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  • Writer's pictureStar Saiyan

John 9:39-41

Jesus met with the healed man that society rejected, and the healed man believed in Jesus. However, Jesus also proclaimed something about sight and blindness. And as we'll see later, it's not literal sight and blindness.



First, Jesus proclaimed that "for judgment [He came] into this world" (9:39). At first glance, the saying is confusing, especially with Jesus's prior comments on judging, but here's some stuff that can clear stuff up. First off, "judging" has been used both as declaration of condemnation/no condemnation (like in court) and simple decision making. Jesus is not punishing the world but rather pointing out aspects of the world (kinda like a seatbelt ticket vs a seatbelt signal in a car). Tom Constable pointed out that judgment was "not the reason for [His coming]" but rather "the result" (Study Light). Furthermore, as noted by the Greek word of "for" as in "for judgment" (Strong 1519), the word can convey a meaning of "towards". In the sense, Jesus isn't doing judgment yet, but his coming can be seen as actions done in the road to judgment -- especially in light of the next few comments.


In particular, Jesus mentioned that the ones who couldn't see can see but those who can see would be made blind (9:39). A flip of symbols of wellness and weakness. We obviously know what the first one references (especially since it happened in the beginning of John 9). But the second references how those who claim to be in good standing are revealed to have some problem that they couldn't see. With the declaration, Jesus is letting people know of their condition so the prideful can recover from their pride that would really do them no good when the judgment actually happens.


But then the Pharisees asked Jesus if they are blind. In response, Jesus talked about how if the Pharisees were blind, they would have no sin, but since they claim they are seeing, they have sin (9:41). From the figurative language, Jesus is talking about how sin is based on knowledge of what went wrong. The Pharisees claim they are a master of right/wrong, but they don't "see" their own wrong they have done. Maybe we shouldn't let pride lead us to overlook crucial mistakes that we have done.

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