John 9:31-35

 

John 9:31 (KJB)

Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

 

In verse 24, the Pharisees had accused Jesus of being a sinner and here they are taking it one step further by rightly stating that God does not hear sinners. (Isa 59:1-2 KJV) Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: {2} But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. They probably had Isaiah 59 in mind. The problem was that they believed that because of their position and education, they were not sinners but were in the good favor of God. They did not realize that those who are under the law are under a curse and are still in their sins and that included the Pharisees. Then they go on and state that if a man is a worshipper of God and does His will, then God will hear. The problem here is that the Pharisees did not know that worshipping God is a qualified worship. (John 4:24 KJV) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Those who worship God in truth must be born again by the grace of God in Christ or else it is not true worship. When one is saved, then the saved person does the will of God. (John 6:40 KJV) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. Those who believe on Christ are doing the will of God and those who are saved are heard by God because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who brings our prayers before God. (Rom 8:26-27 KJV) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. {27} And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit aligns our prayers with the will of God. Therefore, the Pharisees are disqualified from worshipping God in truth because they lack true salvation. They accused every other person of being out of God’s will and they themselves were the very ones in need of salvation.

 

John 9:32 (KJB)

Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

 

The healed man points to a tremendous fact that since the time of creation, no one had opened the eyes of anyone who was born blind. There were miracles performed by the prophets such as Elijah and Elisha but no one ever opened the eyes of the blind because this particular miracle was reserved for the Messiah alone. (Isa 35:4-5 KJV) Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. {5} Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then in Isaiah 42:6-7 we see this teaching repeated. (Isa 42:6-7 KJV) I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; {7} To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. When Jesus came on the scene He had opened the eyes of the physically blind but there is a great spiritual application to this. An unsaved person walks around in spiritual darkness and has a veil of darkness over them. When a person becomes saved, their spiritual eyes are opened as they receive their spiritual sight. They can now see things by faith that others cannot. It is just like the spiritual ears that we receive upon salvation. (Mat 11:15 KJV) He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Those with spiritual sight from true salvation can now look at the things which kept them in bondage such as religion and deem it as evil for what it does the soul and the fruit of it.

 

John 9:33 (KJB)

If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.

 

In verse 17 the man claimed that Jesus was a prophet and now he is affirming the statement that he previously made. He now defends Jesus that He is definitely of God or else there is no way that He could have performed this miracle because Satan cannot open blind eyes. (John 15:5 KJV) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. This man hits on a great principle for Christian living and ministry, that is, without Jesus we can do nothing because it is only Jesus who blesses our ministry when that ministry is in truth. This principle is also valid for daily living because without Jesus we could not resist the devil in those daily temptations that come our way. Jesus is our strength!

 

John 9:34 (KJB)

They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

 

They cast - Threw him or drive out

 

Here is the height of the arrogance of the Pharisees. If you read carefully, you will notice that they could not answer this man’s claims because he baffled them. With all their learning, what was the outcome of this discourse? They claimed that he was altogether born in sins because they believed that since he was born blind, that the curse of God was upon him. However, standing before them was a man who could see which then accordingly meant that the curse of God was off him. So how did they treat this man? They threw him out of the Synagogue. This practice has unfortunately continued in the churches. When someone comes in with the true gospel which opposes the education based gospel of the pastor, the Christian is thrown out because they are considered a troublemaker. Sadly, it seems that the majority of churches are at enmity with the truths of Scripture. I know this personally because I have faced this situation a number of times before.

 

John 9:35 (KJB)

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

 

Here is a good example of Jesus being the Good Shepherd. When this man was excommunicated from the Synagogue, Jesus immediately attended to him. The Pharisees were just hirelings because they did not care about the sheep, they only concerned themselves with their own position and authority. (John 11:48 KJV) If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. Jesus then asks the man if he believes on the Son of God? (Psa 2:12 KJV) Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Maybe this man had heard the term before from the Scriptures. (Dan 3:25 KJV) He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. This man may have had some teaching in the Scriptures and was not averse to the question he was asked by Jesus. He also did very well in confronting the Pharisees.

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