A Threefold Slogan
(No. 3536)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1916.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"One thing is necessary." Luke 10:44.
"One thing I know." John 9:25. "One thing I do." Philippians 3:13.
[The original title of this sermon was A THREEFOLD MOTTO.]
I HAVE "one thing" in view–"one thing" on which I want to rivet your
attention. Forbear with me if I detain you a few minutes before
announcing a text. It has been said that a man of one book is terrible
in the force of his convictions. He has studied it so well, digested it
so thoroughly and understands it so profoundly, that it is perilous to
encounter him in controversy. No man becomes eminent in any pursuit
unless he gives himself up to it with all the powers and passions of
his nature–body and soul. Michelangelo had never been so great a
painter if his love of art had not become so enthusiastic that he
frequently did not take off his garments to sleep by the week
together–nor had Handel ever been such a great musician if his ardor
for celestial sounds had not led him to use the keys of his harpsichord
till, by constant fingering, they became the shape of spoons. A man
must have one pursuit and consecrate all his powers to one purpose if
he would excel or rise to eminence among his fellows.
When streams of water divide themselves into innumerable streams, they
usually create a swamp which proves dangerous to the inhabitants of the
neighborhood. Could all those streams be dammed up into one channel,
and made to flow in one direction, they might resolve themselves into a
navigable river, bearing commerce to the ocean and enriching the people
who dwelt upon its banks. To obtain one thing, one comprehensive
blessing from Heaven, has been the objective of many a saintly prayer,
like that of David, "Unite my heart to fear Your name." The advice of
Paul was, "Set not your affection upon things on earth," not, "your
affections," as it is often misquoted. The Apostle would have all the
affections tied up into one affection–and that one concentrated
affection not set upon earthly things–but upon things above, where
Christ sits at the right hand of God! The concurrence of all our powers
and capacities with one single impulse, to obtain one objective and to
produce one result, is one great aim of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The "one thing" concerning which I am now about to talk very seriously
to you will require three texts to elucidate it. There are three pithy
passages of Holy Scripture which I shall endeavor to press home on your
heart and conscience.
I. ONE THING NECESSARY.
Our first text is to be found in the Gospel according to Luke 10:44,
"One thing is necessary." This one thing, according to this passage, is
faith in Christ Jesus, the sitting down at the Master's feet, the
drinking in of His Word. If I may expand for a minute the "one thing,"
without seeming to make 20 things of that which is but one, I will
refer it to the possession of a new life. This life is given to us
when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are created anew in Christ
Jesus. And it develops itself in a simple confidence in Jesus, in a
hearty obedience to Jesus, in a desire to be like Jesus and in a
constant yearning to be near to Jesus. "One thing is necessary"–that
one thing is salvation–worked in us by the Holy Spirit, through faith
which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. The new heart, the right spirit, a
filial fear of God, love to Jesus–this is the "one thing necessary."
How I trust you all know how to distinguish things essential from
things convenient, and that you are more concerned about necessary
things than about things merely attractive, or, at most, but an
accessory to your welfare! The little child may admire the field which
is covered with red and blue flowers. The farmer cares nothing for
these flowers–he delights in the wheat that is ripening for the
sickle. So our childish minds are often fascinated with the flaunting
flowers of fortune and fashion–craving after wealth, fame and worldly
distinction–but our better reason, if it is allowed to speak, will
prefer the necessary things, the things which we must have, or else
must
2 A Threefold Slogan Sermon #3536
perish. We may do without earthly goods, for thousands have been happy
in life and triumphant in death without any of the luxury which riches
can purchase. The heart's love of his fellow creatures has been fairly
won by many a humble man who never courted popular applause. The
patience of the poor has often counted for fine gold, while the pride
of the affluent has passed for nothing but foul dross. Even lack of
health, Heaven's priceless blessing to mortals here below, has not
hindered some precious sufferers from serving their generation,
glorifying God in a martyrdom of pain and bequeathing treasures of
piety to a grateful posterity. Ten thousand things are convenient.
Thousands of things are desirable. Hundreds of things are to be sought
for, but there is one thing, only one thing, the one thing we have
described to you, of which our Savior speaks as the "one thing
necessary."
