John 9:39

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, Th2 1:6, Th2 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 (Joh 9:39): "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 61:1. [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 (Luk 11:45): "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.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 men’s 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Satan’s 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.”

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 9:39. Κρίμα, judgment) just and true, better than that of the Pharisees.—βλέπωσι, may see) in body and mind—οἱ βλέποντες, 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.”—τυφλοί, blind) in mind.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 εἶπεν 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 μὴ βλέπων, and in ver 38 as βλέπων.

εἰς κρῖμα] telically, i.e. to this end, as is clear from the more exact explanation ἵνα, etc., that follows. This κρῖμα[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 οἱ μὴ βλέποντες is subjective, and βλέπωσι objective; whereas οἱ βλέποντες is subjective, and τυφλοὶ γένωνται objective.[54]

κρῖμα is neither merely separation (Castalio, Corn. a Lapide, Kuinoel, De Wette, and several others), nor equivalent to κατάκρισις (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 οἱ μὴ βλέποντες and ΟἹ ΒΛΈΠΟΝΤΕς of those who have not and those who have the knowledge of the Jewish law, we must refer ΒΛΈΠΩΣΙ and ΤΥΦΛΟΊ to the divine truth which Christ reveals. A twofold relation is thus introduced, to which the words λέγετε ὅτι βλέπομεν, Joh_9:41, are also opposed.

[53] On this accentuation of κρῖμα, 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 (κρίσις), but its result, the judicial sentence which is pronounced, the decision of the court, what is judicially measured out, etc. Hence κρῖμα λαμβάνειν, βαστάζειν, etc.

[54] It is true, indeed, that the μὴ βλέποντες are susceptible, and the βλέποντες 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 μὴ βλέπειν, to be blind, comp. Soph. O. C. 73; O. R. 302; see also Xen. Mem. i. 3. 4. On τυφλός in the figurative sense, see Soph. O. R. 371.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 9:39 . Summing up the spiritual significance of the miracle Jesus said: Εἰς κρίμα … γένωνται . “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.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 εἶπεν, 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 κρίμα, 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 (ἦλθον εἰς). 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 (νήπιοι) 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 (σοφοὶ καὶ συνετοί).

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 μὴ βλέποντες (those who see not) in the first clause, which denotes a sight not yet developed, and τυφλοί, 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: ἁμαρτία μένει, 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.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ doth lighten all them by the preaching of the Gospel, which acknowledge their own darkness, but such as seem to themselves to see clearly enough, those he altogether blindeth: of which sort are they oftentimes, which have the highest place in the Church.

With great power and authority, to do what is righteous and just: as if he said, These men take upon them to govern the people of God after their own lusts, as though they saw all things, and no man but they: but I will rule far otherwise than these men do: for whom they account for blind men, them I will lighten, and such as take themselves to be wisest, them will I drown in most gross darkness of ignorance.

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

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jesus said--perhaps at the same time, but after a crowd, including some of the skeptical and scornful rulers, had, on seeing Jesus talking with the healed youth, hastened to the spot.

that they which see not might see, &c.--rising to that sight of which the natural vision communicated to the youth was but the symbol. (See on Joh 9:5, and compare Luk 4:18).

that they which see might be made blind--judicially incapable of apprehending and receiving the truth, to which they have wilfully shut their eyes.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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, 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, (John 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, 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. 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, — 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, (Matthew 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, (2 Corinthians 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 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, (Isaiah 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.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(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 result—the sentence pronounced after judgment. His coming was a bringing light into the darkness of men’s 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 view—“That they which think they see not might really see; and that they which think they see might really be made blind.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And some of the Pharisees which were with him,.... Who had followed him, and were watching him, and observing what he said and did, in order to take all advantages, and every opportunity against him, they could,

