Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.
The reply came after the healed man bore witness that Jesus had opened his eyes and then asked the leaders whether they too would become His disciples, and they answered by reviling him, calling him a disciple of Jesus while declaring themselves disciples of Moses. That declaration set their claimed loyalty to Moses against faith in Jesus, even as they rejected the man's testimony about his healing. Their words were a rejection of wonderful proof of Christ's divine mission, for the opening of the eyes of one born blind attested the truth of His work, yet they opposed that evidence and were unable to explain His power. Though educated men who professed to explain Scripture, they cast aside the clear testimony placed before them.
The reviling sprang from hearts hardened by prejudice and unbelief, from envy and jealousy at Christ's popularity, from hatred because He would not accept their ideas, from fear that He would be honored above them, and from refusal of spiritual light. They were spiritually blind, chose to remain in darkness, and made themselves still blinder, while the man's plain witness exposed the distance between their religious authority and their response to God's working. Jealousy, prejudice, and the rejection of light thus led them to oppose the evidence of Christ's mission rather than follow it.
They met his suggestion that they might become Jesus' disciples with sneers, contempt, and hatred, counting him worthy only of despising. By reviling him they sought to close his eyes and smother his testimony, as they had closed their own eyes to the light. That contempt fell upon the very one the Lord is anxious to save, despising one purchased by the blood of Christ, putting those who despised him out of harmony with God and on the side of the adversary of God and man.
Against that rejection stands Jesus' compassion toward one who did not yet know Him, for He healed the man, afterward revealed Himself to him as the Son of God, and received his worship. The healed blind man represents the poor sinner wandering far from the fold, the lost sheep after whom the compassionate Shepherd seeks and for whom the sympathy of all heaven is enlisted. Looking to Calvary and the costly offering given to save an apostate and ruined race breaks Satan's delusions, reveals God's love and compassion toward fallen man, moves the sinner to repentance, and begins the conflict between light and darkness in which beholding Christ transforms character from glory to glory.
The reply came after the healed man bore witness that Jesus had opened his eyes and then asked the leaders whether they too would become His disciples, and they answered by reviling him, calling him a disciple of Jesus while declaring themselves disciples of Moses. That declaration set their claimed loyalty to Moses against faith in Jesus, even as they rejected the man's testimony about his healing. Their words were a rejection of wonderful proof of Christ's divine mission, for the opening of the eyes of one born blind attested the truth of His work, yet they opposed that evidence and were unable to explain His power. Though educated men who professed to explain Scripture, they cast aside the clear testimony placed before them.
The reviling sprang from hearts hardened by prejudice and unbelief, from envy and jealousy at Christ's popularity, from hatred because He would not accept their ideas, from fear that He would be honored above them, and from refusal of spiritual light. They were spiritually blind, chose to remain in darkness, and made themselves still blinder, while the man's plain witness exposed the distance between their religious authority and their response to God's working. Jealousy, prejudice, and the rejection of light thus led them to oppose the evidence of Christ's mission rather than follow it.
They met his suggestion that they might become Jesus' disciples with sneers, contempt, and hatred, counting him worthy only of despising. By reviling him they sought to close his eyes and smother his testimony, as they had closed their own eyes to the light. That contempt fell upon the very one the Lord is anxious to save, despising one purchased by the blood of Christ, putting those who despised him out of harmony with God and on the side of the adversary of God and man.
Against that rejection stands Jesus' compassion toward one who did not yet know Him, for He healed the man, afterward revealed Himself to him as the Son of God, and received his worship. The healed blind man represents the poor sinner wandering far from the fold, the lost sheep after whom the compassionate Shepherd seeks and for whom the sympathy of all heaven is enlisted. Looking to Calvary and the costly offering given to save an apostate and ruined race breaks Satan's delusions, reveals God's love and compassion toward fallen man, moves the sinner to repentance, and begins the conflict between light and darkness in which beholding Christ transforms character from glory to glory.