And, oh, how necessary it is! Necessary for your children–they are
growing up about you and much joy they give you–for you can see in
them many budding excellences. To your partial eyes they give promise
of goodness, if not of greatness! They will be the comfort of your
declining years. You have carefully watched their education. Not a whit
of their moral habits have you failed to overlook. To give them a fair
start in the world has been your fond desire till their portion is the
fruit of your providence. From perils you would protect them. Lest they
should have to rough it, perhaps, as much as their father before them,
you would pilot them through the straits. Good! But, dear parents, do
remember that "one thing is necessary" for your children, that they may
commence life, continue in life and close life honorably. It is well
that they should be educated. It is well that morality should be
instilled into them, but this is not enough! Alas, we have seen many
leave the purest parental influences to plunge into the foulest sins!
Their education has become but a tool for iniquity, and the money with
which they might have helped themselves to competence has been
squandered away in vice. "One thing is necessary" for that bright-eyed
boy! Oh, if you can take him to the Savior, and if the blessing of the
Good Shepherd shall alight upon him and renew him while yet a child,
the best will have been done for him–yes, his one chief need supplied!
And if that dear girl, before she comes to womanhood, shall have been
led to that blessed Savior who rejects none that come to Him, she will
have received all she shall need for time and for eternity! Quicken
your prayers, then, dear parents. Think of your children, to seek their
welfare more intelligently. Be more importunate in intercession on
their behalf! Truly, this is the one thing necessary for them.
One thing, too, is necessary for that young man just leaving home to go
out as an apprentice and learn his trade. That is a trying time for an
untried hand. The heart may well flutter as one, young and
inexperienced, reflects that he is now about to sail, not on a coasting
voyage, but to put fairly out to sea. Before long it will be seen
whether those fair professions had the Truths of God as a foundation.
He will get to London–many of you have passed through this ordeal! The
Metropolis, what a maze it seemed to you at first, and with what
amazement you surveyed it! What with propensities within your breast,
and profuse attractions outside–temptation held you spell-bound! What
could not be done in the village–what you dared not thinkof in the
little market town, seems easy to be done unobserved in the great city!
Hundreds of fingers point you to the haunts of pleasure, the home of
vice, the path to Hell! Ah, mother and father, you present the Bible as
your parting gift. You write the youth's name on the flyleaf. You offer
your prayers and you shed your tears for him. Steals there not over you
the conviction that the one thing he needs you cannot pack in his
trunk, nor can you send it up to him by a post office order? The one
thing necessary is that Christ should be formed in his heart the hope
of glory! With that he would begin life well. A sword of the true
Jerusalem metal, that will not break in the heat of the conflict, will
be serviceable all his journey through. Do I address some young man who
has not forgotten his mother's kind remarks when he left home? Let me
just echo them, and say to him, One thing you lack! Oh, seek it, seek
it now! Before going out of this house, seek till, through Grace, you
obtain this one thing necessary which shall bear you safely to the
skies!
But "one thing is necessary," not merely for those youngsters at home,
or for those about to go abroad in the world. One thing is necessary
for the businessman. "Ah," he says, "I need a great many things." But
what, I ask, is the one thing? You speak of "the necessary." You call
ready cash "the indispensable." "Give me this," says the man of the
world, "and I don't care about anything else! Recommend your religion
to whom you please, but let me have solid gold and silver, and I will
be well content." Ah, Sirs, you delude yourselves with phantoms! You
fondly dream that wealth in your hands would count for more than it has
ever done for your fellows. You must have seen some men make large
fortunes whom you knew to be very miserable. They have retired from
business to get a little rest, and yet they could find no rest in their
retirement! You must have known others who, the more they got, the more
they have wanted, for they have swal-
lowed a horseleech, and it has cried, "Give, give!" Of course, you
never suspected that the money did the mischief, or that the precious
metal poisoned the heart. But are you in quest of happiness? It lies
not in investments, whether in government bonds or mortgages, or stocks
or debentures, or gold or silver. These properties are profitable. They
can be used to promote happiness. As accessories to our welfare, they
may often prove to be blessings, but if accredited with intrinsic worth
they will eat as does a canker! Money circulated is a medium of public
benefit, while money hoarded is a means of private discomfort! A man is
but a muckraker who is forever seeking to scrape everything to himself.
A miser is bound to be miserable. Before high Heaven, he is an object
to make the angels weep! One thing is necessary for you merchants,
brokers and warehousemen to keep you from sinking under your anxieties
and losses, or to preserve you from becoming sordid and selfish through
your successes and lest your greed should increase with your gains! One
thing is necessary that your life may be a true life, or else, when it
comes to its end, all that can be said of you will amount to this, "He
died worth so much." Must that be your only memorial? When you depart
from this world, the poor and needy will not miss you. Widow and
orphans will not grieve for you! The Church militant will not mourn!