heard these words, and said unto him, are we blind also? they perceived he pointed at them, and therefore with indignation ask this question, taking it as a great affront unto them, to put such wise, learned, and knowing men as they in company with the ignorant and unlearned common people; see Isa 42:19.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For judgment I am come into this world. Christ said (chap. iii. 17.) that God did not send his Son to judge the world: the same he repeats; (John xii. 47.) nor is this contradictory to those words: the meaning here is not that he is come to exercise the office of a judge, but he tells them what will be the consequences of his coming, and their refusing to believe in him, that they shall be justly punished with the greatest severity for their wilful blindness. (Witham) --- Jesus Christ came into the world that the pagans, who were yet in darkness, might receive light, and that the Jews, who enjoyed the light, might fall into darkness. The Jews were thus condemned, on account of their presumption and hardness of heart, and grace was granted to the Gentiles to enter into the true Church. These are the designs of the Almighty upon mankind, some of whom remain in infidelity, whilst others receive the light of faith; but all is done by the secret and impenetrable decrees of the justice and wisdom of God. The Holy Ghost, by these words, tells us only what was to be the event, not what was the cause of these things. We must seek for the cause of them in the malice of the heart of man, and in the depth of the judgments of God. (Calmet) --- I am come, &c. Not that Christ came for that end, that any one should be made blind; but that the Jews, by the abuse of his coming, and by their not receiving him, brought upon themselves this judgment of blindness. (Challoner)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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 men’s 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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 39-41. (b) The blindness of those who are satisfied with their twilight.

The sight of the man, enlightened and prostrate in adoring gratitude, led Jesus, in the face of the bystanders, with Pharisees among them (ver. 40), to declare the general effects which would follow from his entire self-manifestation (so Meyer, Godet). Westcott says, "Not to any one or group, but as interpreting the scene before him." A sublime monologue. And Jesus said, I came for judgment. Not krisin , to execute judgment, but eiv krima , with a view to bring about a judicial decision on the moral condition of mankind (see notes on Joh_3:17, 18 5:22, 23 8:11, 15, 16) as a matter of fact. "This is the krisiv , that men love darkness rather than light." Christ came to save that was his supreme purpose; but to the Son is given the whole krisiv , and krima will follow the revelation of the Son of God. He is the Touchstone of humanity. What men think of Christ is the question which decides in every age their moral condition before God. Into this world of sin and strife, of crossing lights and strange delusions, of ignorance and superstition (eiv tosmon is different when touton is added; see Joh_8:23 Joh 11:9 Joh_12:25, 31 13:1 16:11 18:36) not the world as the mere cosmos, or the sphere of creative activity, nor even the whole of humanity as Joh_3:16, but humanity viewed in its separation from grace, and in all its needin order that they who see not might see; i.e. not those who merely feel that they cannot see (as Lucke, Meyer, etc.), but the practically blind the mh blepontev , those who are sitting in darkness, with the capacity for sight, but not the opportunity; who cannot, as a matter of fact, apart from the revelation of new light, see the face of God; the babes to whom the Lord of heaven and earth has been pleased to unveil himself; (see Mat_11:25) the poor in spirit, who do not but now may see the kingdom, and the pure in heart ready to behold their God. So far the krima declares itself to be a blessed consummation sight to the blind, cleansing to the leper, life to the dead. Even the man born blind suns himself in the heaven of the Savior"s smile. The Light of the world shines upon them, and they see. But Christ"s coming brings out also the character of those, and pronounces judgment on those, who say of themselves, We see;" We have never been in bondage," "We need no repentance;" Abraham is our father;" We know the Law;" "Who (nevertheless) do not come to the Light;" who are not "of the truth;" and the beaming of his unappreciated glory involves in their case, that those who see might become blind (tufloi), incapable of seeing. Those who have the knowledge of the Law, the wise and prudent", (Luk_10:21) who boast their freedom, their knowledge, their advantages, their profession, may, nay do, by resolute turning away from the Light of this world," lose their power of spiritual vision. But the unsophisticated, needy, even the publicans and harlots, consciously sitting in the region of the shadow of death, do by faith and repentance find that the great Light has unawares shone upon them.

Vers. 39-41. Moral result of Christ"s coming into the world.

The incident now ended suggests a wider reflection.

I THE DOUBLE RESULT OF CHRIST"S ADVENT. "I am come into this world to exercise judgment, that they which see not might see; and that they that see should become blind.

1. The Son did not come for judgment, but judgment was the result of his coming. His advent tested the false and the true; it revealed what was in the hearts of men; it brought light into the darkness with two opposite results.

2. The twofold result of the judgment.

(1) As it affects those who "do not see that is, the ignorant, who are conscious of their spiritual blindness, and therefore ask for the light. They are made "to see." Light arises out of the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief, so that they realize all the fullness of life, righteousness, and faith.

