In Yerushalayim for Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) ~ Part 12
In our last post, we learned that Yeshua Declares His External Existence. In this post, we continue to learn about The Healing of the Man Born Blind.
As in our last several posts, Yeshua is still speaking on the last day of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabbah.
The Healing of the Man Born Blind ~ Part 3
The Blind Man Questioned Again
Fearing they might get expelled from their synagogue, the parents of the Man Born Blind told the P’rushim to ask their son again.
24 So a second time, they called the man who had been blind; and they said to him, “Swear to God that you will tell the truth! We know that this man is a sinner.”
Swear to God that you will tell the truth! (literally, “Give glory to God!”). We know that this man is a sinner. Reading with a twentieth-century mentality, the sense one would arrive at is: “Give the glory to God, not to the person who put mud on your eyes; He doesn’t deserve glory and couldn’t have been responsible for your healing because we know He is an open sinner.” But the phrase, “Give glory to God,” often precedes a solemn judicial statement; here, it is a solemn oath to admit as accurate the conclusion these P’rushim have reached (compare Joshua 7:19 and 1 Samuel 6:5). Who deserves credit for the healing is not at issue.
25 He answered, “Whether he’s a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 “I already told you,” he answered, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you too want to become his talmidim?” 28 Then they railed at him. “You may be his talmid,” they said, “but we are talmidim of Moshe! 29 We know that God has spoken to Moshe, but as for this fellow—we don’t know where He’s from!” 30 “What a strange thing,” the man answered, “that you don’t know where He’s from – considering that He opened my eyes! 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone fears God and does His will, God does listen to Him. 32 In all history, no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, He couldn’t do a thing!”
Once again, we see how simple it is to give your own personal testimony of what God has done for you.
34 “Why, you mamzer!” they retorted, “Are you lecturing us?” And they threw him out. [1]
Why, you mamzer! (literally, “In sins you were born, entirely!”). The Hebrew and Yiddish word mamzer is often rendered “illegitimate son,” although technically, it refers specifically to the offspring of a marriage prohibited in Leviticus 18; according to halakhah, a mamzer may not marry a legitimate daughter of Isra’el, only a mamzeret. Here the Jewish English term “mamzer” is used colloquially (like the English word “bastard”) to convey with precision and force the hot-tempered and insulting valence of the Judeans’ response. And they threw him out, carrying out the threat of expulsion from the synagogue.
Yeshua Confronts the Healed Man
35 Yeshua heard that they had thrown the man out. He found him and said, “Do you trust in the Son of Man?” 36 “Sir,” he answered, “tell me who he is so that I can trust in him.” 37 Yeshua said to him, “You have seen Him. In fact, He’s the one speaking with you now.” 38 “Lord, I trust!” he said, and he kneeled down in front of him.
Yeshua meets the newly outcast, formerly blind man, who has exchanged exclusion from the world of seeing for exclusion from society and brings him to faith in Himself as Messiah. Clearly, the man was ready to believe.
39 Yeshua said, “It is to judge that I came into this world so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” 40 Some of the P’rushim nearby heard this and said to him, “So we’re blind too, are we?” 41 Yeshua answered them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you still say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” [2]
It is to judge that I came into this world. Not a contradiction with Yochanan 5:22 or 8:15. The “judging” that Yeshua did at His first coming consisted in making clear to people where they stood in respect to God, as the rest of the verse explains. Only at His second coming does He judge the world (Yochanan 5:22, 27–30).
In our next post, we continue with our new series on Yeshua’s Journey to Yerushalayim for the Feast of Sukkot. In our next post, Yeshua Declares that He Is the Good Shepherd.
My Heart is for Israel 