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to cast at him: but Jesus hid

himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

been engaged in conversation, concealed himself from their sight and power by mingling with the crowd, and thus passed away from the temple.

TOPICS FOR REFLECTION. 1. Persevering obedience to the Saviour is necessary in order to prove ourselves his disciples. A wavering, shortlived obedience is a just ground of fear that the heart has not been renewed. v. 31. Compare Matt. 13: 23. Luke 8: 15.

2. It is only true religion that bestows real liberty of soul- liberty from the dominion of worldly and evil propensities. True religion brings our affections and purposes to a conformity with reason and conscience: thus it regulates the whole character, and delivers its possessor from subjection to any unworthy power. v. 32. How great is the mistake of regarding religion as a species of bondage! As well might it be said that a temperate man is a slave to temperance; as well might the intemperate say that they themselves are freemen, while all the world knows that they are in abject bondage to a vile appetite. Religion is, indeed, a state of subjection a voluntary subjection, however -to the great principles of right towards God and man, which principles necessarily lead to present and to eternal happiness. But is not sin a state of subjection? subjection of the reason, of all the higher powers of the soul, to what is wrong, and to what insures present and eternal woe?

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3. Unless we become true children of God in our characters, we shall have no portion in God's house above. v. 35.

4. Pious ancestry, without our own personal piety, is of no avail as to our salvation. v. 39. Compare Matt. 3: 9.

CHAPTER IX.

AND as Jesus passed by, he

saw a man which was blind from his birth.

2 And his disciples asked

CHAPTER IX.

1. Passed by; was passing along, perhaps just after the event mentioned in the preceding verse.

2. Who did sin, this man or his parents? &c. The Jews were in the habit of regarding prosperity and adversity in this life as connected with innocence, and with guilt, of character. There were in the Mosaic law many promises of temporal good as connected with obedience, and threats of evil as connected with transgression. The idea, too, expressed in Ex. 20: 5, and elsewhere, that God would visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and the fourth generation, was too readily applied by them to particular adverse events. Compare Ezek. 18: 2. Hence it was natural to inquire whether the blindness of this man was to be regarded as a punishment of some sin committed by his parents. There was also prevalent, among some of the nations with which the Jews were in various ways connected, an opinion that the souls of men passed, after the death of the body, into other bodies, either of men or of animals, and were happy or miserable in accordance with the character sustained in the preceding body. There seem, also, to have been some vague notions respecting the existence of souls previously to the formation of the bodies which they were to occupy. An inference would easily be drawn from these notions, that the moral character of the soul, as previously existing, would influence the condition of the person on earth, making him happy or miserable. Some of the Jewish teachers appear also to have maintained that, previously to an infant's birth, it might commit sin. Now, in view of all these notions, and without any set

him, saying, Master, who did world, I am the light of the sin, this man, or his parents, world. that he was born blind?

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

4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day the night cometh, when no man can work.

5 As long as I am in the

tled opinions in regard to them, the disciples asked, what was the opinion of their Master as to the present instance. As the event of the man's blindness would generally be referred to some sin as having caused it, they sought information on the question, by whose sins this was caused. Was it in consequence of some sin committed by his parents, or some sin committed by himself before his birth, as some of the teachers might say, or some sin committed in a different state of existence ?

3. Neither hath this man sinned, nor, &c. That is, neither as a consequence of his own sins, nor as a consequence of his parents' sins, was this blindness ordered. So far as the blindness was concerned, they had not sinned; and this calamity ought not to be regarded, either in respect to the man himself, or in respect to his parents, as a punishment for sin. But that the works of God, &c. This calamity of blindness was permitted, so that there might be occasion for manifesting the miraculous power of God. Not to any particular sin, then, was the calamity to be traced; it was to be regarded as a providential event, arranged by infinite wisdom, with reference to a manifestation of the power of God.

4. I must work, &c.; it becomes me to be performing the works for which the Father has sent me into the world. While it is day; the night

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6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

cometh, &c. It is a general truth that labor must be performed in the day-time; the night is not a suitable time for labor. The time, then, which any one has for performing the duties assigned him, may be called day; the time following this, when, by death or other causes, he can no longer perform such duties, may be called night. Thus we speak of the day of life, the night of death. Our Lord conveyed the idea, that he must diligently employ his lifetime in works appropriate to the object of his mission. Soon he was to die, and the opportunities for performing such works would cease.

5. The light of the world. Light, used metaphorically, is an image of happiness. Jesus was the author of true happiness, and, in this capacity, it became him to relieve such cases of misery as the one then before him.

6. Clay. This word here means earth mixed with spittle. || Anointed; smeared over.

7. Siloam. See on Luke 13: 4. The streams flowing from the fountain of Siloam were conducted into two pools, called the upper and the lower. To one of these allusion is made in Is. 7: 3. Which is, by interpretation, Sent. is derived from a signifies to send.

