The Bible – Our Workbook
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been born blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath … 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 do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided John 9:13,14,16
It seems the Pharisees were afraid of something new happening within Judaism. They would not have been afraid in the same way of something happening from the outside. They were used to that: paganism (the world of non-Jewish religion), money and power were an ever-present enemy. But here was someone arising from their own Jewish world, claiming to act in the name of the one true God and doing things that could crack their carefully regulated system wide open.
John has made it easier for us to understand their feelings by placing the story of Jesus in the Temple early in his gospel in chapter 2. The religious leaders in Jerusalem had realised that from then on, Jesus was a threat. Once He had healed the cripple on the Sabbath (chapter 5) they knew exactly what kind of threat He was. The subsequent disputes in chapters 6,7 and 8 made them realise how big a threat He would be.
‘They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been born blind.’ ‘His neighbours’ (9:8) might have done this because in their amazement and naivety, they expected the Pharisees to react just as they did. ‘Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.’ Mixing saliva and dirt was considered a kind of kneading and kneading was one of thirty nine forms of work that violated the Sabbath (according to the religious leaders of the day). Applying the mud to the man’s eyes was another Sabbath violation in the eyes of the Pharisees. They had the evidence they needed to confirm their judgement.
‘Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”’ For them, keeping the Sabbath was paramount. No matter what miracles He performed, Jesus couldn’t be from God because He broke the Law. This was based on their exaggerated understanding of Sabbath Law and probably the warnings from Deuteronomy 13:1-5. In this passage God warned His people about those who might perform miracles but still lead the people astray. They were to be put to death because their direction to those who followed them was rebellion against God. Jesus had performed a miracle. That was begrudgingly acknowledged but He led the people astray by breaking the Sabbath Law. In their eyes then, He couldn’t possibly be from God.
‘But others asked, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?”’ For this second group, the healing of the man born blind and other miracles they had heard about, couldn’t possibly have happened if Jesus was a sinner (a violator of the Law).
The first group was wrong, both in their reasoning and their conclusion. The second group was right in their conclusion but wrong in their reasoning (Deuteronomy 13 clearly stated ungodly people could still perform miracles. That was the whole point of the passage). The result? ‘So they were divided.’
For Christians the Bible must be allowed to override church tradition. The New Testament particularly provides us with the principles we need to live our lives for Christ’s glory. Do you read the Bible looking for those principles? If you haven’t been, make a start now. Perhaps underline passages that explain Christ-like behaviour and the principles behind that behaviour. Make the Bible your workbook. That’s why God gave it us in the first place.
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