No Good Deed Goes Unpunished- John Chapter 9

The old saying- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished- comes to mind when I think of the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders throughout John. Chapter 9 is a classic example. No only did the religious leaders have conflict with Jesus, they were also abusive to the man Jesus healed and the man’s parents. Imagine being healed of being blind at birth only to have authorities be abusive towards because you were healed.

What did Jesus do to cause such a reaction by the religious leaders? He healed the blind man on the Sabbath. I know. It sounds ridiculous but such was the case. The man Jesus healed was brought before them.

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

They had the man’s parents brought in to confirm the man was born blind, but when his parents were asked how the man could not see, they replied ask him he is an adult. The reason they answered this way was fear.

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.

The religious leaders asked the man again what happened. The poor fellow naively made the mistake of asking them the one question that would infuriate them.

He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

The religious leaders responded.

“You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

The poor fellow couldn’t leave well enough alone.

“Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.  Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

His reward?

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Jesus talked with the man revealing to the man who Jesus is. The man came to faith in Jesus which we saw last week in Jesus Healed A Man Who Did Not Know Jesus.

Jesus then said.

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

The reaction of the religious leaders was predictable.

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?“

Jesus pulled no punches.

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

The contrast between the compassion Jesus showed the man who was born blind and the disdain he had for the hypocritical religious leaders was palpable in John and this passage is one example of that..

Think about the compassion of Jesus. Let it be a prevailing thought for the day. When we come to Jesus in humility seeking help from him, his compassion is overwhelming.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.