The bright spirits above will not be waiting to greet you. The grand
climax of your career–a will! A testament sworn under a very large
sum! What shall it profit any man what fortune he may have amassed, if
he loses his soul?
Do you think that riches possessed in this world will procure any
respect in the nether regions? I have heard that in the old Fleet
Prison, the thief who was put into jail for stealing ten thousand
pounds thought himself a gentleman in comparison with those common
fellows who were put in for some paltry debt of 20 or 25 pounds! There
are no such distinctions in Hell! You who can boast your talents of
gold and talents of silver, if cast away, shall be as complete wrecks
as those who never had copper or sliver, but lived and died in
privation and poverty! You need one thing, and if you get this one
thing, your wealth shall prove a blessing–otherwise it will be a
curse! With this one thing your sufficiency for the day guaranteed to
you by promise shall make you as one of Heaven's favorites, fed by the
hand of God, always needy, but never neglected. You aged folk–there
are some such here–shall I have to remind any of you that one thing is
necessary–yes, most necessary to you? Death has already put his bony
palm upon your head and frozen your hair to the whiteness of that
winter in which all your strength must fail, and all your beauty fade.
Oh, if you have no Savior! You will soon have to quit these transitory
scenes. The young may die, but the old must. To die without a Savior
will be dreary and dreadful! Then, after death, the judgment! Brave old
man, how will your courage stand that outlook, if you have none to
plead your cause? Oh, aged woman, you will soon be in the scales–very
soon must your character be weighed. If it is said of you, "Tekel, she
is weighed in the balances and found wanting," there will be no
opportunity to get right or adjust your relations to God or to your
fellow creatures. Your lamp will have gone out. There will be no chance
of rekindling it! If lost, forever lost–forever in the dark–forever
cast away! Little enough will it avail you, then, that you have
nourished and brought up children. It will not suffice you, then, that
you paid your debts honestly. Vain the plea that you attended a place
of worship and were always respected in the neighborhood! ONE THING is
necessary! Lacking that, you will turn out to have been a fool!
Notwithstanding many opportunities and repeated invitations, you have
rejected the one thing–the one only thing–what an irreparable
mistake! Oh, how you will weep as one disappointed! How you will gnash
your teeth as do those who upbraid themselves! You will mourn forever,
and your self-reproach shall know no end!
I wish I could move you, as I desire, to feel as I feel, myself–that
this one thing is necessary to every unconverted person here present.
Some of you have already got this one choice thing that is so
necessary. Hold it fast! Never let it go! Grace gave it to you–Divine
Grace will keep it for you–Grace will hold you true to it. Never be
ashamed of it. Prize it beyond all cost! But as for you who have it
not–I think I hear your funeral knell pealing in my ears, and as you
speed away, your spirits made to fly for very fear, right into the arms
of Justice, I think I hear your bitter cry, "The harvest is past, the
summer is ended and we are not saved!" I would gladly pluck you by the
skirts, if I could, and say to you, "Why not seek the one thing
necessary without more ado? Get it now! It will not in any way hurt
you. It will make you happy, here, and blessed hereafter." It is as
necessary for this life as for the next, as necessary for the exchange
as for the sick chamber, as necessary for the street and for the shop
as for the dying bed and for the Day of Judgment. One thing–one thing
is necessary! And now allow me to stop before taking you a stage
further. Allow me, as it were, to change horses. I must take another
text–
II. ONE THING KNOWN.
It is in the Gospel according to John, the 9th Chapter, and the 25th
verse, and these are the words, "One thing I know."
The man who was born blind, whose eyes were opened at the pool of
Siloam, said, "One thing I know." This simple statement I want to turn
into a pointed question. Among the many things, dear Friends, that you
are acquainted with, do you know the one thing that this poor man knew,
"Whereas I was blind, now I see"? Here is a wealth of self-knowledge in
this single avowal. Little enough, I daresay, he knew about other
people, but he knew a great deal about himself He was well aware that
he once was blind–and he was quite positive that he now could see. Oh,
can you say it with sincerity, "I know that I was once blind–I could
see no beauty in Christ, though I thought I saw great beauties in the
world. Then I could not love God. I did not hate sin. I had no
repentance, nor had I any faith. I was blind, but now– oh, blessed
change–now I see my sin and weep over it! Now I see a Savior, and I
trust Him! Now I see His beauties and I admire Him! Now I see His
service and I delight to spend my strength in it! One thing I know."
