sight; but he did as he was commanded, and his cure followed. SECTION XXXIX. Chap. ix. ver. 8-17. HE IS BROUGHT TO THE PHARISEES. 8. The neighbours, therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged ? 9. Some said, This is he others said, He is like him; but he said, I am he. These persons present a true picture of mankind, blundering in the dark, some saying one thing, some another, but unwilling to see the truth when it is presented to them." "But he said, I am he." Let us endeavour to say this, every one of us for ourselves: I am he to whom the Lord hath showed mercy. 10. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? 11. He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash : and I went and washed, and I received sight. The blind man is now preaching to us, and is sending us to Jesus for the cure we all want of him. If it was for our bodies we should listen to him, and say, he who healed him, can heal me. Remember who gave him this name Jesus, and for what end. Matt. i. 21. 12. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. 13. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. They did this that they might inquire into, and consider the matter. Some of them soon decided it, by aspersing him as a sabbath-breaker. You may here see with advantage, how hardly those who would have condemned him, were put to it, to find a pretext. 14. And it was the sabbath-day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. 15. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. 16. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. Upon the weak and false pretence that Jesus did not keep the sabbath-day, they baffled the force of a miracle, which was intended to open their eyes. So Christ's servants are first reproached falsely, and then disgraced. Others justly ask, "How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?" Let us come in with these, into the light of divine truth, and leave the rest to their blindness. Let us hold to the evidence of miracles, and we shall keep fast hold of Christ, and have an invincible argument for believing, and obeying him in everything, though never so cross to our own reason, and worldly interest. "There was a division among them," and there is a division wherever Christ comes. We have his own word for it, Matt. x. 35: "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Jesus, however, brings us a blessed peace, peace with God, peace in ourselves, and a peaceable disposition towards all men; but his followers must, and will speak for him, and this, of course, sets the world against them. Where is the blame? 17. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. Do we, will we say this? If he has opened our eyes what do we therefore think of him? The cure of this man had wrought faith in him, and faith made him bold to acknowledge Christ to be a prophet. Why are we afraid to speak for Jesus, but because we have received little or nothing from him? SECTION XL. Chap. ix. ver. 18–28. THE MIRACLE IS DISPUTED. 18. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. If they had only wanted to know the truth, and then to make a proper use of it, this would have been right. But it was the strong working of unbelief, and this turns itself into all shapes to avoid conviction. 19. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? 20. His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: 21. But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. 22. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Fear of man, is one of the greatest difficulties we have to encounter, in coming to Christ. Here thousands stop short, and though they see the right way, will not enter upon it; because the world is in another way, and they do not choose to endure its reproaches. 23. Therefore said his parents, He is of age, ask him. 24. Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. By a true confession, they bid him give God the praise. This is worthy of our notice, though it came from such unhallowed mouths. When they said, "We know that this man is a sinner," they meant that they themselves were not. Here was great boldness, and, as it often happens, arising from great blindness. Well may others, knowing themselves to be sinners, bear to have this said of them, when it was said so confidently of the only man who never was a sinner. 25. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. : We are all born blind to the things of God, as this man was in respect of his bodily eyes. What can we say now? That our eyes are opened to see sin in ourselves more than we ever imagined, and death for sin; to see Christ, and life in him to see the beauty and necessity of holiness, and that our wills are with Christ for the attainment of it? Or are we still blind, going on in the beaten track of the world, seeing no need of Christ, and never considering what a work he has to do in us? Whatever you may think, it is the happiest condition on earth, to be able to say truly, "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see." 26. Then said they to him again, What did he unto thee? how opened he thine eyes? Mark again the workings of unbelief, and how it seeks for pretences to maintain itself. They said, "What did he to thee," and how opened he thine eyes? when the only thing they should have asked was respecting the fact, that they were opened, and that it could only be by a divine power. 27. He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples ? They heard but they did not believe him. What is all our hearing, if it does not bring us to faith in Christ, and newness of life? 28. Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. They thought this the greatest reproach they could cast on him. Do not mistake: it is seldom otherwise. A true disciple is still a bye-word, even among those who call themselves Christians. SECTION XLI. Chap. ix. ver. 29-41. THE JEWS CAST HIM OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE. 29. We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. We know no more than they did, till we come to Christ in faith, and with an earnest desire to experience his power in us. 30. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. We know from whence he is, coming from God; but in vain, and have no doubt of his if we do not consider the ends for which he came, and that he might open our eyes. any man 31. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. The conclusion was undeniable; God would never have enabled him to perform such a miracle, if he had been a sinner. Let us apply this to our own prayers, and learn from hence in what way they will be heard. the 32. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened eyes of one that was born blind. VOL. II. G G |