The name Siloam Hebrew word which

The reasons why our Lord performed the cure in this particular manner, cannot be known. The remarks on Mark 7: 33 are applicable

8 The neighbors therefore, | them, He put clay upon mine and they which before had seen eyes, and I washed, and do see. him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.

10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?

11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus, made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash and I went and washed, and I received sight. 12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know

not.

13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.

14 And it was the Sabbathday when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.

15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto

16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath-day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.

19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? How then doth he now see?

20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind :

21 But by what means he

Perhaps our Lord designed, in connection with bestowing an invaluable blessing on an unhappy man, to show the utter futility of such superstitious notions.

16. Not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath-day. Compare 5: 16.

to this case. Jesus might have designed to excite in the blind man an expectation of a cure, and, at the same time, by sending him to Siloam, to test his confidence. As there was manifestly no natural connection between the acts performed and the obtaining of sight, the gift of sight 17. What sayest thou of him, that he would be understood by the man as hath opened, &c. What opinion does being miraculous. By sending him the circumstance of his having given to Siloam, Jesus also furnished occa- thee sight lead thee to form of him? sion for numbers of people to know || A prophet; a religious teacher, with respecting the miracle. According a divine commission. As miracles to the statements of Jewish writers, it was forbidden to put spittle on the eyebrows during the Sabbath, just as it was forbidden to make any medical application on the Sabbath, unless there was danger of immediate death. 18

VOL. II.

had been performed by the ancient prophets, and had often been an appendage to the prophetic office, the man supposed that Jesus could not be less than a divinely-commissioned teacher.

now seeth, we know not; or who | again, What did he to thee ? hath opened his eyes, we know how opened he thine eyes? not he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.

22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.

24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. 25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

26 Then said they to

him

22. He was Christ; he was the Messiah. Put out of the synagogue; be excommunicated. The Jewish excommunication was a severe punishment. There were three degrees of it. The first excluded the person from intercourse with the people, even with his own family, for the space of thirty days; he was not allowed to approach a Jew at a distance nearer than four cubits. If he gave no signs of penitence, the time could be doubled, and even trebled. The second separated the person from all sacred meetings, was accompanied with dreadful curses, and forbade all intercourse with others. The third was still severer, and was regarded as a final and total exclusion of the person from the community.

24. Give God the praise; or, as literally rendered, give glory to God. This expression was used among the Hebrews when they wished to draw forth a confession of the truth. Com

pare Josh. 7: 19. The Jews, then, did not mean to say, on the present |

27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?

28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.

29 We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.

30 The man answered and said unto them, Why, herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

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

occasion, Give to God, and not to Jesus, the glory of this miracle; but, Revere God, and give glory to him, by telling us the truth. They wished him to declare solemnly, as in the presence of God, whether he had really been born blind, and had now obtained sight, or whether there had not been some deception practised in repect to the matter. We know that this man is a sinner. In order that their solemn injunction might lead to some acknowledgment on the part of the man unfavorable to Jesus, they declare it as their undoubted conviction that Jesus was a wicked impostor.

27. Will ye also be, &c. Do you wish to become, &c.

29. From whence he is. Whence he derived his authority. They imply that he certainly did not come from God, and they leave it to be understood that he came self-appointed, or influenced by Satan.

31. God heareth not sinners, &c Compare Ps. 66: 18.

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

37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 38 And he said, Lord, I beAnd he worshipped him. 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.

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

34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?

And they cast him out.

35 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?

36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

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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.

puffed up with the vain notion that they were already enlightened and wise, and that they did not need the instructions of Jesus, rejected him, persisted in their own ignorant and perverse views of religious subjects, and thus were proved to be really ignorant. Compare Matt. 11: 25. Luke 10: 21.

40. Are we blind also? The cavilling spirit of the Pharisees again displayed itself. In a petulant and taunting manner, they asked him, Are we without knowledge? Are you only possessed of knowledge, so as to be able to teach others? In their excitement, they might have intended to insult our Lord by seeming not to understand him, and by dwelling on the literal meaning of the word blind; as if they had said, And are we, too, like this man, blind?

39. For judgment; for effecting a righteous judgment on men according to their different characters; for awarding to them just treatment. || That they which see not might see; that the ignorant might be taught, and made wise. || That they which see might be made blind; that those who have the reputation of possess- 41. If ye were blind; if ye were ing knowledge might be shown to be really destitute of proper faculties ignorant, and, in consequence of their and opportunities for obtaining knowlpersisting in their own fancied knowledge. || Ye should have no sin; ye edge, might be condemned to continued ignorance. Such was the result of our Lord's coming into this world. Those who felt that they needed a divine teacher received his instructions, and became truly wise in respect to eternal life; those who were

would be blameless. Compare 15: 22, 24. | Ye say, We see; you profess to have knowledge and to be guides. Besides, they really did have within their reach the means of information. || Your sin remaineth. It was customary to speak of sin as being re

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