What a marvelous experience of a marvelous change this implies! Nor can
its importance be overrated. There is no going to Heaven unless you
undergo a change which shall make you entirely new and make all things
entirely new to you. A young convert once said, "I do not know what is
happening–either the world is changed, or else I am, for nothing seems
to me to be the same as once it was." Ah, this old Bible, what a dry
Book it used to be, but, oh, how it abounds in marrow and fatness now!
Prayer–what a tedious duty, once, but what a delightful exercise now!
The going up to God's House on the Sabbath– used it not to be a
weariness of the flesh? How much better to be in the fields! Yet now,
how delightful we feel, to assemble with the Lord's saints! With what
pleasure we hail the festal morn! All things are altered. Behold, all
things are become new! What we once hated, we love, and what we loved,
we hate! Is it so, dear Hearer–is it so with you?
Do not, I pray you, be content with mere reformation. Were you before a
drunk, and are you now a teetotaler? Good–very good! Yet, good as it
is, it will not save your soul! Dishonest and knavish you once were,
but truthful and trustworthy you may now be–yet rely not upon it for
salvation! In former days, unchaste–by stern resolve you may have
given up the favorite lust–but even that will not save you! Those who
never fell into your foul sloughs need the change, too. "You must be
born-again." You must have an entire renewal–a radical change! It is
not cutting off the limbs of a tree, nor shifting it to another place,
that will convert a bramble into a vine. The sap must be changed. The
heart must be renewed. The inner man must be made completely new. Is it
so with you? Why, I think if some of us were to meet our old selves
walking down the street, we would hardly know ourselves! 'Tis true, old
self has taken good care to knock at our door pretty often since. Of
all the knocks we hear, not even excepting that of the devil, there is
none we dread so much! The knock of the old man when he says, "Let me
in with my corruptions and lusts, and let me reign and have my own
way." No, old man, you were once ourselves, but go your way, for we
have put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man–we
cannot know you, for one thing we know now that we knew not
before–whereas we were blind, now we see!
Need I linger any longer upon this point? Let it suffice if I leave it
as a kind of awakening question upon the heart and conscience. There
are not 20 things, but there is ONE THING you have to enquire about. Do
you know for sure this one thing–that you are not now what you used to
be? Do you know that Jesus has made the difference? That Jesus has
opened the eyes that were once without sight? That you now see Jesus,
and seeing, you love Him? Our third subject is– III. ONE THING DONE.
The text is in the 3rd Chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians, at
the 13th verse. There the Apostle Paul says, "One thing I do."
Pray observe that I did not introduce "doing" first. That would not be
appropriate. We do not begin with doing. The one thing necessary is not
doing. Coming to Christ and trusting Him, must take the lead. Not until
after you have got the one thing necessary, and know that you have got
it, and are conscious that, whereas you were blind, now you see, can
you be fit to take the next step–"one thing I do." And what is that
one thing? "Forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." It seems, then, that
the Apostle gave his whole mind up to the glorifying of God by his
spiritual life. He was never content with what he was. If he had a
little faith, he sought for more. If he had a little hope, he aimed to
obtain more. If he had some degree of virtue, he coveted more. Oh,
Christians, never be satisfied with being merely saved! Up with you!
Away! Off! Go onward to the high mountains, to the clearer light, to
the brighter joy! If saved and
brought, like the shipwrecked mariner, to shore–is that enough? Yes,
for the moment it is enough to guarantee the purest satisfaction and
the warmest congratulations. But the mariner must seek a livelihood as
long as he lives. He must put forth his energies. Whatever avocations
open up before him, he must vigorously seek such favors of fortune as
may possibly be within his reach. Just so, let it be with you. Saved
from the deep which threatened to swallow you up, rejoice that you are
preserved from death, but resolve that the life vouchsafed to you shall
be active, earnest, vigorous, fruitful in every good deed and work! Be
diligent as your traders are! See how they wake their servants up in
the morning, how they scold them if they are not diligent. This man
must be hurried to one place, and that man to another. How sharp they
speak! How quickly they move about! They will do their business and
they spare no pains to increase it. Oh, that we were half as diligent
in the service of God! Here we are driveling away our time. We do not
put out all our talents, augment our faith, or enlarge our coast. Why
are we so indolent in going to that great giver of every good and
perfect gift for fresh supplies? Why do we not wait upon Him to be
enriched? Would to God that we were as diligent in spiritual as we are
in temporal things! Oh, that we were burning with a holy covetousness
for the best gifts God can bestow and the choicest blessings saints can
receive!
