John 9

Part of Light of the World and the Good Shepherd📖 John introduction

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¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ✦ ³Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him. ✦ ⁴I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. ✦ ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ✦ ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, ✦ ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing. ✦ ⁸The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” ✦ ⁹Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.” ¹⁰They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?” ✦ ¹¹He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.” ✦ ¹²Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” ✦ ¹³They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees. ✦ ¹⁴It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ✦ ¹⁵Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.” ✦ ¹⁶Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them. ✦ ¹⁷Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” ✦ ¹⁸The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, ✦ ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ✦ ²⁰His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. ✦ ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.” ✦ ²⁴So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ✦ ²⁵He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.” ✦ ²⁶They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?” ✦ ²⁸They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ✦ ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.” ✦ ³⁰The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ✦ ³¹We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. ✦ ³²Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. ✦ ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ✦ ³⁴They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out. ✦ ³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” ✦ ³⁶He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” ✦ ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.” ✦ ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him. ✦ ³⁹Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.” ✦ ⁴⁰Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” ✦ ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

John 9 ·30 John 7 ·14 John 5 ·12 John 12 ·10 John 3 ·9 John 11 ·8 John 8 ·8 Luke 13 ·7

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 9YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 9David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 9Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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