those wrapped in Satans midnight. Now, in what sense does Satan make people blind? He is the great deceiver, having multiplied millions of wily demons, manipulating every human soul in the direction of ruin and damnation. Consequently these demons delude the unsaved with diversified visions of false faith, false peace, false hope, and even counterfeit experiences, which render their way quite luminous with foxfire, phosphorescence, and ignis fatuus,

Whose delusive rays light up unreal worlds, And glow, but to betray.

In this way, Satan comforts his people, so they go, jolly, hilarious, gleeful, flippant, egotistical, and sanguine of heavenly ingress, till Diabolus finds it convenient to dump them into hell. The first great work of the gospel is to take away these false lights, which is the office of the Holy Ghost in conviction, thus leaving the sinner in his normal condition, without a solitary ray of hope, wrapped in storms and dragged by demons down to perdition. The trouble with those Pharisees and scribes was the rejection of the Holy Spirit, whom God had sent to open their eyes, turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among the sanctified.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 39

Which see not; which: think they see not; that is, are aware of their blindness and ignorance.–They which see; think they see.–Made blind; convinced of their ignorance, and made humble and lowly-minded.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

9:39 {8} And Jesus said, For {g} judgment I am come into this world, that they {h} which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

(8) Christ enlightens all those by the preaching of the Gospel who acknowledge their own darkness, but those who seem to themselves to see clearly enough, those he altogether blinds: and these latter ones are often those who have the highest place in the Church.

(g) With great power and authority, to do what is righteous and just: as if he said, “These men take upon themselves to govern the people of God after their own desire, as though they saw all things, and no one else did: but I will rule much differently than these men do: for those whom they consider as blind men, them will I enlighten, and those who take themselves to be wisest, them will I drown in most abundant darkness of ignorance.

(h) In these words of seeing and not seeing there is a secret taunting and rebuff to the Pharisees: for they thought all men to be blind but themselves.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Jesus concluded His comments to the man by explaining something of His purpose in the Incarnation.

"The last three verses of chapter ix make it clear that this incident has been recorded primarily because it is an acted parable of faith and unbelief, and therefore of judgment, a theme that is never absent for long from this Gospel." [Note: Tasker, p. 126. Cf. Beasley-Murray, p. 161.]

Jesus’ primary purpose was to save some, but in doing so He had to pass judgment (Gr. krima, cf. Joh 3:17-21; Joh 3:36; Joh 12:47). Judging was the result of His coming, not the reason for it. The last part of the verse consists of two purpose clauses. Jesus was evidently alluding to Isa 6:10; Isa 42:19. His coming inevitably involved exposing the spiritual blindness of some so they might recognize their blindness, turn to Jesus in faith, and see (cf. Joh 9:25; Joh 9:36). Conversely His coming also involved confirming the spiritual blindness of those who professed to see spiritually but really did not because of their unbelief (cf. Joh 9:16; Joh 9:22; Joh 9:24; Joh 9:29; Joh 9:34). Jesus is the pivot on which all human destiny turns. [Note: Tenney, "John," p. 105.] Jesus explained that what had happened to this man and the Pharisees was an example of what His whole ministry was about. [Note: See Stephen S. Kim, "The Significance of Jesus’ Healing the Blind Man in John 9," Bibliotheca Sacra 167:667 (July-September 2010):307-18.]

". . . a certain poverty of spirit (cf. Mat 5:3), an abasement of personal pride (especially over one’s religious opinions), and a candid acknowledgment of spiritual blindness are indispensable characteristics of the person who receives spiritual sight, true revelation, at the hands of Jesus . . ." [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., p. 378.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)