I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

Bible Commentary on John 9:35-41

Jul 04, 2023

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I will continue with my reflections on energy next week and for the rest of the month, but for today I want to offer a Bible Commentary because some of the themes brought up here are important for future posts.

The ninth chapter of John begins with the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. When questioned by the religious leaders, the man insists that Jesus is the one who healed him, and he believes that Jesus is a prophet from God. As a result of his words, the religious leaders drive the man out of the synagogue.

“Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” – John 9:35-41

Photo: ruvera.ru, found at https://orthochristian.com/121603.html

Reflections

I’d like to begin by defining some of my terms.

Sin – As I outlined in my article on sin, to be sinful does NOT mean you are evil, bad, or unloved. It means you are imperfect. I would further define sin to mean “not acting on the unity of all things. All of Creation is connected and therefore valuable to God.”

Belief – “I do not think it means what you think it means” – quote by the fictional character Inigo Montoya from the 1987 romantic comedy film The Princess Bride.

The New Testament is filled with the command to “believe” in Jesus. What does “belief” in this context mean? To believe that Jesus, the person, exists? To believe that he is the Son of God? To believe that he is the Son of Man? To believe that he died for our sins? That we just need to give intellectual assent with our brain to Jesus’ existence and we are good to go spiritually? That makes no sense!

We then see that the word translated into “believe” is, in the original Greek, the word, “pisteuo.” Pisteuo is the verb form of the noun “Faith,” which is an action of the heart. “Belief” is a terrible translation for this word. Pisteuo is an action of the heart, not the brain. It is not “belief” or intellectual assent. Basically, whenever we see the word “to believe” in the New Testament, it is generally more accurate to substitute the words, “to have faith in” or “to trust,” or “to give my heart to.” We then find this significantly changes the meaning of a passage.

Worship – Usually this word is not a problem word for translations, but in this instance it is. “The man ‘knelt’ to Jesus, he did not ‘worship’ him. [The Greek word] ‘prosekynēsen’ could be translated ‘worshiped,’ but since ‘him’ is in the dative case, ‘knelt’ or ‘bowed’ ‘to him’ seems more accurate.” The man was honoring and showing respect to Jesus, not worshipping him as a God.[1]

Full Commentary

The passage itself is divided into two parts. In the first part, Jesus encounters the man he healed from blindness. Jesus asks the man if the man has faith in and trusts the Son of Man. The man doesn’t know who the Son of Man is, but because he is deeply humbled by and indebted to Jesus, he is willing to do whatever Jesus asks of him. So the man born blind asks who the Son of Man is. Jesus indicates that he is referring to himself. Without hesitation, the man born blind says, “I hold you close to my heart,” (Not “I believe”) and kneels in gratitude and respect before Jesus. (Not “worships”) Jesus accomplished physical healing of blindness, and in response, the one healed has faith in Jesus with his heart.

Personally, if someone miraculously healed me of blindness, it makes more sense that they would ask if I now trust them, than if I “believe” in them, whatever that might mean. Jesus has not indicated his role as Son of God, so he’s not asking for intellectual assent to that.

Note also that Jesus healed the man without any prerequisites. The man did not need to believe with his head, or even give his heart, in order for Jesus to cure his blindness. Mercy and healing do not need to be earned through belief.

Jesus then again addresses why he is on earth. He has a very specific mission, which in other gospels is articulated as “proclaiming the Realm of God.” But here in the gospel of John he says he came for judgement. But it doesn’t appear to be the “send you to hell” kind of judgement, but rather the “explaining the nature of reality to people who’ve got it wrong” kind of judgement.

Jesus then shifts from discussing physical blindness to spiritual blindness. He came into the world “so that those who do not see may see.” This aligns with proclaiming the Realm of God. He is helping us open our eyes to the truth of the Realm of God. To change our consciousness. Enlightenment. The Realm of God is not a place, but a new way of seeing. An internal shift. Jesus came to heal our spiritual blindness.

But then he says that weird thing, that he also came “so that those who do see may become blind.” Why would Jesus want blindness? This question is answered in the second half of the passage.

This is where the Pharisees enter. They are the religious leadership who are threatened by Jesus. Like many leaders found in every time and place, they fear what they do not know. They overhear what Jesus says about spiritual blindness. Undoubtably, he meant for them to overhear. The Pharisees are confident of their righteousness and spiritual superiority over others. They follow the religious rituals and forms of their day. For Jesus to suggest that they are spiritually blind is preposterous! They are the spiritual leaders, for heaven’s sake!

The Pharisees incredulously ask Jesus, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus doesn’t answer directly, but essentially says, “yes.” He points out that if they knew they were spiritually blind, they wouldn’t be held accountable for not being spiritually astute. That’s just who they are and they know it. But since the Pharisees insist they have their eyes wide open, they should be held accountable for their spiritual actions, in which case they are sinners, because they are spiritually terrible (not evil or bad, but not recognizing the unity of all things). Jesus knows the truth: The Pharisees are not spiritually astute, not because they missed the mark, as eyes wide open sinners aiming for and missing the mark, but because they don’t even know the mark is there. They are blind to their blindness. That’s what Jesus means by coming “so that those who do see may become blind.” Jesus comes to people who think they see, to clarify the truth that they are actually blind.

Conclusion

This reflection again lifts up the definitions of sin and salvation/enlightenment which were discussed in earlier posts. In particular I like how Jesus elaborates on salvation to mean “healing spiritual blindness,” and his judging that our current understanding of spirituality is wrong.

It also highlights one of the countless times where Jesus manipulates energy to heal someone. In fact, at the beginning of the passage Jesus says,

“I am the light of the world” [a form of energy], - John 9:5

and then promptly heals the man born blind.

Importantly, this reflection also clarifies the definition of “belief.” Remember that when Jesus says things like “Believe in me,” he is not saying, “Believe with your brain that I am the Son of God,” but “Trust in me.” This is a more accurate translation and has repercussions for our journey together.

Jesus and the Enchanted Cosmos

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