INTRODUCTION:
As you think of people in the Bible who were bullies, what names come to your mind? I immediately thought of Goliath, the Philistine giant who defied the army of Israel, challenging them to send a man out to fight against him. As he shouted at them and taunted them day after day, I Samuel 17:11 says, “Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.” Verse 24 says, “they ran from him in fear.” Have you ever been bullied by a person or by a group of people? Maybe you acted like a bully yourself at some point in your life.
In the previous sermon on John 9:1-12, we studied the healing of the man who was born blind and the negative reaction he received from his neighbors. They refused to believe what had happened to him but they couldn’t deny or refute his testimony. One of the major sources of frustration in people is limited resources. The man’s neighbors didn’t have the theological training or experience to enable them to handle this situation. In their pride, they were unwilling to give up the fight so they decided to take it to the next level. This court case isn’t over yet! They are taking it to the “Court of Appeals”.
I. ADVANCE TO A HIGHER COURT (verse 13)
Verse 13 says, “They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.” By doing so, these Jews disobeyed the Law that God gave to Moses. Deuteronomy 17:9-11 and Deuteronomy 19:17 states that it is the responsibility of the priests to interpret the law and settle disputes. Instead, they went to the Pharisees, a sect of “separatists” that wasn’t even in existence when the Law of Moses was written. The power structure in Jerusalem had changed over the years and the Scriptures were no longer the standard by which people were judged and instructed.
From a human standpoint, this healed man’s escort service was taking him to the ones who might fight for their cause and eliminate their frustrations. The Pharisees were the “theological bullies” of that day, and when push comes to shove, they had the arguments, the interrogation tactics and the public status to get the job done. Let’s see what happens next.
II. THE SESSION BEGINS (verse 14-15)
Before the questioning begins, the apostle John reminds his readers of an important fact that is going to be the major focus of their questions. He says in verse 14, “Now the day on which Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was the Sabbath.” Jesus had broken “their Sabbath laws”, not God’s when He performed that miracle.
The “court” is now in session and the healed man has been placed on the witness stand. The first question the Pharisees ask this man is the same question his neighbors asked him. Verse 15 says, “Therefore, the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight.” How? They are asking him for an explanation? This was a miracle! You can’t explain a miracle! It’s an impossible event — something that only God could do! By using the word “how”, the neighbors and the Pharisees were saying, We don’t believe you. There’s got to be a logical explanation for this, so tell us what really happened.”
I have a personal, true story of a physical healing miracle that God performed in my life and there was an appropriate response to it. Many years ago an echocardiogram showed that I had a leaking heart valve [mitral valve prolapse] and a regurgitating aortic valve. The cardiologist put me on a medication to help relieve the symptoms and said that I would probably need a valve replacement within 10 years. Fifteen years had passed and the leak did not become worse. He told me that this happens in less than one-in-a-thousand cases. One day, while driving home from work, I fainted with no warning other than the sound of a car horn. When I opened my eyes, there were two paramedics looking through the windshield at me. My blood pressure was 70/40. No wonder I fainted! Another echocardiogram was taken, and at the consult afterward, my cardiologist said the following words to me: “I am not a believer in miracles but I can’t explain this in any other way. Your heart valve is no longer leaking. It’s completely healed. The medication you take also lowers blood pressure. When your heart valve suddenly stopped leaking, the medicine caused your blood pressure to drop quickly. I know of no case where this has ever happened before. There will be an article written about your case for a medical journal.” That’s a doctor who now believes in miracles! It’s been almost 25 years since that day and I have had no issues with my heart. A miracle doesn’t require an explanation! It just needs confirmation and a celebration!
The man who was healed gave the Pharisees a description of what happened, not an explanation, saying, “He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I see.” It’s basically the same answer he gave to his neighbors, presented clearly and simply. That should have been the end of the discussion; but as it turns out, it’s only the beginning.
III. A DISAGREEMENT TAKES PLACE (verses 16-17a)
What follows is a completely new experience for this formerly blind man. During all those years of sitting and begging at the gate to the temple, he must have listened to many discussions and disagreements among the priests, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. Now, for the first time in his life, he gets to watch and listen to a disagreement among the Pharisees. He gazes intently at the expressions on their faces and the gestures they make. Even the slightest movement of their bodies is noticeable to him.
The apostle John describes this event in verse 16. “Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others asked, ‘How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?’ So they were divided.” As he watches and listens, this formerly blind man realizes which group holds the majority view and which has the minority view. The first group is committed to their own traditions and laws. They speak of Jesus as “this man” [this carpenter from Nazareth, this uneducated “nobody”]. It’s an expression of contempt and rejection. Jesus’ miracles can’t be denied so they decide to ignore and reject them. The second group of Pharisees responds by asking a question. They are looking at the evidence of Jesus’ miracles and questioning whether their own beliefs and traditions about the Sabbath day are correct. The evidence is obviously on the side of the second group, but experts say that the best way to win an argument is to shout louder than your opponent or opponents. The Pharisees who raised that question are trying to be realistic and look at the situation objectively. The other group must have been yelling as loudly as they could in order to defend their own interpretation of the law in spite of the evidence. These Pharisees were demonstrating a second major cause of frustration: not being able to have their own way. As the saying goes, “If you want to be in the game, you have to play by our rules.” They must have won the argument because we don’t read anything more about that argument in the verses that follow. The minority must have joined the majority.