(2) As it affects those "who see who claim to have "the key of knowledge ", (Mat_11:25) and are "confident that they are guides of the blind, lights of them which are in darkness". (Rom_2:11) Being unconscious of their real ignorance, they are judicially blinded so that they should not see the truth. Being "wise and prudent," they despise the revelation of truth, and relapse into utter darkness, as the judgment of God upon their careless or hostile attitude toward the truth.

II THE PERSONAL APPLICATION OF THE TEST OF JUDGMENT. "And those of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said to him, Are we also blind?

1. The question is dictated by the pride of sect, and by a touch of anger that they who were so learned should be classed with the ignorant rabble.

2. The answer of Jesus is terribly severe.

(1) He seems to say Would God you were really blind! There might in that ease be hope of light penetrating the darkness of your hearts. Conscious ignorance would be a preparation for saving knowledge.

(2) But they were at once blind and unconscious of the fact. "But now ye say, We see.

(3) This blindness was fatal.

(a) They had no excuse for it. "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin." They were, therefore, witnesses against themselves.

(b) Sin rested upon them because they were responsible for their blindness.

Enlightening and blinding power.

Christ"s first coming to this world was not for judgment, but for salvation. Yet it appears, again and again in the course of his ministry, that judgment was a necessary incident of his teaching and authoritative action. By him "the thoughts of many hearts were revealed." There was a virtue of moral discrimination and separation in his ministry of which he himself was well aware. Hence his assertion that whilst he brought sight to some who were blind, the result of his coming was that some who boasted that they saw were proved to be spiritually blind.

I CHRIST"S ENLIGHTENING POWER.

1. This power was exercised for the benefit of the ignorant, the sinful, the helpless. The blind man, whose story is told in this chapter, is an example. He needed not only physical but spiritual sight. His know- ledge was very limited; but it was in his favor that whatever knowledge he had, he used aright. The blindness which befell Saul of Tarsus, in the crisis of his spiritual history, was symbolical of that imperfection of spiritual vision of which he only became conscious when Christ met him by the way. These two examples are from two opposite extremes of society.

2. This power was exercised by the communication of truth, accompanied by the influences of the enlightening Spirit. Gradually did Jesus reveal himself to the man born blind; by signs, by words, by his own gracious character. Thus did light enter into that hitherto obscure nature, and penetrate all its recesses. A heavenly influence called forth faith and reverence, gratitude and love. The mission of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophet, included the recovering of sight for the spiritually blind a beneficent service which the Lord Jesus has been rendering from the time of his earthly ministry onwards until now. In his light his people learn to "see light.

II CHRIST"S BLINDING POWER.

1. Although our Lord says that he came "that they which see might become blind," it must not be supposed that this was the aim of our Lord"s mission to earth, in the same sense as were the diffusion of Divine light and the impartation of spiritual vision. He said on one occasion that he came, not to send peace on earth, but a sword; yet we know that the main object of his coming was that peace might prevail, although one necessary consequence of his work would be that men should be divided against one another.

2. The explanation of the blinding result of the Savior"s ministry is to be found in the action of a law divinely appointed, according to which those who have good brought near to them, and who are indifferent to that good, have their indifference intensified into hatred. Neglect of privilege leads to deprivation of privilege. It is said that organisms secluded for generations from the light of day lose the organ of sight. So is it in spiritual relations. Such was the ease with those Pharisees who boasted of their spiritual discernment, but who in fact loved darkness rather than light, and abode in darkness until their spiritual vision was quenched in blindness and the night of impenetrable gloom. T.

Spontaneous judgment and self-enacting verdict.

"And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see," etc. If the words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened in a sure place, we need not wonder that the words of Christ himself should sometimes be startling in their sharpness should pierce like a two-edged sword. The text before us is an example of this, and though it contains a paradox which in substance occurs frequently in the Bible, it is expressed here with peculiar point and severity.

