Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

11. He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said unto me, Go to the bath of Siloam, and wash; and I went, and washed, and I received sight.

12. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

Jesus, as usual, had withdrawn himself from the public eye, after the performance of this miracle, that he might avoid the appearance of ostentation.

13. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.

By Pharisees we are here to understand the Jewish council, or Sanhedrim, which principally consisted of persons of that sect; and the design of bringing him to this court was to have the pretended miracle thoroughly sifted by this learned body, and the imposture of it exposed. The result, however, was quite contrary to what they expected; the reality of the miracle being established beyond contradiction.

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 my 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.

Not being able to disprove the miracle, they find fault with the time when it was performed, because it was the sabbath-day, and infer hence that he could not be sent of God, as he pretended to be, but must be an impostor, because he violated the sabbath. Others of them, who were more rational and candid in their way of judging, asked how an impostor could work such miracles; justly concluding that the Divine Being could not give his attestation to an impostor,

Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them,

17. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thy eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

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.

By the Jews mentioned here we are to understand the leaders of the Jews, or the members of the Sanhedrim, who, in verse fifteen, are called Pharisees. It seems they did not give full credit to the relation of the man who had been blind; suspecting perhaps that there was some collusion between him and Jesus. They therefore summon before them those who must be deemed unexceptionable evidences of the reality of his blindness, and of the time when it had commenced.

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.

To the most material circumstances which it was desirable to ascertain, his being their son and being born blind, they bear a clear and decided testimony; but about the author of his cure, or the manner in which it was produced, they do not choose to speak, for a reason which is immediately assigned. The age at which the Jews admitted persons to give evidence is said to be thirteen; the person here spoken of, therefore, must have been advanced to that age at least.

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, rather, "should be forbidden the synagogue."

We find from vii. 41, that many began to surmise that Jesus was the Messiah. This induced the Sanhedrim to pass the decree here referred to, in order to stop, as they imagined, the progress of that opinion.

23. Therefore said his parents, He is of age, ask him.

They were afraid to say any thing about the author of his cure, lest they should incur this sentence; and left to their son all the odium and danger which might attend any declaration upon that subject.

REFLECTIONS.

1. The reply which Jesus makes to the question of his disciples, when they asked him the cause of the blindness of a miserable object, should teach us to be careful that we do not attribute bodily distempers or personal evils of any kind to the divine displeasure; as if they were occasioned by the sins of the afflicted, or by those of any persons connected with them. To this fault the Jews were much inclined, as we find from this instance, and some others which occur in the histories of the evangelists. In them it might be excusable, since their condition as a state, if not as individuals, was under a particular providence, in consequence of which the punishment of idolatry and of other offences immediately followed the commission of these crimes: but it is not excusable in Christians and Protestants of the present day, (who are, however, equally inclined to it) since they profess to believe that miracles have ceased since the age of the apostles. The light in which Christianity teaches us to conceive of the afflictions of life, is that of chastisements from the hands of a kind father, intended for the benefit of his children, and therefore to be regarded as proofs of love, and not of hatred; as instruments of good, and not of evil. In this view let us always regard them, whether they befal ourselves or other persons. Grievous indeed would the burthen of affliction prove, if to the violence of pain, or the sorrow of disappointment, were added the dreadful apprehension of divine displeasure.

2. The motive which Christ here assigns for performing this miracle without delay, ought to induce us to dispatch every important business of life with the like expedition. "The night is coming when no man can work." We know not indeed the exact time of our dissolution, as Christ did; but it cannot be far

from any of us; and if, besides, it be uncertain, we derive thence an additional motive for diligence; since it may be much nearer than we imagine. Is there then any valuable service, which you are able to perform for God or for your fellow-creatures? Is the world involved in errors, which you are qualified to correct? Are you able to pour the light of truth upon the benighted understanding? Can you assuage the violence of pain, or supply the wants of the distressed? Can you, in any way, lessen the miseries or increase the enjoyments of the human race? Do it without delay: withhold not good from him to whom it is due, while it is in the power of your hands to do it. Another opportunity for this purpose may never occur. If you miss it by delay, you will at least lose the satisfaction which accompanies the performance of benevolent actions, in this life, and the reward which awaits them in the next; if you are not exposed to the doom of the unprofitable servant, who hid his lord's talent in a napkin.

3. This story affords an example of the advantage which truth derives from opposition. Had no enquiry been made into this extraordinary fact; had no attempt been set on foot to prove that it had no foundation, and that the pretended author was an impostor; we should not have had that incontrovertible evidence in support of it which we have at present. Neither the

man born blind, but now restored to sight, nor his parents, would have been brought before the Jewish Sanhedrim; nor should we have had the testimony of enemies as well as that of friends, who could not gainsay or contradict it. Let us not be afraid, therefore, of submitting any sentiment which we embrace to discussion; but rather ask and court the most rigorous examination. If it be true, it will be established, if false, overthrown, by this means. The most generally acknowledged truths were at first established in this

manner.

4. We may observe, in connection with the preceding remark, how fruitless and impotent human force

« EdellinenJatka »