Paul was anxious to do more good, to get more good, to be more good. He
sought to win souls. He needed to make Christ's name known. An ardent
passion inflamed him! A high enthusiasm inspired him. Tent-making, it
is true, was his trade, but tent-making did not monopolize quite all
his heart, and soul, and strength! Does your secular vocation absorb
all your thoughts? Though Paul was proud of his industry, and could say
conscientiously, "My own hands have ministered to my necessities," yet
preaching was the one thing he pursued as his life-work. He was a
workman, just as many of you are–but where were his tools? They were
ready to hand when he needed them. And did they, do you think, ever
creep up into his heart? I believe never. "For us to live," said he,
"is Christ." That was as true, I will guarantee you, when he was
tent-making, or picking up sticks on the island of Malta, as when he
was talking heavenly wisdom to the worldly-wise, addressing the
Athenians on Mars' Hill or when he discoursed touching the resurrection
of the dead to the Jews, or when he expounded the way of justification
to the Gentiles! He was a man of one idea, and that one idea had
entirely possessed him! In the old pictures they put a halo around the
head of the saints. But, in fact, that halo encircles their hearts and
penetrates every member of their bodies. The halo of disinterested
consecration to Christ should not be about their brows, alone, to adorn
their portraits, for it encompassed their entire being, their spirit,
soul and body! It environed them, their whole being. "This one thing I
do," was the slogan of early saints. Let it be your slogan!
Beloved, I address you as the saints of this generation. My earnest
desire is that you should not come behind in Grace or in gifts. When
the Believers of all ages muster, and are marshaled, may you be found
among the faithful and true. If not among the first or second class of
worthies in the army of the Son of David, yet good soldiers of Jesus
Christ! Our God is a loving Father. He likes to praise His people. To
this end do be clear about the one thing you need, the one thing you
know, and the one thing you do! So will you stand well in that day.
Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN9.
Verses l-3. Andas Jesuspassed by He saw a man who was blind from his
birth. And His disciples askedHim, saying, Master, who did sin, this
man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither
has this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him. We are not to look upon such afflictions as
any indication of special sin on the part either of the person or the
parent. Of course, sin lies at the root of all our suffering as a great
generic fact, but not so that we may attribute such an affliction to
any one sin. The disciples, you see, dear Friends, are thinking about
difficult problems. Their Master is thinking about how, practically, to
meet the difficulty, and to this day there are a large number of
Christians, professors and even ministers who occupy their time about
questions which really are to no profit. If they could be answered,
nobody would be the holier or the better! What does it matter to us
what is the origin of evil? Far more important to turn the evil out
than it is to find out how it came in! Very frequently, you know, after
there is a terrible calamity or accident, we have an inquiry as to how
it was done, and then we think the thing is all attended to. It would
have been better, perhaps, to have an inquiry, before it was done, as
to how it could be prevented. Our Lord has that wisdom–that
practicalness. He begins to deal with the evil rather than to raise
questions about it. Yes, and He sees in that evil a good coming out of
it! He says that this man was blind, that the works of God might be
made manifest in him.
4-7. Imust work the works ofHim who sent Me while it is day: the night
comes, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world. When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground and
made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man
with the clay. And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,
(which is by interpretation, Sent). He went his way therefore, and
washed, and came seeing. Our Lord used instrumentality. It did not
appear, however, to be very likely to achieve His purpose. The clay
seemed more likely to blind than to give sight, yet if the Lord chooses
to use the poor and weak instruments that seem nothing better than dust
and spittle, He has the glory of the grand result! If He takes the
humble ministry of His servants and uses it in the pulpit, or in the
Sunday school, or anywhere else, He has all the more Glory and is the
less likely to be robbed of it because He uses such unlikely means.
8, 9. The neighbors therefore, and they who before had seen him that he
was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is
he–We are sure of it.
9. Others said, He is like he–They were cautious bodies.
9. But he said, I am he. He knew there was no mistaking his witness!
10, 11. Therefore said they unto him, How were your eyes opened? He
answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed
my eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I
went and washed, and I received sight.Very straightforward, very
concise, very accurate–and when we make answer about our conversion,
it is always well to take this for a copy–not too many flourishes, no
coloring. He even leaves out about the spittle, but he gives it all as
he can recollect it. So when you are talking about the Lord's love to
you and His way of converting you, it is quite sufficiently remarkable,
without any touch of rouge. Let it be given just as it is.