I First of all, LOOK AT THESE WORDS IN THE LIGHT OF THE OCCASION WHICH CALLED THEM FORTH. They are the solemn verdict of our Lord on the opposite effects of the work of mercy which he had just wrought in Jerusalem. He had opened the eyes of a blind beggar by sending him to wash at the pool of Siloam. The miracle had excited attention, wonder, discussion, and ere long the thoughts of many hearts were revealed by it. On the man himself the immediate effect of the miracle was remarkable. It brought out the simplicity of his character, and his loyalty to his Benefactor and to truth. He already knew Jesus by name, and in the joy and wonder of his heart he rightly concluded that the common report was true, and that Jesus was a Prophet. But a severe ordeal awaited him. The great religious guides of his nation summoned him into their presence, and with all the skill of practiced casuists they urged him to disown his Benefactor or deny his Divine power. Still the man stood firm, and rather than prove false to his conviction that Jesus was a Prophet, he submitted to the terrible sentence of excommunication. Ere long our Lord heard of this good confession, sought out and found the man who made it, and revealed to him the mighty secret that he was the Son of God. And at his words the smoking flax of true faith burst into flame in the poor man"s heart, and he fell down and worshipped the Messiah. Thus, in a spiritual as well as a- natural sense, Jesus gave sight to the blind. But now what was the effect of the same miracle on the Pharisees? Had they known nothing of Jesus before, it was surely enough in itself to awe their minds and prepossess them in his favor. Common generosity, common fairness, would have required this. But, in fact, Jesus had been before them for well-nigh three eventful years, so that they were far from ignorant of his character and career. He bore all the marks of a prophet, and more than a prophet. He spake as never man spake, and they knew it. He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, cast out devils, and they knew it. His life was one of perfect moral loveliness and unapproachable moral grandeur, so that none of them dared to reply when he said, as he had a right to say, nay, as he was bound to say, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" Yet, with some exceptions, these Pharisees had shut their eyes to this great Light that had come into the world, and each new exhibition of it made them blinder still. They had even said, "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." And see how they dealt with the work of mercy which had just been wrought in their streets. They had sifted and resifted all the circumstances, and it was well they did so. "Truth, like a torch, the more "tis shook it shines.

But when the great fact had become patent to all, they willfully shut their eyes to its meaning, and wreaked their hatred of the Holy One on the lowly object of his mercy; and all the time these Pharisees boasted that they had the key of knowledge, and in their own esteem were the clearest-sighted men of their day. And now the two parties stood before our Lord the poor blind beggar who had entered the kingdom of light, and the supercilious Pharisees who were drifting further and further away from it. Thus is explained the seeming paradox of the text, "For judgment," etc.