After having won that argument, the strict traditionalists among the Pharisees do something uncharacteristic of them: they ask this beggar for his opinion about the matter. Verse 17 says, “Finally, they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened’.” These Pharisees wouldn’t ask advice from a beggar concerning religious issues. If we had been there, standing next to that beggar, and had heard those words being spoken and watched the expressions on the faces of those Pharisees, I think we would have immediately realized that this was not a question but a challenge. With an air of victory in their tone of voice, they said to him, “Are you going to give in as the others did, or do you want to try to take us on?” They’re acting like bullies again!
IV. A COURAGEOUS RESPONSE (verse 17b)
The man who received his sight is up to the challenge. Based upon his limited understanding and his personal experience, he gives them a clear and immediate answer by saying, “He is a prophet”. Notice what this man did not say. He didn’t say, “I think he’s a prophet”, nor did he say, “He might be a prophet”. There was no doubt in his mind and there’s no argument about his words. Moses, Elijah, and Elisha were prophets, and they performed miracles as proof that they were sent by God. This man is growing in his understanding of who Jesus is, and he’s not afraid to proclaim it out loud to these Pharisees, in spite of what they might do to him.
The man’s claim leaves them speechless. They can’t deny that Jesus’ miracles are proof that He has the qualifications of a prophet sent from God. There was also a popular saying and belief among the Jews in those days that a prophet could break the law of the sabbath, and be guiltless. The Pharisees have traveled down another dead-end street. Are they ready to give in and accept reality? Not in your life! They are still struggling to maintain outward control of this situation. They continue to give the impression that they know what they are doing. In reality, however, they are at their wit’s end. I can hear them saying to themselves, “What do we do now?”
V. INTERROGATION OF THE PARENTS (verses 18-23)
Verse 18 begins with the words: “The Jews still did not believe that he had been born blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents.” They refuse to believe the evidence and the testimony of the blind man, so they seek some other way to discredit the man and the miracle. A thought comes to their minds: “Why don’t we bring his parents in for questioning. Maybe we can exert enough pressure on them and instill enough fear in them to cause them to deny that he is their son, or to state that he was not born blind. Maybe we can compel them to say that his sight improved in some other way than a miracle by Jesus. If we succeed, we might turn the people against Jesus by declaring this miracle to be a hoax and Jesus to be a false prophet. It’s worth a try.” The little word “until”, in verse 18, informs us that this idea is also doomed for failure.
The parents are asked three questions: “Is this your son?”, “Was he born blind?”, and “How does he now see?”. The parents answered the first two questions without hesitation. They knew that he was their son and they knew that he was born blind. The parents of the blind man didn’t answer the third question for two reasons. First, they were not eye-witnesses. Therefore they could not give legal evidence. The second reason is given in verse 22. The man’s parents “were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.” That’s a terrible thought and a dreadful experience. The phrase, “put out of the synagogue” is similar to that of excommunication but the consequences are even worse. The person was excluded from the synagogue worship services and treated like a leper. He was excluded from all contact with other Jews and had to keep a distance of at least 4 cubits (6 feet) from one’s spouse and friends. When such people died, they were given no funeral. It was a social, economic and religious disgrace. Depending upon the degree of the offense, this punishment could be temporary (30 days) or permanent over a person’s lifetime. In this case, it appears that the Jewish leaders were threatening the followers of Jesus Christ with a permanent excommunication.
So the man’s parents responded by saying, “But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” End of discussion. By reminding these Pharisees of the laws of testimony and evidence, his parents just closed the door of opportunity. “Plan B” failed. In the next message, we are going to discover that the Jews follow the parents’ advice and set up another interview with the blind man. It’s the end of round two but the fight isn’t over yet. There’s one more round to go. “Plan C” is on the drawing board. We’ll see how the fight ends and determine the winner as we study John 9:24-41.
CONCLUSION:
In Exodus 34:8, Moses is speaking to God and he calls the people of Israel a “stiff-necked people”. The Hebrew word literally means “hard-necked”. It was used in the Old Testament and the New Testament to refer to an ox which stubbornly refused to respond to its owner’s prodding with the ox-goad that was in his hand. An ox-goad is a long, light-weight pole with an iron spike at the end of it. The farmer would hit the ox on one side of the neck or the other to get the ox to turn in that direction. Some oxen would stubbornly refuse to do so. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “As stubborn as an ox”. Like the stiff-necked ox, these Pharisees were determined to go in their own direction in spite of the evidence and the prodding of Jesus to follow the way of the Father who sent Him.
I hope that’s not a description of you at this moment. If so, please ask God to open your eyes to the truths in His Word and respond in faith and obedience to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will turn your stubbornness into enthusiasm and wholehearted obedience to Him.
CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED
May God open your eyes to new truths in His Word and new applications to your own life.