Page 101 - Gospel of John_teachers lesson_cp 1-10_Neat

John 9:1- And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his
birth.
John 9:2- And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this
man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

John 9:3- Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:
but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Lesson Notes:

(John 9:1) – Another example of how observant the Son of God was of the human conditions
surrounding Him; while he walked (passed by) He noticed a man that was blind. There were
many occasions when the blind called after the Messiah when He passed them. (Matt. 9:27-28,
Lk. 18:35) At other times the blind and ill-fated were brought to Him. (Matt. 12:22, 15:30,
*Mk. 10:46). The man born blind is only presented in the collection of miracles found in John’s
Gospel. The other miracles that chronicle the sightless describe people making requests for
their sight to be restored or others advocating for them and they were all people that lost their
sight after birth unlike the blind man presented in this account.

The man is un-named and known only as a blind beggar, born to the accept the fate that
governs his limits. He is un-noticed by all others except the Messiah. He is the only one to
address him as they pass his way.
The behavior pattern aligns with the mannerisms demonstrated when the Messiah engaged
people in need that others avoided or un-noticed in the first year of his ministry at the well of
Sychar and the pool of Bethesda.
(John 9:2) – The disciples of Jesus raise the first questions concerning the blind beggar,
investigating which parent was responsible for the sons’ condition. The query implies that they
were familiar and perhaps adhered to Mosaic law that stipulated judgments against sinful
fathers passed on to the fourth generation of their descendants. The hereditary judgments
included diseases, poverty, and other harmful maladies. (Ex. 20:5, 34:7, Num. 14:8, Deut. 5:9)
Nearly 900 years later, the prophet Ezekiel is given a word that repeals the ordinance revising
the law to make every soul self-accountable to God. (Ezk. 18:20) It is unclear why the
ordinance was still in practice as referenced by the disciples.
(John 9:3) – The Rabbi explained that neither parent was responsible for the son’s condition.
The son’s blindness was not the consequence of sin; the birth defect would be used instead to
reveal God’s work.
The explanation presents a different observation of defects and imperfections in human nature,
seeing them as an opportunity and not a hindrance for God to work. The son’s blindness was a
natural birth defect, meaning he was born with a natural, non-punitive flaw.

All of humanity is born with the birth defect of sin, which a type of spiritual blindness. The flaw
is not punitive requiring man to live in a continuous state of punishment and condemnation.
The imperfection in man creates an opportunity to open their eyes to the truth revealing God’s
work of redemption.

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