II EVER SINCE CHRIST AND HIS GLORIOUS GOSPEL CAME INTO THE WORLD THESE WORDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVING FRESH FULFILMENTS. Among his greatest titles are these, "the Light of the world," "the Sun of Righteousness;" and one of the greatest objects of his mission is to give light to them that sit in darkness, to deliver men from pernicious error and bewildering doubt, to clear up and answer the questions that are alike urgent for the old and the young, for the learned and the unlearned, declaring to us why we are placed here, and what destiny awaits us, and above all showing us the path of life. I need only add that our Lord"s claims to do this are partly based on the great open standing wonder of his life and death and resurrection, and partly on the intrinsic power of his gospel itself his words, which are "spirit and life." But how do people deal with this great light that has come into the world? Some accept it gladly in early life, even in the first dawnings of intelligence; and some are sooner or later brought to accept it, after much providential discipline and many mental struggles. But one thing is very noteworthy. Both the former and the latter accept it humbly and thankfully. They give to God in Christ all the praise. The very light they receive reveals to them by contrast the natural darkness of their minds, and they know how that darkness would again enwrap them were they left to themselves. Hence, so far from being proud of their spiritual vision, they habitually pray "that the eyes of their understanding may be enlightened," and they at least can set their seal to this word of Christ, "I am come... that they that see not might see." Surely there is grace and truth in this saying of Christ for each one who feels how blind he is by nature to the mystery of God"s light and love. Is it strange that some consciousness of this blindness sad and painful as it is should be the beginning or the accompaniment of a good work in you? It is not, it cannot be, a state to rest in land of darkness and of the shadow of death but it brings you practically within the sweep of Christ"s mission. He came "to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." Yours is a case for the great Physician, for the mighty Deliverer and Restorer. Go to him in the simplicity of faith and prayer; for this is the method of his grace, to be found of them that seek him. You have heard how he hath revealed himself to others. Tell him that a cloud you cannot sweep away, a veil you cannot lift, comes between you and him. He will be faithful to his promises. For you also "he will destroy the face of the covering cast over all nations, and the veil that is spread over all people." "With thee, O Lord, is the fountain of life; in thy light we shall see light," But, sad to say, there is another alternative. Too many continue unconscious of their darkness. We may put aside for the present open scoffers and presumptuous sinners, who make no secret of it that they hate the light and love the darkness, and who can scarcely keep their tempers when sacred things are mentioned in their presence. There is no need to speak of such as glory in their shame, and sport themselves with their own deceivings, and sear their consciences as with a hot iron. The text does not apply probably to these, but to a different class. There are men who are neither attracted nor gladdened by the Light of the world, and in whose case the chief reason is that they turn a cold and critical and unhumbled eye on the Object of faith. Ah! were they to listen to some of the graver whisperings of their own consciences, which we believe are the strivings of God"s Spirit within them, they might become conscious of want and darkness; but they cannot bear this. Dismissing such feelings as unworthy of them, they persist in saying, "We see!" Instead of looking up to Christ with the reverence due to One who is so immeasurably exalted above them, and who, in all that he is and all that he has done, is so wondrous an exception to the whole human race, they rather seek to weigh him in their own poor balances and assign him a place in their own narrow system. They must needs find some explanation of his miracles which would then be no miracles, and of the mysteries of his kingdom which would then be a mere province of the kingdom of nature. And is it at all wonderful that the gospel should be foolishness to such, and that the more they cherish such a state of mind the less fit they should be to profit by the great Light which yet shines around them? By an inevitable consequence (if God prevent not) their prejudices become stronger and their eyes become blinder. When God"s hand is lifted up, they will not see. When his Spirit works in the hearts and lives of others, some explanation perhaps a very shallow one suffices for them. Conversion they will call a reaction from one extreme to another; heavenly tempers, even happy death-beds, the effects of a sanguine temperament; the spread of Christ"s kingdom the mere contagion of enthusiasm. But thus the words of Christ are still verified, "I am come... that they which see might be made blind." For there is such a thing as being "wise in our own eyes, and prudent in our own sight." It is an old warning, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches." Ah, if the pride of wealth is a blinding thing, so that it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven; if the pride of power or social position is a delusion and a snare; so it is with the pride of human wisdom. Strange to say, it is not seldom found among men who, by whatever standard you estimate them, are no wiser than their fellows; just as, on the other hand, some of the greatest minds have been the humblest. But wherever this pride of fancied wisdom reigns, it blinds the eye to the glory of the Redeemer. If you think you can look down, as it were, from above on Christ and his grace; if your ambition is to "Sit as a god holding no form of creed, But contemplating all; you must needs be in a false and perilous position. It is not thus that you can hold communion with the Holy One. Christ has no blessing for the self-sufficient, no healing for the whole. Remember his words, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Hence

III THESE WORDS TEACH US THE GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY OF HAVING TO DO WITH CHRIST. "For judgment he is come into the world." Not yet for final judgment and retribution; that is reserved for the last day. But one inevitable result of his appearing among men has ever been to test and prove them, and to manifest the secrets of their hearts. And this must be so; for he is the supreme Revelation of God of his holiness and truth, of his grace and love, of all that makes up his glory. Even in the depths of his humiliation this was the case. Think of the day when he stood arraigned as a Prisoner before the Jewish and the Roman tribunals; surely it was he, betrayed and forsaken as he was, who sat in reality on the judgment-seat, while Annas and Caiaphas, and Herod and Pilate, and priests and people, passed in review before him, and were weighed in his balances and found wanting. And so it must ever be as each human soul is brought face to face with Jesus Christ. Ah! some of you may think that you are judging him, but all the time it is he that is judging you. If you will not humbly acknowledge your poverty and ignorance, and thankfully accept his grace, it is a righteous thing that he should leave you to become blinder than before. His glorious gospel cannot leave you as it found you. It must be the savor of life unto life, or the savor of death unto death. And hence the solemn words which Jesus spoke of some of the men of his day, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin." This must be so. You cannot escape from Christ. His love and grace cannot be trifled with. "God is not mocked." You remember that the declared purpose of his mission is one of infinite mercy. "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. G.B.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For judgment am I come into the world - That is, the consequence of my coming will be, that by the just judgment of God, while the blind in body and soul receive their sight, they who boast they see, will be given up to still greater blindness than before.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

world

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

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. For judgment I am come into this world. The coming of Christ, the Light, reveals human hearts. Publicans and sinners were made to see, while “Jews” and Pharisees, who claimed to be enlightened, were left in darkness, because they closed their eyes. Those blinded are those who would not see.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

came into this world

The "world" is a metonym for "the people who live in the world." AT: "came to live among the people of this world" (See: Metonymy)

so that those who do not see may see and so that those who see may become blind

Here "seeing" and "blindness" are metaphors. Jesus distinguishes between people who are spiritually blind and physically blind. AT: "so that those who are blind spiritually, but who want to see God, can see him, and those who already falsely think they can see God will remain in their blindness" (See: Metaphor)

Are we also blind?

