The drama unfolding in this passage… a man receives sight, the leaders freak, Jesus makes them all look dumb and the blind man does the same. He is amazing!

Two quick things: the Sabbath and judgment.

People keep saying Jesus doesn’t keep the Sabbath and therefore can’t be of God. It has come up before and has been dealt with in various ways on this blog. Today, I just want to point out that the only people who are saying this are those that claim to have a corner on interpretation of the law. They tell others how it should be understood. Yet Jesus is the embodiment of the law (fulfillment and perfect follower of it) so His interpretation would trump theirs, right? If Jesus heals on the Sabbath, He knows if He has broken the law (which He hasn’t) and chooses not to defend that, but to challenge their thinking in other ways. We must learn this and practice it – you can’t tell someone they are wrong too often and get the results you want, they often must come to that conclusion themselves. Jesus allows this, which shows how much He loves them! He wants them to turn to Him and will use any tactic available! Let’s pray that we follow the Spirit’s leading and do likewise.

Judgment is a common theme in John, but 9:39 and 12:47 seem at odds with one another at first. Yet they aren’t at odds at all. The passage of 12:47ff explains that Jesus did not come to judge, but that the world is judged by His presence. His being on this planet shows us our failure and need for a Savior. This is judgment! So He didn’t come to judge (action) but came to save (action). However, we are judged (status) by His walking on this planet. In His perfection and glory, we see our shortcomings and sin. So, in this way 9:39, the blind will see and those who think they are seeing clearly are confronted by their blindness. I hope that helps!