12. Then said they unto him, Where is He? He said I do not know. Enough
for him to know what he did know– that his eyes were opened and how it
was done! So sometimes I have known persons come upon the new convert
with a question which has rather baffled him, and he has been troubled
because he could not answer it. Do not let it trouble you! You are not
expected to know everything. The very best and most honest thing is to
say, "I do not know"
13-14. They brought to the Pharisees him that before was blind. And it
was the Sabbath Day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.So
you may be sure that the Pharisees would be down upon Him for that,
because, according to the Rabbis, the making of the clay to put upon
this man's eyes would be a kind of brick-making–and they would bring
Him in guilty of brick-making directly! So did these men pervert things
and make men guilty where no offense had been committed whatever.
15. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his
sight He said unto them, He put clay upon my eyes, and I washed, and do
see. He is shorter with them. Some tales grow in telling. His gets
shorter. Besides, he has to deal with captious people–and then the
least said, the sooner mended–and this shrewd man thought so.
16, 17. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This Man is not of God,
because He keeps not the Sabbath. Others said, How can a man that is a
sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They said
unto the blind man, again, What say you ofHim, that He has opened your
eyes? He said, He is a Prophet He could see that.
18-24. But the Jews didnot believe concerning him, that he had been
blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him
that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your
son, who you say was born blind? How, then, does he now see? His
parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that
he was born blind. But by what means he now sees, we know not; he is of
age; ask him. He shall speak for himself. These words spoke his parents
because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already that if
any man did confess that he was the Christ, he would be put out of the
synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him. Then
again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God
the praise: we know that this Man is a sinner How piously these
Pharisees can talk–and generally in the name of God, all sorts of
mischief begins. When men are persecuting the Son of God, yet still
they take the name of God upon their lips. Did they not burn the
martyrs to the glory of God? Oh, yes, and so did these men thus slander
Christ by saying, "We know that this Man is a sinner," and yet they
spoke about giving God praise!
25. He Our shrewd friend of the opened eyes.
25-27. Answered and said, Whether He is a sinner or not, I know not:
one thing Iknow, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they
to him again, What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes? He
answered them, I have told you already, and you did not hear: therefore
would you hear it again? Will you also be His disciples?The man is
sharp, acute, cutting.
28, 29. Then they reviledhim andsaid, You are His disciple; but we are
Moses'disciples. We know that Godspoke unto Moses: as for this Fellow,
we know not from where He comes. The word, "fellow," is supplied by the
translators. There is no such word there because they did not know a
word bad enough with which to express their scorn.
30-33. The man answered andsaid unto them, Why herein is a marvelous
thing, that you know not from where He comes and yet He has opened my
eyes. Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man is a
worshipper of God, and does His will, him He hears. Since the world
began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was
born blind. If this Man were not of God, He could do nothing. He
proves! He administrates! The thing is as clear as possible, and yet
they refuse to see it.
34. They answered and said unto him, You were altogether born in sins.
It is the old rule, "Abuse the plaintiff." Nothing could be said. Now
abuse the man! He has answered you and his arguments are too difficult
for you. Now throw hard words at him. "You were altogether born in
sins."
34. And do you teach us?Wonderful, that, "us." "Do you teach us?"
Folly, ignorance and pride go together. This man, in the simplest and
most unaffected manner, had told his tale and urged his argument–and
now they abuse him and exalt themselves. "Do you teach us?" No, great
Pharisees, he does not teach you, for you will not learn!
34. And they cast him out. That is the last argument. Out with him! Now
we have defeated him.
35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out: and when He had found him.
What a blessed thing to be cast out, if Christ finds us! Many and many
have been put out of the synagogue and treated with contempt, but then
outside Jerusalem they found their Lord, for there He died outside the
camp, and His people need not be ashamed to go after Him bearing His
reproach. "When He had found him."
35-38. He said unto him, Do you believe in the Son of God?He answered
andsaid, Who is He, Lord, that Imight believe in Him? And Jesus said
unto him, You have both seen Him, and it is He who is talking with you.
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him. He does not appear
to have been a Unitarian, therefore, and if those persons had their
eyes opened, they would do the same. "He said, Lord, I believe. And he
worshipped Him."
39. And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they
which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Christ is the turner of the tables. Did not the virgin mother sing, "He
has put down the mighty from their seats, and He has exalted them of
low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich He
has sent away empty"? So He always does.
40. Jesus said unto them, If you were blind–Really could not see.
41. You would have no sin If you really did not know better, were
totally and altogether without knowledge–then you would have no sin
compared with what you now have.
41. But now you say, We see; therefore your sin remains. You
acknowledge that you have sinned with your eyes open and, therefore,
your sin is all the greater.