The Pharisees Investigate The Healing
THE PHARISEES INVESTIGATE THE HEALING
JOHN 9:13-23
When the Pharisees investigated the healing miracle, notice how blind and prejudiced they were.
The acquaintances of the man were baffled by the whole business so they took him to the Pharisees in order to investigate further the issues raised by the incident. In particular there was the fact that the cure had taken place on the Sabbath. The Pharisees asked the man what had happened and he gave them a straightforward, factual reply. There was a division among them. On one side were those who knew the religious traditions and on the other those who could see the evidence which lay in front of them (cf. 7:40-43; 10:19-21). They decide therefore to ask what the man himself thinks. He replies bravely, but inadequately, that he thinks Jesus is a prophet.
The Jews then revert to the position his neighbors had adopted. This was a case of mistaken identity. Sensibly they ask his parents to tell them. They are perfectly prepared to vouch for his being their son and his having been born blind. But the method of his cure they will not state. Maybe they had no first-hand evidence themselves, but in any event they were afraid of reprisals. For if they were led into a statement that Jesus was the Messiah they were in danger of excommunication. They therefore transfer the responsibility for that part of the answer to their son.
Notes 9:14: the cripple was also healed on the Sabbath (5:9). The two stories have much in common, but at this more advanced stage of the ministry this man is much nearer to a full faith in Jesus, and gives a far more spirited defense of his own experience and of Jesus than does the healed cripple. 9:21: the age of legal responsibility was thirteen. The idea may, however, simply be that he is old enough to tell his own story without their intervention. 9:22: this would probably not be more than a temporary ban. What an eternal opportunity they may have lost because of it! Open confession of Christ is the essential accompaniment to faith in him (cf. Romans 10:9f.). Tragically, there have been many times, too, in the history of the church when the issue has virtually been whether a man is cast out of the institutional church or out of the kingdom of God.