"Do you think we are spiritually blind?"

If you were blind, you would have no sin

Here "blindness" is a metaphor for not knowing God's truth. AT: "If you wanted to know God's truth, you would be able to receive your sight. (See: Metaphor)

but now you say, 'We see,' so your sin remains

Here "seeing" is a metaphor for knowing God's truth. AT: "Since you falsely think that you already know God's truth, you will remain blind" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

judge

Pharisee

sin

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

39. καὶ εἶπ. ὁ Ἰ. 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 convey His own authority for finding a symbolical meaning in His miracles. They are addressed to the bystanders generally, among whom are some of the Pharisees.

εἰς κρίμα. Κρίμα occurs nowhere else in this Gospel. As distinct from κρίσις, the act of judging (Joh 5:22; Joh 5:24; Joh 5:27; Joh 5:30), it signifies the 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 ἐγώ is emphatic; I, the Light of the world (Joh 9:5), I, the Son of God (Joh 9:35). see on Joh 11:27.

οἱ μὴ βλέπ. 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?’ Βλέπωσιν means may see, may pass from the darkness of which they are conscious, to light and truth.

οἱ βλέπ. 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?’

τυφλοὶ γένωνται. May become blind: much stronger than μὴ βλέπωσιν. Οἱ μὴ βλ. can see, but do not; οἱ τυφλοί cannot see. These self-satisfied Pharisees must pass from fancied light into real darkness (Isa 6:10).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

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

“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 βλέποντες here answer to the ἰσχύοντες and δίκαιοι of Mat 9:12, Mat 9:13: see note there.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. Here is given, in brief, the interpretation of the story, for this miracle was a σημεῖον (v. 16). The cure of the man’s blindness was symbolic of the giving of spiritual vision to those conscious of their spiritual blindness, who are therefore willing to be healed. But some do not feel the need of a Healer. This is the dividing line between man and man. And the mission of Jesus leads up to judgment, according as men do or do not recognise their Deliverer in Him.

εἰς κρίμα ἐγὼ εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον ἦλθον. Cf. 16:28, 18:37 for the saying “I am come into the world”; and cf. also 6:14. For the phrase “this world,” see on 8:23. It means the earthly world, the home of fallen man, which is therefore imperfect. κρίμα (a word not found again in Jn.) is the result of a κρίσις or act of distinguishing between good and bad, and so of judging. So the sentence means, “It was with a view to that ultimate decision which shall distinguish man from man that I came into this world,” special emphasis being laid on ἐγώ.

There is no mention of the Agent of this Judgment, i.e. of the Personality of the Judge, and so there is no inconsistency with 3:17 (cf. 8:15). Jesus does not say here that He came to execute Judgment (cf. 5:22), but in order that by His coming men might be tested and so judgment reached at last. The supreme test, as always (cf. v. 35, and see on 3:15), is faith in Himself. Those who recognise Him for what He is are in one category; those who fail to do so, in another.

He came, not only to give recovery of sight to the physically blind (Isa 61:2, quoted by Himself Luk 4:18), but to open the eyes of the spiritually blind. It was the challenge of a prophet, “Look, ye blind, that ye may see” (Isa 42:18); and Jesus came to bring this illumination to those conscious of their blindness, ἵνα οἱ μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσιν.

There is also a severer purpose in the coming of Jesus. It was ἵνα … οἱ βλέποντες τυφλοὶ γένωνται, “that those who see should become blind” (cf. Mar 4:12). There is a darkening of moral vision which is caused by complacent satisfaction with the light that is already enjoyed (cf. Rev 3:17, Rev 3:18). Those who see only dimly, and do not desire to see more clearly, lose the power of sight wholly; they become blind. This was the end of the Pharisees (the “blind guides” of Mat 23:16), who did not see anything exceptional in Jesus. They could not see at first, because they would not; and so the judgment of blindness fell upon them. See further on 12:40.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Judgment [κριμα] . 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.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.